Recital 2017!

Miss Whitney works HARD all year long for this ONE NIGHT of fabulousness! And, boy, did she put on a show. I absolutely LOVE watching this girl dance. She LIGHTS UP the stage, especially in musical theater. I am so, so, proud of her. This year, Miss Shelley did a dress rehearsal the night before, so I took pictures that night and then just sat back and enjoyed the show in performance night. Here are some of my favorite pics from dress rehearsal.

Musical Theater did the opening number,

a Broadway Medley.

I love how expressive Whitney is.

And how well she connects with audience. 

In her pointe class, they performed to a Zorro Medley.

These costumes were GORGEOUS. 

Such a beautiful dancer.

Miss Shelley combined her top three ballet classes

to perform a short-length ballet of "The Sleeping Beauty."

I LOVED seeing ALL these dancers on stage together.

They did a great job. 

And, finally, they ended with Peter Pan.

Whitney was a highly entertaining Captain Hook.

(Her friends drew a mustache on her for the 

real performance.) 

With Smee

(who also did a GREAT job!) 

And all her little pirate minions. 

The last battle with Peter Pan, right

before Hook loses and gets tossed off the stage.

Since Whit works with Miss Shelley now,

she also got a shout out in the program.

So, so happy that Whit had another successful year at To The Pointe Ballet Studio.

Miss Shelley is a fabulous teacher who pushes Whit and brings out the best in her.

It is inspiring to see how much Whit progresses each year.

Looking forward to seeing what next year holds for her!

What April Looked Like

Yard sale!

Last year, before our cruise we had a yard sale

for the kids to earn souvenir money.

We did the same thing this year.

It's a great way to de-clutter and let the kids have spending money. 

General conference party 

The climbing girl 

Caroline won our March Madness bracket! 

Whit leaving on her field trip before the crack of dawn.

They sure look happy, considering how early it was. 

My first smartphone met its death. :(

Caroline and I had a fun visit to the science center.

They've expanded the aquarium

and it is awesome! 

Love it when Andrew and Andrea end up

next to each other in gift shops. 

B is way into thrift shopping, vintage clothing, and 

quirky random finds. I thought he might like

these random shoes I found at Goodwill.

But apparently not enough to pay $20 for them. 

Easter eggs

Miss Whitney turned 13!

I have two teenagers!

And I love them. :)

This awesome girl made her own

birthday cake from scratch! Yum. 

I chaperoned a field trip for C

to the Museum of Life and Science in Durham.

This is the fossil dig area.

One of the little boys said,

"I think they just give the kids shovels

so they don't have to pay someone

to find the fossils!" 

Romeo and C got to do a geology experiment. 

Getting close to recital time for W!

She's playing Captain Hook in this

year's production of Peter Pan. 

I also got to join B's English class on a field trip

to a murder mystery lunch.

B was the one who got murdered!

Agh! 

Fun to see him with his classmates.

And he recovered well from his death. 

One of my favorite ballet costumes for Whit.

Gorgeous! 

Our dear friend, Margaret, from church, fell and broke her hip.

I stopped by the hospital to see her.

Spring is springing on our maple tree!

Whit also planned her whole birthday

party. We had a few Harry Potter-themed activities.

She sketched this head for

pin-the-scar-on-Harry.

Love it!

Scavenger hunt written by Drew.

Pinata

We had stake conference in April.

Whit and I sing in the stake choir.

Do you like our singing faces? :) 

We stopped to visit Margaret in her rehab facility after conference.