Beautiful dancer

So, Whitney had taken a couple years off of dance. But when she started back up this fall, she really threw herself into her dancing. We didn't have a Christmas recital, so I haven't seen the results of all her hard work. During the last week of class before Christmas break, parents were invited to watch and take pics. She looks so long, graceful, and beautiful. I am so impressed with her and all her hard work. She is taking Ballet III, tap, hip hop, and pre-pointe. I was able to watch all of her classes except tap. Here are a few of my favorites.

PRE-POINTE

HIP HOP

Look at that air!

She must have gotten those hops from her dad. 

Dives--a class favorite. 

Getting really close to a full split.

BALLET 

So proud of this girl and excited to see her continue to work and grow.

Turkey Bowl 2014

Andrew and his friends had another post-Thanksgiving Turkey Bowl. Tiffany and I thought we were going to join in the fun...until we saw how cold and muddy they got. We decided to stay on the sidelines and cheer and take photos. :) I got some good shots. They had a great time.

Cast of characters

Jeremy got injured on the last play of the game...

but I still made them pose for a picture. :)

Andrew's great grab in the corner. 

 I loved B's jumping form, even though he missed this one.

 I'm not a flag football expert,

but I don't think that's legal.

You'd never know the man was recovering from

major spinal surgery a year ago.

We are thankful every day. 

Another fun, cold, fun day.

And I don't think Jeremy's injury was that serious.

What November Looked Like

I keep meaning to do a separate blog post for Andrew's 40th birthday, but if it hasn't happened now, I'm guessing it's just not going to happen. So I'm throwing the pics from his big day in with all of these others. I put together a super fun scavenger hunt for him to find out what his gift would be. It took him all over town to several business.

 The girls help me hide the clues.

 We all went together with him on his hunt.

Clue #1: Sand at Home Depot 

Clue #2: sunglasses at five below

Clue #3 (unpictured): book from Barnes and Noble 

Pause for dinner at one of Drew's favorites:

PF Chang's. Delicious. 

Clue #4: soft serve ice cream cone at Golden Corral

Answer: CRUISE!!! 

My favorite part of the hunt was how happy people were to help us.

At all the businesses, the employees were super cooperative and excited.

 Singing "Happy Birthday"

Make a wish!

Popcorn, popcorn, and more popcorn! 

Whit participated in her first science fair.

It was a popcorn experiment.

She did a great job and we had fun with it, but no prizes.

W's besties from her class this year. 

Gigi and Grandpa came to see us! Yippee!

They came to watch the kiddos while Andrew and I cruised.

We had a Saturday together before we left,

so we made a quick trip down to the zoo.

It was a GREAT zoo day.

 We got up close and personal with the polar bear.

 He swam right at us twice.

 And tried to attack Andrew through the glass.

It was awesome and kinda creepy.

Baby gorillas!!!

Enough said. 

 AND baby lions???

 Lucky us.

Jayne came to visit!

So fun!

 Science center trip.

Ran into Shelley and her girls there,

which was fun for my girls.

  

 Temple trip with Emily.

So great to get a temple high in the middle of the week.

Loved it.

(My lame camera doesn't even show the temple in the background.

You'll have to take my word for it.)

 Nov = millions of leaves in our yard

Also, my camilla bush blossoms and I love it. 

Loved this little note Care Bear wrote on the back of her

paper comparing things from the past and present. 

B at All-county Band auditions.

He made it! Woot! 

 Scout activity at Airbound

Double date dancing with Tiffany and Chris 

Our globe broke in half.

The girls had fun with that. 

 I baked my first ever peach cobbler.

The directions said to put the batter on the bottom

and the fruit on the top. I thought they were crazy.

But I followed them anyway.

It totally worked! 

Thanksgiving snack at school. 

Trip to Winston to visit SciWorks

 And Chuck E. Cheese.

Thanksgiving at Tiffany and Chris' new beautiful home.

Also with April and Ben and some of their extended family.

 Andrew rocked the turkey.

 Our buffet of scrumptious delicacies.

 And everyone's favorite: the pie buffet!

 The kids' table.

(I never did get a pic of the adults. Oops.)

The kids were insistent that we get the tree up

THE DAY after Thanksgiving.

So we did.

Another great month!