Memorial Day

I was really dreading Memorial Day this year.  I thought it would be hard visiting my sister's grave since I haven't been out there since the funeral.  My mom drove with us and once we got there, instead of it being hard, it was a very peaceful experience.  My grandpa is also buried close by and the girls loved putting down flowers and making everything beautiful.  It felt good to put away the sadness and feel close to them by reflecting and talking about the great memories. 
 

 

Emily and her Nevada State Project

All the kids in Emily's 5th grade were assigned a state project.  Emily got Nevada and she had to do an oral and written report, complete a binder with worksheets, make a poster, design a banner, provide something to hand out to the class, and dress up as something pertaining to her state.  We sure learned a lot about Nevada but when it came to her costume, she wanted to focus on Las Vegas and be an Elvis Impersonator.  After her report she even sang "You Ain't Nothing but a Hound Dog" to her whole class.  Then she handed out tickets for the kids to come see her live show.  After all the reports were done the students put on a states parade for the whole school.  Emily rocked it.  Too bad we don't still live in Las Vegas or she would definitely have a career to fall back on. 

Dance Recital

I love recital weekend.  Nothing better than watching your girls perform something they have worked hard on all year and having a blast at the same time.  LeeRoy couldn't make it due to some national guard training so I made sure to take tons of pictures and videos.  At the end of the night Emily was able to keep her opening number name sign and was so excited when the "rock star" from the show number signed it for her.  Both girls were pretty excited to have their pictures taken with their dance teachers as well.  It has been a really fun year and we are already looking forward to another one!

Wendy dancing to Roam.  She is in the very front row on the far right side.

Kindergarten Spring Program

Wendy has had such a wonderful and positive experience in Kindergarten.  I have seen her blossom and really come out of her shell so much this year.  It was great to go and watch her program not only to hear her sing and watch the fun slideshow of pictures but also to see her interact with all the friends she has made throughout the year.  It is hard to believe she will be in 1st grade next year but I am so thankful for the wonderful things she has learned during her time at Irving.

 

Wendy Gymnastics

Wendy has loved gymnastics so much this year.  At first she was really scared of the bars and beam but they soon became her favorite.  He class held a spring showcase where families could go and watch the girls show off all the talents they had learned.  It was so fun watching and cheering her on.

Herriman

I  have to say the last dance competition of the season was my favorite.  My mom and Lorenzo came with us which always makes things fun but we also stayed at the same hotel as some of Emily's friends and they had a blast staying up late and swimming together.  The competition went by really fast and the dances were fun to watch.  We all wore our DC Keep Calm Dance on Shirts and LeeRoy helped move props for show onto the floor.  Some girls have a crazy dance mom but Emily is lucky enough to have a whole crazy dance family!  Junior's Iko Iko dance was alone in it's category but received a platinum rating and also received 2nd overall intermediate dance.  Our own Varsity company was also in the intermediate category and took the 1st place overall intermediate so that was really great!  Downtown Dance Studio also took home the overall high point studio award which was amazing.  They received a special banner for that and the girls were excited to get their pictures taken with it.

After the competition we headed out to have some fun.  As we were on the road driving away from Herriman a gardening tool called a garden weasel fell out from the truck in front of us.  There was no where to move and no choice but to run it over.  The whole van shook and as soon as we could we pulled over.  LeeRoy was sure a tire would have been punctured but thankfully, when he looked underneath the van, no real damage was done.  He could clearly see gouges where the weasel had broken apart and scraped but we were happy to safely be on the road again in no time.

We headed to a store I had heard about called Scheels.  It looked fun but we had no idea how much time we would spend there.  LeeRoy, Emily, and Wendy rode a giant ferris wheel located inside.  Wendy and LeeRoy had a great time, but Emily not so much.  She was so scared and cried during most of the ride but was glad she had the experience and would never be tempted to repeat it! LOL  We also playing some bowling, shot at an animatronic background, and posed for some pictures.  As we were leaving we got to see men in scuba gear feeding fish in a giant transparent tank.  The girls really enjoyed that!  

After Scheels we headed over to the mall so Wendy could go to Build-A-Bear Workshop.  She was so excited and had a great time making sure her bear was just right.  Emily also took hers that she had gotten when she was young so she could give her a bath and pick out a new outfit.  

We had an amazingly fun weekend and by the time the drive home came around we were pretty tired.  The kids slept most of the way home while the adults visited.  It was really fun to make some great memories together and support Emily at the same time.

Draper

Emily's second dance competition of the season was fast and fun.  Wendy stayed with my parents so just LeeRoy, Emily, and I drove down for the weekend.  It was great getting some one on one time with her.  The competition was fun.  Downtown did amazing and Iko and Show both took 1st place in their categories as well as Show getting the overall award for showmanship.