Christmas Dance Show

Kate, Lindsey & Hannah were all able to perform in the Murray Community Dance show on Saturday, December 14th.   We were so blessed that week because Lindsey came home from her dress rehearsal on Wednesday night and threw up and was sick most of the night.  Hannah & Kate both stayed home from school on Thursday & Friday with being sick.   But, all seemed to be well for the big day!

There were 6 dance shows total that day, plus 3 indoor soccer games.   Jon was such a good sport about driving kids everywhere and even sneaking in a couple of dance shows.  Emily did Hannah & Kate's hair for me and I watched all 6 shows - being a parent-helper for 3 of them.

Lindsey performed her jazz dance at 9:30 and 11:30.   Jon was able to see the first show and then Becky, her kids & Mike were able to sit with me & Emily for the 2nd show.

Kate performed her ballet number in the 1:30 and 3:30 shows.

Hannah performed her tap and Kate performed her jazz dance in the 5:30 and 7:30 shows. 

I know I'm biased, but they all did GREAT!!!  They all smiled throughout their entire dances and were right on.  I was so proud!

I started feeling sick during the 7:30 show (Becky, Brooklyn, Jon, Emily & Hailey had come to that show).  I had a Zofran in my pocket because of the stomach stuff that had gone around, so I took one of those.   Thankfully, the full-fledged stomach flu didn't hit until I walked in the door.  It was awful, but I was so grateful that it didn't hit until after the shows!

Olivia Spackman & Lindsey (their other friend Olivia Blackburn was supposed to be in the show too, but broke her arm the day before :( )

 



 Olivia & Lindsey are the front row - left to right

 

 Kate in the her ballet dance

 

 Kate is the second from the right

 

 

Hannah & Heidi

 



 Josie & Kate

 

 Hannah's tap show - she's the second from the left in the front, with Heidi next to her

 

 

 Kate's jazz dance - she's second from the left

 

Pre-Christmas Activities

 The month of December flew by!   I love the Christmas season, but I am definitely one of those moms that loves it to come to an end.  I'm so tired by the time Christmas actually happens that I'm ready to clean it all up!

But, we did several really fun things during the Christmas season.   The Saturday after Thanksgiving, we got a call in the afternoon from the Hatch family and they asked if we wanted to go to dinner and to see the lights on Temple Square with them.   We went to Sizzler (which had the worst service I've ever experienced) and then we saw the lights.  As usual, it was crowded, but all those lights are pretty amazing!

Hannah & Lexie

 



 Our Family

 

 The Hatch Family - after having those darling 5 girls, they also now have a little boy.  He's actually in a carrier under Burke's coat.   They are all so cute!

 

 

The first Saturday in December was our ward Christmas party.  Here are pictures that Emily took of Hannah & Hailey sitting on Santa's lap.

 

My sister Becky came into town and one morning, we met them at South Towne Mall and the kids played on the dinosaur toys.  Then, we went on a little train ride around the mall.

Lindsey was asked to join the school choir again this year.  They did 2 performances.  The first was on a Monday night, but I had already bought tickets for our family to go to the Voice Male concert.  So,  we all went to the concert, she performed in the choir concert and then we went and watched her a couple days later at the school assembly.

December was also busy with my mom having knee replacement surgery, my dad being quite sick with a couple of infections and our family getting the stomach flu and coughs/colds.  Plus, all our normal things like soccer practices, piano lessons, dance, Up With Kids, scouts, etc.    But, we also enjoyed our normal traditions of opening a Christmas book to read every night, having friends over for dinner, taking each individual kid Christmas shopping, celebrating our wedding anniversary and reading a scripture every night related to the birth of the Savior.

Reflections Contest & Greek Play

This year's Reflections theme was:  Believe.  Dream.  Inspire

 

Lindsey & Kate both did a piece of art and submitted them in our school's contest.  Both won and went onto Region.  

 

 Lindsey's art

 

 Kate & her art

 

 

A few weeks ago, Lindsey's class performed Greek plays they had learned.  They created these darling masks and did a really good job performing them.

 

Christmas Pajamas

On Thanksgiving Night, my mom let the kids open brand new Christmas pajamas!   They all LOVED them and looked so cute & snuggly in them.  Thank you so much Grandma!

 

 Sophia & Hailey

 

 It's always hard getting all of them to look at the camera...

R1: Nora, Lucy, Sophia & Hailey

R2: Hannah, Kate & Max

 

Thanksgiving

 We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year!   We stayed in Murray for it and celebrated with my side of the family.   What a huge treat it was to have my parents back!   We've sure missed them over the last 3 Thanksgivings!

The day before Thanksgiving, Jon worked hard to make yummy pies and Lindsey worked hard to make these cute pilgrims out of pound cake & 2 large muffins.

My mom let us use her table clothes, so it looked really festive. We had 3 large tables and a small kids table.   I think we ended up with 30 people.  Jon had to work a day shift, but then had the rest of the weekend off, so that was nice.  Aunt Claudia & Uncle Bruce came down from Worland, so we had all of their kids (minus Ashlie), all my siblings (minus Becky) and the Cowden's. 

Hailey fell asleep during all the prep

 



 This is the only picture I got of dinner starting...

 

except for these crazy girls who wouldn't hold still for anything to get a picture!

After we ate, we visited and played games and had a wonderful afternoon together.   We also exchanged our secret sister gifts.   I had Meg this year and made her this wall hanging.   I absolutely loved how Jen quilted it for me.

 

Ashlie had my name and sent the most amazing package with a really fun advent calendar & beautiful Christmas ornaments.   Every day the kids take turns opening a bag and there is a little treat for them in it.  There's also a scripture to read about the Savior's birth & life.  We have really, really enjoyed it!

The kids also got new Christmas pajamas from my mom - but it's not letting me load any more pictures, so I'll try to put those on later.

Thank you to everyone who made Thanksgiving a lot of fun!!!