Tuesday, January 1, 2013

First Dance Recital

This past year Abby has been in dance and was part of a wonderful class.  The parents and girls got along so well and Abby really enjoyed her teachers, Sarah and Lacey.  On June 12 she had a dress rehearsal on stage.  Before the rehearsal we presented her teachers with gifts.  Miss Sarah--her head teacher was leaving the dance studio permanently so we gave her flowers, a picture and some beautiful jewelry.  She was wonderful with the girls and we will all miss her very much.
Abby got a little nervous for the dress rehearsal as she went on stage.  I was glad I was there to help her go on anyway.

 Daddy had to teach a class on the night of Abby's recital so he came to the dress rehearsal.
On the 14th Abby had her first official dance recital.  She did really well and I was so privileged to be the backstage Mom!  I got to experience it all with her and it meant so much to me.  I brought coloring and treats for the girls to entertain them since they had a while before and after their performance.  I was so proud of Abby.





 Grandma and Grandpa were supposed to come for the recital but due to Heather's baby complications they did not feel like they could leave.  We invited Shannon Ricks, Abby's preschool teacher and she and her sister came just to watch Abby.  What a wonderful teacher and friend.
Congrats Abby!  Here's to many more fun recitals!

June Fun

Our local library has a great story time for kids on Fridays.  They always have some sort of theme and then the kids do an activity.  We pick out some books and the girls really enjoy playing with the toys.  It is fun to watch Abby and Lily be able to play together more as Lily gets older.  This was on June 8.
Saturday, June 9th I held a piano recital at the Stake Center for my piano studio.  The students played well and we had great food afterwards.  I teach such wonderful students.
Back row:  Tristan Rasmussen, Dallin Petersen, Eden Rasmussen, Me, Elsie Mares
Middle row:  Nathan Delgado, Christian Holladay, Aaron Petersen
Front row:  Spencer Delgado, Lulu Mares, Kiara Mares, Olivia Hess
Sunday, June 10:  I love to dress my girls the same for Church

 After Church hugs


June Garden

Our garden this summer grew quite well.  Our biggest success were the tomatoes and jalapenos.  Check out the garden!


 I love fresh tomatoes

Natalie Visits

Our friend Natalie from Arizona came to visit us in May!  Natalie took Abby to do so many fun things when we lived in Arizona and Abby adores her.  We left Arizona when Abby was only two, yet Natalie is mentioned in almost all of Abby's prayers and I can't think of a day when Abby didn't mention her name.  Needless to say, we were very excited to have her with us!  I was particularly excited because Natalie helped me so much in adjusting to having 3 girls!  Sometimes she would just hold or feed Lexy while I took care of Abby and Lily's needs.  I am not sure what I would have done without her.
We picked Natalie up at the Bakersfield airport on May 26 and took her to a pow wow!

 Sunday morning (Lily was teething and not feeling well)


More fun with Natalie!



 On the 29th we headed down to LA to visit Matt's family and the LA Zoo.  We had so much fun at the zoo!



 Lunch
 After the hot zoo we came back to Grandma's and Grandpa's for some soothing pool time.
Lexy's first time in a pool--does she like it?

Dance on May 31.  Natalie made Abby the skirt!
 
We gave a couple of our koi to friends in our ward who lost the fish in their pond to birds.
 Easier said than done!
 Library story time on June 1
We found out Natalie was soon to be engaged so we took her to do some wedding dress shopping!



 June 3 Lexy
 June 4
Red Robin for lunch!
Another dance day with Natalie--preparing for the recital!



 Preschool swim party June 6

 Preschool gift from Sister Ricks
 Getting ready for dance class pictures
Abby got a little emotional before pictures and we had to try to calm her down.  We finally succeeded in getting her to take a picture but it was pretty obvious she's been crying--she gets thus puffy, swollen eyes!
Time to say farewell to our friend
We love you Natalie!  Thank you for helping us so much in the last 2 weeks.