Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!  Our family is most thankful for all the family and friends that we see and interact with everyday, and all the family and friends that we may not see daily, but love and care about a ton!!!

Really we are so fortunate and love that we could spend the holiday with people we care about!!

Delaney said she was thankful for her Mommy, Daddy, Kenna, and Cam.

 And she can't take a picture without asking for a "pose."

 Makenna is thankful for her family and friends.

 Camden was thankful for the zoo.  I think he was trying to be funny, and he really is a goofy little guy.  But all he said was, "I am thankful for the zoo!"

Here are 3 of the things I am most thankful for in my life!!!

 

 We went to Christian's parents this year to spend the holiday.  Reegan is our little niece who is nearly 11 months and just as cute as can be.

 Probably the best picture I have of the 4 grandkids yet!!!  It will only get better!!!

Aunt Amy, Reegan and Gigi.

 The boys hanging out (by the bar?!?! any surprise??)

 

Pat always does such a great job decorating the table and the food is always amazing! :) 

 After dinner, Delaney and Gramps played on the little computer.

 Daddy and Kenna had some cuddle time.  Now, you know I love doing cutesy hairstyles on the girls.  This happened to be the very day that I just had it with Makenna's attitude and had to tell her I would not do her hair.  This was VERY upsetting to her. She was devastated, which I knew she would be.  She loves to have her hair all done and cute!!  Well, needless to say it was a really rough morning and most of the day for Makenna (many days have been lately) and Makenna was "mad" at me.  Here she is warming up to Daddy and finally happy!!!  It took until dinner!  She was still mad at me though!  Sometimes being a mom can be tough!

 Reegan.

 Smily baby!

 Dominos after.

It was a great Thanksgiving!!!  Then, that nigh was onto Black Friday shopping!

Polar Ice

 Makenna was invited to a birthday party at Polar Ice, her very first time ice skating!!  Remi is girl on her cheer squad and Makenna was very excited for this new event!

Remi, the birthday girl!

 Bailey was invited too, and because it was the girls first time going, I stayed to be there if they needed any help.

 After all the cake and presents, they couldn't wait to get out on the rink!!

 Bailey was pretty nervous, so I ended up ice skating (really, she didn't have to ask me twice, I love doing this kind of stuff!)  Of course I was the only mom, but seeing Bailey get more and more comfortable and by the end loving it...it was definitely the right choice to get out there!

Makenna, on the other hand, just took off!  I was more nervous about her becoming too over confident.  She was trying to turn around, skate backwards, she was all over the place.  She absolutely LOVED it!

 Look how far Bailey came, in the beginning she was scared to even stand holding the side...by the end, she stood without me!!!

Here is a small video I took of Makenna while I was skating.  It was so fun!

I had to take the girls a little early because they had Nutcracker rehearsal, but the best part is, another girl is having her party at Polar Ice in 2 weeks.  The girls were ecstatic to hear that!

 The Cardinals played in their last games of the season this past weekend and gave a ton of effort!  They may not have had the best record this year, but they started stepping up their game the second half of the season (right when Christian really started stepping in to coach!) 

It was a great season to see Camden and Christian out on the field together!

Delaney gets dragged to her brother and sisters events all the time, but she is still happy! :)

 Mason painted Cardinals on them for the big day.

 The boys won their 1st game easily.

 Go Cardinals!

 No time to rest, the second game of the tournament was ready to start.  They played the number 1 seeded team and lost. 

It was a great season boys!!  They will now keep up the practices and start up again in January! 

Baby I'm a Star

Competition season is here!!!  Makenna was SO EXCITED to start off the year and finally get her new solo and trio in her first competition.  I'm not kidding, it's all she talked about for the 2 weeks leading up to it. 

Her routine only was finished a few weeks ago, but a routine on the stage is always a big hurdle, and you want to do it as soon as possible.  The costumes were only finished the week of, so just as it seems to be in the dance world, we were rhinestoning up until the last minute.

This year Makenna's routine is a Jazz routine to "Wash That Man."  It's a fun routine and I think her costume is perfect for it.  Just like last year, Ms. Melissa choreographed it and designed the costume.

The girls were eager to start.

Here are the trio girls.  They all have new solos and costumes this year.  Emma is dancing to, "Don't Go Hollywood," and Bailey's is to, "Ring Them Bells."

Makenna was the first one up for the competition, and as they pointed out at the awards, the first one up for the whole season.  This was their first city on their tour, and Makenna was up very first!  She had to set the bar high!!  And boy did she!  She was the only 8 and under that scored an Elite High Gold, the highest possible for the competition.  She ended up winning 1st place for the 8 and under solos and received a Top Soloist t-shirt and a gift certificate for her solo next year.

We were able to videotape at this competition, so disregard the yelling from our cheer section. :)

Our trio performed too and they won 1st place overall too.  This the 4th year in a row that these girls have won 1st place at this competiion and we keep getting gift certificates so we haven't paid for their trio since they were 4!!!

There were so many of the other dancers that came to cheer on Makenna, Emma and Bailey we were so grateful!!

Lauren, Emma, Madilyn, Bailey, Nikki, Makenna, Jennifer

After the competition we went out to Red Robin, our signature place, to celebrate.

The next day the girls performed again at a different competition.  This time we only took the trio and there was some tough competition.

The girls are dancing a musical theater routine this year to, "I Can Cook Too."

The girls did amazing and got 4th place.  With the competion they had, (which had some amazing 9 and 10 year olds!) we could not have been happier. 

The following video is from the 1st night, but they did even better the next day.  I will get a copy of that as soon as I can.

Way to go!!!

A Day at the Fair

Makenna and her dance company performed at the State Fair again this year.  It's always fun to see the routines out on the stage for the first time.  Plus, it is a fun family day too!

Here is mini company with only 1 girl missing.

Makenna and Bailey

Camden and Laney waiting to cheer on their sister.

 After the show with Ms. Alyssa and Ms. Jaci (their favorite!) 

 The trio.

 Awwww.

 After the show it was off to the rides.

 This giant slide Makenna went down...many times!

 Makenna and Jacqueline who rode the slide together many times at the beginning and then at the end!

 The slide perfect for Delaney and Camden. (Cam wouldn't go down the big slide, he was big enough but didn't want to)

 The kids picked their own rides.  Delaney wanted the carousel.

 Makenna and Camden love these fun houses, but I accidentally left Makenna's closed toed shoes in the car.  Luckily, her 3 year old sister wears pretty much the same size!  Delaney's size 10 shoes (which are Makenna's old shoes and only slightly big on her) still fit 7 year old Makenna.

 Here are Delaney's feet waiting in Makenna's flip flops.  The girls kept changing shoes back and forth.

Makenna wanted me to take pictures while we waited for Delaney to ride the bumblebees.

 The "Laneybug" on the bumblebee.

 Beautiful scorpion!

 The dragon coaster.

 Camden driving bumper cars.

 Wee!

 Daddy and Delaney.

Something fun to look forward to next year...plus Delaney just might be in the show too......