Olivia's Dance Performace

Olivia and Brooklyn


Brooklyn, Olivia and Jacob. Jacob is in Ballroom dancing and Olivia and Brooklyn are in Tap Dancing.

The first dance. The Christmas song.

The second number, the monkey dance.

After the performance.

She was really cute and loved to perform. She was actually very sad because they had been practicing three different numbers, but she only got to perform two. She was ready to get up to go do the third. We had originally planned on not continuing through the rest of the year. But she loved it so we are going to keep going.
~Amanda

Disneyland Slideshow

So the slide show below is some of our pictures from our trip. We took almost 1000 pictures and I really didn't want to bombard you with all of them. The highlights of this slide show is when Olivia got to meet the Princesses and when Bradley got to be a Jedi in training.

We waited in line for two hours (Yes really two hours) to see the Princesses. And when I say we, it was mainly the girls, my mom, Heather, Olivia and myself (does Ivy can't as a girl? I always thought of her as the brother I never had. Just kidding, Ivy has really turned into a girly-er girl. She just wasn't willing to stand in line to see the Princesses). Anyways, back to my main point. Two long hours, but it all didn't matter when we turned the corner and Olivia saw Ariel, the real live Princess Ariel. Her eye lit up and she was just so mesmerized. Next we saw Princess Jasmine and Belle. I think Olivia was shocked, or maybe stunned is more appropriate. It was wonderful to see that innocence and amazement through her eyes. And the Princesses were wonderful. They were so nice to Heather and Olivia. It was one of the best moments from the trip.

My other favorite moment was on our last day, right before we left the park for good when Bradley was picked for Jedi training. He was the VERY last kid to get picked and his hopes had started to fade at this point. But he was chosen and the Jedi masters taught them specials skills. Then Darth Vader showed up and wanted the kids to chose the dark side. But none of them did. So he called Darth Maule to help him fight all the kids. So each kid took turns either fighting Darth Vader or Darth Maule ( yeah I probably butchered the names). Bradley fought Darth Maule. The Dark side lost and all the kids graduated Jedi training. Bradley was so excited the rest of the day and wanted to teach everybody the new skills he learned. His face was just priceless.

So there are a few memories, and few pictures. Disneyland was awesome, Thanks Mom!
~Amanda

Catching up!

So it has been awhile. Our blog has been the last thing on my mind, even though I have wonderful pictures and stories to share. I will just pick a few of my favorites here and there when I have time to breathe (aka after Christmas).

But here is a run down of our hectic lives ever since getting back from Disneyland (which was the best vacation ever, thanks mom). Everything has felt like a whirl wind. First we had Olivia's very first dance recital. I was very worried that this would be a catastrophe and she would not perform in front of such a large audience. But to my surprise she did a wonderful job, and of course she looked so precious.

Next we had my family Christmas prime rib dinner. My mom always does such a good job and being with family is what the holidays are about. I definitely want my children to always know that.

Then Olivia had her fourth birthday party. She is a little princess, so of course that was the theme. Her little guests were Princesses too and they all made crowns. I can hardly believe that it has been four years. However she is hardly the little toddler that was all sugar and spice!

Next was Richard's family Christmas party. It was fun to have all the nieces and nephews running around and spending time together.

Did I mention that this all happened with in three days of each other??? And that for the first time ever I am NOT at all prepared for Christmas??? November was here and gone in a blink of an eye, and now Christmas is a week away. WOW! Time flies when you have to grow up!

~Amanda