ITS BEGUN!!!!!!! AGAIN.......

Yes the 2008 Dance season officially started yesterday! The many weekends of competietion are upon us. I was setting there in the bleachers yesterday thinking, "WOW this is my 4th official dance season of ballroom dancing and my 7th season of jazz. " I then tried to figure out how much I have invested in Mikayla and Megans legs. I thought about it only for a second and decided that that topic was better left alone. It's been a great investment, and we have produced some beautiful dancers in the meantime.

I am so happy that they both love their sport. Steve often tries to tease them into quitting, and it dosent work so well. They just laugh at him and so "oh brother dad!" So for the next 5 months we will be spending our weekends at one comp or another. Sometimes both of us splitting up so that both girls have a mom or dad there cheering them on.

Megs has a new partner this year. She has been very happy with him and is hoping for a successful comp season. Mikayla is bringing back the duo she and her friend Jill did last year. BUT they have added 3 asacons at the end that are fabulous (if you want to know what that is, I have no clue--just come and watch her sometime). She and her 2 cousins will be working with a choreographer on a piece that we will set as a trio to compete in later this spring. I am excited to see how it goes, as all three girls train at different studios.

One of my greatest joys is seeing those girls perform and seeing them love to perform. This next weekend will be big for Megs as not only do they both perform on Friday night in a showcase, but Megs competes all day on Saturday. We have never had a two dayer with her yet, so we will see how that goes over.

If anyone wants tickets to the show for Friday---let me know! I can get them at a $2 discount for you.

Here are a few photos of yesterdays comp at Provo High. They dont do her justice as my battery was almost gone and so my camera was slow.




Meg is doing a jive/quick step to Hairsprays "Nicest Kids in town"...It is fast, fun, and the choreography is great!

Click on the photo if you want to see the photo a little better

Mom, I love to ski!

This past week has been an absolute blast, and an absolute whirl wind-it's going to take me several days to blog everything. BUT I am going to blog the highlight of our week first! Skiing!

Our great friends from Arizona Helen and Kevin Boltz came for the week to ski, visit, and help celbrate birthdays. We took the kids to Sundance ski resort yesterday and had a blast!

It was perfect going in the middle of the week, because there werent any other kids in the ski school. It was great, because Mace got a private lesson for 3 hours by himself and the girls were together. I was cracking up, because after teaching them all the basics, they took them to the bunny hill. Mason went down one time and looked at his instructor and said-"Yeah, I am done with that hill, I am ready for this big hill!" They then got on the ski lift and rode to the top and skiid all the way down. He loved it! He has the "pizza" (snowplow) and the french fries (parallel) down great! By the end of the day he was zipping down that hill fast. He was totally bombing the hill. Poor Kev was a real trooper. He stayed right with Mace the whole time. Thanks Kevin you are awesome!
Meg and Kayla-wow! They loved it and were naturals. They were a little more cautious but did so great. I think that their dancing legs held them back a little, because their dance teachers definately do not want broken legs during competition season. "slow and steady" is what we came to the conclusion with the girls.

It was so darn cold, but it didnt seem to hold them back, they couldnt wait to get back on the lift and come down the hill again and again. It was a great day, and everyone went to bed with smiles on-except Steve, who again is stressed because now they love yet another expensive activity. Lucky for them, he loves to ski too!

Mason at the end of the day. He was a little bummed that it was over!

Snowplow!

Birthdays are great!

With January, comes the New Year-but for us we get to celebrate some special birthdays. Megan and Mason both have January birthdays. It is always a little hard to plan for them, because we are just coming off of the holidays and they already get so many gifts at Christmas. Then, I face the fact that the week after Christmas the toy sections etc. are depleted. So, I really have to be on the ball.

This past year, my cousin Kim gave me the idea that she had done with her girls (because they are all getting older). That the girls could either have a birthday party, or they could take one friend and the money that we would have spent on a party and go on a shopping spree. Well-Mikayla did this last year, and it was a BLAST, and I loved it, because there was no prep work, and I got to spend time with her.

This year Meg turned 9 and she wanted the cash too. SO, we told her to pick her very best friend or someone that meant alot to her and invite them for an evening of shopping and dinner. She picked her cousin Ashley. Now this was an experience in itself. I think I laughed more this night than I have in a long time. Have you ever shopped at the mall with 9 year olds? Hmmmm well let me give the run down.

First to preface this all (and I love you dearly Suzie-Suzie is Ashleys mom), this all started as Ash was getting out of the van. Suz is a bargain shopper, a coupon clipper and a deal finder. Steve only wishes I would be that way. But-in the meantime of all the bargains, Ash has become her mother. It cracks me up. The first thing she said as she was getting out of the car was "Aunt Ker-I have an $8 off coupon at Build a Bear!". I was cracking up. I also raz Suz a lot about this and she heard Ash and was dying. OK so the question is--How many 8 year olds are looking for bargains and are using coupons? Again Steve thinks I should take note and teach the girls this concept. My girls dont even have a clue what sales items mean! (bad mom)

This experience was not like a Mikayla experience. Kayla was all about clothes and accessories-as was her friend. So I gave Megan her loot and I gave Ash $20. Do you think I could get them into a clothing store? Not on your life! They had their route picked out throughout the whole mall. Needless to say, we own another build a bear and a few outfits, and Ashley used her $8 coupon and got an outfit for $2. Now thats a bargain! LOL! We came home with 3 more webkinz pets-and they were on sale too. PLUS they each got a winnie the pooh which was 70% off the original price, and we ended up with new diaries for $6 each. I did make Meg buy some new snowboots though. Wow what a night! We had dinner and by the time we got home they already had their first diary entries entered.

Oh the life of a little girl. I love my Megs, and I was so glad to spend time with her, get a good chuckle, and enjoy watching her and Ash make some fun choices for themselves.

Our Jolly Holidays

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Where do I begin when my life has been in a whirl this past month of holidays and fun? It is always good for me to start the New Year off by reflecting all that I did accomplish in the last year, and get excited for the new one ahead. I think as I get older, the years go faster. So my first goal of the year is to not get older. Haha, if it were only that easy.

I had some big distractions this past year that didnt quite get me to where I want to be, BUT life is good, the distractions are gone and I am so excited for what life and what adventures lie ahead for me in 2008.

My biggie goal this year is to ride my first bike race in June at the "Little Red" race in Logan Utah. My cousin Kim, and Tera will be riding with me, and my good friend Jamee--and I am hoping Deanne (hint-hint) will be too. Just thinking about it gets me excited and gets my adrenaline a pumping. I havnt raced for 20 years! This is very exciting for me. I have been working hard for 4 months and plan on continuing to work hard and train for the next 6 months. I am going bike shopping/looking next week. Who would have thought that spinning would get me so addicted to biking. Believe me when I say "spinning" is NOT for the faint hearted. It is the hardest workout I have ever done in my life. So I really appreciate my posse-Deanne, Jamee, Kari and Maleen who are so diligent in keeping me going!


My other big goal is to keep enjoying my kids-to take time with them and enjoy their lives and accomplishments. I find myself sometimes getting too busy with life to really relax and enjoy them. So I will be saying "No" a lot more to others, but "YES" alot more to my kids, and Steve.

Life is so great. I love the quote that my friend Michelle put in her signature on her email that said "Life is not measured by how many breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away".

I am looking forward to this year! I plan on making it a GREAT one!