Piano Recital

Ali and Ashling take piano lessons from a woman in our ward.  They are having fun doing it and learning quite a bit about music.  We sometimes have some complaining and I remind them that they are welcome to be done playing when they can play a hymn on demand from the hymn book.  This recital was fun and it included a hot chocolate bar at the end.  What a great treat!

Ashling and the Nutcraker

Ashling participated in the annual performance of the Lake Arrowhead School of Dance's Nutcracker.  She auditioned in June and was chosen to be an angel.  This is a great role because the timing has to be perfect and they also are required to watch their spacing which are great things to learn in dance.  The worst part of the role is that these costumes are quite difficult to get on an off and the girls can not do it on their own.  It requires quite a bit of behind the scenes participation.  Ashling was chosen to go out in the first act as an angel to wave to Clara. This meant that she put her costume on and off twice in each performance.  She performed a total of 9 times! I love the nutcracker and it was great to watch Ashling excel at dance.  She loved every minute of it and never complained about anything.  She loved watching the professional dancers and wanted to be just like them... someday.  She loves ballet and is excited to participate next year again.  

Annika loves to Dance

If you look back to when Annika was a baby you will find that Annika has always loved to dance.  Even as a  baby anytime music was played she would shake her upper body and "dance to it".   I had decided that since Annika was in preschool that was her extra activity and she would wait until kindergarten to have another activity.  But Annika loved to watch Ashling dance and also wanted to participate in it.  Every time Ashling had dance class Annika was dressed before we left and she watched and tried to do each move in class.  Sometimes when class was small, Ashling's teacher would let Annika participate.  I finally decided to enroll Annika in dance class too.  

Here are some pictures of her in her dance studio before dance class.  

 The first time the teacher showed them a bridge, Annika couldn't do it at all.  She was very dismayed by that and tried her hardest to figure it out.  At home we worked on it until she learned to do it all by herself!

She is trying hard to do her splits!

Ali and Ashling have been taking ballet this year. They go to the Lake Arrowhead School of Dance in Lake Arrowhead.  I love the owner whose name is Sharon McCormick (pictured at Mickey Mouse below.)  She is great with the kids but also very serious about dance and she teaches them a lot each and every week.   Ashling is in her second year and is in Ballet B.  She is learning quite a bit.  Her class is quite serious and she loves it.  She is also participating in the Nutcracker but you will have to wait for those pictures until she performs.  I find myself at the Ballet Studio 3 times a week! I love to watch them learning to dance and also love watching the best dancers in the studio practice while Annika is in her class!  Here are some pictures of the girls when they got to wear the costumes for Halloween.  

 Annika is taking preschool 4-5.  She is not quite 4 but she loves to dance and this class was the best fit for her.  You can't tell that she is younger than all the girls at all.  She does a combination class of ballet, tap and tumbling.   She is great at all of it and tries her best to do everything the teacher asks of her.  Her teacher is named Ms. Sarah and she is great.  She keeps the kids attention and makes sure they are learning.  She is teaching them to put on their own tap shoes and also to tuck in their ballet shoe laces so they do not stop to tie their shoes a million times.  What a great idea!

Happy Halloween

Here are some pictures of Halloween.  This year Ali was a pirate, Ashling was Taylor Swift, Annika was both a lady bug and rapunzel depending on the party and I was a witch.  Cameron does not like to dress up and won't do it!  What a poor sport!  We enjoyed lots of Halloween activities including a Fall Festival, a Ward Truck or Treat and Trick or Treating on Halloween.  We also went to Disneyland a few times and enjoyed all the villians that were around Disneyland.  Ali loved the Space Mountain decorated for Halloween and we all loved the Haunted Mansion.  

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This is a video of Annika dancing along with the big girls at a Halloween performance.

House Tour

After a month and a half of painting and other projects plus moving in we are ready to unveil the new house to everyone.  I am so in love with this house it is amazing!  I think it is perfect for our needs.   I tell Cameron daily how much I like our house and find new things all the time that let me enjoy it more.  

This is our Living Room.  We painted the living room this green color and replaced the carpet in here and in the 3 bedrooms.  The rest of the house has pergo wood flooring that is nice.  

 Cameron build a fireplace hearth for the nice wood stove that was already installed.  Before it was sitting on the floor with a hole cut in the carpet .  We have intentions to build the rock up the wall... maybe as part of Christmas break.  

 You can see our steps going up to the upstairs and if you look closely you can see the stairwell going down to the family room.  

 This is our master bedroom.  In here we took down the wall paper only to see it was stuck right to the drywall and would not come off.  We tried to paint over the glue but it looked terrible so we had the drywall textured.  We also removed the popcorn ceilings after having it tested for asbestos.  Thank goodness it didn't have asbestos in it because it make a huge mess that we all breathed until the carpet was installed.  Thank you Mike and Sue for helping to get this bedroom painted and for the beautiful precise job that was done making the red wall look square!

 More master bedroom.

 This is the girl's room.  All 3 girls will be sharing it but we are still working on getting the other bed here.  My mom will be moving in with us in a few weeks and she bought a bed for Annika.  (If Annika was telling you this story she would tell you that the bed has a ladder, a slide, and a tent so I better tell you that too.)  That bed will go along the wall behind this bunkbed.  

 We painted the walls purple and cream and also removed the popcorn ceiling in here and replaced the carpet.  This half of the room is for the big girls.  There is a desk and not really any toys although their huge closet has some room for toys in it.  

 This half of the room is for Annika.  She has all her toys at an arm's reach and it actually works very well for her.  Ali and Ashling insisted that she have her own area so that they don't have to pick up her messes.

This is our family room.  This room is so nice for our family to have for several reasons but most importantly because our kids have a place to go with their friends.  I like that it is downstairs because while I can still hear them from my main living area they are not making so much noise as to make my ears hurt.  This room is very comfortable.   When there is a fire going it is also very cozy and we keep blankets down here to cuddle with when watching tv.  We did not remodel this room at all but may paint it sometime in the future.

 I love this shelf Cameron made when he was going to school in Utah.  It has served us for many different purposes but I think I like it best as an entertainment center.  All I need for it is some large baskets to fit under the bottom.   

 The seller agreed to leave his massive desk for us.  We double the use of the family room as an office.  I love how I can be working on something while the kids are watching tv and see everything they are doing.  

 My kitchen is perfect.  I am not sure I could ask for a better dining area.  I painted the kitchen on two walls green to match the livingroom.  The stove is heavenly.   It is a 5 burner, two oven stove with a large drawer that fits many cookie sheets, griddles and pizza stones.  I absolutely love everything about this oven and more than anything it is this that sold the house to me.  I can't wait for a big party where I can use it to its fullest advantage.  I also love the large counter for the kids to eat, do homework or color on.  They love that it is not tile and that their pictures don't get ruined by the grooves.  

 In addition to painting the kitchen Cameron had to do a remodel to the fridge area.  The fridge was too big for the area by about 3 inches.  He cut the counter and redesigned the cupboard door and drawer in order to make the fridge fit.  I am very grateful for a construction working husband who managed to do that project like it was nothing.  

Our dining room is big enough to put another table in there if needed for a big party.  What a blessing it is to have such a large room for eating.