Dance recital

Alexandra and Grace had their spring dance recital on the 20th and both did such a great job. Alexa had a solo number, two class numbers, and danced in the grand finale. She is a beautiful dancer and it's so fun to see her talent emerging. Grace danced two numbers with her class and was absolutely adorable! Her teacher is so good about choreographing the dances around her abilities while allowing her to interact with the other girls.

At the end of the program each dancer receives a small trophy, then the teacher awards a great big trophy to the best dancer in each age group. Not just each class, but each age group...and Alexa won it! For the second time in three years, so she was pretty excited.

Happy Birthday Grace!

Grace is 5 years old! It's always so hard for me to see my little girls grow up, and for some reason it's more difficult for me when Grace has a birthday. She was so excited to have a birthday and turn 5, and she's very excited to start kindergarten this fall (I'm glad someone is). She is such a sweet, tender-hearted little girl and tries so hard to make everyone happy. We had a birthday bbq for her, and after cake and ice cream she fell off her bench and smacked the back of her head on the concrete. We all heard an awful "crunch" and thought she may have been hurt very badly, but thankfully she was ok. I took her in the house for some loving and she just cried, "did I do anything wrong? I'm sorry!" Really? I don't think this girl has deliberately done anything wrong in her entire little life.

Cameron and Lorianne Forever

My "little Louie-anne" married her dream man, Cameron Stelter, on May 14th. She was the most beautiful blushing bride and the day was absolutely perfect! (Except for an ill-fitting bridesmaid dress). Whenever one of my sisters gets married or moves away I feel like they're not only leaving my mom and dad, but they're leaving me too! (Since we live next door to my parents). It's hard for me to see them go, but at the same time I am so happy for them. Adelle absolutely would not look at the camera (typical Adelle)...
...so they put her in the middle and she still wouldn't lift her head!

My Handsome Grad

It finally happened! After more than two years Phillip finally graduated with his Master's Degree in School Counseling. He has worked so hard for this degree and passed a grueling national exam, and I am so proud of him! Now to secure a job for next school year....

Update

Yes, I admit it. I am a blog slacker. But hey, in the words of Phillip's dad, "at least I update the honker!" :0) This last month has been an absolute whirlwind so I'll be brief and focus on the highlights:

March 26. ADELLE TURNED TWO!! It makes me so sad when my babies grow up! She is the cutest little thing and definitely plays the part of a two year old. Her vocabulary is expanding everyday and she speaks way too well for her twenty-four little months. She is a fiesty, fiery little thing and I just LOVE it! She takes such good care of her sisters and always makes sure to share her treats with them. I just love her so much and love everyday that I get to be her mommy.

March 31. Grace had a third eye muscle surgery and came through it very well. It always breaks a little piece of my heart when they wheel her away in her little wagon and I always say the most pleading prayers that Heavenly Father will watch over her. Hopefully this will be the last surgery for a very long time.
April 4. EASTER. I just love Easter. I don't know why, maybe it's because I have little girls, but I love dressing everyone up and having a party with my family. The girls all had so much fun searching for eggs and eating way too much candy. I think they eat more junk on this one day each year than I let them during the rest of the year combined! Yea, they went to bed with tummy aches. Adelle was so cute when the egg hunt started because she'd find an egg and say, "here See-see ('Gracie')" and put it in Grace's basket. Then she found out there was chocolate in those eggs and there was no more sharing! April 8. I finally gave in and got my little Adelle's ears pierced. She looks like such a big girl now! She was so brave during the whole thing and I was so proud of her! She shed a few well-deserved tears during the actual piercing, but feels so pretty and loves her new earrings.

April 21. Grace got a new set of wheels! It's time for her to have a mode of "transportation" other than her walker for long distances so we received a brand new wheelchair from Shriner's Hospital (and our insurance company, of course). We call it "Mermaid Green" and she absoolutely LOVES it! And the timing couldn't be better since she isn't able to wear braces and walk for awhile. (She is being fit for new braces because her current ones have given her some major lesions on her ankles)

We've also been working long, hard, and sometimes painful hours building an awesome swingset for the girls. I'll post more about that later when it's all done.