Dallin"s 11th Birthday!

Well, for Dallin's Birthday I took him and some of his buddies bowling. Tacey and McCade got to go along by default. This is Dallin bowling. He didn't do too bad.

This is McCade. He obivously had a form all his own.

This is Dallin's friend Matt. Matt had given up and was going for complete fun, not points.

This blur is Tacey. I am not sure why she launched the ball so far away from the lane. *Whatever*

This is the group. we have Ben, McCade, Isaac, Matt, Dallin, Byron & Tacey. A crazy bunch of kids.

Byron is usually a pretty good bowler I guess, but he was having an off day. This was his reaction to finally bowling a spare.

I told Byronit was okay if he bowled badly, they had a playoff game for the football team in just two days, so he was just saving his GOOD luck for then.

I didn't do the 'cake thing' when we took everyone out. I did buy a brownie sundae so they could sing to him after they ate lunch. They looked like a bunch of pirahna!

As with Tacey's friends I made them pose for pictures! This is the 'football guys' plus McCade signalling the point is GOOD!

Cool Dudes!

Even cooler Dudes.

Just hangin', bein' cool.

This is Dallin and his Triple-Fudge with Milk Chocolate Frosting Birthday Cake! He wrote his own name on his cake. All those Scout Blue and Gold Banquets are paying off.

This is the singing and candle blowing!
This is Dallin's Big Birthday Present. His Dad bought it for him. Yes, it is real. No, it does NOT live in his room.

All in all, I think he had a great day!

Danielle

First Pointe Shoes. . .

Well, the time has come, and we OFFICIALLY now hove a Ballerine 'en Pointe' at our house. It is a tricky thing, getting pointe shoes. They need to be snug, but not too snug; they need to be stiff, but not too stiff; your foot needs to be able to move, but not in the wrong ways. First Pointe shoe fittings are VERY important. Tacey had her fitting on Tuesday.

Lots of Shoes to try on! Seriously, I can't think of many things that are potentially MORE painful than a pair of ill-fitting Pointe shoes. . .

Lots of shoes. Good thing they are pink - her FAVORITE color!

We had a nice girl helping. She really took a lot of time with Tacey.

She also mentioned that she could see Tacey was ready, because she didn't wobble when she went up on her toes.

MORE SHOES!!!!!!!!

Her VERY OWN SHOES!

She first put them on at the end of Ballet Class on Thursday (her big 'ol 14th Birthday). She got help from an expert - her very nice, very cute teacher.

She helped her through barre work making sure she had good technique so she didn't get hurt.

Checking those feet, as well as her leg and hip alignments.

More help.

On her own!

It won't be too long before she's 'clomping' all over the dance floor in her shoes. I think she was glad she didn't have to dance more than about 15 minutes in them. They can REALLY hurt if you over-do it at first. It is an exciting, scary and painful time: the rite of passage for any Ballerina!

Danielle

All About Mac

Alright, so I put McCade in Gymnastics this summer. I thought it might be something he would enjoy. Was I ever RIGHT! He took some leesons at the dance studio this summer, and liked it so much we let him continue this fall. Now, I have to say that this IS a dance studio, not a 'real gym'. But, I know lots of former gymnasts that strated out at the local dance studios and recreation centers, then moved to a 'real gym' later. (Myself included). If her really gets into it, and decided it is something he wants to be serious about, we will move him, but in the meantime. . . here is what he has been up to. (Remember he has had like 4 or 5 classes. Don't expect AMAZING things - YET. . . )



Back bends - flexibility runs in the family!

Hand Stands. I have to say, I am a bit confused that they didn't start with headstands. *Whatever*

Forward Rolls


Backward Rolls

Round offs (kinda. . . )

Front Handsprings with his own personal flair.

Back handsprings, also with flair.

More instruction on back handsprings.

and more

Bar work. Swinging while adjusting grip

Strength exercises

Pullovers

Cast aways

Pullover, cast away, dismount.


He's working. He loves it. Keep you posted as he gets better. (His Mom is going to help him. . . WITHOUT a flyswatter. . . )

Danielle

Neither Rain, Nor Sleet, Nor Snow, Nor Hail. . .Shall keep us from PLAYOFFS!

Okay, so I didn't even BOTHER to try and edit these few pictures. There was NO POINT!

Lets just say that Dallin had a football game on Wednesday. It was at Firth. When they play at Firth it is at the High School Football Field. Parents have to sit on the bleachers. Although it is a good view for High School ball, it makes it really hard to see when the kids are shorter - like say. . . 5th grade!

Just take my word for it, he is playing Nose Guard there.

I was hoping it would show up in the other two pictures, but you can't REALLY see as well as I had hoped, BUT it is SNOWING AND RAINING like CCCRRRAAAAAZZZYYYYYY! Poor kids, poor parents, it was just generally icky.

Snow in the lights

Snow on my Jeans


Basically, we just froze. On the GOOD side - THEY WON!!!!! 39-6!!!!! This means we get to go to the PLAYOFFS!!!! (In the rain, and the snow, . . . )

Danielle

Tacey's 14th Birthday!

Well, for Tacey's birthday, I have told her she is too old for parties, so she can invite a few girlfriends to lunch. This usually means there are some serious decision to be made about who is invited. I usually cave and let more girls come than we can actually afford. . .
This year there were 4 friends and a trip to Olive Garden.
First Present. . .

Kaydee. . Abbey & Jessica

Katelyn

The inside of the present

Chocolate present. . .

Randon Olive Garden people singing. They didn't even give her a free dessert. Lame.

Abbey and a breadstick. I swear, and this is not an exaggeration, they went through 9 baskets of bread sticks!

Dessert!

Katelyn hard a hard time keeping it in her mouth!

Photo session outside the restaurant

Carzy girls high on bread sticks!

Yup.

Taking pictures down by the river.

Abbey went running across the grass, ot realizing the water level was high and things were overflowing. It was like 35 degrees, and she slipped in the very wet, very mushy mud.

See?

Posing. . . like models (?)

We were going to spell YMCA, but there were too many of them.

Friends

Jumping friends

Running friends

Galloping friends

Friends around a flag pole, friends on the railroad tracks (no train in sight). The birthday girl!

This is what silly girls high on breadsticks do at stop signs in rural Idaho. Yes, it is a Chinese Firedrill.

She opted for brownies, not cake.

Singing Happy Birthday!

All in all, a good Birthday Week!

Danielle