Spring Recital

Last Sunday was Josie and Emma's spring dance recital. This year, thanks to a generous gift from a very special family, both Josie and Emma were able to participate in dance, even though their school lost some donations and they were no longer giving out full scholarships.

This was Josie's first year in dance. She was in ballet, and she LOVED it! Her routine was very cute, and the costume made her look like a beautiful little fairy. She was very brave on stage and she did great!

Emma was in her third year of dance. She did ballet and tap. I think she is really improving in both! She is very good at memorizing the choreography, and getting every movement at the right beat. I didn't like her costume as much as years past, but it looked really sharp on stage. :)

The recital itself took for-ev-er this year! I mean, we are talking close to THREE HOURS! No fun. They were having a lot of music problems, and set up. My guess is not enough people volunteered this year. Even though it was a long day, in the end I was very glad to see the girls perform after working so hard all year.

Josie the little fairy. :)

Emma in her ballet costume.

Josie is in the front dancing to "Kiss the Girl" from the Little Mermaid.

Emma is right in the front and center here doing her tap routine.

More AWANA Excitement!

I have been super slow at posting lately, and although it is a couple of weeks late, I didn't want to miss the opportunity to share in something that Josh and I were very excited about.

A couple weeks ago was the AWANA awards night. It was a night to celebrate all the kids have achieved the past year in AWANA.

I know I have mentioned AWANA before, but here is an interesting tidbit for you... Did you know that Lance Latham, one of the founding fathers of New Tribes Mission (the mission organization that Josh and I serve with) is the same man who founded the AWANA ministry?

This awards ceremony is certainly not a big show. We were just proud of how hard Emma and Josie worked at memorizing scripture. I still have Bible verses that come to mind that I learned back when I was in AWANA. Emma had finished her second book in Sparks, and Josie finished her first book in Cubbies!

We enjoyed an evening of fellowship with friends while feasting on hot dogs and jello!

Emma getting a hug from her section leader, and good friend!

Josie with her first book award.

Emma and Josie show off their awards with their buddies Gavin and Brandon.

Spring Choir Performance

Sometimes things go better than you could ever plan. When I went into my surgery, I was told it would be a three to four day recovery. When I came out, they said four to six WEEKS!

This sure put a rift in our plans. One of those plans was a week long trip with the students to WAYUMI and learn what a tribal missionary really looks like. I was SO looking forward to this trip. It was going to be great to see the students reactions, as well as revisit a place that was our home for a year.

When we found out we could not go, we let the teachers know that Emma wasn't going to be missing school for a week as we previously thought. Her teacher said she was glad because she was counting on Emma for the choir performance.

Little did we know how much she was counting on her! Emma was given a solo. Not just a line of a song and seven other kids have one too. She was the only soloist to sing in the performance (except for the opening Star Spangled Banner). She sang the song "Let's go fly a kite" from Mary Poppins, with the choir singing at the chorus. It was so fun! She was also one of a few students selected to play an instrument. :)

Her concert was my first outing since my surgery. I am so glad I made it! Josh was wonderful enough to get pictures for me as I needed to stay seated. He got some great shots!

Emma singing her solo!

Here she is singing with the choir.

Playing the xylophone.

Posing with her music teacher.

Sister Act

A couple weeks ago the students at NTBI had a "No talent night". This is a time where the students do some songs and comedy acts, and is generally the highlight of the spring semester.

This year, my daughters asked if they could be in it. Why not? So, these three brave little girls went on stage in front of a bunch of college students and danced and sang to the "Sisters" song from the movie "White Christmas". It was really cute, and I was proud of them for being so brave!

Here they are preforming.

I think it helped their bravery that their Daddy was the M.C.