end of the year recital

This year the studio did something a little bit different. Some of the older girls did a specialty number to a REALLY fun Alice in Wonderland song. The choreography was amazing and they had a blast performing it. Yes, we have paid thousands of dollars so that my daughter can dance on top of a table.

Bug's team did a great job this year. She has really grown up a lot this year!

H loves her tap showteam. They took high point in competition

Bug doing Hip Hop

T doing her Hip hop

T lyrical

h doing Hip hop

All of the girls going into High school got special recognition

Bug and her solo choreographer Tara

E is such a good sport, coming to all of their performances!

At the end of the year picnic and awards following the recital with best bud Lexi

H goofing off

Calico Ghost Town

On our way home from Disneyland, we stopped at Calico Ghost town, in the Mojave Desert. Let me preface this by telling you that when I was a freshman in high school, I went with my dad and brother Dave to Death Valley on a jeep trip for spring break with a bunch of my dad's friends. We had a blast, and one of the nights slept in a real ghost town. We had to 4-wheel into, no road coming in or out. Sagebrush literally rolled through the small town of a just a few buildings that were left and we pitched our tents in the middle of town. SCARY ghost stories were the order of the night, and I still can't think about it without the hairs on the back of my neck standing up and goosebumps on my arms...it was a BLAST! I thought it was high time my girls had a good ghost town experience......... WRONG! This was Hollywoods version of a ghost town. There were gift shops and PAVED roads for criminy. The girls loved it, but I left a bitter and disappointed woman. see....paved road. For shame.

Chinese bath tub...hilarious just thinking about it!

The only ghost we saw. Not very spinetingling or hair-raising, but whatev.

Panning for gold...that was pretty fun!

Last of the Disney pics

The shirt says it all... I don't know why he wouldn't let me buy it for him...I'm sure the guys at the refinery wouldn't have given him too hard of a time for wearing it!!!! Grandma and some of the gang on the last day

We took the girls to House of Blues for dinner one night...this is a KID'S Size hot dog. And yes, my dainty child devoured it all.

Finally got our family picture with Mickey!

Ummmm, yes, my family would be the ones with the morbid sense of humor at Disneyland. And yes, they did hop the fence to do this.

SO glad Dan made it for the last few days of our vacation!

Bug had a little mishap and got to visit the First Aid Building on Main Street. She got the coveted Nurse Minnie sticker, which you can ONLY get from them...or on e-bay.

This is a classic picture of two VERY sad girls who just found out that they are too short to go on the Maliboomer, pictured below.

Maliboomer! Any ride that needs a puke shield is automatically awesome in our book...

About halfway thru the week, H had a tough time of it with too much strain on her knee. It was swollen to twice it's normal size and she was in tears by about halfway through the day. We ended up renting a wheelchair for her...best decision EVER! by the end of the night she had a sister and cousin on her lap asleep and all of our bags...oh, and she felt better too.

Bippity Boppity Boutique

This was the first Disneyland trip where the older girls were old enough to take off on their own. For the first few days it was just me and Bug...what fun!!! She got a LITTLE spoiled...I kept telling the older girls if they would just hang out with mom they would get some of that lovin also, but they found it too exciting to be free. The second day, I took Bug and her cousin to the boutique in Sleeping Beauty's castle andt hey got their hair done. My cousin's son Robbie also got "duded up". Bug thought the place was so cool that she said they should have renamed it Bippity Boppity BACON (bacon is very beloved in our house) Well, the other girls were so jealous that they had to go back that afternoon and get done also... see Dan, this is what happens when you work instead of VAY-CAY, you miss out on extreme hair days

They were quite the pair, and loved strutting around the park together!

Sister trip to Disneyland

Months and months ago, grandma planned a trip for everyone to meet at Disneyland. Unfortunately, due to work, and other unforseen issues, only half of the family was able to make it. Grandma, and the three girls, with our families. Dan couldn't fly out until halfway thru the vacation,so the first few days of the trip it was just me and the girls.
We stayed at our timeshare, that overlooked the two parks, and we had perfect views of the fireworks from our balconies! Best part? While we were laying by the pool, it was snowing in UT!!!
Here are the cousins who made it Our own fairy godmother!!!! Thanks for the great trip mom!

Working the hat

I can NOT ride this ride....Bleh

workin the vay-cay look

hangin with the cousins!!!!!

We had a great BBQ with our Davis cousins. We love them to death, and don't get to see them nearly enough! We spent all of Sunday BBQing and relaxing by the pool, watching movies and gossiping about Eclipse while munching! This is Eric's wife Yvette, and her daughter Angelique. T and Angelique decided to watch Step Up 2 instead of swimming...smart girls! We haven't seen them in a few years, and it was a blast to reconnect!

We could barely get the kids out of the pool to eat!

Mom and Uncle Keith...Her "baby" brother!

Bug swam laps for what seemed like hours...of course it didn't hurt to know that while we were doing this it was snowing in Utah!

The cousin on the stairway shot...we have to get this picture everytime we visit..tradition!!!

Juliet....DARLING! I wanted to steal her and bring her home. My cousin did a culinary internship to Italy, and stayed in the city where Romeo and Juliet was based.

Robbie! He decided that E was the girl for him and followed her around all week. They were so funny to watch!

Yellow ducks sure bring out the inner child in some people

Chillaxing in the spa

Chris & Pitts

The sign of a REALLY good meal! Kris and Blain took us to our favorite BBQ place, Chris & Pitts in Anehiem. LOTS of Food, REEAAALLLLY Cheap. And any restaurant that gives you a warm wet cloth after? perfect!

H and her favorite "twin cousin" , She surprised him by coming on vacation, he thought she was staying home for school. They were inseperable!

Guess which one is the meat-eater in the family?!!!! Yes, there were some meat sweats going on!!!!