Sunday, November 10, 2019

What May Looked Like

Before the recital, Miss Shelley had a lock in
with the company girls to perfect some of their dances.
And to play Just Dance, bond, and stay up way too late.

Since Michael is already living in Arkansas,
Rosie and Christian got to stay the night with us.

They're so fun.

They performed for me in the morning.

It was a little late,
but we finally had Whit's birthday party.

We decided to have Becca Dudley
come do a paint party.

We weren't very clear with our invitations,
so poor Skyler missed out.
But these four girls had A BLAST.

Becca did a fabulous job guiding them.

Voila!
So pretty!



Belated birthday girl

I thought Gerbera daisies were supposed to be annuals,
but mine popped back up this year! Love them!


THE most gorgeous picture of Whit.
Doesn't she look like a professional?
Major props to the talented Toni Walker for capturing this.



What happens when Shelley and I clean
up post-recital. Watch out!
Dolly surfing!

Even though bouldering season through USAC
is over, a local gym called RockBox hosted a
non-sanctioned bouldering comp.
We had never been to that gym.
It was awesome.
Caroline competed in the youth division.
It was for all kids 13 and younger.

She worked so hard!

AND she enjoyed herself, too.

She ended up WINNING the youth division.
What??? She beat all the thirteen year olds?
So proud of her.

The first place prize was FIFTY DOLLARS.
Sheesh! She's ready for more comps with cash prizes!

Andrew the photobomber.

Mother's Day

Pilot had a musical!
Caroline tried out and got one of the speaking roles,
Green Beard, the hippie pirate.
She was the funniest character.
She did a great job and her lines
got the most laughs from the audience.

A few pics from the performance








And a couple of video clips.
So cute.
C often says she has stage fright and doesn't like the spotlight.
Glad she overcame those hesitations and tried out.
She did great!

One of our favorite cheezy lines.



May is Spring Sing at Penn Griffin.


They did their usual gorgeous, formal songs.

Then had a brief intermission,
costume changes,
and performed a Disney medley.

So fun.



No video allowed, so you'll have to take my word for it.

Stacey and I played in a 4.0 league together.
We mostly got our butts kicked,
but actually won our last match together,
when we were twinners. Ha!

We had to play our volleyball tournament with ONLY
FOUR PLAYERS!!! Ugh. We took second place out
of four teams in our league. Not bad!

The company girls had a farewell dinner 
with Miss Shelley before she moved. I 
didn't get a group photo, but got this fun one
of Miss Whit outside the restaurant. :)

Date night at the Grasshoppers game!
Love dating this guy.

Senior band cookout.


Care Bear and I got to attend an awards ceremony
at Weaver where B was recognized for participating
in Skills USA.

Final band concert.
B is such a talented musician!
I'm glad he hung in there through all four years,
even though he never really adopted the role
of "Band Nerd."

He received the 2019 Director's Award
from Mr. Oldham. It is presented to an
outstanding senior each year. Way to go, B!

Whitney went to get in the shower one night
and found A LIZARD in the tub!!!
Andrew was out of town, so I made B take care of it.

I was FREAKING OUT!
So was Whit.
What am I going to do when B moves out???

It's getting real!
B got to don his cap and gown for senior award ceremony.

He was recognized for being and AP Scholar. Woot!

Looking good!

Lunch with Bea in Winston

One of the cool Greensboro traditions is that the seniors
get to go back to their elementary school and 
parade through the hall in their caps and gowns.
C was one of the line leaders.

Perk of having a teacher friend at Pilot:
Pics of B in the hall.

These two are way too cute together.
Love, love, love.

We're getting a new roof!
After years of trying to get insurance to cover it,
we finally bit the bullet and are paying for it ourselves.
It was original to the house, so lasted 25+ years.
This is the BEFORE shot.

For Mother's Day,
Andrew took me on an overnight getaway
to Columbia, SC.
It was one of THE BEST getaways
we've ever had. We had a blast.

Stopped at Dave and Buster's in Columbia on our way down.

We met Marianne and Patrick at the temple
and got to do sealings together on Fri night.

Played games at their house afterward.


We went back on Sat morning to do a temple session.

Stopped at an art museum in downtown Columbia.
Chihuly!
Awesome!

I loved these Chinese perfume bottles.

Pop Art

Another awesome chandelier.

It was a beautiful spring day.



Stacey used to live in Columbia and recommended this place.

It was FABULOUS.
I totally want to go back.

We ended up stopping at two different D&B's in Charlotte.

Did a little coin pushing

Won lots of bonuses.

AND stopped at a FOURTH D&B on the way home.
My kind of getaway!
We have been stocking up on Amazon FireTV sticks
and selling them on eBay. It's an awesome side hustle!

Memorial Day Weekend
Lake day with the Pool's.
So fun!


Yee-haw!

For Care Bear's birthday,
I met her at school for lunch.
Not sure why that face...

C and I got our annual birthday pedi's. Yes!

The DURING pic.

Celebrated Care Bear's birthday!

She got a Mirror of Erised

Cute sloth notes from Gma S

HP Lego set from Aunt Destiny and fam

From Mom and Dad--a big magic set.
She loves magic and is pretty good at it.
Hoping this will help her get better.

She wanted STEAK for dinner.
We went to Texas Roadhouse. 
She loved it.

She got to ride the saddle for her birthday!
Another Yee-haw!

Had one last good-bye dinner with our church friends for Shelley.
I guess that means she's really leaving. :(

Not only is B graduating high school,
C is graduating from elementary school.
I helped prepare all their little diplomas...
(That were forgotten at graduation time...)

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Recital 2019: Seasons of Change

When we found out the Aagards were moving, not only were our hearts broken because some of our best friends would be leaving us, but that also meant that the dance studio where Whitney has spent years of her life dancing would be closing down. So hard. That made the 2019 recital very emotional. Whitney danced her heart out. It was a fabulous last show for the studio.

In the videos, if you look for the tallest brunette, you'll see Miss Whit. She is such a beautiful dancer and it has been a joy to see her growth over the years as Miss Shelley has taught her.

The recital theme was Seasons of Change, which Shelley had actually already chosen before they knew they were moving, but turned out to be the perfect theme. It included dances that represented all seasons of the year.

Jingle Bell Rock (Company)
The girls first performed this at halftime of a 
UNCG basketball game near Christmas.



That smile! I love it!


Reet, Petite, and Gone (Tap)


These gold sparkly costumes were fun!





Weightless (Contemporary)

I loved these costumes, too! So pretty.




This is part of a "Mary Poppins Returns" Medley (Company)



Those legs!




Dance of the Cygnets (Pointe Variations)
The moms got to learn part of this during
dance-with-your-dancer week.
It is RIDICULOUSLY difficult.



"Four Seasons" ballet excerpt.



I love all these colors together! So pretty!

And I somehow didn't get any video 
of their "Cinderella" ballet excerpt

Don't these costumes look pretty
with those blue background?



Since this was To The Pointe Ballet Studio's last recital,
and because many of these girls had danced together
for YEARS and developed very close friendships,
some parents put together a slideshow to
celebrate our time together.
Tear jerker!
(For most normal people...
Michael couldn't wait to see if it would make me cry.)
[I DID tear up, but since there was nothing 
running down my cheek, my friends decided
I REALLY am a robot...]

There were boxes of tissues taped to the walls backstage.

They came in very handy.

AND THEN,
the Ballet 5 class had to go out on the stage
and perform ONE last number AFTER watching that! 
We did two senior recitals.
And they were WRECKS the first time.
Like audible sobs coming from backstage.
They held it together a little better the second time.
Good-byes are SO hard!!!
"Seasons of Love" (Ballet)









Curtain call


Final good-byes from the company girls.
Many, many tears from the non-robot dancers.

Company girls with Miss Shelley

Brandon had to work and missed the recital,
but the rest of us cheered extra loud.


Whit and Ember

Piper, Caroline, Cora

Mia and Caroline

Lakefield YW

Caroline, Ally, Shae, Caroline

Beautiful Miss Whit

Miss Shelley and Miss Whit
 Our family will forever be indebted to
Shelley and the dance foundation she has given Whit.
It has been such a blessing and will continue to bless 
her life and all of our lives.
Oh, how we will miss her and her family.