Vegas!!

What a fun weekend and awesome competition! My mom came with us and we had such a great time. We didn't have to stop much on the way down so it was a quick and easy drive. The dance competition was originally scheduled to be held at The Orleans hotel, but unfortunately it was moved about 25 min away from the hotel. Most of the dancers still stayed at The Orleans so it was fun to be able to hang out and play with so many friends and moms. Our studio danced on Saturday afternoon/evening, and Sunday morning. So that meant we had lots of time to play on Thursday evening and all day Friday. The pics are all out of order but some of the highlights:

-Swimming lots and lots! 

-We went to the roller coaster at New York New York (Brooklyn rode it with her team and their moms. I couldn't ride bc of my back so I stayed with the younger kids and waited while they rode it). 

-After the roller coaster we walked the strip, had dinner, and the girls all played and played everywhere we went...and yes Britney was picked up and thrown around constantly. 

-TGIFridays is my favorite restaurant and unfortunately all of them went out of business in Utah. Luckily our hotel has one in the lobby so of course we had to eat there! 

-Britney was starting to panic before she went on for her solo.  One of the other dancers, Emma, is my go to girl when I need someone to help one of my girls calm down. She has a special place in my heart for a few small but impactful moments she's had in my girls' lives. Emma went above and beyond what I had hoped for when I asked her to help Britney before her solo. She sat her down, talked to her, and go her all happy and ready to go on. Thank you Emma! Britney did a great job!

 

Cute Puppy

Like most kids my kids absolutely love animals and will love on them every chance they get. A neighbor was out walking this puppy before he sold it and my girls went nuts over it. And of course Britney had to carry it around even though I think it weighed as much as she does!

 

NRG Dance Comp

We have never been to this convention before, but we hope we get to go again! Brooklyn and Brynlee went to this one and they loved it! Such fun teachers and the energy throughout the whole weekend was amazing. 

 

Baby Mia

Jacob and Fernanda welcomed a little girl into their family! Fernanda has been wanting a little girl and after having 2 boys she finally got her! Baby Mia is loved on by everyone in Josh's family bc Britney was the last girl born in the family and that was 6 yrs ago! Josh and I were sick when she was born so it took a few weeks but we finally made it over for a visit! My girls are totally in love with her.

 

Student of the Month

It doesn't surprise me at all that Brayden was chosen to be the student of the month. He is such a good kid and liked by anyone and everyone. He works hard and is respectful to his teachers which makes him the perfect candidate for this award. It was a bummer that he received this during covid when parents aren't allowed into the building so I wasn't able to watch him receive the award, but I happened to be in the school to check it out for a potential dance recital location and as I was walking out I noticed his picture in the display case! I was such a proud mom and glad I was able to snap a couple of pics. They had asked me to send in a few things that they could read when they presented him the award. I posted wha I sent in below.

There aren’t enough good words out there to describe how we feel about Brayden. He is as close to a perfect child as we could get and we would clone him if we knew how. 

Brayden is like most boys as he loves sports and video games. We tried to get him another brother, but we weren’t successful at that so he has 4 younger sisters. That means there is a lot of dancing and emotional drama in our house. But Brayden handles it great and he will be an awesome husband one day bc of how well he is learning to handle them.

Brayden started dribbling a basketball when he was 18 months old. He still loves basketball and shoots hoops every chance he gets! He may not be the biggest kid on the court but he has always been the fastest and never runs out of steam. 

Brayden has had one set of stitches and a concussion where he lost 3 months of his memory. His favorite place to eat is Teriyaki Grill. He has 2 leopard geckos named Leo and Rex. He loves going to our cabin where he shoots his bow and arrows, airsoft guns, and he loves hiking to the pond to go fishing. 

Brayden is friends with everyone and has a very kind heart. His sisters adore him and his mom and dad couldn’t be more proud of him and who he is becoming. We love you Brayden! Congrats on this award!

 

Braces

Brayden was supposed to get braces last summer but with covid and finishing our house and moving we ended up waiting a little bit til life wasn't so crazy. We finally got around to it and here he is! He looks great and although his mouth is sore he is a good sport and is glad to finally get going on it. He will hopefully only have to have them for 18 months!

 

Releve Dance Comp

Another weekend another dance competition. Luckily this competition was closer to home in Herriman. And with it being Brielle's bday it was a busy weekend! And these girls killed it this weekend with Brielle having a HUGE moment when she won her division and received a trophy bigger than her! We couldn't believe it! She did such a good job and we are so proud of her and also Britney who did great on her solo too. All 4 girls did great with their teams and it was a fun competition.

 

Brielle's 8th Birthday

Brielle was very concerned having her birthday on the same day as a dance competition, but it turned out to be a great (and very busy) day! I spent the morning shopping for the rest of her presents. She wanted Teriyaki Grill for lunch, but there isn't one very close to us so we got Zao instead. It wasn't quite the same but it still worked. I took Brielle to go pick out more fish for her fishtanks then we rushed home to get Brooklyn and Brynlee ready to compete their solos. They managed to fit in some dodge ball games in the gym which Brielle loved. We rushed out to Herriman to watch Brynlee first, then rushed to Riverton to go bowling. It worked out great and the bowling alley were awesome and worked with me so the kids could be on 2 lanes and be able to bowl 2 games in the 45 min we had. We rushed back to the competition to watch Brooklyn compete her solo. Brielle picked Leatherbys for dinner which we all thoroughly enjoyed. We let the kids get more ice cream than they could ever eat, but they were in heaven. We headed home so Brielle could open her presents, then the girls headed back to the competition for awards. Phew. What a day!!