Mary Poppins! First Musical in 6 years.

I finally auditioned for a musical after 6 years. The last one I was in was Thouroughly Modern Millie in 2009 when I was pregnant with Emma. I was very nervous to audition and perform again since it had been so long. But Cade was so supportive and believed in me that I did it and i am SO glad I did. It took a whole lot of practice time- two and a half months which the last month was almost every single night. That was 5-6 nights a week that Cade had to clean up dishes, bathe the girls, get all of them in bed by himself. He was SUCH a trooper. I am so grateful he allows me to grow and develop talents and be involved in things I want to do. I love him so much.

The cast of Mary Poppins was so incredible. I am so grateful for the opportunity to work with and perform with such Christ-like people. That was one of the biggest worries of mine before auditioning- who I was going to be working with on a daily basis. Jeremy Showgren (our director) the last night said how this auditioning process was different. He watched every single person at callbacks and watched how they interacted with others and how they would work as a group. He didn't' cast anyone who would be a diva or create a hostile environment. It truly was such a talented, but helpful and loving cast. I am so grateful that my first time back into performing was a good experience with wonderful people!

I will admit that towards the end I was ready for it to be over. Ready to sleep again. Ready to plan family activities again. Ready to see and talk to my husband again! But I tried to live in the moment as much as I could but still keep up on my motherly and wifely duties as much as I could. I hope I can perform again soon- not 6 years from now :).

Me and my fellow statues! It was fun to be a statue in the end- in spite of too much make-up changes that never allowed my face to recover. It was fun :).

Our closing night together, we stayed out at Village Inn until well into the morning. I left at 1:00 am but most people were still hanging out. It was a great way to say goodbye to a great group of people!

I love Josie (Mary Poppins). What a wonderful person, very talented actress/singer/dancer, but beautiful inside and out. I'll miss her!

Green Thumb Fun

I have really learned to enjoy gardening and yard work. I go in spurts where I love it for long periods of time and then I get burned out. But at least the bulk of it needs to happen just every spring and then its just maintenance from then on. This year we planted zucchini, 4 different tomato plants, peppers, green beans, pumpkins and strawberries. Unfortunately, I didn't realize soon enough that the birds were eating all of our strawberries. Next year, we'll build a net and I'm sure we'll get a lot. Two of our pumpkin plants didn't do too well, but the 3rd one makes up for it. There are already some giant yellow pumpkins growing! We're excited for those to carve!

I had so much fun turning the side of our house into something beautiful. A lot of the yards' landscaping was already completed before we moved in which made it so nice not to have to do much. But the north side of our house was just a huge dirt planter with a couple trees on the sides. I planned out in my head what I wanted to do and took all three girls to the nursery with me. Nora was a good little helper, but what helped most of all was the new swing we bought just for her. It was such a life saver. She doesn't care much for it now but the $30 was worth her being in that thing for hours and hours for two weeks long while I landscaped and got our yard and garden all ready.

This was a before picture:

I don't have a fully completed picture but this was about half way through. Now the plants are getting bigger and it looks great.

Swim Lessons and Soccer

Emma and Reese absolutely LOVE swimming lessons!! We did them this year in March. I have loved where we do private lessons because the instructor is so wonderful with the kids and knows how to push them just enough. But we are so far away so I think I may look into somewhere closer this next time we do them. It is now July and they ask me every week when they get to do swim lessons again. I am sad I can't post any of their videos. There is one video in particular that is my favorite. Reese would sometimes refuse to go potty before lessons so Reese would get out of the pool to go on the diving board and would hold her crouch the whole time up there as her little legs would carry run quickly to avoid peeing in her swim suit :). It was so funny!

Emma and Reese got to play soccer on the SAME team this year! I asked Emma if she wanted to play and she said no. But when Reese said she wanted to play Emma perked up and said, "then I want to play!" It was fun having them play together (and made it easier on our schedule for sure :)). Emma got the hang of it this year and started going after the ball and kicking more. She even scored one goal! Reese was such a trooper and loved doing it. She was absolutely adorable- had NO idea what she was doing but kept smiling at us as she ran past. There was always a clump of girls surrounding the ball all over the field and then Reese trailing behind about 20 feet wherever they went. it was so much fun to watch. Neither girl every cried or whined even though they would get kicked and pushed around some. They were great sports!

Nora and Daddy at soccer practice. So cute!

We got a whole lot of rain this season! And it was pretty cold. Daddy put up a tent for us on the really rainy days so we could stay warm and cozy :). Emma and Reese were troopers in the cold weather. I think I complained more than them. They just went out when they were supposed to and kept on going!

At the end of the season we had a soccer party at Coach Chris's in-laws. Good food, pictures, and swimming. Good times! (Notice emma's "Elsa" hand)

First Time Ski Lessons and Sledding in April!

Valentines this year was my turn to plan. We've had a gift card for Sundance Ski resort for almost 2 years now and finally were able to use it! We had an instructor named Chris and he was very patient with us. Cade had been snowboarding once but never skiing. I had been skiing once when I was 12 years old.  We had SUCH a great time. Once our kids are a little older and can see us getting into it. I had always wondered why so many people are obsessed with skiing and/or snowboarding and now I understand a little more ;). I really do not like being cold, but if you go on the right day and wear the right clothing it is such a fun activity. We'll be doing it in the future for sure!

Well, this IS Utah, right?? This winter was AMAZING. I am not a fan of snow. We got one snow storm over Christmas when we were gone and one other small one that we didn't even have to shovel.

But then April came…it snowed a lot one day and the girls were confused because they thought it was supposed to be spring because a couple days before we were in summer clothes and playing at the park. Oh, gotta love Utah! I didn't really feel like gearing up everyone to sled, but I knew by afternoon the snow would probably all be melted. So we got geared up and we had such a great time together! I love playing with my girls!

Easter Fun with Cousins

If my girls could have Easter Egg hunts all year long, they would. We pretty much do them for a whole month :). This year, Emma wanted to have a big hunt with all her friends. So we hand made invites and took them to a bunch of friends. We had a great time! And it was Nora's first egg hunt experience…she liked the eggs but was overjoyed when she discovered candy.

Then the Bleak's invited the family all over for dinner and an Egg Hunt as well. They were going out of town so they celebrated EAster one week early with their boys. The cousins love playing together!

Cute littles :)

Emma Bentley update- Five and a Half

Emma is such a great first child to have! She is always such a great helper and hardly EVER complains when I ask her to do something. As long as she feels appreciated, she usually is up for helping.

Something I love about Emma is that she is such a planner. Every night when I tuck her in bed she says, "Mom, what are we doing tomorrow?" She cannot go to sleep without talking about the next days plans. Emma started planning her birthday party in February (9 months ahead of time).

Emma LOVES making crafts and being creative. Every day she says "Mom, I have a great idea of what we can make today!" She keeps me on my creative toes with making castles, donut shops, and all sorts of rainbows, jelly fish, donuts, and masks.

She is very good to her sisters and wants to be friends with everyone in the world :). I can't believe she will be going to Kindergarten this year! She will be so great- she loves new experiences and meeting new people and new situations that test and try her. Emma is a brave soul and I love everything about her.