Dog days of summer

Seriously? We wait for months and months for the sun to come out and when it finally does, it busts out an 80+ degree day. It was a bit much for this little girl :) But I thoroughly enjoyed my hot, sweaty day :)

ZUMBA BIRTHDAY CHICKEN

Monday night Zumba class was AWESOME! Don't get me wrong, it's always awesome, but Monday was EXTRA awesome! Tammy and Shanna took off outside with about 2 songs left and came back in a couple minutes later with cupcakes, a GIANT monkey balloon, and SHANNA as the CHICKEN!!! Everyone was stoked. She even did a toe touch for us. I'm so lucky to have such a thoughtful sister! She not only comes to EVERY one of my classes, but she went out of her way to make my birthday one that I'll remember. And what better way to end a vigorous workout than with a giant cupcake!?

29 and holding.

That's what my mom used to tell people when they wanted to know how old she was. I remember thinking, "29!!?? But that's so old!! Why wouldn't you pick a younger age!!!??" And now, I'M 29....and holding ;) I don't feel old, I have my sisters to thank for that. Yep, they'll always be 8 & 6 years older than me!! We went to Ashley & Ryan's for my birthday & Tanner's birthday, his is the 23rd. We had fajita's and lots of other yummies. We started the evening with Ashley doing my hair and giving Nixon ANOTHER haircut (he's now had 3). It was a fun evening and I feel blessed to have such a great family to spend my birthday with.

Nixon LOVES his ball!

This little boy is obsessed with balls. He has a little nerf soccer ball that he dribbles around and around and around the house all day. He likes to pick it up, throw it, and chase after it. Whenever he gets bored or cranky, just say the word, "ball". He'll perk right up and look for it. It's awesome. I've taken half a dozen videos of him dribbling, but this one was cute because he says "uh oh". Maybe not as much dribbling. (youtube video "Nixon plays with his ball"

My precious little Kendyl

She's also my naughty little Kendyl, but in these pictures, precious.

I'm going to Prom!!!

We took our Miamaids to a bridal shop last week to try on modest prom dresses. I wanted to try one on too of course! It was so fun to have a gown on! I haven't dressed up since my wedding. Sad. Anyway, here I am with a few of my cute Miamaids :)

Mom & Dad RETIRE from CHOIR!!!

Today was bittersweet. My wonderful, talented parents have been in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir since April of 2002. Since 60 years old is the cut off for the choir, Mom and Dad had to say their goodbyes today. It's been so wonderful watching and listening to them sing with the choir for all these years. What a blessing it's been to them and everyone who's had the blessing of hearing this choir perform. They've sung with Sissel, David Archuleta, Natalie Cole, Audra McDonald, the King's Singers and more. They've rubbed shoulders with many influential people and they've traveled the country on tour many times. It's been a VERY busy journey for them. They've made over 15 CD's, performed at over 20 General Conferences, Sung in "Music and the Spoken Word" every Sunday morning and have practiced every Thursday night, and many Tuesday nights during their time in the choir. I know they'll be sad to let go of such a HUGE part of their lives. But I know my parents, and somehow, all the time they're about to free up will quickly get filled with other busy, wonderful things. Thank you for your amazing examples Mom & Dad. We are SOOO proud of you!

Here they are saying goodbye to good friends, and standing up as they're announced as "the retiring choir members". I could see them staring at eachother all teary eyed. Yes, we were all crying too.





Here's the choir singing.




We sat on the second rown and the prophet was RIGHT in front of us, just staring down at everybody. Nixon was quite the ham, dancing when the choir would sing and celebrating every time people would clap. I saw President Monson staring at him and laughing a couple times. Here are my parents being honored by Mac Wilburg while he spoke about them each for a few minutes. There were 23 people retiring today, so it took quite a while for each person to be aknowledged.





They were given a beautiful plaque and had their picture taken with Mac Christensen, President Monson, and Mac Wilburg. There's also a picture of the retiring choir members and the current choir members singing, "God Be with You til we Meet Again" to eachother. Another tear jerking moment.





Here they are, high-fiving all their fans ;)



We took lots of family pictures, of course.





And the grandkids gave Grandma and Grandpa flowers, and a BIG present! This was a symbolic present that has been being passed around since 2007. Tammy scored this plate at a garage sale, and Bryce snuck it onto our mantle when we were out of town. The back said, "No Give Backs". We then snuck the plate into Holly's house, and it's been circling the family ever since. It's a Mormon Tabernacle Choir plate...and it's tacky (I'm sure you can imagine ;) ). Anyway, this plate was FINALLY gifted back to the people who REALLY need it. They both died laughing. We've asked them to proudly display the plate in their home.





Here are a couple SHAKY videos I took. Nixon was on my lap. sorry. (youtube videos MAH01308, Choir Retirement)