Conference weekend seems to get better and better each year. My kids are so well behaved and most of them even enjoy listening to the talks that are given. It is a wonderful time to sit together and feel inspired.
We still keep busy with our hands, but I think that helps us focus better. Look at Daisy trying to thread her needle. Serious business.
Everyone stays busy.
And the great thing is that we get to reread them after. Our wall of conference did very well this year. Everyone read all the talks again except June and Ivory. Pearl even read them all twice. Way to go kiddo. She got her own box of See's candy as a reward.
The rest of us went to see a movie as our prize.
Conference holds a special place in my heart. Even with the spiritual focus, there is still time for fun. Check out these fun feet designs Daisy gave Dad while we listened.
Six more months until we all meet again in our living room. One of these days, I want to take the kids to the Conference Center, but that is for the future.
Once upon a time, Paint Nite tickets were on sale. June thought this would be a great opportunity to go to a fun event with her friends. So we got three tickets.
We kept an eye on the paintings, but nothing ever seemed to fit. Wrong night, wrong painting, wrong location. Eventually, it got close to our tickets expiring, so I told June that she just had to choose a night.
She chose a night with a sweet little Bonsai tree, but sadly, her friends could not attend that night. Well, Robyn is always down for some painting and so am I, but it seemed silly for three of us to paint the same thing, so instead, I asked Camie if she'd like to go again. She had such a fun time with Robyn last time.
She was totally on board, so one evening I sent the three young ladies on their way to paint the night away. Bless their souls for taking pictures too. Well, actually I had to bring Robyn straight from work, so I took one picture as I left the three to work on their masterpieces. They were in the basement of Dragon's Keep. Strange location, but it works.
This picture started like many others, with a gray background.
And then turning it into some misty mountains in the background. (Can I say misty mountains? Is that copyrighted?)
It is important to stop and take a selfie to remember the good times.
I wonder who took this picture for them?
After mountains a large black outcropping formed with grass growing along it, and of course, the star herself...the bonsai.
Sometimes you have to stand back to tell if you are finished.
Looks good everyone. These are some of the best bonsais I have ever seen. And now two of them hang proudly in my house. (The picture was a bit blown out on the left and June's mountains have disappeared.)
Paint nite never gets boring. I like that they are different but similar. They each have their own style and flare.
It looks like Robyn uses herself as a palette. She is like a green zebra.
This year with June on ballroom team has been an adventure. I'm so glad that she did it. Next year she will switch over to Youth Symphony. She was just accepted to their highest orchestra. But I think she needed to dance to make sure that this wasn't where her heart wanted to be. So even if this wasn't the sweet spot, it was still an amazing experience. June learned a lot and had a great time. There were two end of year concerts. One was all ballroom. And the other was multiple dance groups with ballroom team having just a few numbers. I have taken all the songs I liked and recorded and put them in this post. It is actually quite a colorful post since each song seems to have a different color background. Enjoy this rainbow of dance.
One of the things June will not miss is all the makeup. It is quite the process to get dolled up for a show. She looks adorable, but I think she feels like an actual pancake is on her face.
I think the best way to go about this is to put pictures from each dance followed by the video. Robyn took pictures as well, so I was able to scavenge through both sets (mine and hers) and pick the best. I apologize for the videos in advance. They like to go out of focus and then you have to tap on them to refocus them, but sometimes it takes a while. But a blurry video is better than no video. Let's start with the Silvery Waltz. This dance was very pretty and was one of June's favorites.
This next dance was June's least favorite. In fact, she told me she didn't want it recorded. It seems like a request I could grant. So here are just a few pictures.
There are definitely some outfits/costumes that you wonder why they purchased in the first place. These next dresses are quite floofy and a little silly, but the dance is cute. I like the roll in the middle when the boys jump over Isaac.
This next dance was a bit more contemporary. June liked it and I think it is a pretty dance.
This one seems a little ragtime and a little jive. It is fun and keeps the kids hopping.
The Cha Cha is sweet. The picture of Charlie dipping June may be my favorite. Her legs look so toned. That is what dance does for you.
During the performance, there is usually a screen on the side that displays the title of each number. To give the dancers time to change, they put up spotlights of the kids between dance numbers for the audience to read. Here is a little info about June. It might be hard to read, so this is what it says:
June Cazier
* Sophomore
* Fun Fact: I dislike the flavor of mint
* Why do you love dance? "I love dance because of how it makes me feel. I feel free, it's a way for me to let loose, breathe, and have fun."
During the bows at the end, they had each group come out by school year. These are the sophomores. Good job you guys!
Final bows from everyone for the night. Ballroom team and the ballroom class at the high school.
It was a really fun night and it was great that everyone got to come watch...even JR.
The other concert only I could attend. I'm glad I went because I had missed recording one of the numbers from the other concert and they repeated that one. But first, this was a song they choreographed at the last minute. It took them a bit to get it down, but I like it, and JB and June do great on the lift.
Here is the one I missed. Gotta love ABBA!
What a great team. I'm sure there are things that June will really miss about this year. There is no replacement for this experience and I'm so glad she chose to do it.
Then we celebrated and went out for ice cream. Yes, my ice cream is black. It was a Madagascar Black Vanilla and very tasty. It is NOT black licorice. That should not be an ice cream flavor. Ever.
Does this post make you want to get up and dance? It makes me want to take a dance class with Tyler. But that is probably another year...
