Meaningful Christmas Performance!

Last Saturday our dance group was in a parade and then had a performance that night at Avalon Aglow...a little Christmas event at the nearby community. Emma loved being in the parade and kept waving and yelling out "Merry Christmas". I got to ride in the truck with her since my girls that I teach were also in the parade.

Then today we had the NEATEST performance. The Children's Center for Cancer and Blood Diseases at the Florida Hospital Cancer Institute in conjunction with Continental Airlines sponsored this event called "Flight to the North Pole". There were hundreds of pediatric cancer patients in Orlando who had a chance to visit Santa's home in the North Pole! The patients, who are being treated at Florida Hospital Cancer Institute, and their families boarded a Continental Airlines plane at the Orlando International Airport and the plane zoomed down the runway and "landed" in a hangar designed like a winter wonderland. Outside they had the fire department spraying their foam so it looked like it was snowing. Once in the hangar, the patients enjoyed an obstacle course bounce house, little train rides, nail painting, ornament and cookie decorating, dancing, and holiday treats to help get these children and their families in the holiday spirit. My favorite was that Sea World had 2 penguins there walking around!!!! How cool is that!? Then the University of Central Florida cheerleaders performed and then our girls got to perform! Only Emma and one other girl from her class were able to make it to the performance and so it was just the two of them performing on the stage and they didn't miss a beat! It was very cute! It was such a fun event to be a part of. Then the local police officers handed out gifts. They even gave gifts to the girls that performed and Emma walked away with 3 Barbies! I felt a little guilty letting her take these gifts and so she and I talked it over and we are going to give away one of them to someone who needs it more then she does. Talk about a cool day!

Emma and Campbell

One of my groups that I teach...Julia, Hope, Taylor, Haley, and Mackenzie

More of the other groups that performed too.

The cute little penguin!!!!

This Santa looked like the REAL DEAL! I think it actually WAS SANTA! Must be vacationing in Florida before the BIG NIGHT!

Meanwhile Matt went to a baptism with Gavin and Luke went to TWO birthday parties! Talk about a busy Saturday!

Parent Watch Day at dance...

Once every other month the parents get to come in and watch dance class...Emma was so excited. I was impressed how much Gavin loved watching her, he sat on my lap almost the whole time :) I was so proud of my little graceful Emma!

Dance Like There's No Tomorrow

Dance Like There's No Tomorrow was the theme of the recital tonight. Everything went great. It was held at the local high school, Timber Creek H.S., and the girls felt like celebrities up on the big stage. I abused my privileges a little and when I got there early I reserved the very front and center seats for Matt, Luke, and my neighbors Liz, Nicholas and Brooke. :) There were only 4 seats there so I even pulled up an extra chair :) Gavin was home with a babysitter.

Emma's dance stole the show. They were so cute out there and the audience laughed and applauded at their cute hip shakes, kick line, and the way they exited the stage in a line holding on to the girl in front of them and then they shuffled backwards while waving. Very cute!

All my dance classes did great. I taught 5 classes this year. I felt so bad for one little girl because she had 102 degree fever the night before and threw up all night and so she was unable to perform in 2 of my numbers! Poor thing! All that work all year and purchasing 2 costumes and you never get to use them!

At the end of the show all the girls get to come out from backstage and sit in the front below the stage and they get to watch the teachers number. It is so fun to have all the girls there yelling for you! It was a great night. AND Matt remembered flowers! :) Afterward we went out to eat with our friends the Lopez family, their little girl Kennedy was also in the recital (you can see pictures of her in Amy's blog. Carver, Luke's little friend and Emma's future husband, said Emma's dance was called "Baby Legs". :)

Watch Emma's Dance Video

They had all kinds of crafts, games, and a t.v. with the live show backstage for the kids. Here's Emma working on her crafts.

Here I am with a few dance girls backstage...I actually don't know the first two but then there is Maddie and Abby Hillis and then on the other side is Kennedy Lopez and one of the girls I taught Arianna. I had to wear a formal dress at the beginning of the show when Lori introduced us. I was proud of my Goodwill find (Goodwill is like the D.I. for all you westerners) it was only $10! I just had to mormonize it :) Now I have a gown to wear on a cruise! HINT HINT MATT! :)

Luke and Nicholas dancing in front of the stage after it was all over! It's contagious!

I think this is how Luke felt after 3 1/2 hours of dance recital!

The moment we've all been waiting for....RECITAL!!!

Today was the dress rehearsal for our recital which takes place tomorrow. It is so fun to teach, but it's even funner (if that is indeed a word) to have a daughter in the recital!!!!! Emma is so darn cute! I don't know which she was more excited about...wearing make up or dancing on the stage. She is in a real make-up phase. I always find her sneaking into my make up and putting it on or she gets chap stick and pretends she is putting on lipstick. She looked so beautiful out on the stage. She's always a count or two behind, but she executes each move with the cutest precision! She's definitely a stand out! I was going to have Matt come get Emma after her class practiced, because they were at the beginning of the evening, and I knew I had to stay till all was said and done. But Emma wanted to stay with me....so we were there from 4:00 this afternoon until 9:30 tonight! What a long day and she was perfect the whole time. Not even one complaint! She loves watching all the girls dance and had many critiques to tell me. She had her little lunch box of snacks that she took around with her and she didn't leave my side the whole time. I would stand in the curtain and dance with my girls in case they forgot or needed help and Emma was right there in the curtain with me. I think she felt special that she had a "backstage pass"! After we were done with everything we stopped and got ice cream on the way home. (Thanks to Matt's sister Julie's cute blog that talked about she and her little girl stopping for ice cream after her recital. )She was so exhausted that I didn't think she would finish her ice cream without falling asleep. She can't wait for tomorrow because she is sure her daddy is going to give her flowers after she dances :) (Hint hint Matt!) LOL So we will report in tomorrow and let you know how the show went! We even got a babysitter for Gavin so that Matt and Luke could watch the whole show! Tune in next time for the play by play!

Emma's class is dancing to Baby Face and they are going to steal the show because they are so darn cute in their little tutu's

They even do a cute little kick line in their dance! (I don't think I could use the word cute enough!)

Class pictures. Back row from left to right: Ellie, Holland Hope, oops forgot her name, Emma, Olivia, Chapel. Bottom row from left to right: Erin, Isabella, Abby, Victoria, Arianna.

Exhausted in the dressing room after a long day!

Nothing like ice cream!


I think I can, I think I can! (She is falling asleep with every bite!)