Brecitals and Birthdays

Amanda's long awaited recital took place this past Saturday. She was the "star" of the show, dancing to Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Most of the "routine", if there ever was one, imploded as one of the girls began to cry and three others in front stopped to stare at her. Amanda stuck with it and made up her own moves in the back, happy to be dancing on stage and having her moment.

After, her daddy and cousins gave her flowers.

I didn't verify it, but I think it likely she had the biggest fan club there. She was talking about her "brecital" for weeks leading up to it and she would ask me who was going to be there watching her. It was a time and money sacrifice for everyone to be there and on behalf of Amanda and our family, I say, "thank you"!

These great-grandparents were also there, but didn't make the picture.

Since we had dragged out most of the family anyway, we thought it would be a good chance to celebrate Avery's birthday, too. This was her reaction when Shaun showed her what was setup in our yard.

A bouncy house! A friend of ours loaned it to us for the day and Avery was thrilled!

Actually, all the kids were

Except the big cousins, who had to wait their turn.

In following tradition, I made Avery's cake, a princess cake at her request.

Here she is wearing a new birthday outfit with her cousin Allie. In all she had:

• 5 great-grandparents
• 5 grandparents
• 5 aunts
• 5 uncles
• 9 cousins
• 2 sort of related, but I couldn't tell you how people

What a blessed little lady she is. Thank you, Family for loving her like you do and for taking the time to show her. She's got a big heart and adores each one of you!