Busy Last Day of November

On November 30, 2012, I had a lot going on with drill and my dance class.  The drill team had two performances--a girls game at 5 p.m. and a boys game at 7 p.m.  My dance 1 class also had a performance in the dance company Christmas concert that started at 7 p.m. in the auditorium.  This was going to make for an interesting night of running back and forth!

 

The drill team performed their military routine for the first time at halftime of the girls basketball game.  Here are some pics from that performance:

 Shalee Hiskey - I love her intense face!

 Brittney Peterson - this part makes my knees hurt! :)

 Jamie Topham - she is always very sharp in this routine!

 We can't do headstands anymore, so this is our alternative--we call it the teeter totter.

 Sharp and intense!

 With a little smile here and there.

 End pose!  It went well for our first time.

 

After the performance, I went over to the dance studio to help my Dance 1 class prepare for their performance.  I taught them an African or tribal themed routine to the music "I Believe".  I had heard the song while watching the movie "Mirror, Mirror".  I liked the beat and the rhythms and thought it would be something different to use for my class.

 Here is my class--I have one boy in the class.  We borrowed these tops from the drill team and we painted our faces too!

 We had to do a fun/crazy pose!  I thought they performed it well and I hope they had fun.  They will perform it again at the Parent's Night show in January.

 

Right after their performance, I ran back over to the gym to help drill team prepare for their second performance.  They were performing our dance routine for the boys game.  Our new costumes needed a little tweaking.  I felt they were too low in the neckline and some of the moves in the choreography pulled the costume down in the front.  So, we had to add a little bit to the neckline and take the back strap in a bit so it would hold up better.

 

So they are wearing the dance costume from two years ago in these pictures.  This costume looked great with the routine too.  Our new costumes are actually purple and black too!

 Four of the girls in their beginning position.

 Haylie Nelson, Jamie Topham, and Shalee Hiskey.

 Melissa lifting Jamie Topham.

 Shalee Hiskey

Melissa Durtschi

 

Their performance went well too!  Our dance music is called "Kill of the Night".  A different style for us, but it is really fun!  I really like all of our routines this year and I'm excited to see how they do at competition!

Basketball Season Begins

After Thanksgiving Break, we came back and had three basketball games that week and my dance 1 class had a concert. 

 

The first game was on Tuesday, November 27.  It was a girls game and we performed our kick routine.  This year our music is "Topsy Turvy" from the Hunchback of Notre Dame.  Our costumes are French themed.  I love kick routines, so I was excited to have this be one of the categories this year.

 Laney Melton, she starts our routine off with a front walk over and then an aerial.

 Beautiful kicks!

 I love their facial expressions in this pic!

 Madeline and Melissa, about to do their partner cartwheel.

 I love our costumes too!  The black berets we borrowed from Payson.:)

 Jourdyn Reid - love her showmanship too!

 Looking good!

 Jamie Topham - I also like our rhinestone fishnet tights.

Emily, Jourdyn, and Brittney in their end pose.

 

It was our first performance and it went well!  Hopefully we will do well when we compete with it.

Jackson's Mission Farewell

My nephew Jackson Roper has been called on a mission.  He is going to Tijuana, Mexico.  This is a pic of their family at Thanksgiving.  It was the last big family gathering for Jackson--his last Thanksgiving before his mission.

Later that weekend, on Sunday, November 24, 2012, was Jackson's farewell.  It was a 9 a.m., which was an early Sunday morning for us, since we are used to 1 p.m. church.  But we made it.   Jackson's talk was very nice.  He will be an awesome missionary! 

After the meeting, we went over to Amy and Jason's house to help them get ready for the get together at their house.  They were having a "taco bar" since Jackson is going to Tijuana, Mexico.  Amy and Jason had all of the set up done, we just helped them get the food out.

They transformed their basement into a big party hall.  It worked out nice because their was a "play area" for the kids.  (It's where they keep all of their toys the boys don't play with anymore)

 Me, sitting with Cheri and Donna.

 My dad, mom, Aunt Nancy, Vivian, and her daughter.

 More family and friends of Jackson.

 Kendrick, having a ball playing with the toys.

 Cheri's daughter Alex--I can't believe she is all grown up!  I remember when she was little and we dropped her off at her cousin's house while we went dancing.

 Amy went to a lot of work making it look great.  This is the cupcake tower that was filled with delicious cupcakes that Amy made.  They had a cute little tag stuck in them that looked just like the name tags that missionaries wear. Kendrick loved all the treats!

 I love the big poster they had of Jackson.

 Yep, Kendrick loved all of the treats!

 He also loved playing with a yellow school bus--you can see it in his hands.  He tried to take it with him.  I think Santa will have to bring him one of his own!

 Pic of the Roper Family.

 Scott, Kendrick, Me, and Jackson.

I'm glad we were able to be there and share in the festivities.  Jackson will go into the MTC on Wednesday, November 28.  Good luck Jackson!  We'll keep you in our prayers.

Thanksgiving 2012

For Thanksgiving this year we went down to my parent's house in Levan.  My mom hosted Thanksgiving dinner for all of her side of the family.  I took a few pictures of Kendrick just before we left for Levan.

 I found this shirt at Old Navy, and if you know me, I like festive things!  So of course I got it for Kendrick to wear on Thanksgiving.

 He was being a "little turkey" himself when I was trying to take a picture of him. 

This is his third Thanksgiving.  Three years ago, Thanksgiving was the first family event we took him to.  We kept him up in one of the bedrooms at my mom's house.  We had to be careful since he had been sick and because of RSV.

 

Dinner was delicious as always!  I especially loved the sweet potato dish that my sister Emilee made.  It was so good!  It had a coconut topping on top of it.  I loved it!  It tasted more like a dessert, but it was the best!

 

I need to be better about taking pictures of the family each year at family events.  We did take a quick picture of our grand kids.  Here is Emmalee and Jakob--Kaycee and Jason's kids.

Jakob's first Thanksgiving.  He is 7 months old.  Emmalee is 3.  They look so much alike, they could be twins.  They look a lot like their daddy, Jason.

Thanksgiving was great and I loved the break from school.  We went out on Black Friday and got a little start on Christmas.  We didn't go early and get in on any of the craziness--maybe next year!

November Drill Events

It's hard to believe it is November and things are moving right along to full on competition season!  Time is flying! 

 

On November 9, the drill team sponsored the annual Sadie Hawkins dance at MMHS.  Here are some pics I took of the team after they decorated:

Close up shot

 Far away shot so you can see the balloon arch they were able to make--even with the national helium shortage!

 Shalee and Sydney posing with the two girls from student government that designed the photo backdrop for the pictures.  They did an awesome job!

 

November also means extra practices on Saturdays to prepare for competition.  On November 17, I asked  Nichole Ortega to come teach a ballet class for the team.  We have a lot of balletic movement in our kick routine this year and I felt it would really help us overall.  She is a great teacher and the girls had a great time.

 Nichole teaching them correct placement and technique.

 The team working hard!

 Building our strength.

 Working our technique.

 Some of the girls with Nichole at the end of the class.

 

A few days later, and it was time for our first basketball halftime performance.  Wow, like I said, time sure does fly!  

 The team, in block, supporting the girls basketball team.

 Team prayer - we were performing hip hop tonight--in our new costumes!

 Team cheer!

The performance went well, we were missing a few girls because they had traveled with the history teacher to Washington, D.C. last week, and so they had missed practice.  But, we had some other girls fill in and it still looked pretty good.

Our first competition is two weeks away--we're moving in the right direction.