Idaho Dance Competition

Wow! multiple posts in one month.....

I had a solid week of being sick with a sinus infection and all the other symptoms you can think of. And then I had to pull myself out of bed and pack up for a weekend in Rexburg, Idaho to watch Tia compete in a ballroom competition. My mom and Aunt Marsha came with me.

Can I say, this was so much fun! I haven't ever watched a big competition like this before (it was a national competition). The dancing was fabulous (it almost made me think I could learn to like dancing, but not quite) and the dresses were amazing. There is nothing fancier than ballroom dance gowns.

This was Tia's first time competing as a couple in the Cabaret, so I needed to be there to watch her. We made her costume. She glued on nearly 700 crystals. I did the sewing and trim. It was an adventurous project, but well worth it. She was beautiful. Her partner is Brayden Roberts. They were both pretty nervous. But they came out with 4th place (whoo hoo!), and they only missed third place by less than a point.

Here's some video of their Cabaret and a video of Tia's favorite group dance. (She's on the front right when the dance starts. You'll have to follow her from there)
PS After you click play, double click the screen to get a full screen version--otherwise the right side gets cut off.

President's Cup Tournament

Last weekend Kobe's soccer team played a tournament in St George. I had such a personal dilemma over this. My grandpa's 90th birthday surprise party was also last weekend. But in the end I decided I needed to be there to cheer on my son. Luckily I will be in Idaho to cheer for Tia next weekend, so I'm hoping to visit grandpa then. Steve couldn't come (Announcement: for those of you who haven't heard--Steve has a new job!) so I teamed up with another mom who was going alone. We rode together and stayed at her aunt's condo in St George. This made the trip so much more fun! Her son Conner is one of Kobe's best friends. Unfortunately the team didn't make it past the quarter finals, but they got 2 wins and 2 ties. Single elimanation tournaments are tough. I was very proud of them. Kobe played awesome. He almost scored in one of the games, getting two shots off (not bad, since he plays left wing defender/mid).

Once the games were over, my friend showed us a really fun park where the boys could rock climb to their hearts' content. It reminded me of a small version of goblin valley. And, of course, we spent a few hours at the pool with some teammates.

This isn't the picture I wanted to add, but I can't seem to delete it. So guess it stays. Imagine a better one with Kobe's eyes open. This soccer complex even had a soccer themed playground by it, so I had to make Kobe pose on the giant soccer balls.

Yeah, he stole that one and went in for a shot!

Another run at goal--I hate it when the other team has a good goalie!

Are we ever too old?

A few weeks ago all my dreams came true. Well maybe not all of them, but a really big one.

You see, we have lived in this house almost 10 years. And in that time my piano has been the one and only piece of furniture occupying the front living room. It was a very lonely place...except at Christmas time when a very cool tree decorated with blue lights and snowman ornaments came to visit for a few weeks.

But now things are much better.
Because we are the proud owners of some new couches! We decided to get different couches for the TV room and move the old ones up to the front room. (the old ones are a wine colored leather and my piano has a cherry finish, so they match nicely) And it looks fabulous.

The best part was that couches come in very large boxes. And now we know that even teenagers can have a lot of fun playing in a box--for quite a few hours in fact. Especially when those boxes come with LOTS of bubble wrap and big pillow-sized bags filled with air.