My Danceday/Birthday

June 13, 2009 marked an exciting day for me. Yes, it was my 33rd birthday (not really that thrilling), but it was also Julia's big dance recital for the year. Let me start by explaining how my day began. Julia had the fantastic idea that for "Mommy's birthday" I should get to sleep in! I thought that was a brilliant idea, and gratefully her Daddy went along with the plan. While I slept in my cozy bed Chad took the kids to the store and got me fresh berries and a birthday cake. I was then brought breakfast in bed. My first course was berries and tons of whipped cream (I'm pretty sure the kids had fun squirting the whipped cream) - followed by poached eggs and toast. Chad makes the best eggs and toast!

After that we got ready for Julia's third dance recital. She has been dancing the past two years at Arizona Sunrays and this year was in their competition group the "Sunbeams." Her cousin Madison was also in the class with her, which made it even more fun. They had 2 dance competitions throught the year and also performed at a gymnastics meet at the Cardinal's stadium. The dance recital was kind of the grand finale and she was very excited for it.
Here she is at home before leaving in her tap costume. She looks so grown up in this picture to me!!
Here are Julia and Madison backstage before the show. This must be their favorite pose. Almost everytime we ask them to get together for a picture this is what they instantly do. They just adore each other!

This year my niece Cali made her dancing debut! She was a "Rockin' Robin" and was excellent out their shakin' her tailfeathers. She didn't hesitate one bit to go out on that big stage and was really excited to be dancing this year like her sister and cousin.

They loved posing together and at Julia's request I had to put all her favorite pictures on here.

Ready for Broadway . . . .

These are Julia and Madison's costumes for their competition dance. It was a mix of the theme from "I Love Lucy" and a Mickey Mouse song. They did this dance over and over and over. I love the costumes though - even though everything dance related is "scratchy" to Julia.
Sometimes family pictures work - sometimes they don't. But, I was determined to capture at least one. Well, after an over 2 hour dance recital Justin was done. He didn't want to do anything else but go home. The rest of us tried.

Here is Julia with Grandma Janet and Grandma Candace. I don't think any of these lovely ladies could ever take a bad picture. So, I saved the best for last. Julia was so happy to have both of her beautiful Grandmas at her performance. They are so supportive of all their grandkids, which keeps them pretty busy. The families are growing at a rapid rate for sure! We're all so grateful for all they do.

The rest of my day was just as good as it started out. We went to California Pizza Kitchen (a restaurant I've been craving lately) and later had cake and ice cream, which was delicious. I must say Chad and the kids made it quite a special day for me. I love how excited the kids got for my birthday. They just couldn't wait for it, which made it so fun. Thanks to everyone for making my birthday a very happy day!