WOW! What a Weekend!

Kalie dancing lyrical to Butterfly Kisses
Kalie (middle) dancing acro to Wake Up
Emma in her first recital dancing to Paper Dollies
Khloe received her 3 year award and danced acro to Animal Crackers
Amy danced her final recital last night. She is tapping here to Steamed Heat
Between rehearsal and recital we took some time for fun. Mary Geer and Annie are great! Amy on Graduation Night. Our entire family in a photo!
The 3 Sisters
Amy and her 6 neices! I told you we had lots of girls!

Our dear friends Stuart and Tonya. What a treat!

This post may be long as I need to reflect and share on the events of this weekend. I think I need a few days to recuperate! ha! My sister, Amy graduated Friday night. I am still blown away that she has crossed this milemarker in her life. Amy was the age of Karlee when I graduated from high school! She was Kalie's age when I taught her in the 2nd grade! Now, she is a high school grad and it all happened over night! Way 2 Go Amy! You are a star and I look forward to seeing how God uses your life for His glory, purpose and honor!
Then, following graduation we had another special treat! Dear friends of ours who moved away 8 years ago called us and spent the night as they were coming back from vacation- they decided to break up the long drive and we were thrilled! Tonya and I taught together and celebrated the birth of our first children about a year apart. Stuart and Drew also hit it off and our families had great times playing cards, camping, eating together and or course, laughing. Well, this time was no different. We stayed up until the wee hours of the night (or morning ha!) playing cards and laughing so hard! They have 3 beautiful children now and are a precious family!
Saturday brought the annual dance recital. We had rehearsal all morning, and then a break and then recital last night. Everything went well. During our break, Kalie and two friends played in the water and I think enjoyed being outside just playing for a while. I know us parents enjoyed getting to visit (yes, I took a picture of us as well, but she wouldn't let me post it on the blog! ha!) Our neices Khloe and Emma did a great job in their dances. They were precious! Amy danced her final recital and was awesome- I think she was having a blast last night doing what she loved. It was fun watching her. Karlee and Kate enjoyed yelling DOE DADIE!! (translated to Go Kalie!) as loud and frequent as they could possibly manage! It was hilarious! Kalie said she heard them on the stage if that tells you anything! During the recital, we got to witness God at work through a difficult situation. Drew and I are still not sure how to express everything. It may seem like no big deal as you read this but until you live it with your child, wow... anyway. Kalie was in 8 dances last night and they were excellent! Her solo, was one of the final numbers of the program. She has a great tap routine to a fun-paced version of Amazing Grace. She has loved that dance this year and has received many high awards with it. In the first 16 counts of the song, she froze. She ran off the stage crying and all we could do was wait. I just kept praying that she would come back out. Well a few seconds later, the music came back on and there was Kalie! She danced it all the way through and did it well. Now, I asked her permission to share this story because of the testimony it was and she said that was fine. First of all, our hearts broke as we watched her broken-hearted and in tears. I can't describe the emotions we felt for her. But then to watch our 8 year old daughter come back on that stage with tears still coming down her face and dance that routine- man- what courage- what strength- what a life lesson! She even came back later and did her last dance with all of the poise and grace - as if nothing were bothering her. We ended up so blessed last night. First of all, the crowd- mostly strangers to us began clapping and cheering for her to come back on and then clapped the entire time she danced. I was moved to tears as a friend a few rows up stood for her at the completion of the dance. After the recital, several people came up praising her for doing what she did- one lady shared how Kalie was her hero because winners never quit and Kalie was truly a winner. We got to just sit and talk about it last night and she shared how she wasn't sure what happened- her thoughts were concentrating on being in certain places on the stage, etc, and we assured her that sometimes you just go blank. It happens even when you could not have prepared any more. We talked about the life skill she had learned and how she came out stronger than if she had done it perfectly. Then here is where we celebrated- as Kalie prayed last night, she thanked God for giving her the courage to go back on that stage. PRAISE GOD!! She- at the young age of 8 realized where that strength came from and gave Him credit. God has awesome plans for her and she is such a talented dancer. She will compete that solo in a National Competition at the end of the month.
So, now its Sunday afternoon, and we have all had naps I will say. Its raining here and I think I may go play in the sprinkling rain with my family! God is Good- even through the stressful, hard and crazy times- God is Good!