West Kearns Elementary Cultural Celebration 2016

We had another dance program at the girls' school. This year was so much fun because Leah was in it, too! They loved preparing for it, and they were very excited to have so many friends and family members come to see them.

Here is Shannon dancing with her teacher, Mrs. Santana:

All dressed and ready to go!

Here they are with their piano teacher, Annette. Leah's teacher put lipstick on her! I didn't know they were going to do that, and I wish I could have seen her face when they did. She LOVES make-up and since I don't let her wear it, I'm sure she was very excited.

The girls have two cousins who they are sure are real princesses, and Becca is one of them. They were very happy that she could come.

Leah's dance was first. They did the Pollera Colorá, a dance from Colombia. My absolute favorite part is at about 1:20 when they shimmy. She was so embarrassed to do this, but she sure didn't hold back! Unfortunately, it is abundantly clear that my camera is getting old and the video is pretty fuzzy.

Then they sang Himno de las Americas. Leah is the tallest girl in her class, and they put her next to the two shortest boys in class.

The 4th grade classes get to learn how to play the recorder and have been practicing all year. If you notice, Shannon is the second shortest girl in her class. She only has about 1/2 inch on Leah, if that. They couldn't be more different!

Shannon's class did a dance from Bolivia called the Potolos, which represents people harvesting crops. I love how different all of these dances are!

Shannon's 9th Birthday

Shannon wanted a Harry Potter birthday this year. I borrowed a bunch of things from a friend to do the decorations and they turned out so cute! Here are the flying keys:

 And the floating candles:

 We couldn't have a Harry Potter party without a game of Quidditch. The kids really got into it, and Matt was an excellent Snitch.

 We've had to kind of experiment with when to do Shannon's birthday party in the past, because so few of the kids are actually in town the week before school starts. This year we decided to do it the first weekend after school started, and we had a HUGE turnout! It was so much fun! 

 Treats from Honeydukes

 The cake was going to be a lot fancier, but I just ran out of time, so she got this.

 Here is Matt letting all of the kids cast spells on him. My favorite was when he yelled and they all shrieked and ran down the hall.

And a few clips of the Quidditch match

Opening presents

She got the wand she wanted from Harry Potter world

First Day of School 2015

Another exciting school year has begun! The girls started on August 19th. Shannon is in 4th grade with Mrs. Santana, and Leah is in 1st grade with Mrs. Sainz and Mrs. Gomez. Chris is still just home doing preschool with me.

 He was pretty upset that he didn't get to go to school with the girls.

 Leah was very bored last year in Kindergarten, and I kept telling her that she wouldn't be bored at all this year because she began the dual immersion program. So far, she has loved learning Spanish and seems to be picking it up really quickly. She has a few friends in her class that were in her Kindergarten class, so she didn't have any jitters at all.

Camping

We got to go camping this summer with our good friends to a beautiful property up in Little Cottonwood Canyon. We had the best time ever! Here is Chris trying to wake up.

 He wanted to go wake the girls up.

 The men cooking the meat

 This was a fantastic breakfast! We didn't really even need lunch that day.

 There were several paths from the campground to go exploring, and we couldn't keep the kids contained. They love nature!

 Here is a cool little fort they found

 We went on a hike and Chris did quite a bit of walking, but Matt did quite a bit of carrying him, too.

 On our way to what we thought was Donut Falls

 Hiding from the Uruk Hai

 After we had hiked up for a few miles (the falls were supposed to be not even a mile up the trail), we figured that we had made a wrong turn. This is one of the most poorly marked trails I have ever walked. We turned around and tried another fork and finally found the falls. It was SO crowded, but still pretty fun.

  The kids were naturals. We probably walked a total of 4-5 miles, and when we got back to the campground Leah asked if I would take her on a walk. So much energy!

 

Another Royal Ball

This year's Royal Ball was at the aquarium for an Under the Sea theme. It was so much fun! Shannon didn't want to get too fancy this year, but Leah wanted to be Elsa again. 

 Chatting with the fairies from Pixie Hollow

 My kids have no idea who Indiana Jones is, but they still thought he was cool.

 I've been to this aquarium several times, but the giant fish still amaze me. 

 Grossest cosplay ever. But the girl playing Jane was fantastic!

 Jellies! You can kind of see them in the background.

 As is tradition, Shannon tormented the Mad Hatter. 

 The Queen of Hearts was there, too!

 Leah got to meet her favorite princess.

 The kids kept stealing the Mad Hatter's hat and running off with it.  

 Enjoying chocolate covered pretzels and punch.

 Chris loves hiding in the caves in the Utah exhibit.

 Being grumpy 

 Showing off her wand and tiara face paint.

 My beautiful Leah.

 They had to chase Peter Pan around, too. I guess Chris likes hats?

Star Raising Party

To finish things off with Make-a-Wish, we got to have a party so that Chris could raise his glass star and add it to the rainbow of stars that they have on their ceiling. These are all granted wishes!

We invited family members and a few members to come celebrate with us. Here is the cake they had for him:

 It was really good cake, and they even had Mickey Mouse plates and napkins!

 He didn't want his picture taken here, so this is the best shot we got.

  We love Make-A-Wish!

 We got to write a special message on his star, then he raised it up to the ceiling.