Ballet Recital

Here are a few pictures from Anna's recital today. She has finished ballet 1 and now will be moving into a 14 week program that ends with a dance recital on May 17th. This is the day after I graduate from seminary, so those out of town- if you come up that weekend, you will get Anna on Friday and Nate on Saturday. Make your plans now!



The girls were all very cute and fun to watch. A couple of them kept having a difficult time staying on their feet. It was a lot of fun.
Little Miss Anna took a moment to turn around and look at her mother. It was obvious that she was so happy to be there and was quite happy that we came to support her.

She also got to learn a number of French words and the instructor would call them out and the little girls that were listening would get into their formations. The instructor (Miss Heidi) also was good at making little stories for the girls to dance to. It was obvious how much fun they were having.
Below are a couple of videos to show you what a fun little time Anna had.

Thanksgiving Day Parade

All semester I have been seeing a turkey or two on my way to class in the morning. This is strange because it is in a residential neighborhood that is literally 3-5 minutes from downtown Grand Rapids. I have been telling the kids about the turkey and Lydia has suggested that it was actually an illusion of a turkey due to being early in the morning. Wow! Turkey hallucinations? Could it be?

I tried to prove this to Lydia by taking this way to church week after week- but believe it or not, no turkey... ever on a Sunday. Am I in need of special medication?

I had an idea. I would take my camera in the car to see if I could capture, on film, the large bird. Nope. Twice without a turkey. How come when I am alone I see a turkey in the middle of the street almost EVERY morning- but when I am with another, or with a camera there is no turkey?

I must be under a lot of stress to see turkeys marching up and down Michigan Street while traffic slowly goes around it. Do I need help?

I thought I would try one more time for photographic evidence of the crypto-urban turkey. I got it! I am not seeing things!

If this first picture was all of the evidence, I am sure a case could be made for a large bird-shaped piece of West Michigan snow.

I pulled right up to her and she attempted to duck (turkey?) out of the way. I got this one of her going down. She stayed low and I refused to move my vehicle despite the line forming behind me.
Then she looked up and made eye contact, bird to man. I knew that this was enough evidence of the crypto-urban turkey!

Or it is a hood ornament? Nope. It is the real deal.

Watson and Friends

Watson is getting so big. It is amazing how quickly this is all flying by. Three kids....wow. The picture below illustrates the fact that he is so big that only his foot will fit in one frame. Well, that is not true. Anna took this picture and liked it. We share it here.
Here is Anna teaching some stretches to her brother. It is great having siblings that love each other as much as our three kids love each other. They have their moments, but they are kids.
Of course, Owen needs to get in on the action as well. There is never an event in our home where Owen is out of the center of the controversy. Here it was just some harmless stretches though.
See you soon.
If you wonder why the blog has been slow- I think that the 85 inches of snow are too depressing. You cannot post on snow everyday and basically that is what the outside world of Michigan is at the moment. She will thaw in a month or so.