Mr. North 2010

Benjamin was able to help Aaron Barnard with the Mr. North pageant last Saturday. (Aaron won the title, so Benjamin was part of a winning team!)
They have a costume portion, where little kids help the contestants present a theme. Aaron and Ben and another guy were dressed up like the three principals at North Eugene High School. (Aaron is the one in the purple vest. Ben is the short one. LOL)
Benjamin had to wear a wig, a lanyard and carry a walkie talkie. They had him pretend to speak into the walkie talkie (they dubbed a voice over the intercom) and tell the kids to stop clapping...only cheering allowed. It got a lot of laughs. I would love to see a picture of the actual principals and see how accurately they portrayed them.
Benjamin loved it. He was really excited to get to go on stage. All the costume themes were very cute! There was a scooby doo group that had the cutest little scooby doo :) (I didn't get a picture)
You had to love the Top Gun group too! (or maybe that movie just appeals to my generation)
They gave the kids presents for helping out. Benjamin was thrilled with his cup of candy and stickers. He has also found a new hero in Aaron...he was so excited to see him blessing the sacrament on Sunday. He was just waiting to see if Aaron would say "hi" to him later. Who knows? Maybe Benjamin will compete in that competition some day in the future.

Let's Try Ballet

Emily decided to give up gymnastics this year and try out ballet instead.

She has really been enjoying it - especially the pretty costumes!
She made me laugh inside (but don't get me wrong, I was VERY proud of her) when she told me about her teacher having them vote on which costume their class was going to wear. Apparently the class picked out a strapless, low cut outfit, but Emily told her teacher that her mother would NEVER let her wear that because our family believes in being modest. So her teacher said they would work it out and look for something else. Way to stand for what you believe in, Emily!

I think the costume is very pretty! Even if it does cover them up, LOL

Watching her dance takes me back to all the years I did dance. I'm glad I have a daughter who is trying it out. I empathize with all the hours my parents put in watching me, though. Now I am the one putting make up on the little girl and tucking underwear in and making sure she makes her curtain calls. Thanks, Mom! I know you put in a lot of time doing all those little things.

I Have A 12 Year Old Now!

My oldest daughter is now 12 years old. She completed her Faith in God award, and is very excited to be in Young women now!
She was heart attacked by the Beehives,
and her dreams came true when she got a new bike from Mom and Dad (it was even her favorite color!)
Her schedule was too busy on her actual birthday to celebrate much, so we made do with a cup of ice cream with a candle.
Sunday night we had the family over to celebrate. Leilani made her own cake.

She had lots of help opening presents.
We had a good time. She is growing up too fast, but she is becoming a pretty young lady.