Brownie Points for Mark!

Mark suprised me with the most awesome date last night...he made arrangements for the kids & told me he had tickets for a surprise. I knew he got the tickets from work, so at first I expected to be going to something at the tabernacle or conference center. But we actually headed to the Usana Ampitheater (which I've never been to before). There weren't signs anywhere to clue me into who we were seeing. We took our seats, and I could see by the stage set up that it was a musician (not a singer) so I was very excited and very intruiged. Mark only gave me one clue - that this person was in the top twenty most popular touring artists in the world. Wow! Finally the show started and I was thrilled to get to see Andre Rieu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra. It was amazing - the music was incredible, the guest singers (opera) were sooooo good, he kept the show fun & lively & interactive, and even the women were all in these amazing ball gowns. It was so good and such a great surprise - thank you Mark for the awesome date! Here's a sample...

Dance Recital

Both my girls were in their dance recital Saturday - "Alice in Wonderland" and they did awesome! It was so fun to see them glowing up on stage & to see how excited they were to perform. They looked so cute! Here is Ella with her friends Gracie and Emmy

Before the show...Aren't these costumes so cute!

Holly is not shy in the least bit

a little excited to go on stage...

a little more excited...

So excited!!!

Holly's 1st dance was after the "white rabbit" said his "I'm late! I'm late" lines...

Ella doing her "clock" tap dance

End of school / Memorial Day / Yard / Theater / Etc.

Wow...lots to blog about and get all caught up. Here are a few pics from Holly's Kindergarten Graduation. It was a cute little program & they even had little caps & gowns. I can't believe how grown up she is getting. Here she is with her teacher.

Proud of her certificate

Getting ready to sing with her class

For Memorial Day we went to This is the Place Park and had a great time! It's like a little Nauvoo - with lots of replica buildings, people in character, lots to learn & lots to see. Here my Dad is in the barbershop getting a "shave." You can see Mark smiling in the mirror :)

There was an old Z.C.M.I building they relocated from Manti - it was a functioning store, full of nostalgia toys, candy jars, & lots of tempting stuff!

One of the highlights was the petting farm - they had the tiniest little baby animals - so cute! Ella fell in love with the baby bunnies

These little newborn lambs were so adorable!

In the "Deseret News" building the kids got to help work a printing press - it really worked!

Not to mention pony rides...so fun & I loved that they didn't charge extra for them

Holly looks right at home on a horse

Well after so much fun there has to be some hard work, right? This past weekend this was our adventure...cutting down the massive poplar in our backyard. We loved this tree - it gave us great shade and brought lots of birds to the yard...but it was getting too big & seemed to be starting to die, so decided to get it out before we get our yard all landscaped. I'm sad to lose it, but guess it was the smart thing to do. Why didn't we have the construction guys do it before our house was even up? We thought it would live longer. One of those times when you kick yourself. Oh well.

Mark & my Dad started cutting off branches and were planning to do it themselves...until they really got a handle on the size of the tree (and the danger involved) & we enlisted the help of a crane. Thank goodness - this tree was huge! More than 60 feet high with two huge main trunks. Not to mention our house, a fence, the neighbor's house, and our new playground were all withing "damage" distance. Here you can see Mark up in the tree hooking up the ball.
After the first part was cut off - this was so stressful I couldn't even watchA shot from across the street - you can see how tall the tree was

Glad that's behind us! Now, on to trenching for sprinklers. Ugh!

Well then, how about a little more playing (literally!)

After the tree came down we headed up the the Hale Center Theater with Josh and Holly to watch "Treasure Island" to celebrate the completion of a good school year. It was so amazing! We all loved it. The set was incredible - even 20,000 gallons of real water off the side of the "ship" where pirates were falling in and splashing the audience. Lots of special effects too - would highly recommend it! Thanks Jessica for taking care of Ella and Ammon - they had a great time with your girls!