For our church Christmas concert this year, they decided to have dancers come & do some folk dancing to the songs being sung by the choir.
The leadership asked Taya to be in charge of the dancers so she gathered up all her friends from the ballroom teams & together they performed for the concert.
They had the most adorable costumes for their dances.
After performing, they each had baskets full of candy & they danced throughout the audience & gave candy to all the kids & adults. It was adorable. I loved it so much.
I love how involved my kiddos get. They work so hard to be a good part of school, their clubs & church groups, & just part of the community. They truly make me proud.
Canyon has grown leaps & bounds this year on string bass. He's pretty amazing & totally takes control of that instrument. He's such a fun kid & just loves music. We are so proud of him.
Craiger also had an amazing Band concert this year. His French Horn broke half way through the semester, but got fixed DAYS before the concert. So for this one he got to play french horn on one piece & opted to play percussion for the other 2 pieces. I think he had fun trying something new.
We are so proud of him & his hard work as a musician as well.
I'm so glad Taya was able to make orchestra fit into her schedule her senior year. With her attending college for so many classes, I didn't know if she could make it work, but she did. She wasn't able to do Chamber Orchestra because of the schedule, but she was more than happy to be part of Philharmonic instead so she could continue playing.
She has grown so much as a violist over the last 5 years. I'm so proud of her & her accomplishments in music.
With the fun & organized chaos that December brings, we also had some fun random happenings that made December even more fun.
Trek's cadet Christmas party was hilariously fun. It was completely informal this time around (most people were wearing pajamas. . . & Trek was in an elf costume). We did a Santa Sleigh (aka blanket) obstacle course to find balls scattered around the gym, had a fun potluck dinner, sang Christmas carols, & just had fun together.
And yes, there was a grog bowl.
Trek finished up his nativity scene for the yard & it looked beautiful.
Bella got a sweater.
I got a cute new nativity from Vietnam made out of paper to add to my nativity collection.
Trek had a cadre Christmas party at our house.
I got to meet up & have breakfast with one of my very best friends, Karen who was in town visiting family.
I hilariously wrapped one of Canyon's gifts like this which made for some laughs the entire month of December.
We decorated cookies as a family (all 10 of us) & went caroling to 10 houses to deliver them.
It was a good month of family, fun, & time spent together.
The last day of Dragonsteel, I wasn't able to go because I was supporting Taya & Craiger in their "Dancing with the Hawks" Gala.
I woke up at the crack of dawn & made 50 breakfast burritos for the dancers so they'd have some good protein & energy for the long day they had ahead of them.
The Gala is like the "dress rehearsal" for the show. There is brunch served & a small dancing lesson given to everyone who attends the gala. The tickets are a little more expensive than the regular show, but it's our #1 fundraiser for the ballroom teams so it's wonderful.
I got tickets for Cadence & Amkaa, & Elijah & Lorien to attend. They really enjoyed the dance lesson before the show. They were so cute. You can tell they are so in love with each other.
The show was fantastic as always. This particular show is fun because the 8 students on ballroom leadership (mostly seniors) get to select one athlete or club leader in the school to be their partner for the concert. They have a couple weeks time to teach them an entire ballroom routine & then perform it on stage for a huge audience. They have professional ballroom instructors come in & "judge" the dances, then everyone votes for their favorite couple/dance.
(It's basically "Dancing with the Stars" High School edition.)
It is SO FUN to watch.
Craiger got to be in 2 of the dances (the first & last) as part of the varsity ballroom team & Taya got to be a guest performer with her JV Team.
Afterward, we were sure to say hello to our favorite dancers.
They are cutie pies.
Cadence & Lorien even went around & asked all the dancers for their "Autographs" which was SO FUNNY. Both the girls & the dancers got really into it.
It was a fabulous performance & such a fun filled day.
