Ballroom Dance Performance #2 - Craiger - Disco

 

After Bladen's Percussion Concert, we jumped into the car & raced across the valley to see if we could make it to Craiger's 2nd Ballroom performance this week.  (He has one more tonight, then we are done for about 3 weeks)

This time the ballroom team was invited to be "guest dancers" at another high school's dance co concert.  They got to dance after intermission & they did amazing.  I think this was Craiger's best performance yet.  He's getting SO GOOD.

Wahoo!  What a night!  Great job Craiger.  I'm excited to watch you perform again tomorrow night!

Bladen's Spooktacular Percussion Concert

Then Thursday was Bladen's Spooktacular Percussion Concert.

Bladen loves playing percussion & he's really good at it.  He's in advanced percussion this year & he's doing a really good job.  We are very proud of him.

He dressed up as Jack Skellington for his concert.  He was so cute up there.

Well done Bladen.  We love you & are so proud of you.

 

Craiger's Fall Spooktacular Concert - French Horn

Wednesday night we had Craiger's Spooktacular Band Concert.

He too, got to wear a costume & picked "Mojo Dojo Casa House Ken."  He looked ridiculous which made us all laugh.

He had fun at his first High School band concert.  He tries really hard & has learned the double horn so well.  We are very proud of him.

My favorite costumes of the night were the 5 Saja Boys from K-Pop Demon Hunters.  I have a feeling we're going to see a LOT of K-Pop Demon Hunters this Halloween.

Great job Craiger.  We are proud of you.

 

APEX Awards Ballroom Performance - Craiger - Disco

 

October is a busy month for the arts here in UT.  I had 3 concerts & 3 dance recitals all in ONE WEEK.  It's been craziness here.

Craiger's first ballroom performance this week was on Tuesday at the APEX award ceremony.  The opened the ceremony with their Disco & they did a great job.

It's so fun to watch Craiger learn & grow as a dancer.  He's never done anything like this before so it's incredible seeing him tackle this new adventure head on.

Awesome performance Craiger!

Taya's First Orchestra Concert - Spooktacular - Viola

Taya was SO worried she wouldn't be able to do orchestra this year with her heavy college schedule.  She unfortunately couldn't continue doing chamber (the highest level orchestra) because of CTECH classes, but the orchestra teacher let her move to the Philharmonic orchestra (the same one she was in her sophomore year) so she could at least continue to play.  She was SO happy.

She is first chair viola this year so she gets to sit in the front & I can actually somewhat see her at the concerts.  Yay.

For the Spooktacular Concert, they played a lot of fall/Halloween songs & got to wear costumes.  She asked me an hour before the concert if I could put together a Hades costume.  We found a blue wig in my costume stash, then I literally draped a large piece of leftover black fabric around her toga style & it made a pretty decent Hades.  She looked beautiful.

She was excited because she got chosen as one of the top 10 costumes & was in the costume contest.  She didn't win, but she was SO happy to be in the top 10.

Awesome Job Taya.  We are always so proud of you.

 

Moving Lorien

The first week of October I got the chance to help Lorien move from our house to her new "married" apartment.  She will be living there until she gets married on November 7th & then Elijah will officially move into the apartment with her.  It's so fun seeing your kids all grown up doing grown up things.

The location of her apartment is incredible.  I mean, look at the view from the driveway.  How lucky can someone be?

It's a darling basement apartment with plenty of room & TONS of storage space which is rare in newlywed apartments.  They are going to be very happy here.

It was super fun unloading all of Lorien's boxes & some of their wedding & bridal shower gifts into their new place.  I took her grocery shopping so that she'd have some food while she's getting started here.  She's going to love it there.  I'm so happy for her.

 

Taya's 18th Birthday Party - Great Gatsby Roaring 20's Party

For Taya's 18th birthday party, she wanted to have a 1920's themed Great Gatsby party.

SUCH A FUN THEME!

First we set up the backyard like a speakeasy with a city skyline backdrop & a "mocktail bar."

The menu were 4 non-alcoholic fun drinks teens might enjoy like virgin pina coladas & shirley temples.

I also made chocolate & vanilla cupcakes with black & gold sprinkles.

Lorien set up a really pretty charcuterie area which Taya loved.

And she had the most adorable little bartenders you've ever seen.  A big shout out to Lorien & Elijah for helping make this party extra special for Taya.

The first half of the night they played "Just Dance" in full 1920's costumes.  It was darling & the teens really got into it.

Taya looked beautiful in her flapper dress that Nancy sent her for the party.

When it got dark, they all came inside & ended up watching "The Princess & the Frog" which also takes place in the Roaring 20's.  They were giggling & having a blast the whole time.

It was SUCH a FUN party!

Happy 18th Birthday Taya!