Madi's Dance Recital (Dress Rehearsal)

This day is the highlight of the year for our little Madilynn. A chance to dress up, wear makeup and dance on a real stage. Madi has been practicing very hard all year in her dance class with some friends from our old ward. I think she looked beautiful.

The video posted is a video of a video so the quality may not be that great and is of the dress rehearsal. They don't allow you to video tape the actual recital, because they want to sell you the recording of course. I especially like the hair curlers in her friends' hair!

How do they do it?

Madi and Gavin were lucky enough to have their cousin Josh come spend the night last night. Actually I am kind of lucky because the kids love Josh and love to do whatever he is doing. That means they aren't doing whatever I'm doing.

Needless to say it hasn't exactly been quiet around our house. The kids have been playing Mario Cart non stop. The thing that amazed me was this:

Annika in the middle of the hurricane of commotion asleep.

I don't get how some babies seem to sleep better around noise. I had her upstairs in our bedroom and she didn't last 10 minutes. However, in the middle of the family room with all the noise she stays asleep? Maybe she is so used to a noisy house that a quiet room is foreign to her and thus less comfortable?

Anyways, I thought that she was cute so enjoy the pictures.

I need your help......

I don't know how many of you are following the trial here in Seattle against the Professional Basketball Club of Oklahoma. It has provided some interesting reading to say the least. The reason that I need your help is that I want to have a contest. I know some of you out there are wise guys, and I could use a good laugh. You may have seen the contests where they ask you to put the dialog for a scene on a picture. For example:

Well I noticed this picture on one of the local newspaper websites, and well I was wondering what was going through the head of Clay Bennett when this picture was taken. So I ask you, what was Clay Clay thinking?

The winner of course will get worldwide recognition on our blog! I know you guys are pretty creative so lets hear your thoughts.

On a side note, if you had arrived home late one evening when you were a teenager and this was what greeted you when you walked in the door............

SCARY!!!!

Happy Fathers Day

Happy Fathers Day to a pretty great Dad!!! Joe you are the best Dad a kid could have. You are the fun Dad! I SO appreciate all of the help that you lend me as a partner in crime. You are always there for our children. When Madi has a school thing, or for Annika and her therapy appointments you are always there. I love that you are there because you want to be and not because you have to be. I love that you are so supportive to all of us. You are great and THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for being such an awesome Dad. We make a great team.

And for all of you to know how much our kids love there dad...Joe asked Madi on a scale of 1 to 10 How much did she like her daddy. Joe got a 100. Then he asked where mommy would be and I got an 8. What a kid!!!!

WE LOVE YOU DADDY. Love, Madi, Gavin, and Annika

We are celebrating Fathers Day next week due to some schedules. We will get some pics then and post them.

Jr. Griffey Hits #600!!!

Every once in a while it is important to reflect on one of the truly important things in life. Baseball. Tonight Jr. hit his 600th homerun. It's a shame he did it in a Red's jersey. You may or may not understand my man crush on Jr. and that's ok. I don't expect everyone to understand. I still have the magazines with him on the cover and the signed baseball cards.

Whether it was watching his double on opening day in his rookie year against Dave Stewart in Oakland, him breaking his wrist making a spectacular catch against the wall in centerfield, his walk off homeruns, or him scoring on Edgar's now famous "double" in 1995 he has always had a flare for the dramatic.

I think it was just the joy he had in playing the game. While that smile may not be as prevalent today, in this season of pathetic baseball in Seattle he brings back great memories of what the game is all about.

A dad playing catch with his son, and enjoying every moment.

Gotta love little boys

Two young boys walked into a pharmacy one day, picked out a box of tampons and proceeded to the checkout counter.The man at the counter asked the older boy, 'Son, how old are you? 'Eight,' the boy replied.The man continued, 'Do you know what these are used for?' The boy replied, 'Not exactly, but they aren't for me. They're for him. He's my brother. He's four. We saw on TV that if you use these you would be able to swim and ride a bike. Right now, he can't do either one.'

Just thought this was a funny story!!!!

Thanks Melinda

Something to think about...

I have been on a sharp learning curve for the subject of Down Syndrome. I have read articles, found blogs of fellow families blessed with ds children, found support through state programs, and have been reading some books. I have found some great resources and still have many more that I would like know about. I came across a statistic that is quite disheartening. There is a 90% termination rate of ds pregnancies. This is all do to the prenatal testing. I think that it does come as a surprise when you find out but when these people have this child and realize how beautiful and wonderful these people are they would make a better decision. I think that people don't understand and are afraid. I am not really sure why I am writing about this. I guess I just want you to all be aware and understand and to just think about it.......

4 Months Old

Our sweet Annika is 4 months old today. It has flown by so quickly. She laughed for the first time yesterday. It was a cute little giggle and very hard to get. It was well worth all the trouble. She has her 4 month check up tomorrow so I will post all the details of her growth. We love Annika.

Update:
Annika weighs 12lb 13oz. She is 25" long. Her head circumference is 15.25.