Both Gabi & Maya have been taking dance classes since January. They have both loved taking dance and were very excited for their recital. Their teacher had a baby last September, so since lessons were only a 1/2 year, the recital was fairly low key with simple costumes. The girls didn't seem to mind and had a great time!
Here are some pictures from before the recital started. :)
With buddies Kodi and Tera
Kodi & Maya
Gabi's "Kinderdance" class was both ballet and tap. For the recital, they did a tap dance to "Lollipop!" It was really cute. :) Gabi did lots of practicing at home!
Here is the very end as they are walking off stage:
Maya's "Creative Movement" class did a dance to "Dance With Me to My Music". Maya practiced a lot as well. She is on the far right in the front.
Both girls had a part in the finale as well! Their teacher told me that they were such good listeners and always came to practice on time, so she wanted to reward them! They loved it and did a great job!
Maya during the big group performance of the finale:
(Gabi was on the far right side, so I couldn't get a good picture of her.)
Lots of people came to support Gabi & Maya! Their babysitter, Evonne and her daughter, Grammy Joyce and Papa Dave, Grandma Phyllis & Grandpa Don, Amanda, Gio, & Marco, and their good friend, Turner, from Ms. Evonne's house! They were so excited to see everyone and very proud of themselves for doing a great job!!
With Marco & Gio after the finale!
With buddy, Turner!
They are both sad that dance is over and cannot wait for it to start up again in the fall!
We headed to Scottsdale/Phoenix the first week in April for a little vacation and quality time with the girls before all of our lives are changed with the arrival of the new baby in a month or so! We had such a great time! The girls are at such a good age to travel right now...they stay close to us in large crowds, they can entertain themselves on the airplane, and they get excited about everything!
Gabi giggled the entire time the airplane was taking off...she was so pumped about riding on an airplane.
The first full day that we were there, we went for a hike at a nature preserve near our condo. The cacti were blooming and everything was just beautiful. It was in the 80s the entire time we were there, so the weather was perfect!
Hiking in their new shades from the Easter Bunny. :)
"That is one scary looking cactus!"
We did A LOT of swimming! Our condo had a huge pool with a splash park and a couple of waterfalls. There were also a couple of large play structures on the resort grounds. The girls had a blast!
We took in an Arizona Diamondbacks game one evening. They were not very into the game, but loved all of the food. Joe & I enjoyed seeing the stadium...it has a retractable dome and is pretty cool!
We also went to the Phoenix Zoo one day. The girls liked the huge tortoise the best, but Maya was enamored with the monkeys and they both were able to throw some carrots into the elephants.
Riding the carousel was just as fun as seeing the animals!
We made a trip downtown to have lunch and go to the Arizona Science Center.
Watching the "IMAX: Into the Arctic" (in 3D with Polar Bears!)
A digital waterfall...very cool!
Even the littlest one got in on the fun! I look huge!
Maya blowing bubbles to make "bubble art"
We went out to eat quite a bit. Even though our condo had a kitchen, we lack a variety of restaurants in Buffalo, so whenever we go somewhere with tons of options, we hit it hard! A couple of people had suggested places and they were all awesome! We had (the best we've ever eaten!) Mexican food at Los Tortes de las Reynas and Italian food at Oregano's among others. Oregano's gave the girls their own little ball of dough to play with before the food came out!
The girls were exhausted after the trip. Since we flew in/out of Casper, they both slept the whole drive home (as did I!) We really enjoyed the trip and hope to return one day!
We had a very busy Easter season with Spring programs at school, Easter egg hunts with family and friends, Easter Sunday Mass and dinner, and getting ready for our trip to Phoenix.
Gabi was a butterfly in her Spring program and did a great job with her speaking part.
Maya was a flower in part of her program. She is very dramatic when she sings and does hand motions. It cracks us up!
Maya's class had an egg hunt on the playground after the program. Here she is with "my buddy, Kade."
We had a big egg hunt around the ranch for the cousins! Gabi & Gio had the biggest area to hunt eggs from. I guess they missed quite a few because Rusty (the dog) has been finding them and enjoying the treats they hold! They had fun!
Some of our friends had a huge Easter egg hunt at their house as well. I don't think we'll ever have to buy plastic eggs again! The girls hit the jack pot!
I took the girls to get their fingernails painted before we went on our Spring Break trip. They love getting them done, but have a hard time sitting still to let them dry!
I can't believe we didn't take any pictures of the girls in their Easter dresses. We went to Mass and then enjoyed steaks and bunny cake at Grammy Joyce's house. :)
...since this sweet little girl became ours forever!
Happy Gotcha Day, Gabi! Here is our annual family picture! We had Dave & Joyce over for a Guatemalan dinner as well.
Our silly girls...
Serious
Crazy!
Cheesy
Fairly normal. :)
This week has been very busy with school Easter programs for both girls, dance classes preparing for the big recital in a couple of weeks, parent-teacher conferences for me, a business trip for Joe, and other odds and ends things to get ready for our vacation. :) We are looking forward to getting away next week and spending lots of time being a FAMIILY. Love to you all!
Greetings! Sorry it has been so long since I've updated this blog! We've been enjoying the fairly mild winter, but have received a few snowstorms to make things fun! The girls have graduated from sledding on the hill right by our house to sledding off the mesa. It is a lot more steep and longer and Joe enjoys building them jumps as well. They love every minute. Here are a few videos of the girls sledding a few weeks ago.
We took a trip to Red Lodge, Montana a few weeks ago with some friends. Maya was too little for ski school, but Joe took her down the bunny hill a few times. The rest of the time her and I just hung out and had a ball! She is a chatterbox and so silly when it is just her and I.
Maya and Joe skiing
Maya and Tessa tried out all the benches in downtown Red Lodge.
Gabi took lessons on Saturday morning in Red Lodge. She then skiied with Joe the rest of the afternoon and all day Sunday. She has become quite the little skiier! Joe also took her up to Meadowlark (the ski resort near us) last week for another day of skiing. I'm so glad that she has learned to love to ski and cannot wait to ski with her myself next winter!
Practing the pizza slice during lessons
Here is a video that Joe took of her at Red Lodge.
On our way to Red Lodge, we spent some time in Billings doing a little shopping (aka Costco run!) and then hit the indoor water park. The girls had a blast. They started off going down the slide together and then Maya got brave enough to go by herself. Tough girl! We all enjoyed the wave pool and fountains. We are all headed to Scottsdale, AZ for Spring Break and I can't wait for a week of swimming and soaking up the sun! The girls are super excited to go as well!
Gabi!
Maya! I just noticed that you can see my extremely large belly in this picture! Ha!
Here are some random pictures I found on my phone from the past couple months. :)
About the second Maya walks in the door, her clothes are off and she is into a leotard and tutu, dress, or other interesting combination of dress-up clothes. Here are a few that cracked us up!
Those green high tops just make the outfit, don't ya think! I wish they came in my size!
Awesomeness.
While we were still on Christmas break, I took the girls to get their nails done at a local beauty salon and they out to lunch together. It was a fun girls day and they LOVED how their nails turned out. Joe got them a gift certificate to do it again for Valentine's Day, so we're planning another trip before we head to Arizona!
BABY UPDATE!
We had an ultrasound between 24-25 weeks. The baby looked very healthy and we were able to get a 3D/4D view of him/her. Even though we were very tempted, we didn't find out the sex of the baby. It is just too fun to keep everyone guessing. Gabi is hoping for a baby brother and Maya goes back and forth between brother and sister daily. She is just excited that there is going to be a baby...right now anyways. I'm sure when it shows up, it will be a different story! Maybe some jealousy issues!? She has been the "baby" for almost 4 years! It will be quite an adjustment for her. Gabi will be an awesome big sister! Both girls talk to my belly, have felt the baby kick, like to push my obnoxious outie of a belly button, and have lots of questions.
Baby Hall at 25 weeks
My mom asked me to send her a picture of myself yesterday. I guess I'll post it here too. Doesn't it look like I swallowed a basketball? I've gained less weight at this point than I did with Maya, but I'm A LOT bigger! Don't know how that works. I've felt pretty good recently, but still have a hard time sleeping. 11 more weeks! (Maya had just got done playing "hair-cut", so that is why my hair is wet, super straight and has zillions of barrets in it!)
29 weeks
I guess that's all for now! I'll try to be better about posting more often! Lots of love to you all! Tara
