Our Girls

Where: Kansas City Music Hall When: mid-February 2020 Emily's dance competition season started out strong with her team's performance at the Nexstar Dance competition in downtown Kansas City. Little did we know that this would be the last competition of the season, and there wouldn't be much dancing period for a loooong time.  Emily and her long-time dance partner in crime Kylie And we even had time to cross the border into Kansas (booo) and see Emily's friend Kate in action at a volleyball tournament.   

Where: Mid-Missouri and the House of Bach When: mid-February 2020 If it's February that means ... Mardi Gras! While Andrew has made a king cake in the past, this year he opted to try his hand at beignets. Katie seems excited.  Jake - as always - is settled in for a winter's nap. Another winter (or really anytime) tradition is Monkey Bread Monday!What better way to start off the day than with a sugar laden, yeast-fueled baked good?    This year, Emily was selected to take part in the middle school regional honor band. She spent a Saturday doing clinics and getting instruction in the finer points of instrumental music. 

Where: Southern Boone Elementary Gym  When: February 14, 2020 A time-honored Southern Boone tradition is the fifth grade Sock Hop. Katie and Zoe put on their poodle skirts, enjoyed the snacks and costumes, and also avoided any and all boys at the hop.  Katie and her gang.  Maybe their Moms shop at the same 50s store?  

Where: Mid-Mo When: Mid-February, 2020 One of the best things about winter is getting the chance to spend time hanging out in the warmth with friends.  Here's Emily and her friend Emma (both teacher kids who have spend hours and hours throughout the years running the halls of the elementary school and coming up with elaborate games and plays and power point presentations for themselves and their sisters). Emily also went to a winter formal with her small group from church. They clean up nice! Here's Katie and her friend/neighbor/adopted sister posing together at one of their older siblings events.   

Where: Paris and an improvised Wedding Chapel ( all located conveniently in Mid-Missouri) When: mid-February 2020 Every other year Andrew's company hosts a father-daughter event. And much like other social events hosted by VU - they go ALL OUT.  This year's theme was An Evening in Paris. An otherwise drab and empty warehouse-like building at the Boone County Fairgrounds was transformed into a French-themed wonder land.                                                   Immediately upon entering, the girls were presented with flowers from the flower cart.  There were shop windows all around giving the atmosphere of a Parisian street. Here we are in front of the "fromagerie"  Speaking of cheese - Andrew and Emily grinning in one of the nights many selfies.  Each girl had their make up done, there was delicious food (french fries naturally) in...

Where: St. Louis (in the middle of a snow storm) When: mid-January 2020 Winter is Gymnastics season and Katie's competitions are now in full swing. She's competing at the Gold level this year and has been working hard in practice.  Here she is nailing a pose on the beam.  How about that cartwheel? Look at that vault! One of Katie's favorite things about the sport is her teammates - here she is with her friend Harper post-meet.  The obligatory pose in front of the awards ceremony background. It was a great meet!  AND - even better than killing it at a gymnastics competition (and did I mention there were like 4 inches of snow that had just fallen making traveling to the venue dicey at best?) our cousins came by to celebrate the weekend with us at the hotel pool.  Any weekend that features cousins and pool time is a great weekend. 

 When: First Week of January 2020 Where: In and Around Mid-Missouri The first week of the Roaring 20s got off to a pretty tame start. Jake the Dog did some napping in the car as we made our holiday travels throughout Missouri and Western Illinois.  Emily had her annual first-week-of-the-year Scoliosis X-rays. The curve is stabilizing, and so for now... no brace needed! We'll continue to follow up with the doc and monitor the situation, but for now she's clear to continue dancing and doing whatever other activities she wants! Since I'm writing these posts from the future it's easy to identify the foreshadowing, but... one of our favorite board games in early 2020 is this awesome strategy, cooperative action game called... PANDEMIC.  During one cold day while trapped indoors over this holiday break, the girls harnessed their inner baking competition show and experimented with different cupcake recipes and decorations. Here's Emily (13) with her swirly-stripey creation...