Oh say can you SEE...

Hope's 5th grade chorus class got to sing the Star Spangled Banner at The Iowa Wild Hockey game recently.  The class did a great job!

Hope is the one on the far right in the hockey jersey.

And you could see her in the far right in the jumbo score board too!

The dance cam also caught her on the BIG score board, but I missed a photo of it!  LOL!

So we have so many more activities coming up...hopefully, I will stay caught up on sharing it here!

So stay tuned...more to come!!!

Darla

First Communion...and Easter Celebration!

Hope got the opportunity to take classes at Hope Lutheran Church to learn about the Last Supper and the story that lead up to the First Communion.

I love that Hope is showing an interest in learning about her faith and how it can be such an important component of your life.  Life is difficult and I pray more now as a parent then I ever did in my life.  I hope that Joe and I are showing her the right way.

Her first communion was on Maundy Thursday, which is part of the Holy week leading up to Easter.  It was a beautiful service.

  Hope kept asking me which glass she was supposed to use (red wine or white grape juice), but I actually think she wanted to dip in the wine.   LOL!

Joe and I hosted Easter dinner too, which included about 25 family members.  I love it when my family gets together.  We are one of those RARE families that actually like to see each other.

Of course we hosted an egg hunt for all the kids...9 total!

This was the first hunt Nolan was able to participate.  He was SO CUTE!!!

Hope's birth mom (Jessica) and her kids Ethan, Luke and Hannah came up to celebrate Easter with us and had a great time hunting for eggs.  Hope loved helping Hannah!

It was such a great time of family and celebration of life!

Here is a layout I created of Hope's Dye-Namic Dunking egg coloring skills.  It was a little sad this year...since the East Bunny has been debunked, so she didn't even ask to dye eggs.  As messy as it was, it was always something that I loved doing with her.  Maybe someday she will want to do it again.

And our Easter memories...

Ok, can I admit that I LOVE this card!  

Ok, more to come...stay tuned!

Darla

Belated...Happy 50th Birthday JOE!!!

Joe had a monumental milestone birthday on March 22nd...and we celebrated him (a few days later).

Fortunately, we have the greatest neighborhood EVER...so several came out to celebrate Joe by meeting for "tacos" and going bowling and just hanging out later!  Thanks for helping us celebrate Joe!  He deserved it!

Of course I had to make a special card just for him.  :)

Boy...it was hard work bowling.  LOL!

The kids had a LOT of fun playing the games and bought the 'staches with their tickets!

Thanks to everyone for coming to eat/bowl/hang out afterwards!

Joe...I can't wait to celebrate SO many more years with you!  I hope you had a great birthday!

Love you!

Darla

Willy Wonka...Oh Charlie!

Oh, I am so behind in sharing so many events!  So be prepared for some updates to get me caught up!

Over Spring Break, Hope participated in a class at the Des Moines Playhouse and at the end of the week they put on a play...Willy Wonka's Kids, which is a shorter version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

She had a BLAST during the class and already asked if there were other classes she could take over the summer.  Music and Drama seem to be her thing, so that was exciting to hear her interest in pursuing it more.

A photographer took photos both nights.  First night she had a purple shirt on...

Here she is "holding" a microphone...

Here she is in front of Charlie.

I loved how animated she was during the songs, etc.

She played two characters...a candy man kid (above) and a squirrel (below).  SO...ironically, I don't know if I would classify her as a GOOD NUT or BAD NUT!  LOL!  It depends on the night.  :)

Here are the photos from the second day...here she is again holding the "microphone".

So, we have her signed up for another class this summer...Peter Pan (from page to stage) and at the end of the week the class will put on the play.  

I can't wait to see where this takes Hope in the future!  Love that girl!

So in honor of our budding STAR...

Alright...until next time!

Darla