Oh! The Talented Children!

I realize that I'm barely into May, and that it hardly counts as summer, being in the thick of wrapping up our school lives. But in the wrapping, there are so many marvelous things to record. And having recorded about Eloise singing at the Golden Spike Celebration, I couldn't leave out the rest that happened on that Mother's Day weekend.

To me, it was fitting timing. Another mom made a comment to me about how insane it was that Mother's Day was plopped down in May when moms are the busiest with running all over the map to finish the school year and get summer ready. But enjoying the accomplishments of my children is, in my mind, the PERFECT way to spend Mother's Day. They are my life's work. And who they are and what they are becoming brings me immense joy.

It was, in fact, the day BEFORE Eloise's performance at Promontory that we got to see Kai perform in SLC. This year, he was cast as THE LEAD in Sleeping Beauty - Prince Desire - and it's a role he's been working on all year. First, it was what he and his partner, Maren Florence, competed with at YAGP. They were marvelous then (in February) and his teachers and coaches still ruffle about them being shut out in their scoring. (I think Kai and I let go of it long ago. But Kai says he isn't competing with YAGP again. And I'm fine with that. He DID have a great experience leading UP to the competition. He got great coaching from Oliver Oguma, who was an injured dancer in Ballet West. Most thrilling, Kai was also coached by his hero, Chase O'Connell, who is young, handsome, incredibly talented, and 6'4" so he reminds us all of Kai. AND Kai was coached by Adam Sklute, the current director of Ballet West. AMAZING! So he grew, his partnering and performance improved, his dancing improved, and he had a lot of fun.)

Then, in April, the Lehi location of Ballet West Academy had THEIR spring show, and a few weeks prior to their opening, he was asked to guest as prince THERE. This guesting was unpaid, but another great chance to work on the role and with a less familiar dancer is Aurora. Because my niece, Adaliah Ackerman, was performing with the school, we made a family adventure of it and all went to see. It was a blessing we did because of how crazy this later weekend in May became. Kai was good, but slightly under-rehearsed, and the stage crew blew a few moments, so the show didn't sparkle with perfection, but Kai did great. And Adaliah did too! (She had the most grace and presence on stage as anyone in her class! Fun to see the love of ballet passed along!)

Finally, on May 9, Kai opened Sleeping Beauty in SLC at the Marriott Center for Dance at the UofU. And while I was completely aware that May 9 was the date, somehow when I got online to purchase tickets, I bought the wrong night! FOUR tickets for the wrong night, because Quent and Dianne had driven down from Logan to see Kai too! The show was sold out and there were NOT seats for us. I was embarrassed slightly, but didn't feel that as keenly as much as the stress that we get IN TO SEE KAI. The Ballet West staff was fantastic about it. They are always so good to us. I don't know if that is because of how much they truly seem to love Kai, OR if it is because of my old connection (least likely), OR if they are just fabulous to everyone. But a few teachers gave up their seats to stand in the back so we could sit and watch it all. Probably in better seats than the ones I bought. And Kai was AMAZING! It was so fun to see how much growth he'd enjoyed over the last few months since competing. He was good then, but he is becoming great, and it was thrilling!

The other fun surprise was finding him on the cover of the program! That was unexpected but made this mama so proud! (I even put it in my church bag and brought it to show off at church!) Maybe the best surprise for Kai was receiving the Willam Christensen scholarship after the matinee on Saturday. I was disappointed to miss this moment but I did see it on the video. It was the last scholarship awarded, the FOUNDER scholarship, and Peter Merz said it was "awarded to a dancer the faculty also feels shows great potential and a future career path in ballet."

We loved hearing about this on the phone, because we happened to be at EV's recital that afternoon! Ballet, ballet, ballet! EV completed her level 7ab class with Becky Erickson and improved so much! She was an absolute stand-out when it came to grace. Jade Wimmer, leading dancer at CVCB and her mother, former board pres, commented on her her beautiful feet and gorgeous presence. Ned Weinshenker was able to come and I hope to be able to attach her video. We need to share the video of her voice performance with HIM. EV has experienced SO MUCH GROWTH since transferring this January to work with Debbie Ditton. We were thrilled with her improvement and impressed with ALL the singers.

In May, Eloise ALSO finally made it on to the swim team, which has been her goal for a year. And EV and Eloise both had a piano recital in which they performed with excellence.

Finally and interestingly, after Eloise had asked for months to get fake glasses, we discovered she needs REAL ones. So we got that done! She waited quite patiently for us to save over $100 by ordering glasses online. But this pic is of her actual appointment day and round of trying glasses on. And she is simply adorable! She has been very excited to wear glasses and we love her in them!

It has been a busy month, but with opportunities like these to see my kids grow, I can hardly complain. It's all been FABULOUS!