Ballet and Gymnastics

Cally has been wanting to be a "ballerina" for quite some time now so we decided to finally sign her up for ballet and also gymnastics. She goes once a week to each class and is loves it. Gymnastics is more of a structured play time that incorporates gymnastics moves using equipment like a spring board, balance beam, and high bars. Parents are with the child the whole time and aid them in their skills. Ballet class is a tap/ballet combo and it consists of 30 minutes of tap and 30 minutes of ballet. Parents are not in the dance room with them but are able to watch them through clear glass just right outside. I love taking her to both classes each week to watch her interact with the other kids and her teachers, and of course learn so many new things. She's just so cute and its so great to see my little girl have such a fun time!

*I don't have any pics of her gymnastics class since I'm usually busy playing ith her but I will take some soon

Our Latest Project

Zane and I take Cally and the dogs hiking all the time behind our house. There's lots of trails to choose from and it's super convenient since its just a few steps away. Throughout the trails there are a few old structures where we've manged to salvage some goods from. We have gathered a lot of weathered wood and converted it into our fireplace mantel, bookshelves, picture frames, etc. We've found old barrels and turned them into flower pots, and have collected many rocks to help landscape our yard. Our latest find was old rusted corrugated steel that was used as roofing once upon a time. We loved the way it looked so after putting our heads together we decided to make an accent wall in one of the guests bedrooms. Here's some pics of our latest project:

20 weeks

Today I had my 20 week Ultrasound. I was so excited to get to see our little guy once again but also a bit nervous. This is the ultrasound where they measure all the organs and check for any possible abnormalities. My pregnancy has been going great but certain fears never really leave your mind. I was relieved to hear that Hunter is looking great, is healthy and measuring right on time. After the medical portion of the ultrasound was over I got to relax and enjoy seeing him on the big screen. He was very active throughout the whole procedure and it was so fun to watch him move around. Here are some pics of our little guy:

Cute little feet

Boy parts ;o)

Happy New Year!

We decided to give Ocotillo Wells another go and celebrate New Years there. Although I was a bit hesitant to go there due to the odds of one of us injuring ourselves, I didn't let that stop us. I knew celebrating New Years out camping in the desert would be a blast so we packed up and headed out there anyway.  The Brown family joined us and we set up camp for a wonderful weekend. It was a very busy weekend filled with every type of off road vehicle you can think of. Fireworks were being set off nightly and the main riding trails were filled with constant dust from all the vehicles. We visited a few popular sites in the area which included Shell Reef, where you can still find fossils of sea shells from long ago, and the Gas Domes, where you can see volcano like mud pots of bubbling liquid. The rest of the time was spent riding around the desert or relaxing by the campfire. We had so much fun during the day that by the evening of New Year's Eve we were exhausted and it took quite a bit of effort to stay up for the count down. Some of us made it, some didn't. Either way, we ended up having a blast the whole weekend with zero injuries!

Here's to a wonderful 2012! Looking forward to see all the great things 2012 will bring!

 Shell fossils!

20 weeks pregnant belly

 Recycling our Christmas trees

 after 30 seconds: 

Cally and Leah

John and Johnny

The Gas Domes

 Linda and Erynn

Nap time

From left: Erynn, Linda, John, Johnny, Jes, Zane (Cally and Leah are in the backseat of sand buggy)

Another recycled Christmas tree

 Stafford and Layla hiding in the bathroom terrified of fireworks

Happy New Year!