First Tahitian Dance Performances

 I did a thing! Never in a million years did I ever think I'd take up dancing let alone do a performance in front of people. It all started last year when I saw my cousin, Janessa's solo performance on Facebook. The solos are entirely choreographed by the dancers themselves, and I thought her dance was really cool. I knew she had been taking these dance classes for a few years now, but at the end of last year after seeing her solo I felt like I needed something more in my life. I feel alone being at home all day while the kids were at school. I feel like I don't have any cool talents or hobbies or anything interesting to contribute and talk about if I was to be with other people. It's been really hard trying to make friends and have people to hang out with since we moved here. 

So I texted Janessa one day in early January asking her about her dance class. Janessa is genuinely one of the nicest people I have ever known. She answered all my questions even though I was really hesitant about joining her dance class. She was encouraging and so helpful and I am so grateful for her and her patience with me. Class didn't start until late January, so I had a few weeks to decide what I wanted to do. I am self conscience about my body and my nonexistent dancing abilities, so I was very hesitant to even try, but I forced myself to go to that first class--a room full of strangers and start shaking my hips around. Janessa was there and introduced me to everyone and then we began. I was kinda thrown in even though it was a beginners class most people who were there were intermediate or advanced dancers. BUT they were SO nice and helpful! 

I have continued to get to know everyone in our class and have kind of just started talking more and being more assertive as I feel more confident with myself. Janessa and one of our teachers, her name is Becca, would always stop and help me understand the moves and help teach me until I got it down. All of these women are so encouraging and helpful and just fun to be around. Our classes went from being one hour long to two hours long each week and I just love it! My class is full of women of all ages, sizes, and abilities and I might have felt self conscience for the first few classes, but these women are really great about making me feel ok with my body and that I am doing everything right. 

That being said, I danced in my very first Tahitian dance performance at Roy Days! I did three dances and two of those were ones we did for the very first time. One dance called Punaru'u is the dance we have been learning all year and it is not a beginners dance, haha. We have been working really hard to get it down right, but we ended up cutting it short by a minute and a half because our teacher, Becca had a baby a couple weeks ago, and it was just too complicated. Anyway, my beginners class performed it all by ourselves! I know I messed up a lot in all three dances, but looking at the video it didn't look as bad as I thought! I couldn't look at the audience even though I practiced smiling and looking up during practice, but if I look out at people my mind goes blank and then I lose all my concentration. I have one more performance in a couple of weeks; it's our family luau so all our friends and family come to see what we have been working on all year. 

I am so proud of Stephen for bringing the kids to my performance by himself so they could cheer me on and support me. They didn't last for the whole hour, but boy did I feel loved. I hope that as I continue to learn this amazing dance style and about the Tahitian culture I can also continue to make friends that are just as weird (or cool) as I am.

I did a second performance in Roy the following week. We did great and we got to perform in doors which was SO nice since it was sweltering outside. I had one song between two of my dances and I couldn't change my costumes fast enough so I had a friend who followed me out to the stage rolling up my pareo (skirt) as I got on stage, haha! And she wasn't dressed herself. I am so grateful for these women and their friendship. I love them so much!

Lagoon Dates

 Stephen and I were able to take the three older kids on their one-on-one lagoon dates this past week. (I took Grayson earlier in June) We wanted to do it before school started so they'd have a whole day of fun. I took Zander and Stephen took Hannah and Lucas. I love being able to do things like this. Stephen took three days off of work so we could do this for the kids. We all had a great time. We would just follow the kids around and have them lead us to where they wanted to go the whole day. We rode all the rides and spent hours in Lagoon-a-Beach swimming and doing slides. Zander got stung by a wasp on the water slide on his hand. Hannah and Zander both found the roaming peacocks and loved looking at them and taking pictures. They got the play games and win prizes and eat junk food. It was such a fun experience; I hope the kids liked it as much as Stephen and I did. We are all excited to experience Frightmares this year too!

Bear Lake

On the way to Bear Lake this year we stopped in Logan to take the kids on the temple grounds to take some pictures and show them where mom and dad got married. I got to tell them the story of where some of the rock came from to help build the temple. It was nice to be back there.

We only got one beach day this year. I swear it rains every time we go to the lake, so it's expected at this point after going for 11 years. And it doesn't matter if we go in July or August it will rain while we are there. So we had one good long beach day where the kids got to go tubing and drive the boat. Hannah was pretty excited Uncle Loren let her drive and knock off some of the tubers. We didn't get very many beach pictures because we just enjoyed ourselves. Saturday was dreary, gray, and rainy off and on, so our family went to the Minnetonka Cave for the first time. It was cold and even colder in the cave, but at least we came prepared...except I forgot my tennis shoes, so I had to borrow a pair from Isabelle. After the cave we got milkshakes and hung out at the cabin. I got a nap in while the older kids went shooting for a few hours until it started to rain again. Then we spent the rest of the night playing games.

The Bear Lake tradition started in Island Park the year after I got married. Dave always wanted a place for his kids and grandkids to gather and be able to just let loose. So the pop is always flowing, junk food is always out and available, there are no bedtimes, and we always have to get milkshakes. My kids always look forward to this week at the lake every year knowing these rules. And quite frankly, it's nice to not have to worry about the kids eating or drinking too much or making sure they're in bed on time. (I, of course, do watch how much they eat and drink to make sure they're not making themselves sick, and I make sure they eat healthy meals in between the junk). We always have a fun time.

Grandpa Washburn's Birthday Celebration

 We got together on Grandpa Washburn's birthday yesterday to celebrate him. There was nothing he loved more than to see his kids and grandkids gathered together having a good time in each other's company. So we had dinner at Rachel's house where everyone made and brought all of Dave's favorite things. We had BBQ sandwiches and ribs, fluff salad, cherry pie, and coke. There was even a Donald Duck cake! After dinner we went to the cemetery for a visit and take pictures. The kids even got up close and personal with a mother duck and her babies.  I am so glad everyone who could came out and celebrated together even though we'll  be getting together at Bear Lake later this week. Happy heavenly birthday Dave!

Spokane Pettingill Reunion Part 2

 Day 2 we took a tour of the Buck Knife Factory in the morning. That was interesting, and of course the kids all wanted to buy something. The boys begged for knives--I even got one myself. When that was done we headed to the Spokane River for the rest of the day. We had kayaks and lots of floaties for the kids. The older boys went and jumped off the bridge a few times. Some took naps, while other played in the sand. It was a nice relaxing day.

The rest of the night was eating and playing at Becky's house. The kids liked riding on the mini bikes and playing in the sandbox while the adults played games in the living room.

Scott also attempted to fix Becky's swing again. That was fun watching him try to climb the tree and watch all the boys try to figure out how to get him up and down.

Thursday was Silverwood! We spent the day at the amusement park. Didn't get many pictures as we were just enjoying ourselves. Friday was a free day to which we took our kids and Cora to a trampoline park and out for frozen yogurt.