On Youth Sunday

To say that David and  I are in awe of these two would be an understatement. Yesterday during morning worship the girls performed the dance they choreographed and they did so brilliantly and beautifully! When the idea of them performing a dance during Youth Sunday was first brought up two weeks ago I absolutely had my reservations. Never before had they choreographed anything, much less something that they would  be performing in front of a large audience. But they felt up to the task so we made sure to make room in our days for them to work on it. Each day before morning lessons, we'd head over to the church so that they could spend time practicing since our sweet, old farmhouse just does not have a large, furniture free, space. Watching them work together to create this piece was truly such a gift!

And so, yesterday morning, we arrived at church early for one final run through. It was then that I recorded their dance one final time (and took these grainy pictures during it) so that I could be completely present during the actual debut of their piece. Even though I had seen this dance hundreds of times in the twelve days they worked on it, something about seeing it yesterday had me rather teary. Everything came together so perfectly -the song, the costumes, their choreo-  that watching my babies perform their first ever duo brought tears to my eyes.

Many thanks to Cindy, Lauri, Michael, Christina, Nicole, Lisa, and Katie for making our girls the beautiful dancers they are today, and for giving them the skills and knowledge that allowed them to choreograph such a beautiful piece at their young ages. And thanks to Sydney for being their 'older sister", their biggest cheerleader and a total inspiration to them! We are forever grateful for all that each of you has done for them and we are so blessed to be part of the Center Stage dance family.

And finally, thank you to the amazing faith community that is Plymouth Church. Thank you for loving our girls so fiercely and so completely and for giving them (and all the children and youth of Plymouth Church) the opportunity to do something like this during worship. Thank you to Rev Will Tanner for suggesting they do something like this during Youth Sunday. And thank you to you and Rev Greg Morisse for giving us the space during the week to practice. Plymouth Church is indeed a very special place and we are all the better for getting to be part of it! xo 

Preparing For Youth Sunday

This is how our day has begun each day this week. Why are they stretching on the chancel at church each morning you may be wondering?! Well, this coming Sunday is Youth Sunday. For those who don't know, Youth Sunday is when the youth group plans and runs the entire worship service (similar to Children's Sunday when the Faith Workshop Children plan and run the entire service). Grace and Emma have been hard at work choreographing a dance that they will perform during the service. I cannot tell you how blown away we are by what they have come up with in such a short period of time (the idea that they perform during the service was only suggested to them ten days ago)! This is the first time they are choreographing and they have done such a stellar job working together to create such a beautiful piece! I am sure there with be (at least) a few teary eyes in the congregation this coming Sunday. I love that our girls are growing up in a denomination like the UCC and a church like Plymouth. To grow up in a place that is so welcoming and supportive is such a gift! The way that our faith community values and encourages children/youth/families is second to none! xo

Weekending

Our weekend began with a wonderful night at the dance team gala! 

It was a wonderul way to end a truly magnificent comp season! 

Followed by the royal wedding the next day. 

Scones, jam and clotted cream have become a new favorite treat!

My guess is that this may be assembled "wrong". We'll have to do a little more research (and scone making) to perfect our technique! 

Everything about this royal wedding was truly lovely. I was teary throughout, and we truly adored each and every moment. From the sweet looks the now Duke and Duchess would give each other to the songs that were sung (especially Stand by Me by the Kingdom Choir) and the beautifully inspirational sermon by Bishop Michael Curry. No stone was left unturned. No detail was left unconsidered. It was truly a wedding to remember and we wish them a lifetime of love and happiness! 

Yesterday the youth group lead worship at church. They did such a wonderful job! Since it was Pentecost Sunday (the birthday of the church) they decided that cake was needed! After all, what's a birthday celebration without cake (and balloons and the birthday song)?! 

 We ended our weekend at the spring skating show here in town. They adored getting to see Abigail, one of their dearest friends, in the winter show and were so excited to be invited to attend the spring show! All the skaters did a wonderful job! It was the perfect ending to a lovely weekend! xo