Kindergarten comes to an end

As I continue to catch up for all of the donations we've been receiving (and YES as of April 30th, we've reached our goal!).  But because of my crazy weekend, I need to still owe a lot of blog posts!

Today, I want to recognize the donation that was made by Jim and Kristine!  It was funny, just before our walk was to begin in Salem, I checked the phone and saw we had a donation.  What perfect timing!

Thank you Jim and Kristine for your donation!!!! 

As we continue to catch up on the blog, we are now up to early June 2013.  What significant event happened in June of 2013??  The girls graduated from Kindergarten!!  First, I have to share a couple of random pics from the days leading up to the big celebration.

At the time, Alyssa never looked so old!  

Caught the girls watching a show with just about EVERY one of their friends lined up beside them.

I think I shared this one on fb.  Nothing like a fresh cut lawn and sitting on the patio, drinking a beer, while the grill warms up.  Oh man I can't wait!! 

Last day of Kindergarten and the girls didn't have a graduation per se, more of a musical play. 

Even now I look back and think how OLD they look in these pics!!

I'm such a lucky guy.

You know those silly moments when you see cute kids doing really strange songs and hand motions, and the parents ooooo and aaaahhhhh with no less than 200 cameras pointed in their direction?  Yeah, we became those parents.

All of the kids had some part to play.  Some got to play instruments or hold up signs.  Both my girls got SPEAKING parts!!!  

"We will now sing the names of the Spanish speaking countries"

Here is a wide angle of the spectacle.  So many cameras.

Katy's turn!  I found a friend up front that I knelt down next to and was able to get some good pics.  You can see how she totally knew I was right there but refused to look at me.

Yeah look at that smile.  She knew!

"Come and see my farm, mi granja"

Singing with conviction!  Love it.

Couldn't help but laugh.  This poor kid got typecast.  He wore it well though!

Just look at those smiles!

As we were leaving, the girls wanted to go grab some flowers.  I noticed the light and said "YES!!!  Go, GO!!!"  So happy with how these pics turned out.

My girls are growing up so fast.  Hard to believe we're almost done with 1st grade!  

Again, thank you Jim and Kristine for your donation.  Regardless of us meeting our "goal", I hope more will continue to donate.  Our real goal is to give you a great cause to support.  It's our wish that we will inspire you to reach down into your pockets and find a great cause like this to support.

#Winning

First time for everything....this time it's using a hashtag in the post title!  Why?  Because it DESERVES it!!!  Let me share a little story with you.  Dave, a long time friend from Alaska, kicked my butt at fantasy football.  Well he kicked everybody else's butt...I was merely outscored in the final game! ;)  That being said, Dave told me to hold on to his winnings until a date to be named later.  What he had in mind was donating his entire fantasy football winnings to March of Dimes!!

I have never shared any donations before but this is worthy.  

Dave donated all $410 of his fantasy football winnings to March of Dimes!!!  

What a freaking stud!  If that doesn't inspire you, I don't know what will!

If you follow our progress, you may have noticed I haven't posted on here for several days despite us receiving several donations.  The reason is we were out of town.  The fam made a quick trip to Silverton, OR to visit our very close friends and share something we have only talked about doing for 6 years; marching together!  The stars finally aligned and we were able to march together at the 2014 March of Dimes walk in Salem, OR.  How awesome was that?!!!  

The only downside is the timing.  I have had very busy weeks at work before but I believe these last 2 weeks....THIS is the busiest I've ever been!  So despite the busy schedule, I put that aside so we could make the trip to Oregon and spend the time with our co-fundraisers and besties.  It was a great trip and well worth the sacrifices I made at work.

So back to the pictures...that's why you come and visit anyway, right?!  Late May, 2013 we were surprised to learn of one of our best friends and her family from Alaska were coming to the Spokane area to visit.  We found a way to spend an afternoon together.  

My favorite part of this visit was seeing the girls reconnect with their Pre-School friend INSTANTLY!!  We hadn't seen Laken in almost a year and they all just instantly picked up right where they left off.  Fun to watch.

I couldn't help getting in the act.  Because all of the girls were just learning to read, I was easily roped in to reading a few stories.

Shannon's mother-in-law lives on a beautiful property north of Coeur d'Alene.  They have turned their backyard into a space primed for adventure and exploring for all ages.

Carly, the youngest of the bunch, getting in the action.

When you're 6 years old, it's hard to resist picking every flower you see!

Following big sister and friend's example, Carly also couldn't resist.

An early picture of life time friends!

 This was just one of many visitors we had during the summer of 2013.  Lots of great pictures and stories still to share.  Thanks again to Dave for his VERY generous donation of all of his fantasy football winnings.  #winning!

Dance recital

The donations continue!  After an amazing day yesterday, we got big donations from 

Emily and

Mom & Dad!!

For you, we have a great moment from May of 2013; the girls' first dance recital in Spokane.  This dance studio is a little more intense than the one we went to in Anchorage.  They put on a full production with kids from preschool all the way up to through high school.  It was impressive!  

The girls played shadows in the ballet Coppelia.  They worked hard on their part for weeks and weeks.  The dress rehearsal wasn't real smooth but the girls were patient as always.

When it was finally their turn to rehearse...perfect little angels.

Even though it was past dinner, you can tell they were holding it together like little champs.

Love this picture.

The big day!  I had fun floating around the back of the theater dialing in

 on the right settings for the camera.  

Soon enough, it was the shadows turn on stage.

So perfect.

We were so happy to see their kindergarten teacher come to watch!  She had 20 kids in that class and no way she could come to every recital or game or whatever...but she made it to 

Katy and Alyssa's!!

And then offered to take a picture of the happy family!

The rest of the time was spent by Lisa helping out by watching all the girls and me taking more pics.

BRAVO!!!

The girls were so fascinated with the main character from the ballet, a graduating senior from a local high school.  She had come up through the same program the girls are in now.

My little princesses!!

If you're wondering, they are currently working on the 

2014 recital which is only a few weeks away!  

Again, thank you so much for the donations today!  Keep'em coming!