Daughters' Recent Events

All three girls performed in the annual dance recital put on by Nancy Pasley, whose dance studio is where they study ballet and tap dance. It was May 13 at the Chester Fritz Auditorium on the campus of the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. My dad and stepmom came for the recital, and my stepsister-in-law, already in town for her son's college graduation, attended the recital, too. All the girls did great. It is especially fun to see Suzanna and Abigail dance now that they've had a few years' experience and actually know what they're doing on stage. They move like dancers and smile and look out at the audience and seem confident and energetic. It was fun to watch.

Suzanna ended her first year of piano lessons by performing in her piano teacher's honor recital. Kathy Fiedler is her teacher, and at the end of the year she invites a select few of her students to perform in this particular recital. She chose Suzanna despite her youth because of how much progress she has made from the beginning of the year. I was especially pleased when Suzanna asked me to play a duet with her for her recital selection. I was bursting with pride seated beside her at the piano that night! (It was May 22, held at Calvary Lutheran Church in Grand Forks.)

All three girls had Bible school at Calvary this past week, which culminated in a pizza supper for the kids and their families last night, followed by a performance of all the music the kids had learned throughout the week. Susan was a music director, so she was involved each night and at the program, too. I sat with friends whose kids were among the participants. All their kids and ours seemed energized and excited as they sang and made the gestures that accompanied each song.

Each morning this past week, Suzanna and Abigail attended a theatre camp for kids going into grades 1-3. The camp is called First Stages, and it's part of Summer Arts Stages, a performing arts camp in East Grand Forks, Minnesota. It ended this morning with a public performance of their show called Bugz. There were songs to sing, poems to recite, skits to act out--all the while wearing antennae and bumblebee costumes (some kids wore ladybug costumes, and other kids were dressed as other bugs). Both girls had a blast, as they did last year (and as Suzanna had the year before).