Year End Shows

It is that time of year when we get to see what our children have learned from a year of schooling and their extracurricular activities. We have had a fun time seeing the girls showing us how they've grown and improved.

Regan just completed her second year with Treasure Valley Ballet Academy. She loves ballet, especially getting ready for the recitals and seeing and wearing the costumes. The year-end recital was The Wizard of Oz, and Regan was one of the Wicked Witche's wolves that were sent (prior to the flying monkeys) to stop Dorothy. She had a lot of fun and looked beautiful. Grandma Moss was able to come up from Utah, which was probably one of Regan's favorite things about the whole event.

Here she is with some of the flowers she was given. The next picture is her in her costume on the way to dress rehearsal. She did change into ballet shoes at the auditorium. The full costume had a fur vest and hat with ears. For some reason I didn't get good pictures of that. I'll try to scan the pictures she had done at the studio and post them soon.

Hadyn has just finished her first year of gymnastics with The Little Gym. She loved it. It was a perfect fit for her personality and her complete lack of fear. This will probably be the end of her career as a gymnast, as she is getting more and more interested in ballet and becoming even more like her idolized big sister. She is also beginning to control her energy level just a little. Hadyn is looking forward (as in asking each day how many days until...) starting preschool in September. I don't know who is more excited, Hadyn or Hadyn's mom... Here she is doing one of her favorite gymnastics tricks (with the moral support of her friend, Cascade, that take the class with her):

A Little Catching Up

So you all missed some fun stuff while I was on blogging hiatus. Here are a few of the highlights in no particular order...actually in whatever order Blogger decided to stick them into this post.

In February, we travelled to Kalispell area in Montana and spent a week with some good friends, the Prestwich's, that Jeff and I have known since the good old days at the U of I (GO VANDALS).

This is us at a huge lake (which I'm too lazy to look up the name of and it's been too long to actually remember) in Glacier National Park. Try to focus more on the beautiful lake and mountains rather than on us. We're cold, windblown, and looking into the sun. It was such a great vacation. We sledded, skied, ate really good and played. The Prestwich's have boys our girls ages roughly, so it was fun for the kids. The last time we went on vacation with these guys they just had Isaac, and I think I was about 20 weeks into my pregnancy with Regan.

Hadyn got to go one a date with her dad to go skiing at Bogus. One day she'll probably be embarrassed that we took our own packets of instant oatmeal and used the water from the coffee makers in the cafe in the ski lodge. At this age she just thinks we're cool for remembering spoons. Ahhhh, to pause time...

For April Fools day we had the first annual mixed up dinner. All the parts of dinner, each food, plate, cup, etc. was written on a slip of paper and each of us had a set of all the slips. Each course you could draw out three items. After each course your placesetting was completely cleared. It led to some interesting combinations. Here's one of my courses. What I wouldn't have given for a drink of anything. Those are some dry foods! Luckily I had my fork...

Unluckily for Hadyn she drew juice but no cup. Dad to the rescue. I think I may adopt this all the time. No more dirty glasses or cups to wash.

Our Easter egg hunt. This was the first year we really hid the eggs. We were smart enough not to use real eggs in case some didn't get found, but not smart enough to just write down where everything was hid. Somewhere there is one plastic egg waiting to be found.

And lastly, the much anticipated Moss Family Reunion was a great success. My brother Dave and his family were visiting from Alaska, so we were excited to get everyone together. It was a one day event, and my other brother, Richard was in charge (translation: My sis-in-law, Jamie did an awesome job). I love the picture of Hadyn and my mom.

Why We Love Living in Boise

Wow, I almost feel that I should introduce myself...Instead, I think I'll just pretend that it hasn't be a month and a half since my last post...The Luke clan has been well, although very busy. I aced my first two classes, and am working my way through another while trying to get registered for several more. Regan is loving the new spring weather and doing well in school and ballet. Her recital is next month and she is very excited. She's also participating in her school's mini-marathon, which has her running laps two recesses a week. She past her 10-mile mark, and seems to enjoy running. I know, it's hard to understand. Hadyn is enjoying her gymnastics class and counting down the minutes until she starts preschool in the fall. Jeff hasn't made as many international trips this year, for which we are grateful. He has kept busy with work, his church calling and snowboarding (not necessarily in that order).

So, yesterday was an amazing day, and we were reminded of how great Boise is. We started our day as usual, running Regan to school, etc. After school though, was our first day this year of running through the sprinklers...

Then, we quickly got ready to meet up with Jeff's sister's family, and we headed up to Bogus Basin for some sledding/snowboarding. The ski lifts and everything are closed, but there's still snow, so off we went. It is a long winding road to get up to the hill, but so worth it. The girls sledded a few times on sleds, then a few times on just their backsides, then they just played in ths snow. Jeff snowboarded a little on the sledding hill, then, when we were starting to pack up, he went all the way down the hill and we picked him up at the base of the mountain.

It was so warm we only wore gloves and snowpants to keep dry. I was actually in shorts and didn't even get cold. I love Boise!

Here's Jeff snowboarding. I know I'm biased, but I think he looks pretty good...and he's a good snowboarder :).

And then we finished our day with donuts and this view. Does it get any better? (No.)

This Month is Such a Special Month...

Hadyn, all shiny and new with her big sister (who seems so small here).

She was not shy with the cake on her first birthday.

She was still all smiles by her 2nd birthday.

It is a rare day when Hadyn is not happy and giggling.

Birthday number 3 found her in Boise surrounded by family.

I'll let her tell you how old she is today:

Hadyn is such an amazing girl. She is always ready with a smile, hug and kiss. She loves to take care of people and she loves her big sister. She wants to be a mom and a doctor when she grows up. She thinks her mom is the best cook and she misses her dad when he travels. She is a natural skiier, a great gymnast and my helper. Her favorite thing to do is watch SpongeBob with her dad. Happy Birthday Hadyn. We love you!

What We've Been Doing Instead of Blogging

I cannot fully put into words how crazy our lives have become, and yet, here I am putting it into words... My sis-in-law did this a while back and I thought it was a brilliant way to catch up on the blog without too much time or stress. So, here it is (in no specific order. Chronological would have been nice, but no:

What I did on my Blogger Vacation

by Maria Luke

1. Jeff has been to Vietnam twice in the last two months. He only stays for a week each time, which means he actually spent more time traveling to and from than actually in Vietnam.


2. I have officially gone back to school and am in a pre-nursing program. I am currently taking 7 credits, but on the quarter (vs. semester) system which means we move fast. I am loving it, and find that either I am way smarter, or dating Jeff is significantly more distracting than being married to Jeff...


3. Regan has had two ballet recitals. One was just her usual Winter recital, where she and her class did a really cute dance to "One" from Chorus Line. The second was a much bigger recital for which her group was chosen to participate. The did the same dance, but in a recital with groups chosen from about 10 area studios. I'll try to post a short video at the end of this.


4. I spent a week flat on my back. Not the relaxing, eating bon bon's type of rest, more like the cockroach that simply can't get up sort of thing. Apparently I herniated two discs in my lower back, and, also apparently, that area of your body is affected when you do anything, including blinking. It was very painful, and I was a huge baby, but my dear, loving husband, was amazing taking care of everything that he could. What a guy.


5. When I was finally upright again after #4 (not running any races, mind you, but at least sobbing in pain), I sent Jeff snowboarding. I'm sure he needed a break from being my nurse for a while. He came home earlier than expected with a limp and a sprained knee. We were quite a pair.


6. After #'s 5 & 6, Jeff and I have come to the conclusion that we are old and falling apart.


7. We have replaced most of the trim in our home that we took off to tile our kitchen and dining rooms a year ago.


8. I also don't think I've mentioned yet that at the end of last year I started doing medical transcription for an orthopedic surgeon. I really like doing it. I am a total geek. I love typing. I can't play the piano, but I can type and I find it very relaxing. Weird, I know.


9. Hadyn has finally found an outlet for her boundless energy. She goes to gymnastics once a week. It doesn't make her any more likely to take a nap, but it is nice to see her chanelling that energy into something productive. I tried to convince her that cleaning toilets and scrubbing floors for her mom was an equally fun way to use up energy, but she wasn't convinced. Sigh...


10. Regan was awarded the Citizenship award for her class. We were and are very proud of her.


11. We spent a couple days in Driggs, Idaho, celebrating our anniversary (11th), loving the idea of being snowed in my aunt and uncles cabin and hoping for glimpses of the Grand Teton (it never came out from behind the fog, clouds and gusting wind) and hoping the cabin withstood the CRAZY winds that blew. It was fun and very relaxing.

Well, I think that's it. I feel like I'm beginning to get my feet back under myself and I am adjusting to my new schedule so I hope to update a bit more frequently, but don't hold me to it.

Here's a little snippet of Miss Regan performing "One":