Wordless Wednesday: Recital Week!!

We can't wait to see our little twinkle toes on Saturday!!!

Wordless Wednesday: Sneak Peek...

....at this year's recital costume(s)!!!

Tutu is for her ballet number, and the tap shorts are obviously for the tap number.

Wordless Wednesday: My Little Ballerina!!!

Wordless Wednesday: This Year's Costume

.....we've begun the countdown to this year's recital!!  

First step is the theme of the show and the costumes!

This year's theme is "Turn Off The TV And Dance!"

Emerson's class will be dancing to the muppets (both a ballet and tap dance) and this is her costume...obviously the catalog picture!!

Holiday Festivities, 2011 | Leading up to Christmas (Part One)

Finally getting our month of December on the blog.  I decided to do short, little snip-its of the events leading up to Christmas....Enjoy!!

Saturday, December 3

Always one of our favorite things to do, we headed to Scott's Tree Lot (we've been loyal for about 10 years now) to pick out our tree the morning of December 3rd.  Scott's always has the most beautiful trees, so it's never hard to find the perfect one.  Danny and I noticed that the tree crop was really nice this year.  Emerson is always a big help and loves to run around pointing our trees to her dad, then he makes sure they are tall or short enough to fit in our living room.  We never get away without a "ride" on the sleigh and a candy cane treat!!

The winning tree!!

Tuesday, December 13th

We were lucky enough to get a holiday performance from Emerson's dance class again this year.  Unfortunately I was out-of-town for work this year and not able to attend the performance.  Danny did a great job getting the brief show on film and thanks to Aurora's mom for getting some great shots of the girls before and during the performance.  You can tell the girls have improved since last year and really love dance class!!

L to R, top to bottom: Emerson, Morgan, Aurora and Lauren.....all ready for the show!!

Video

This is the first video I've made using iMovie (yay!!).  Since it's HD, you may have to let it buffer a few minutes, so it doesn't stop every two seconds!!

Holiday Dance Performance 2011 from Brooke Dever on Vimeo.

Thursday, December 15

Our friends, the Gwaltneys, were nice enough to invite Danny and Emerson to CHCC for dinner with Santa.  Danny took the camera along and got a few shots.  I hate I missed the event, but so glad it gave Danny something to do with Emerson to kill some time and take-up another mommy-less evening. At this point we still hadn't seen Santa, so Emerson was so excited to see him at dinner.  According to Emerson, this was the "real" Santa and not just one of his helpers!!  Thanks again for the invite, Gwaltneys....I think Danny and Emerson had a great time!

Cookie decorating skills!

Caroline and Santa

Emerson and Santa

The Raleigh Christmas Parade

In November (11/19), Emerson had the opportunity to participate in the Raleigh Christmas Parade with her dance school.  As one of the younger students she was able to sit on the Christmas float, while the older girls danced (and walked) behind the float.  Emerson was very excited about riding on the float with her friends.  We had to be there very early on that Saturday morning, and the drop-off point was about a 1 1/2 miles from where we decided to watch the parade.  Danny and I decided I would drop-off and walk to the spot, while he parked the car and scoped out our viewing spot towards the end of the parade route.  I waited for Kerry, Haegan's mom, to arrive and then left Emerson so I could begin my jaunt to our viewing spot.  Emerson was so excited and could hardly sit still.

Ready for the parade to begin.  

Emerson and Jordan...all smiles!!

Emerson and Haegan...two-peas-in-a-pod.

As I walked to our spot, I snagged this picture of the crowd on just one of the two streets the parade went down.  There were almost 80,000 people in attendance for the parade and it's known as the largest parade between Atlanta and Washington, DC.

Waiting for the parade to start!!

And away we go....the police motorcycle and mounted horse escort started it all!!

The Broughton High School Marching Band began and ended the parade.  They will be in Pasadena this week for the Rose Bowl Parade.  Way to represent NC!!

Our favorite news team, the WRAL gang.

So cute....love these golden retrievers!

How funny is this giant grocery cart?

Check out this ride...

The first inflatable balloon...

The Grand Marshal of the parade....NC's own, Scotty McCreery.   He passed Emerson's float before the parade began and now she is in love.  We officially have our first crush in the Dever house.  (I might have a slight crush, too!!  If I ever have a son, I want him to be as well-mannered as Scotty.)

Mini ponies all dolled up for the holiday!

Emerson and the Stage Door group were #100 out of #129 entries in the parade, so needless to say, we sat there for a long time before we got a glimpse of Emerson.  Finally they emerged, but sadly, after all that, I only got two pictures of Emerson.  She was tucked away behind the tree and I didn't see her until she was right on us.  Oh well...at least she was smiling.  Danny followed the float to the end and brought Emerson back to sit with us and enjoy the rest of the parade!

**Side note: Those gorgeous red sweatshirts all the Stage Door gang have on, were the works of me and my company!!**

Another inflatable....

The Nutcracker, one of my favorite holiday traditions!

Check out the (real) dog, relaxed and ready to ride on the back of this motorcycle.

No texting allowed at the parade!!! A parade participant came over to see what was so important that my mom was texting and not watching the parade.  

The Sudo-Rockettes

A giant toilet on the float....pretty clever!

Emerson loved watching the parade!

The man everyone was waiting for....

I must say, albeit cold, the Raleigh Christmas Parade was so much fun!!  They do a wonderful job putting on a very entertaining parade that appeals to all ages.  I am so glad Emerson got to be a part of it.  We will certainly go again next year.  What a great way to spend a Saturday morning and really get everyone in the holiday spirit!! Until next year...