Days with the Dorans

So Ali has been playing the viola now for 3 months. Those string instruments can be painful to listen to but, my, has she come a long way!  Her first concert was great! She was actually chosen for a little speaking piece and did great. It amazes me that someone who struggles to talk to people in casual settings is cool as a cucumber in front of a huge group or on stage. I was so proud of her! She did great! Like Joe's first band concert, I was really impressed with how well this group of new musicians did! I took a video of it (and uploaded it HERE ) though Al tells me I forgot to tape her favorite song... whoops! It was fun to see her try to repress her smile when they all stood up at the end. It'll be interesting to see if Al sticks with orchestra or not. As of now, she says yes! She did drop choir next semester because she didn't want to miss too much dance (she had to miss classes for this performance). We were all proud of her and how fun it was to f...

 We always wait until after Thanksgiving to put up the tree and this year we did it the Sunday after Thanksgiving. With how busy our life is, I feel like we need to get the decorations up this weekend or we may not get it done at all.  Sadly, I didn't get my villages up this year but I've decided I'm going to do them next year. I feel like if I don't do it over Thanksgiving, I don't do it. Last year I didn't because we had a new puppy but that new puppy is pretty good now so I can't use him as an excuse. I was just too tired...  I did do my tree in the front room window but the tree in the family room is all the kids. I put the lights on it, Jeff does Andrew's angel and the kids put up all the ornaments. It's so fun watching them go to work while Jeffy and I sit back sipping drinks and watching them with nice Christmas music in the background! We laugh and have lots of memories in those ornaments (and of course Andrew's angel which to...

 After our 5k and nice, long, hot showers, we were off to Saginaw to celebrate Thanksgiving with the Dorans. Joe and I were sporting our new Turkey Trot medals and shirts.  We can eat guilt free (kind of) because of our exercise, which is a good thing because Grandma is an amazing cook!! The food was delicious and the company divine! Unfortunately, Christie couldn't join us. She was on a cruise and Mary's finace' also wasn't able to join us. This year Grandma opted to sit at the kid table because she said Joe was older now so graduated to the big table! I think he was pleased with this and his sibs didn't mind at all because they got to sit with Grandma!  Sean was so cute and told us we needed to take turns to tell everyone what we are thankful for (a tradition but I was pleased he was the one who voiced wanting to start). He was thankful for the "whole wide world" and the rest of us also had much to be thankful for... mostly for those seated...

It was actually a perfect day for the Turkey Trot! Cold but not TOO cold. This year, Danny ran the 10K so we didn't go with him. Next year Joe and my dad may do the 10K too which will mean Chrissy and I will need to do it since we drive together!  Joe and Papa ran but said it was absolutely horrible. They couldn't run because people in front of them were walking. They did 9:48 miles. Not good for them though my dad took first in his age group. Think about if they could have really run! There were TONS of people (over 20,000 I was told) and unfortunately, they didn't all stay with their waves like they were supposed to. The walkers did well and Chrissy and I didn't have the traffic like we usually do. We actually jogged most of the race which was good. Every year Chrissy says we're going to run next year... hopefully 2017 will be our year though I'm cool with walking too!  I love that we have this tradition. We are also both WMU grads so had to repr...

 We are old pros at DMM now! This year we not only drove with Amber and Julia, we roomed with them too. After 10 days in Nashville, 2 days in Lansing was nothing! What was new was that the girls auditioned for scholarships this year. I had to get Al a new black leotard for it since her old one was small. I love the lace back. Very pretty!  We spent two nights this year since the girls had to be up early to audition. They stretched in the room and then were down to stretch more with this great group of girls!  There were many who auditioned (this is just our studio pictured- quite a few girls from our studio alone!).  When I saw this sea of girls, I didn't even see Ali at first! Can you find her??  She's grown so much. Not just as a dancer but in her own skin. She would have never auditioned last year with her anxiety. While it still comes back here and there, she's learned to do things even while afraid because good things can happen!  Juli...

Joe ran a 5K to benefit a new church he's been checking out with his friends Connor and Dom. They've been going each Wednesday to a group that Joe really likes. Bonus, they did a race to feed those in need in the area. Joe had a great race! He came in 9th of 30 runners aged 10-14 and 57th out of over 300 runners. His time was 25:08 so just over 8 minute miles! Not bad at all. Jeff and I went to cheer him on and boy was it cold but a great day to cheer on a son that we are incredibly proud of! Way to go, Joe!

 I love listening to Joe play music. I don't hear a lot of his trumpet because he does it before I get home (maybe...). He has class every day so obviously practices there. It's fun to hear him play things he figures out on his own too. His fall concert was at the high school and in the gym (which I thought odd). We weren't quite sure where to sit because we didn't know where Joe would be sitting. I ended up going to the side opposite where the band chairs were set up and found a place up high to take some pictures with my good camera. I was able to spy Joe's fan club from my seats. Nana and Papa, the boys and dad were all there (Al was at dance) and Papa Dave and Veron were also in town (sadly for Dave's mom's funeral) so they came to the concert too.  The band sounded great and I was able to zoom in quite a bit which was nice. I did take some video too but was unable to get it onto my mac. I think I need a new computer but need to play (...