End of Another Year

Noe returned to Japan on December 27. We had him home for a week, and the kids got some much needed Daddy time. Although it was hard to say goodbye, he had given all 5 of us some Japanese robes and outfits.



The boys' outfits consisted of shirts and shorts, and they were adorable. They had no desire to take them off after we took some pictures!



Leigha's robe was gorgeous. It was so silky and Noe couldn't have picked a better color for her. I was very impressed with his shopping abilities.



The good thing about the timing was that we still had one more week off of school. We still had time to have fun before getting back to our regular schedule. Don and Laura came over on that Monday with their kids and their neice. Cathyrn is one year older than Leigha, and the girls love hanging out together whenever she is in town. They had a blast that night, at least I think they did, we never saw them!



On New Year's Eve, I took Leigha to the floating skating rink in Lake Las Vegas. I took a chance and hoped that I would run into an old friend of mine while I was there. When I skated for Nutcracker On Ice, Wayne Seybold was the executive producer and skated with his sister on the stage tour (I was on the arena tour). I hadn't seen him since we left reheasals. I was pleasantly surprised to find out he is now the mayor of his hometown in Indiana. His family owns the floating rink and he comes out every year, I just always miss him. Not that day! We only had a few minutes to chat, but it was great seeing him again.

Leigha had a slow start on the ice again, but she did much better than the last time I took her. I just feel like we start from scratch each time, since so much time goes by in between visits. Her ankles were also caving in. I have never been a fan of rental skates. Thankfully I can still squeeze my feet into my show skates, barely, but I did it!



One of the neat features of this tiny rink is the fact that it's floating in the water. I remember asking someone last year if anyone had ever flown over the boards and into the water. Just once, and I am sure that's all it took for that person not to goof off again!

Leigha had a fabulous time, and I enjoyed watching her grow more confident. Although she still wanted nothing to do with me teaching her.



While we were gone, the boys stumbled across Leigha's old mp3 player. I am just thankful that they really didn't figure it out until after she got her iPod Shuffle. I know she wouldn't want them to be messing with her music. Leigha now wears the ear buds, so her old player and headphones get shared by the boys (with Mom's supervision of volume control--especially on Matthew).



Who could refuse this cute face?!