Arlie's "mock" gymnastics meet

Processing in doing the "gymnast" walk....

Very cool leos!

Chalking up for the bars!

Presenting before the bar routine

Setting up for a back hip circle.....

Look at those straight legs!

Dismount!

Floor routine

Beam routine

"V" sit....

Look at her foot! Perfect form......

Handstand on the beam! (A few months ago she said she thought she could never do this!)

Split jump - look at that air!

Trophy!

Arlie had her first "mock" meet with her gymnastics team to practice for the real meets which start in January. She did great! She nailed everything and didn't mess up once. She has come SO far in her gymnastics training. She started out last fall with no experience and is already at the top of her level 3 team! We can't wait to see how she does at the actual meets. So proud of her!

Winner!

Woodinville Lights Festival

Bright.

Whimsical.

Love.

Together.

Big.

Mrs.

Rudolph.

Frosty.

Gingerbread.

Peguin.

Greeting.

Sparkle.

Twinkle.

Run.

Bend.

Flip.

Tall.

Soldier.

Present.

Arlie performed at the Woodinville Lights Festival with her gymnastics team on Friday, Dec. 4. It was a short performance followed by a lot of pictures taken with characters and at Molbak's, the nearby nursery. It had been a long day, with the choir performance field trip, but it was fun and festive!

Fernwood Choir Field Trip

My son as a girl - ain't he purty?

Harrison and Arlie at Westlake Center

You mean we could have had sushi?

Arlie at the Fairmont Hotel

Harrison at the Fairmont

Nutcracker!

Arlie and Harrison in the Teddy Bear Suite at the Fairmont

Fernwood Choir kids with Jim Devers, host of Evening Magazine!

Giant peppermint!

Harrison and Arlie at the Fairmont

Fernwood Choir performs at the Fairmont

Pretty peppermint tree!

Fernwood choir enjoying milk and cookies at the Fairmont

Got Milk?

Arlie having a cookie at the Fairmont

Christmas tree at the Fairmont

Arlie and M-L

Fernwood Choir performs at Columbia Tower

Columbia Tower - wow that's high!

Harrison and Mommy on the bus!

We had an awesome field trip on Friday to downtown Seattle with the Fernwood Choir. First of all, the junior high choir teacher, Ben Kromholtz, started a choir at Fernwood. So, now three of my kids have him as a choir teacher, which is really cool! So, on Friday we had this amazing field trip to downtown Seattle which began at the Columbia Tower. The 76 story building was towering into the foggy morning skies, but the kids were eager to get in, sing, and then head to the 73rd floor where they could see for miles........or not, considering the day was so foggy all we could see was the ground! But it was a LONG way up! Having performed at one venue, we headed as a group to the Fairmont Hotel. The lobby was beautifully decorated with a huge tree. The kids were gathered in a room and had a treat of milk and cookies, then performed a variety of songs in the lobby. While they were singing, we noticed a professional TV crew and it turns out Evening Magazine was filming! The kids crowded around host Jim Devers (they didn't know who he was, just that he was "on TV") and insisted on pictures. He promised the kids they would be on the show on Monday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. (for those of you who want to watch!). The kids took turns going upstairs to the Teddy Bear Suite, which was beautifully decorated with over 130 teddy bears. Then, we headed to Westlake Center where we had lunch before heading to the bus for the trip back to school. It was such a fun day and a bonus for me to be in downtown Seattle two days in a row during the holidays! So pretty.

Hannah's Media Tour Day!

Hannah and Mommy at Pacific Place
Hannah (in Jackie's seat of the Jackie and Bender show) and me in Jubal's seat at KISS 106.1 radio station

Hannah at her KISS 106.1 interview

Hannah and a Nutcracker at Pacific Place

Which one is the Nutcracker? HAHA!

Hannah at CBS radio.....KZOK, KJAQ, and AM 1090

Hannah and Lee Callahan at CBS radio after her interview

Hannah at her first radio interview!

Hannah and I spent Thursday on a "media tour" of sorts. She was invited, as one of this year's honorees for the Seattle Jingle Bell Run and Walk, to be interviewed by two radio stations. The first was for CBS radio with Lee Callahan. Her interview ran today on KZOK and it was great! The second interview was for KISS 106.1, which is Hannah's favorite radio station. She was so excited to sit in the same studio as her favorite radio personalities and interview with "your girl Nina". The interview, unfortunately, did not air this morning as promised (something funky with the radio station that kept playing their AM affiliate). Hopefully it will air another time later this week, but the whole experience was a lot of fun anyway. In between interviews Hannah and I did a little shopping at Pacific Place and got to see a lot of pretty holiday decorations downtown. We ended the day with an appointment at Children's. It was a long, but very fun day! I'm so proud of my Hannah for being an ambassador for the Arthritis Foundation and for telling her story so others can be inspired.