Talent Show 2016

March 31st, 2016

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The talent show this year turned out to be such an awesome learning experience for Noelle. Here’s our little actress with her super awesome teacher, Ms. Montgomery, and two of her best friends, Georgia and Emerson.

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Even though Emily moved to a new city, she drove in to watch her buddies perform! We love Emma-P!

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I guess this is the part where I briefly say that Noelle forgot a couple of her lines and had to start over. That hasn’t happened in any of her auditions before or after, but it happened tonight. This turned into the greatest learning lesson and was such a good experience, because true character shows when you make a mistake and have to pick up the pieces, which she did so beautifully. She’s one tough cookie! And… if she decides to pursue acting further, she’ll always have this experience to teach and encourage those who look up to her to keep going and never give up! We could not have been more proud of her tonight. Back stage, we looked into each other’s eyes, and she said, “It’s okay.” And I said, “It’s totally okay.” We both teared up and then that was that. It was all smiles for the rest of the night. Whew! She’s so brave!

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So cute when Ms. Montgomery’s daughter photo bombed this picture!

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Emily and Ava have been such steady, constant friends for Noelle since kindergarten. They are awesome! There are no other words to describe these girls, and I couldn’t be more thankful for them!

What a night! So glad it happened, but so glad it’s in the books!

21 weeks–2/04/16

March 28th, 2016

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Love our littlest babies and our sweet, simple life of encouraging and building each other up and sharing our happiness with others! This is the half-way point, and we are more excited, now than ever! Can’t wait to meet our little boy!

#JoshleenTour

March 25th, 2016

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Emily, Ava and Noelle all got meet and greet tickets to the Joshleen Tour as their big Christmas present this year! They were all in shock and beyond excited to meet their role models! It was a super fun girl’s night out!

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This gives you an idea where the concert attire idea came from (and the faces in this picture)!

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The girls had the best time ever at the concert/comedy show! Josh and Colleen build each other up and have sooooo much fun together! It’s so great watching. They are both great singers, dancers and comedians too! They put on a super entertaining show that kept us laughing, and also feeling all the feels!

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The theme of the show was all about love and your “One True Pairing!” Each sub-section focused on how to have a successful relationship and making fun of girl/guy quirks in relationships that we all can laugh about. But at the end of the night, they seriously talked to the audience about being who you are meant to be first and foremost and then sharing that with someone else. Totally impressed with these two! They work harder and play harder than anyone I know, and that’s inspiring to have that perfect combination of both!

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During one part of the show, Miranda Sings, Colleen’s YouTube character made an appearance. The girls were cracking up, as always. She’s so funny! I think the best part about her is that she truly doesn’t care what anyone thinks about her and enjoys being her silly self. That means a lot to kids these days.

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It’s so awesome that the friends Noelle made all by herself in kindergarten lead to me making some of the best friends I’ve ever had. Thanks Noelle! You did good!!!

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I love that you can see everyone in this picture! We all took turns taking pictures of each other with our girls, and we support and love each other so much, as you can see!

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So the night went a tiny bit south when we realized the meet and greet portion was before the concert, rather than after, and we had missed it. Our ticket and confirmation email both said 7:00pm, so there was no way for us to know to arrive early. Afterward, we talked to their tour manager, and she was so empathetic and understanding. I knew her crew would be super awesome too! It was TicketMaster that messed up, but it really upset Colleen when she found out about it. She posted such a heart-felt vlog that explained how mad she was that her fans were disappointed and that the people they pay to handle this messed up.

To make a long story not any longer, her manager wrote down our Instagram and Twitter accounts and said Colleen might follow us, just to give the girls something to leave excited about. We also emailed her the above picture and asked her if she could show it to Colleen since we worked so hard on the outfits. And that was that. As we were driving home from the concert, my phone started blowing up! Not only did Colleen/Miranda follow both our Instagram and Twitter accounts, but she tweeted the picture we asked her manager to show her! The girls were going nuts! It was so exciting and really lifted all of our spirits! Her mom, @gwentrent even liked all of our posts! So sweet!

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Then, after all the twitter excitement, she posted Emily’s fan art that she handed Colleen during the concert on Instagram. The girls were over the moon by this point. It was all screams and cheering in the car! The night went from soooo disappointing to absolutely thrilling for our little 9 year olds! We can’t wait to see Colleen and Josh to thank them in person for having such huge hearts and making our girls feel so special… maybe sooner than later! Winking smile

Here’s a video of all the social media love and Emily giving Colleen her fan art. It has over 18,000 views on my Instagram account. Crazy! Everyone loves Colleen and Josh!

American Girl 5th Birthday Memories!

March 23rd, 2016

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Noelle, Anna Kate and Rose all at their 5th birthdays!

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Noelle turns 5! 5/05/11

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Anna Kate turns 5! 3/16/14

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Rose turns 5! 2/11/16

Noelle and Lilly at American Girl Bistro

Birthday girl, Noelle!

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Birthday girl, Anna Kate!

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Birthday girl, Rose!

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Happy birthday to our sweethearts throughout the years!

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Sisterly love!

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Daddy and doll time, lol!

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2014 and 2016

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This was a fun tradition for our family that we’ve looked forward to and enjoyed for years! I’m sad that it’s over, but I’m glad that it happened! Ahh, life is passing so quickly before my very eyes, and I want to hold on to every minute of it! These are for sure the sweetest days I have ever known.

Rose’s American Girl 5th Birthday Party!

March 19th, 2016

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Rose had a great family birthday party this year at the American Girl Bistro! The pictures tell the story, and the girls had a blast celebrating together!

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Happy 5th birthday, Rose! You bring the best into every day and make our lives so fun and entertaining. You are gentle and kind, crazy and fierce! We are absolutely head over heels in love with you, baby blossom, and had so much fun celebrating you all month long!

Happy 7th Birthday, Anna Kate!

March 19th, 2016

When I think of Anna Kate, I think of happy and tenderhearted. This is a little flip of just a few of my favorite memories with our now seven year old baby girl! I always think of her when I hear this song because she’s just so… all things good, and I can’t say enough sweet things about her. She tries her best and cares deeply about everyone around her, and I’m crazy proud and in love!

*I’m posting Rose’s birthday pictures tomorrow, and then I’ll move them back to February once I get caught up, if I do, lol! Anna Kate’s birthday pics will be up at some point! She had an awesome little birthday party ice skating this year!

Rose as Jasmine

March 8th, 2016

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Noelle dressed Rose up like Jasmine from head to toe, and I took these adorable pictures of our little firecracker! I can’t wait for each new day to see what this kid says and does. Her personality is so awesome! See for yourself!

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She definitely keeps us entertained, and we adore our baby girl!

Daddy/Daughter Valentine’s Dance

March 6th, 2016

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Fancy little love hearts ready for their date with Daddy!

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Hair on fleek if I do say so myself! Winking smile

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Love love love the way Anna Kate’s hairstyle turned out. Noelle created the idea during her rock star make-over, and I just copied it for Anna Kate tonight, and she loved it!

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Rose was super cute and happy to get to hang out at the big girls’ school for the dance!

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I was sad that we lost our sun for these pictures, but I’ll treasure having these shots of the girls dancing with their daddy forever!

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Mike mostly videoed the girls at the dance, but these were a couple of sweet still shots! Love these beautiful girls, and the awesome relationship they have with their seriously amazing Dad!

Our Leading Lady

March 4th, 2016

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Noelle is full of such personality and joy! Our family could not function without her daily encouragement and cheerfulness. She got accepted into a girls’ leadership program at school, and it’s the neatest group! These are fun pictures of her wearing her “leadership attire.” They do all sorts of service projects and training sessions on what it means to be a true leader. Then they take what they learn and act it out in their school and community. It’s been an awesome experience for Noelle so far, and I’m so grateful she is getting to be a part of it! A true leader is one who serves, and Noelle does this so beautifully every day for our family. She truly is my leading lady!!!

Our Little Cowgirl

March 1st, 2016

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Just the cutest Jessie ever walking her little pony!