Author: Elsa

In the second show of Winterfest Monti will perform with her hip hop
class. It should be very entertaining.We were at dress rehearsal for
about 3.5 hours. Even Monti said she was tired and ready for bed
while we were driving home.

Right after school we had to head to Renton for dress rehearsal of the
girl’s dance show. All the girls need their hair up in a bun and
theatrical make-up on. Monti is doing jazz in the first show and
Dahlia is doing tap.

At the end of school on Friday I brought cupcakes in to celebrate
Monti’s birthday. She had a chance to celebrate in school during her
star student week because normally she would be out of school on her
birthday. I was pretty late bringing in the cupcakes but Monti hugged
me and said, “I knew you were coming. You have never disappointed me.”
I know this should make me happy but it only stresses me out because I
know one day I will disappoint her.

Monti was star student this week. Here is the poster she put together.

All us girls are taking skiing lessons but Joe decided to choose
snowboarding. It seemed appropriate that our first experience of
skiing in the Northwest included rain and drizzle. The rain scared
away many people so the mountain was relatively empty.

For the next seven Sundays we will be heading up to Snoqualmie Summit
for ski lessons. Dahlia really enjoyed her class and was begging to
stay and ski longer. I’m not sure about Monti. Her teacher would say
things like “I have a surprise” and Monti would say, “Are we going to
build a snow fort?” or another time she asked, “Are we going to make a
tent?” I think she may have been hoping for a little more than skiing.

Our friends opened a new coffee shop in Issaquah named Grimaldi’s. On
Saturday they had a grand opening party which included musicians,
magicians, and lots of IVE kids. I think we definitely have a new
place to hang out.