July 2013

July 2013

This month started off with a bang as the girls went to EFY in San Antonio like the first day of the month for a week.  That left Dad and I here on our own for a whole week!  We managed to fill it with Doctor appointments, haircuts, and working on dance costumes.  We also fit some date nights in there too!



Our BIGGEST News is that Cymbre got her driver's permit, and so Guy is in the process of teaching our LAST one how to drive.  He is going to make her learn to drive the mini too since it is a standard transmission.  She has to learn how to drive it before we sell it and get Cooper an automatic car to take to school in Hollywood in October.

As soon as the girls got home from EFY, Cooper and I had to leave for Tap Kids in Burlington, Vermont.  Cymbre stayed home with Dad, but then they later joined us for Cooper's Tap kids show.  They had a Daddy Daughter road trip, and seemed to have a good time doing things on their way.  It was a surprise for Cooper as this may be her last show.  Then we turned it into a family vacation to drive home.

However, on the way to Vermont Cymbre and Dad both got sick and made stops at Urgent Care Centers.  So they ended up showing up early and sick.  Dad sounded like he was dying with his cough!  They slept while Cooper danced...I just did my Mom thing.  They both made it to the show, although Dad still wasn't feeling very good



On the way to Vermont, Dad and Cymbre saw these things:   Shenandoah National Park, Smoky Mountains National Park, Battlefields, Knoxville and Philadelphia Zoos, For McHenry, Appomatax, Edison National Historical Site, Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, Cloud Canyon State Park, Flanagan homes from when Guy was growing up.



Once we met up, as a family we saw these things:   Teddy Bear Museum, Covered Bridges, Joseph Smith's birth place, Mystic, Plimoth Plantation/Plymouth Rock, Rock of Ages Quarry, Sugar Mill, Salem Mass., Sargus Iron Works, Topiary Gardens, USS Constitution, Segway Tour of Guildford, Conn., Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream factory.  We had a tremendous time.

Cooper LOVES coming to Tap Kids.  It's one of the only places she gets really challenged in her tap dancing, and she enjoys the chance to dance with other kids who can keep up with her.  Andee does a great job in teaching her and staying ahead of her, but it's nice to have a whole room full of kids to dance with sometimes.

While we were gone on the trip Terri White stayed in our home in Houston.  The first night after I gave her explicit instructions in a message, she managed to not use the instructions and set off the burglar alarm, waking the entire neighborhood and calling the police in the middle of the night when she arrived home from the dog show!  Good thing our neighbor knew she was supposed to be there, or she would have been arrested.  She was embarrassed to call and tell us, but we just laughed!  It gave her a place to stay instead of a hotel while she was in town.  And she's family, so it wasn't a big deal.

Cymbre is continuing her physical therapy for her migraines.  Some days it gets rid of the headache, and some days it just lessens it.  I sure wish we could find the solution for her.

I came home from the trip and managed to have strep...probably got it from Dad and Cymbre.  So I spent a few miserable days....not a good thing right after a trip!

Cooper and Cymbre attended a Matt Shields Master Tap Class at Dance Central.  They loved the class, and now they have yet another contact in the tap dance world.  That's a good thing for Cooper especially.  Cymbre loved the fact that he wore a fedora, and she wears them too.



Cooper and I went to Austin for a few days to attend a Dance Intensive that Cooper had been invited to come too.  It was held at the Dance Spot Studio, and she ended up getting a gift card to spend at the Capezio store they had on location.  She bought a fancy tank top.  The director of the workshop, Quinton, invited her to come when he saw her at competition, so we went.  He wants her on his company, as usual.



Cooper also attended the MET Summer Dance Intensive in Houston.  A couple of weeks of going downtown to the studio for all day classes.  The teachers are more challenging, and they too want her on their company.

Cooper is again doing her voice lessons getting ready to go to school in October.  Sister Pennington is working with her.

We are working in all the doctor appointments for the girls in addition to the headache doctor appointments for Cymbre.  Seems like all we do is go to some doctor!

Got a new dryer...the transmission wore out on the old one.  Seems like every time the appliance dies, it's a major issue and we end up having to replace the thing.  Now the dryer matches the washer again.  We bought the Whirlpool Duet dryer.

The girls are attending summer dance classes at APAC when they are around for them.  It's always a good thing to keep dancing during the summer, and they are working on solos with Andee too.  Cooper is doing a new solo to take with her to school in case she need one, and Cymbre is doing her two for competition next season.

I've started dance costumes for competition next season....seems like a never-ending necessity.  I bought all the parts, now just the altering, Rhine stoning, and hat making to do.  I have to make a hat with netting for Cymbre's dress dance this year....but I can't find millinery netting in the right color.  Guess I will try to paint the stuff.  It's plastic, so spray paint ought to work I hope!!

As for Sunday School lessons:

July 1st was:

The 7th was:  How Can I Deepen My Understanding Of Covenants?

Always remember to honor the covenants you make with The Lord.

Ordinances and covenants go together.  You can't have one without the other.  They cannot be separated.

Ordinances and covenants help us remember who we are.  They remind us of our duty to God.  The Lord has provided them to help us come unto Him and receive eternal life.  When we honor them, He strengthens us.

Elder John A. Widtsoe:  "An ordinance is an earthly symbol of a spiritual reality.  It is usually also an act of symbolizing a covenant or agreement with The Lord."

I used a coin as an object lesson:

Which side of a coin is more important?  Neither one

Can you separate the sides of the coin?  No

Covenants and ordinances are inseparable, just like the two sides of a coin are inseparable.

Ordinances and Covenants are necessary for admission into God's presence, just as coins are sometimes needed for admission to events.

I gave them a handout with a coin attached, and the quote:  "Ordinances and covenants are necessary for admission into God's presence, just as coins are sometimes needed for admission to events."

I had a substitute for the 14th and 21st because of going to Tap Kids with Cooper.

The 28th was:  How Can I Prepare To Receive Temple Ordinances?

We went over the First Presidency Message in the front of the For Strength Of Youth Booklet.

Before we go to the temple we need to prepare:

Live worthy of a temple recommend

Listen and follow the prophet - general conference is an excellent source of instructions from the living prophets

Be spiritually clean

Doctrine and Covenants 97:15-17

Object lesson using a water filter:

If our water supply is dirty (show dirty water in a water bottle) we filter it.

We have to filter out earthly things in order to be worthy to receive spiritual things.

(Show clean water in water bottle)

Brother O'Neal came in and answered the classes' questions regarding temple recommends.

Handout:  Big #2 with this quote:

"Those who understand the eternal blessing which come from the temple know that no sacrifice is too great, no price to heavy, no struggle too difficult in order to receive these blessings.  There are never too many miles to travel, too many obstacles to overcome, or too much discomfort to endure.  They understand that the saving ordinances received in the temple that permit us to someday return to our HEavenly Father in an eternal family relationship and to be endowed with blessings and power from on high are worth every sacrifice and every effort."

Guess that about wraps up July 2013!