Remember Us?

I really get disgusted with people whose blog I'm following and they go months without updating.  It irritates me.  Yeah ... I haven't updated our blog since March, and yes, I am aware that this is a period of three months.  I am ashamed.  I have an excuse, but I'm still ashamed.  Sorry.

The excuse - the slow death of a laptop.  It was a pill for two months.  I couldn't get the darned thing to do anything on the internet really.  It was a pain.  In May I got a new laptop.  I had to reconfigure everything and transfer things to the new computer.  It was a little time consuming, and in May I do not have much in the way of time.  June is ballet intensive month, so time is nonexistent then as well.  So - no updates.

Till now.

Bailee had a wonderful time at her summer intensive in Pocatello at Brindusa-Moore Ballet Academy.  Despite having her phone stolen (we tracked it down and got it back - long story I'll blog about later), it was her best experience yet.  She had a wonderful time seeing all her friends from past intensives.  She also got to work with Constantin Apetrei (Ballet Apetrei in New Orleans - he trained at the Bolshoi Academy in Russia), Vladimir Bykov (Artistic Director of Central Florida Ballet and the World Ballet Competition), Monique Betty (Ballet Idaho), Geoffrey Bennett (acting instructor), and of course Sergiu Brindusa and Beth Moore.

 

 

They performed the ballet "La Fille Mal Gardee" (yup, they put this together in 3 weeks), and Bailee did an amazing job.  We were very proud of her.  This was her 5th year at intensive, and her 3rd year in the advanced class.  Such an amazing experience for her.

After the first week of intensive, Bailee's ballet studio put on a recital featuring the classical ballet variations the older girls have been learning (as well as some of their modern dance projects).  I still cannot believe I got this photo of Bai airborn.  Way to go phone!

 

 

These are some of the costumes she wore for the performance.  We made most of them, and yes, that does mean Bailee helped.  She's learning so much!

 

 

One of the cooler things about the performance was the fact that Bailee's artwork was used for the program and DVD cover.  She was very excited.

Mom is working with a home health group right now.  They are helping her to get a handle on her blood pressure and are doing physical therapy with her as well.  So far, she is doing very well.  That is very good news.  We were really worried about her in May.  Now it appears that she has turned the corner and is on the road to improvement.

Now that we are done with our ballet commitments for a time, we're going to concentrate on home.  Bailee is having her little toenails partially removed tomorrow (she injured them when she was 3).  Mom has 5 billion yard and home projects for me, so I will be very busy I'm sure!  Tired too.  ha ha

The Update on the Trip

 

 

I did a quick post to let everyone know the results of the audition, but then life got away from me.  Well, it actually ran over me, slapped me upside of the head, and stomped on me several times.  Life does that sometimes.  Today I am motivated by guilt to finish the update.


We left after school on the 8th in a blizzard.  Seriously!  Heavy snow, blowing, the whole deal.  We really had our doubts about proceeding, but our Smart Phones came to the rescue.  I was tracking the storm on radar, and saw that it eased up after Blackfoot.  We hung in there (passing on the news to the other parents driving down behind us), and were relieved to find that the storm didn't extend southward.  Such a relief!  We had great roads for the remainder of the trip.  We pulled off at Brigham City around 7 to get  some dinner, connecting with Mary and her mom, who were right behind us.  The girls were thrilled to have the chance to eat together.  (They'd been constantly texting throughout the trip.)


Salt Lake has changed a great deal since the Olympics ... certainly for the better!  I was very impressed by the changes which had been made.  We pulled in to Salt Lake around 8:30 p.m.  Definitely don't love ten lane highways - my least favorite thing about SLC.  However, we were once again thankful for our Smart Phones AND our GPS apps.  It made getting around SO much easier.  Bailee, who has never been to a large city (in her memory) was blown away by Salt Lake.  It's the first time she's seen skyscrapers up close and personal.  Once we got to our hotel (just off the U of U campus), Peggy and I concentrated on getting Bailee settled for the night.  She had a terrible cold, and felt miserable.  Luckily, the medicine I gave her helped her to have a good night.  She felt a wee bit better when she got up the next morning.


We spent the morning touring around SLC.  We found the building where her audition would be, then headed off to Trader Joe's.  I have several friends who are big fans of Trader Joe's, and they have gifted us with some of the products available through the store.  Needless to say, we were excited to check it out.  Bailee loved it.  Really loved it.  She can't wait to go back - with coolers.  After stocking up on some items, we toured the downtown area.  The highlight was seeing the Capitol Theater where Ballet West performs.  Bai was really excited.


Before we knew it, it was time to head back up to the university for the audition.  Bailee was excited to see her friends, but they were all pretty nervous.  The parents opted for going out to lunch since we couldn't watch the audition and didn't want to just hang around for two hours being nervous.  We had a great time together.  When we returned for the girls, they all felt that they had done pretty well.  By this time, the weather had turned on us, and it was snowing heavily.  The others went out for dinner, but Peggy and I decided that we should probably get on the road before it got any worse.


Our roads got pretty dicey around Ogden, and remained so until we passed Malad in Idaho.  Lots of slideoffs, but we did okay.  So thankful for that!  Bailee basically passed out in the back seat.  Once we passed Malad Pass, our roads were great.  We got home around 9:30.  Trip over.


A week later we got the e-mail telling us that Bailee hadn't been accepted.  Her ballet teacher was stunned.  Mary and Aleks couldn't understand why (and both cried on her behalf).  Bailee, however, was fine with it.  She just said "God doesn't want me to go this year.  That's okay.  He has a reason."  She then told us that she had been struggling with a bad feeling about it since we returned home.  So, we don't know why it's a no go this year, but we're willing to accept that there's a reason.  She'll try again next year.


Meanwhile, she'll attend her usual summer intensive in Pocatello with Sergiu and Beth.  We also are hoping that we can arrange for private lessons with either  a former Ballet West dancer OR Risa Mochizuki, a Japanese dancer currently working with a ballet company in Romania.  Either way, Bailee will have a chance to continue to develop her ballet skills.  I'm glad that she has had the opportunity to find out that the disappointments in life don't have to destroy you.  Life goes on, and so do we.



Not This Year

Bailee was not accepted to the Ballet West summer intensive program.

Take a deep breath ...

The hotel reservations are made.  Our friend, Peggy, offered to drive us to Salt Lake since she doesn't trust my van (no one in their right mind does).  We leave after school on Friday.  Bailee registers at 11 am and her two hour audition begins at 2 pm.

Your thoughts and prayers will be appreciated.  We're hoping the roads are decent.  Bailee is pretty calm so far.  The adults, not so much.  You'd think WE were auditioning.  Wish I could observe, but the audition is a very private affair.  Bailee and the other students applying will have to demonstrate their proficiency at bar and floor work, technique, and prove their stamina is up to the company's standards.  It's going to be rough, but I know Bailee will do well.  She is very excited, especially since her good friends Mary and Aleks from her studio will be trying out as well.  There are also several students from the Pocatello studio attending as well.  I'm glad she'll have so many friends there.  I am especially glad that the older boys from Pocatello will be there to watch over their little dance sisters.

Next week I'll recap the trip and tell you how things went!