Little Dancers

The girls finished their dancing class this week.  As a result we were able to come to their recital. Grandma and Grandpa Harper came as well.  The girls were very cute as you can see below.  They really enjoyed dance and would love to take it again in the fall but we have to see if it is still in the budget.  If they do dance in the fall they will be in different classes.

                                                       Getting lose and ready for the big show

                                           A little sistely support to get the butterflies out.  Aren't they cute?

                                                                  Tapa,Tapa, Tapa

                                                              More Tapa, Tapa, Tapa

                                                      A little swan lake anyone? So graceful!

                                                         Even Ethan is getting down.

Mormon Helping Hands

  

Last weekend I went along with about 24 others from our ward to Alabama to help with the tornado clean up.  I left here about 6:00pm and got there about midnight.  We camped at the branch building in Jasper which is north of Birmingham. We got up and worked all day Saturday.  The weather was good low 70's and over cast.  My group, which dad was a part of, went to Cordova. This was a small humble little town. In a little valley. It was amazing to see the destruction that was still there. The main street leading to downtown was closed because all the building downtown was damaged.  

            The first work address we could not even find.  The next one we met a nice elderly gentleman who had a huge tree in his driveway.  Unfortunately it was too big for us to pick up so we could not help him. But we did listen to his story.  We heard a lot of stories that day.  He showed us the "storm shelter" he and his wife stayed in.  Evidently there were two tornadoes that came through that day, almost 12 hours apart.  He said the first tornado flipped his truck on his tomato plants. He said that he was wondering how he would get it out of his garden but the second tornado flipped it back into the drive way.
            Next we went to an elderly lady's home.  She had a number of trees down and an out building that had some damage. We got the tarp on the out building and cut up the trees and stacked it by the road.  The residents were told that if they got the tree limbs and trash on the side of the street then the county would pick it up.  Luckily we had Brother Frost in our work crew and he brought his truck.  We used it as a wheel barrow to haul the limbs away.  If we did not have it I think we could still be carrying tree limbs to the road.  After a few hours it got harder and harder to lift the wood. About 1:00 we went to a local church that was feeding the volunteers.
            The last address we went to was on the side of the hill.  The woman who owned it and a trailer on the street below was there.  Both of these homes were in shambles.  The trailer had a humongous tree that crashed through it.  The lady that was renting it told us she was in the kitchen when the tree came down.  Looking at the trailer it is amazing she survived.  Another crew came and started cutting.  They were actually scary to watch and we all thought it was amazing they did not hurt themselves.  At one point one chainsawer actually dropped his chainsaw when the large limb he was cutting fell down. Luckily he did not cut himself.
            The house we were cleaning had down trees and trash and furniture everywhere. It also had a trailer’s roof plaster on the electric pole.  We were not sure that all the trash was the tornado’s fault. The trees were not as large as the earlier place we were at but they all twisted in vines and the hill was more vertical.  We worked hard to get it cleaned up the lady was also determined that we tarp the roof.  It was missing some tin and had some holes over the kitchen.
            We were beat by the time we were finally finished. We got back to Jasper and were able to take a shower at a local swimming center.  I and dad decided to just crash in the tent.  Sunday morning we packed up and had a sacrament meeting.  We were all set to do some work but it turned out that there were no jobs left.  So we were able to leave a little early.  The only thing I would do different would be bring a camera.  Unfortunately I do not have any pictures to share.  If I get any from any of the brethren that went I will post them.

Sydney's Big Day!

 Our little princess had a birthday on April 28th. She was very excited and had been asking everyday for a week if it was her birthday yet.  Tracy made cup cakes for her for her class at school. I guess they were good because I did not get to eat one.  She came home with a gold crown which she wore all day.  After a special Dinner We had a little party with Grandparents and Uncle Ryan ( althought Grandpa Harper had to leave after getting a quick birthday hug to go to school).  As usual Sydney got a lot of presents so many that Haily offered to help her open them.  I think she really liked everything that she got.  The birthday cake was delicious.  All in all the day was pretty good for our Birthday Girl.

The Cub Scout Riders

 The Pack meeting at the end of April was on bicycles.  Ethan and the rest of our cubs all brought their bikes to church to ride.  Ethan's unfortantly has out grown his bicycle.  we probably need to get him another one and also work to get the training wheels. As you can see he managed to have fun. I honestly think he may have riden his bike more that night than any other time in his life. There was two city police officers that came and taught the cubs bike safty.  As you can see they set up a little course for the boys to ride around.  It was a great success I think.  All the scouts had fun and hopefull they learned something.

Happy Easter!

Well another holiday has come and gone.  Hopefully it was good one for you.  We a had a great day. It did, however, start off with Sydney needing a little hair cut.  Evidently she decided to sleep with silly putty in her bed.  Of course it got all tangled in her hair.  It was a mess.  The whole time Tracy was trying to get it out the other kids were wanting to start looking for what the Easter bunny left them in the living room.  Once we got the putty out the kids found a lot of eggs.  They got breakfast and dressed up in their Easter dresses (well Ethan didn't). We went to church.  It was fast Sunday for us lot of testimonies were shared.  After church we had a fabulous dinner at Mom's and Dad's.  The ham was great and so was the company. Came home and got the kids ready for bed.  It was the end of a great Easter Weekend.  

A Saturday Easter Party

Hello every one. Even though it is late we want to wish everyone a happy Easter. We had a very busy Easter weekend.  It started on Saturday.  We were invited to a Easter party at the Jones's home.  The Jones's are friends from the ward.  There were a lot of people there that we were able to visit. It was a great afternoon and the weather was about perfect.  Lot of great food and fun for the kids.  It started with an Easter egg hunt.  I think Sydney found the most.

 There was several games like sack races, egg and spoon race, and the egg toss.

 The kids also enjoyed the zip line swing. As you can see it started up in the tree house and the line ran the length of the yard.  At first it was a little intimidating to the kids but once they went down they were all hooked. We had so much fun.  The kids did not want to leave.

Atlanta Temple Open House

We had a quick family trip to the Atlanta Temple open house.  The kids did well over all.  It started out to be a rainy drive but the closer we got to Atlanta the bluer the sky got.  The wind was really blowing however. So please excuse the pictures you are about to see. Ethan said his favorite part was the baptismal font.  He liked the oxen.  He did want to know why a table was blocking the entrance to the font.  Haily also liked the font. She tried to climb the glass around the font to see the oxen.  Haily loved the "pretty flowers" throughout.  At the end we ended up having to yell at her to not pick them!  Sydney liked the pictures and the chandeliers.  She was really quiet throughout the tour.  Just taking it all in.  The girls had many many comments on their pretty dresses.  We also found out that the kids are not destined for TV work.  At the end we were approached about the kids participating in a You tube video.  Sydney went first and she was really aware of the little mic on her dress.  So much so that she would not answer the question.  Haily answered off camera but would not attempt to talk on camera.  Ethan mumbled his response but would not really look into the camera.  I do not think they will make it on the video.  If a miracle occurs and  they do we will let you know but don't hold your breath. It was a great family day.