Ellyn's Final Dance Recital

Ellyn started dance when she was four years old. She had her 15th and final dance recital last week. I cried more at the recital than I did at graduation. Ellyn's dance has been such a thing of beauty in our lives. I'm sad to see it end. Watching her twirl and leap across the stage will likely never happen again. The emotion that stirred in me while I watched her just couldn't be held back. But even as the tears spilled onto my cheeks, I was smiling.  The way she has grown as a girl and as a dancer is amazing. I love to see her dance. What a beautiful gift dance has been!

This little girl was pretty excited to see Ellyn dance in all her pretty costumes:

Ellyn with her two dance teachers:

Ellyn's ballet class--2013

Twenty-seven

Celebrating today...
twenty-seven years of marriage to this guy:

We were teenagers when we got married in 1986   :)

Ellyn's Graduation

The day Ellyn graduated felt a little hectic. 

Besides the business of overnight guests, food preparation, ready-ing the graduation gifts for parties held later in the day, clothes for the family, the cap, gown, shoes, dress...

besides all that business, 2 members of the family (hubby and youngest daughter) had the stomach flu all night.  Fortunately they were able to sleep during the day and drag themselves out of bed just in time.

We all ended up making it to the commencement ceremony. It was happy and sad all rolled into one.

We are so proud of Ellyn and excited for her future, but her absence from our home this fall will be hard to adjust to. My number two birdie leaving the nest. I'm so glad she'll only be a couple of hours away!

Here are some pictures from the big day.  Congratulations to all the graduates!