This year's piano recital featured Emoree AND Bryton. I only caught Bryton's piece on tape (Dad got Emoree's on the video recorder) but they both did a spectacular job.
In fact, their piano teacher said that they both made a tremendous amount of progress this year and that she was very proud of them. Next year, Shae joins piano lessons...hang onto your hats!
Emoree turned the big "12" last week (she asked for 12 roses on her cake). That means Young Women's and at our house, most importantly... permission to get your ears pierced. So, two days after the big birthday we headed over to Claire's...
Emoree was pretty calm before the lady started marking her ears. You can see that her face was a tad bit nervous... 
But she toughed it out (I think she squeezed the grips off the chair) and now she has two more holes in her head. Yet, these have diamonds in them. For the next 6 weeks she has to keep these in and take care of them. After that, she can wear post earrings for a year and then if all goes well (both her Mom and her Grandma have metal allergies) she can wear whatever she wants.
Happy Birthday big girl!! 
We had a BBQ with family and friends to celebrate the 4th of July. Our contributions to the event included a Patriotic drink (see below for drinks used). The colors do not bleed into each other so people at the party were walking around with red, white, and blue drinks. It turned out great. Let us know if you want the details. 
Our other contribution were fruit sparklers. The little kids loved these and the adults loved that they were (somewhat) healthy! 
Bryton went to MSU Football Camp last month. He had a great time acting as a real "Bulldog." He had the opportunity to work with the MSU Football Coaching staff (got a photo with Coach Dan Mullen even), had lunch in the locker room (sounded pretty gross to me, but he LOVED it), and at the end of camp he rode the MSU bus...
The boys got off the bus and the parents were on the sidelines cheering for their boys. The boys then came into the MSU Football Stadium and they were each announced over the loud speaker as they ran down the field to high-five Coach Mullen. It was worth every penny!
Our bulldog on the 50 yard line. GO DAWGS! Hang onto this picture folks, it might be worth something someday!
Shae has been begging to get her hair cut all summer long. Finally, we gave in...
