Extracurricular

The past 6 weeks have been crazy with the girls finishing their many sports and activities...and here is a glimpse into that!

Emma's dance recital

Emma LOVED her dance class and was SO cute in her little dance recital! She loved wearing make-up and getting all dressed up in her ballerina costumes! She's also very excited that Laicee will be in the class with her next year.
Miss Kassandra Ann had her dance recital a couple weeks later! I love watching her perform. She just loves being on stage---I can't wait to see where that love takes her :)!

Kass also started piano lessons. She had only a month of lessons when her teacher asked if she'd like to be in the recital. And sweet Kassie was more than excited to perform once again! She did great---totally rocked out Old McDonald's Farm!!!

And yesterday was the end of spring soccer! I've never seen Kass play so hard and determined...it was awesome!!!

Emma and her BFF were so cute to watch. They'd kick the ball every so often, but it seemed like they were more concerned about giggling and running around together than actually playing...it's all about the snacks anyway!!!

And now summer has started! It's great not having a huge schedule. The girls have each signed up for a week long camp---and there will be fun pictures to post soon. We'll also be heading to Southern California for a family reunion...and we are all SO excited!!!

I ♥ summer!!!

10

I knew there was a reason I married Kevin 10 years ago. Among a huge list of greatness...I knew he would forever surprise me with incredible things!!!

We celebrated our 10th anniversary this past weekend and Kev took me to a bed and breakfast that overlooked Lake Huron! Here is a shot of our room...it was gorgeous...and the view was incredible! That's not all...we also got our own private hot tub, on our own private deck, overlooking the lake. It was so relaxing to listen to the waves and watch the stars. Here is our view from the hot tub. And this is what we woke-up to...a spectacular sunrise that we could just lay in bed and watch. This picture is taken from our bedroom window.
So Thank you, THANK YOU sweet husband of mine. You knew that a couple nights away is just what I needed and wanted...you are amazing and I'm so grateful for all that we have shared and experienced for the past 10 years...and I look excitedly forward to decades and decades and eternity more!

And thank you, THANK YOU sweet friends of mine who took in my little girls so I could enjoy all of this for a little while! The girls all loved their slumber parties and thoroughly enjoyed your homes! I owe you all :)

So, here are My top 10 Favorite memories of the past 10 years:

1. Walking into our first Japanese home for the 1st time...all 400 sq. feet of it!

2. Hiking Mt. Fuji and Mt. Timp

3. Living in for 5 years, experiencing, and leaving Japan

4. The birth of our 4 daughters...with failed epidural each time!

5. Sitting on the floor in our empty Japanese townhouse, checking the email one last time, getting accepted to Tepper for MBA school... and off to Pittsburgh!

6. One week camping and hiking trip to the Grand Tetons--while I was 6 months pregnant!

7. Job searching--Job searching--and more Job searching!

8. Buying, building, and moving into our first home for our family!

9. All of our family vacationing experiences!

10. Every little small moment that adds up to so much happiness!

4 and 6

Birthday's in our house are grand and festivus! The birthday girl gets to wake-up to lots of balloons and decorations and then they have the whole day to choose what they want for every meal. They also get to choose a special family activity for us all to do together (but only on the years they don't have a party...and this is a no party year). We celebrated Emma's 4th birthday in January and Amberlee's 6th birthday this past week. I can't believe how fast these little cuties are growing up. Remind me to cherish every second with them!

Emma: wanted lucky charms for breakfast, cupcakes with friends, and wanted to have cotton candy at the circus. It was a fun weekend!!!

Amberlee: wanted a movie night where she got to pick everything from the movie to all the treats/snacks, wanted a violin (which meant a road trip to Ann Arbor to pick it out), and swimming to top it all off!

Happy Birthday Sweet Girls!!!

New Addition

This is a HUGE bridge for us to cross---we got a dog! The girls have been asking for years if we could get one and their little wish finally came true. Kevin's Aunt Connie (in Utah) found a little morkie for us. Luckily, a friend was traveling to Utah and was willing to bring *Lilly* back with her! We kept it a surprise for as long as we could and the night before she came, we told them the news and took them shopping for all of Lilly's things. They were SO excited and could hardly wait until the next day to meet her.

Coming Home.

The only person who wasn't as thrilled was Laicee. She cried and cried for the first 24 hours and ate with her feet up on the table (she gonna eat mine feet). Gratefully, she is now loving Lilly just as much as the others!

...she no longer eats with her feet on the table. Apparently the threat of Lilly eating her feet is gone :)

a GRRREAT time

As an early Christmas present to ourselves, we took the girls up to Great Wolf Lodge. It is a themed hotel with an indoor water park. We absolutely love it there and were more than excited to get out of town--even if it was a quick trip.

We had fun playing in the water, flying down the water slides, sleeping in bunk beds, getting in our pj's for story time, and getting snowed on indoors! Kassie and Amberlee were both barely tall enough to go down the big slides by themselves. I was a little nervous, and they were so brave and proud of themselves. Emma had fun running away from sharks in the lazy river, and Laicee cried each time she went on the water slides...but, she kept going. So, somewhere deep inside her I'm sure she loved it as well!

I can't even tell you the pure joy and laughter that came from all of us on this trip!

Kev and Laicee on the lazy river


Amberlee floating along

We treated the girls to chocolate fondue.

They couldn't believe all they could dip into chocolate!

2009 Lowedown!

Dear Family and Friends,

The Christmas season is one of our favorites. Not only is it a wonderful time to celebrate the birth of our Savior, it is also a great time to connect with old friends and family. We hope this year has been a great one for you! Here are our top highlights of 2009…

Kassie (loves to go by Kassandra) 7 years old-
2nd grade. Star performer. Ring leader. Soccer, basketball, dance and Brownie girl scouts. Loves everything about life. Wants to be veterinarian or a rock star. Turns 8 next year and is thrilled to be baptized!

Amberlee (5 years old)-
Loves kindergarten. Great student. Her teacher said she wants to photocopy her. Donated hair to locks of love. Loves gymnastics, cooking and finding new recipes. Loving, sweet, kind. 1 marriage proposal.

Emma (4 years old in January)-
Resident party animal. Ball of energy. Happy, bright, fun. Loves soccer, dance, and gymnastics. Coach said she was freakishly strong! Rides two-wheeler with NO training wheels. Bag lady. Such a fun girl!

Laicee (2 years old)-
Great talker and singer. Adorable smile. “I do it myself!”. LOVES being entertained by older sisters. Tries her hardest to keep up. Won’t stay in bed. 1st daughter to get stitches. Amazingly thoughtful and caring.

Stephanie-
Loves being busy with the 4 girls. Exhausted. Loves dates with the hubby. Volleyball. Book Club. Girls nights out. Organized Santa Parade float. Nativity Exhibit Committee. Freezing in MI. Lovin’ life!

Kevin-
Lone man of the house. Healed Achilles. Grateful to walk and run again -- 5Ks. Daddy-daughter dates. Varsity Scout Coach -- horseback high adventure. Promotion…lots of work. Excited to celebrate 10 years of marriage next year.

Have a wonderful Christmas Season and a very Happy New year!
Love,
The Lowe Family

Nutcracker Outing

I love the holidays! I especially love when I can find fun, unique, and memorable things to do. In our little town, the Nutcracker ballet comes every 3 years. I decided, along with my fabulous friends and their daughters, to take our older girls (Kassie and Amberlee) to see the ballet! The girls wore their fancy dresses and we took them out to lunch before the show. The best part was watching their excited little faces light up when they saw Clara, the fancy dancers, the mice and the mouse king, and most importantly...the Nutcracker! They literally were on the edge of their seats and I could see their minds just soaking up the whole thing. This is one experience that we'll cherish and one that will hopefully become a tradition!Here's our adorable group of girls practicing their ballet moves!

One ends and another begins

Kassie and Emma both played soccer this season and it was so fun to see them play. Emma was so very excited to score a goal and Kass did an awesome job.

This was such a cold day!!! Freezing rain pelted us in the face and the girls were bundled up in tons of layers. I'm just glad our next sport is inside!

But now that soccer is over, it's time for basketball! Kassie is lovin' it. She's had 2 games so far and has had a couple of basket shots and lots of great blocks and steals.

Kass is the one shooting the ball. It makes our Saturday mornings early and busy...but it's great to see them having fun and excelling in activities!

Once I get pictures, I can show you that Amberlee has been in a gymnastics class. She has the best time and loves doing cartwheels, round-offs, and splits all over the house...and when I say all over the house...I literally mean ALL OVER the house. She is ALWAYS doing her little acts ALL the time! She can't get from one end of the room to another without doing a little cartwheel or something along the way!

I love these girls!

Our trick-or-treaters!!!

Kassie was super-girl, Emma and Amberlee were cats, and Laicee was a spider witch.

Harry Potter's Little Sister?

This is how we spent our general conference morning after a game of turtle tag.

Poor Laicee was running away from her sisters and fell right into our speaker.

She had to have 2 stiches on the inside and 5 stiches on the outside. She felt much better once the ER nurses gave her a little cute teddy bear. Apparently, she is doing fine :)