Easter report

My goal this Easter was to focus more on the meaning of the holiday and enfuse our daily lives this past week with scriptures, stories and testimony. I'm happy to report that we were able to get through it and Ella loved it and wanted even more of it. The great thing about the restored gospel is that we've been taught to read, celebrate , and re-live these events and their teachings every day, not only at Easter time or during the holidays in general. We wrapped up the festivities with a nice yummy Easter lunch before church and cake afterwards. I loved our week-long, simple and stress-free celebration as it allowed us to really think and talk about the Savior's sacrifice.

Egg-shaped carrot cake. It was delish!



For my nursery class I did this Easter egg hunt where for each of the main events of the week (I chose seven that could more easily be explained to the children), I reserved one egg. I numbered the eggs and in each egg

I placed a little artifact corresponding to that day's event (i.e. Jesus was betrayed for 30 silver coins: I put three dimes in that egg, a piece of white cloth for His burial, etc.) First I hid the eggs and had the children find them. They were not even disappointed not to find candy in it! They're awesome! I had them find all the eggs and then we opened them together in order, 1 through 12 while telling the story that went with each of the artifacts. Really neat idea I found on the web on a lds site. Then we did a craft, had them decorate their own eggs. Fun!



And this morning I was up bright and early (again)... had an appointment for my Cardio fit point test. My fitness has increased significantly over the past 7 months but there's still work to do, no doubt. I'll be starting to focus more on increasing my aerobic base (zone 2 which is the fat burning zone.) It's interesting how you have to work things from so many different angles, increase overall fitness, then focus on specific aspects of it which will require different types of exercises. For example, until now my aerobic exercises were mainly focused on interval training (intense sprints into top of zone 3 and AT for 30-60 secs followed by 2-3 mins of recovery in zones 2 and 1) which did me a lot of good as it increased my overall fitness and heart rate recovery which is above 40 (outstanding.) Now in order to help my body burn more fat at rest or while doing lower intensity exercises (zone 2), I will switch my focus on steady paced aerobics, no sprints or bursts. Anyhow, I think it's fascinating!

Otherwise the excitment is raising over here as we're getting ready for our big trip to India. We started packing and are looking forward to flying out on Friday afternoon. As for my workouts, luckily my sister-in-law has a gym membership and we'll be going together. Yeay! The tough part will be staying away from the yummy foods and desserts my mom-in-law will be making....!

Today...

I was at the temple bright and early for the 6:30 am session. I'm not a morning person but knowing I was getting up to go there believe me, made all the difference. My heart is filled with gratitude for the great peace and Spirit that are there. Even in the lobby, even outside on the temple grounds... . I did the work for my living grandfather's mother, Ioana Nebancea, and my visiting teaching companion whom I went with, helped and did ordinaces for one of Ioana's daughters, Elena Dutu, my grandfather's older sister. I feel so blessed to have the temple and the restored Gospel in my life, and having gone today makes this Easter holiday even more meaningful to me.

We colored eggs and did crafts yesterday, now on to making our little special Easter cake. (Thanks to my sweet parents who sent us super nice Easter presents and goodies, egg dye included, we got a coule of beautiful red eggs, a color I've had a hard time getting in years past.)

Last night...

 We had...

I am so grateful for my Savior and His loving and infinite sacrifice and atonement... so grateful that He died for me and that He lives now. I am grateful for His comforting and loving words and I can only imagine what He must have felt, the yearnings of His heart for His disciples and all of us really when He taught these precious truths before being taken away:

John 14

 Let not your heart be atroubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

 In my Father’s ahouse‍ are many bmansions: if it were‍ not so,‍ I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will acome‍ again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there‍ ye may be also.
And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
Jesus saith unto him, I am the away, the truth, and the life: no man ccometh‍ unto the Father, but by me.
If ye had aknown‍ me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
Believe me that I am ain the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that abelieveth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

If ye alove me, bkeep my ccommandments.
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
I will not leave you comfortless: I will bcome to you.

Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.


He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be bloved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.


Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?
Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will alove him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.
These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

And I am grateful beyond words for my family. For my darling husband who was over the moon about my "last supper" meal idea and had a big and supportive smile on his face when he came from out of town and found pictures taped all over our living room. Thank you sweetie for making me feel the way you do...

And I am so grateful for my Little Ms. Sunshine here who was jumping with joy as she was finding goodies in her Easter basket, including her very first time EVER (non-dairy) chocolate bunny from Divvies.

Lucky

How do you feel when you wake up after only getting one or two hours of sleep the night before because of this yucky cold, and you've got a whole day of work ahead of you, and (here's where it gets really good!) you walk into a spic-and-span kitchen? I say you feel LUCKY! Then  you turn around to look for the eggplant that you roasted the night before with a daring plan to make it into a salad before you went to bed that night but didn't... and you don't find it! Why? Because it's already cleaned-up and refrigerated! And the dishwasher has been emptied, and the laundry has been folded...! I say you feel super LUCKY! Super dupper lucky to have such a great husband who somehow managed to get it all done for you before he left town for work. Thank you honey for being such a wonderful husband! We miss you so much every time you travel, even if it's only for a few days at a time, and are always so happy to welcome you back!

And I'm lucky to also have this wonderful daughter who makes my heart leap with joy and pride (well, you know, the good kind of pride, the happy-parent pride :)) Yesterday, the performance class results were posted on the "Wall of Fame" inside the music school and we had the pleasant surprise of finding out that Ella got and "I+" (the highest grade they award) for her performance and a couple of nice comments from the Mrs. Boukadoum.

I just want to eat her all up, those sweet sparkly eyes, huge smile, chubby cheeks, all of it!

Easter Week

I've been working on finding some meaningful ways to help celebrate the true meaning of Easter at our house with Ella. Luckily I didn't have to look too far as the April issue of the Friend has a great article to help do just that: starting with Jesus' entrance in Jerusalem in preparation for the Passover until his Burial and Resurrection, we can take each day to read scriptures regarding the main events of that very special and sacred week that led to His ultimate sacrifice for mankind and His glorious Resurrection for the same.


[I am truly grateful for His life and His death and resurrection and I know He is my dear Savior.]

This morning I found great ideas/traditions some families have for Easter...here. So I'm going to adopt and adapt some of these as follows:

 - First, "plaster" walls and other various places in the living room with Easter Gospel art posters of this week's events and numbered each of them in chronological order. (I already did this.)
-We'll have Ella find the poster (starting with #1) corresponding to that day's event (i.e. Passover, Last Supper, etc.) and once she finds the right picture/event, we'll read the referenced scriptures for that day's event.

(-Since we've been sick this weekend, we're a little late on Days 8 and 7, Passover and Entrance in Jerusalem but I think we can get caught up tonight at FHE.)
-We'll continue on until we got all the pictures and finish off with a nice Easter dinner on Sunday after church.

-How about the oh-so-fun Easter Egg Hunt?? No worries, we'll have that baked in to our Thu night festivities. :)

I really can't wait for this! I hope Ella will have fun and in the process catch the Easter Spirit! I'll definitely have a follow-up post to report how it went.
(For the past few years we've used this little $3 Walmart-bought children's board book, to help teach the true meaning of Easter:

 (Another idea mentioned on the blog I read and linked to above, was to renacting some of the scenes and have a simple meal of lentil soup and pita on Thu. Since we're low on numbers, we'll probably just do the dinner :-.)

And speaking of food, for our Sunday Easter dinner, we'll try to make it fun and healthy with some of these must-have's:

-Easter eggs
-Drob (with chicken livers)

-fresh fruit assortment

-spinach and toffu roll-ups

-braised lamb chops

-couscous salad with garbanzo or black beans

-beets salad

-AND.... drum roll!!!!!!! COZONAC :) (That if I get well enough in time to make some. If not, plan B is carrot cake.)

Happy Easter preparations, everyone! Let's never forget that He is the reason for the season.

Changed forever

Since I've been getting a lot of compliments on my slimmer self lately, which is very very nice, by the way, from all of you awesome friends and family out there, I thought a post is in order to summarize and document if you will, my "how I got here" journey... I'm still very much engaged in this whole thing as I'm not at the end but rather in the middle of my journey. In fact, I don't think there is an end to getting and staying fit and healthy. So here is how I did/am doing it...

It started back in August of last year... I was feeling tired, no energy, and no desire to exercise and get my act straight about eating healthier and less. At the last physical I had, the doctor said my cholesterol was borderline, blood pressure a little high for my age, not very good signs. I wasn't really happy with myself because of all this. I had some desire but not enough to take the plunge and really commit to starting a new chapter that would change my lifestyle forever. It's probably because I knew it would and change is not easy, it's scary even ... how about my late night snacks (crumbled fetta cheese, kalamata olives and cucumbers with yummy white fluffy bread-that's what I would usually have after putting Ella to sleep and sitting down to watch some TV), how about my OREO cakesters, biscotti, and pastries? How about my fettucine alfredo pasta? And the list could on and on and on. I had a gym membership at Lifetime Fitness and at one point when we were living in Omaha I got a bit serious about going and accomplished a 11 lbs weight loss, not too much but still something. We kept our membership when we moved to TX and started going again but only once in a while. I could always find excuses (wiped out after a long work day, cooking, cleaning, getting Ella ready for the next day, etc.) but I knew deep inside that it can be done and it needs to be done but just didn't feel up to it.

Back to last August now...I took the free FIT test at Lifetime and the data was not looking good: my body age was well beyond my years, and my fitness level, well it was basically non-existent. So I decided something had to be done. I signed up for personal training, twice a week. I was working out hard with the trainer but not doing too well on my diet. I didn't have the accountability nor a strong committment to do my best. After two months of training I was only 3 lbs lighter with hardly any improvement in the fitness area and I was starting to wonder how could I ever lose the weight and get fitter.... Finally after not seeing the expected and promised results of personal training and after my trainer blew off a couple of appointments, I decided it was time for a change. I requested a new trainer. Meeting and working with John Lee (read one of his interviews here, very insightful http://www.muscleprodigy.com/john-lee-interview-arcl-1698.html) was probably one of the best things that happen to me. After my first meeting with John, I knew I could do it! I knew it was possible; it was possible for me to lose the weight and most importantly to get fit! This guy had a great track record and he himself was/is a great athlete and amateur body builder. When he asked me what my goals were, aside from losing the weight, I told him that I wanted to become an athlete, be able to do hard things, learn to love to exercise. It was basically something like: "I want to be a new person, all around. And I need you to help me to do that."  I was on fire: lost 8 lbs in 4 weeks. I was tracking my food intake religiously (I still do), I was eating only the right foods, in the right quantities and dilligently working out three more times a week outside of my personal training sessions (which were twice a week.) My personal training workouts were very hard, very advanced, they were burning me 650-750 cals/hr and I was loving it. Still do. During the first two, three months of our training he was checking regularly on my diet/which I was tracking online at http://www.livestrong.com/ and continuosly making suggestions on improvement with specific foods/brand names, ingredients, substitutes, etc. And I was buildling muscle like crazy :-) I'm still working hard, still tracking my food and although the weight loss has slowed down, I know I'm still improving fitness-wise.

(This is the guy who helped change my life and I am forever grateful for that.)

Today, Hrishi who is darn good athlete, is amazed at my physial strength and agility. I was never the athletic type so for me this is a huge accomplishment.... I would rank it somewhere close to getting my Master's degree with a young child and a full-time job, but in a sense it's probably an even bigger accomplishment than that, at least for me.  I've learned things about my body  (physically and mentally) that I never knew possible and I've gained knowledge and confidence that will be with me through the years, allowing me to live a healthy and hopefully long life with my sweet family, God permitting. Now I'm happy that I can actually say "no" to foods that I know are not healthy or do not support my weight loss goal, that I can make conscious food choices that are not based on impulse or emotions, and I'm happy to talk to others about my experience. I never believed in diets, no matter how "scientific" they may be! Part of it is because I experienced with some of them myself and I found that there IS NO MAGIC BULLET. There is no magic diet other than serious personal committment to eat right (qualitatively and quantitatively, as size MATTERS!) and exercise in a way that will build muscle and burn fat. And I've learned it's always up to me, always!

A few more words on diet, I've learned that what you cook yourself at home is always the best and healthiest choice you have. It's of course much more time consuming to plan and prepare your daily meals (thank goodness for the four years of practice with making Ella's meals daily: they've really helped me get disciplined in this regard), but it's so worth it.  The other benefit of cooking my own meals is that it's so much more economical than eating out. Only once in a while I "indulge" with a Subway sandwhich, or a healthy choice at a good restaurant.

Now some personal inspiration I wrote a while back in a facebook post: "I never want to forget how good it feels to work out, to work out hard, my hardest, and push myself to the limit. It's such an amazing feeling, so rewarding and far beyond the physical realm. It's empowering on every single level: physical, mental, psychological, even spiritual." (Moi)

YESTERDAY....
-I didn't want to get off the couch.
-I didn't want to go exercise although I was paying gym membership fees
-I didn't want to give up my guilty pleasures (sweet and salty snacks)
-I was frustrated and felt stuck with this "me" who was not doing what she was supposed to be doing, and was sliding further and further away from a healthy lifestyle.
-I was tired all the time
-the list could go on and on...

TODAY....
-I'm confident as never before
-I'm stronger than never before
-I'm willing to do all that I can to stay fit for good.
-I love working out and working hard (boy, you should see my complext training exercises, they kick my behind every time but they feel good!)
-I love filling my plate with fresh or freshly cooked veggies and lean meats and I DON'T THINK (GOOD)CARBS ARE BAD for ME!
-I don't live with fear or regret of what I could have done yesterday and didn't do, because I always try to do it and make time for it (talking about my workouts.)
-I have energy and I AM HAPPY with MYSELF physically.
-And most importantly, I KNOW THIS IS NOT THE END, BUT JUST THE BEGINNING.

Under no pretence of being a fitness or nutrition guru, these are thoughts/lessons learned from my own personal experience that I wanted to put down here so my family will know what it took and is taking (me) to live a happy and healthy life; who knows maybe this will come in handy, if they'd ever find themselves to be in need of a bit of fitness advice. :-)

I love this quote from an article (and I recommend reading it all by the way) published in the Experience Life magazine by Lifetime:

"When your intuition signals that you’ve found something or someone truly right for you, the choice often becomes strangely easy. “It feels healthy; it feels good; it doesn’t feel like you’re forcing it, there’s not a lot of conflict.""

[I have to confess that putting all this down on 'paper' today has served as a really nice motivation booster!]

"I'm playing the pinano"

Three years ago or so when we bought our first upright piano, after pounding a little bit on the piano keys Ella would say: "I'm playing the PINANO!!" She loved that "pinano" of hers.

Fast forward to today:

Mozart Mouse and Beethoven Bear are Ms. Bell's. She lets Ella borrow them sometimes (when she does really well.)

After about 8 months of lessons, our baby had her first performance class on Monday. It was really a class not a performance/recital but a class that prepares children for recitals and is taught by the director of the school, Mrs. Boukadoum who, we're told, is a famed pianist and pedagogue, and a very very nice person, according to Ella. :-)  In these types of classes, children get to practice recital etiquette, play in the recital hall and on the recital grand piano in front of the director/master teacher and the rest of the children several times, while receiving critique from the master teacher. Parents are not allowed. (A little confession here: I really can't tell how nervous Ella was but I can confess that I was very nervous yesterday and so was Ms. Bell, her teacher, as this was Ella's first time in this kind of setting.)  Well, she surprised us all and did a swell job! The class was one hour long which is quite a long time for her (her regular class is 30 mins long.) During the one hour class six children ages, 5 (Ella was the youngest) through ten or eleven each played a piece they had memorized and practiced before hand. Ella played a little nursery rhyme, "Baby Bumble Bee." The older children played more intricate classical pieces. After playing the first round, they each received critique and got to play their pieces (taking turns) four more times. I was standing there outside of the recital hall doors wondering when I was going to see (through the glass windows) Ella getting impatient or wandering off. But she did not, she sat quietly through the whole thing. As Hrishi wanted to make this a really special ocassion for her, he bought her a beautiful bouquet of flowers and handed it to her right after class. She was so happy! She said she loved everybody else's pieces and wanted me to hum/sing them for her.... :)

We got home happy and relieved and while talking about the class in general, what was different about it, etc., Ella commented how she didn't play with both hands (at the same time) just like all the other children. Well, I explained that is a little more advanced but if she wanted to we could try learning a piece that requires using both left and right hand at the same time. [It's very interesting that I knew somehow that she was going to wonder or comment about that, as soon as I heard the rest of the children playing their music. Funny!]

Thank you baby for being brave and doing such a good job and for making mommy and daddy proud!

Spring Parade

This was last Friday. Unfortunately I was not able to go since I had a work meeting starting right when Ella's class was going to do their little parade. Fortunately though, Hrishi was able to go for a few minutes and take a few pictures. The Spring parade is a fun event where all the kids get to make their own bonnets and parade in the school parking lot wearing them. I liked Ella's butterfly and flower.

This picture of the school facade: so glad he took it because aside from the beautiful lush green trees, grasses, and colorful flowers, is filled to the brim with all these little cute kids who get to learn and play there. Primrose rocks!

To get caught-up now: this weekend seemed to have been one of the quieter ones in a long time which I really liked. It felt like I had time to catch my breath instead of just zooming from one thing/place to the next.

At ballet, they got to wear their costumes during practice for the first time: yeay! Lots of excitement there. Took a picture through the door:

Made chocolate covered strawberries: YUM!

And practiced piano galore... you see Ella was going to have her first performance class on Monday. It's a big deal, especially for the younger children as they get to play in the recital hall, on the grand piano in front of other children, no parents, no teachers in sight, only the director of the school. But that deserves its own post.

And planned for our BIG upcoming trip to visit family in INDIA!!!

From Primrose to Bluebonnet





This morning Hrishi made this funny/cute/witty comment that Ella will be soon making the transition from Primrose School to Bluebonnet Elementary, all this while we were driving to drop-off Ella to Primrose and noticed some primrose flowers on the side of the road! Ha! :) This transition though (minus the flower name connection) is something I've been thinking of lately and even getting jitters about the whole thing... it's probably because next week it's kindergarten registration and I know it's coming and there's no escaping it: my baby is growing up and will be attending big kid school soon. Where did the years go? It was like yesterday she was my baby all cradled in my arms and these days were so far ahead in the future. Now they are here in the inescapable present.

You see, I'm not concerned with her ability to cope academically, as she's been taught well at Primrose and she's basically doing 1st grade curriculum right now, but it does make me nervous to know she'll surrounded by these hundreds of kids in this big elementary school with new teachers, new schedules, new requirements, new lunch routine, peer pressure, no naps, etc.

I know she'll be just fine but still, I worry and pray and hope it'll be a smooth transition and a great experience for her and us all. There's a lot that goes on in the school system here (in the U.S.) in the way parents are or can get involved and while exciting, it's also a little bit overwhelming, I think. But as Hrishi puts it: there's nothing to worry about as I have the PTA president living next door so I can always call or walk over to chat with her. Ok... ?!?

All you mothers whose kids have gone through this, please help! :-)

Blue Symphony

(My initial post title for this was "Field trip" but was really too ordinary for what we experimented last night so I think the new title is more appropriate :-).

So last night after dinner and piano practice I took Ella on a surprise little field trip. We walked to this beautiful field of bluebonnets nearby. The pictures I took (with my DroidX since I was too lazy to carry my "professional" gear with me :-D) speak for themselves. I loved the natural light. It's always the best (in my books.)

(It's quite amazing to me how the top she picked matched the color of the field! Mind you, she didn't know where we were going!)

Beautiful Bluebonnet amongst bluebonets:

Can you tell she loves to pose?

My favorite! (They all are, really. :-))

How vibrant and beautiful are these?

They look great on my counter.

I'm so grateful for the beauty of this world and for my sweet explorer who loves nature as much as I do (or more, if we count her love for animals :-))

Bake sale for Japan

We all have witnessed through the news the tragedy that unfolded in Japan a few weeks ago (the terrible earthquake, tsunami, and the nuclear plant emissions.) It breaks my heart to think of those who lost loved ones, homes, and the normality of their everyday life. When a sister in our ward who is originally from Japan, had sent out a email note for a service opportunity, I jumped at it! They were going to have some sort of a bake sale or auction at the Dallas Japanese school graduation to raise funds that would be donated 100% to the victims in Japan. I come home early one day and baked three little loaves of banana bread which I then took them to her home. A few days later I heard that they raised no less than $2,000. Just another testimony that every bit counts. I'm so grateful for service opportunities and I hope to seek and see more of them in the future.

I was reminded of this experience this past weekend when in General Conference, the Presiding Bishop, H. David Burton spoke so eloquently about the sanctifying work of welfare: giving service and being kind to the poor. There were a couple of other great talks on the topic which I'll add quotes from once they become available. I'm adding a few excerpts from Bishop Burton's talk from the LDS Church News website.

When talking about the Chuch Welfare Program, he said: "This sacred work is not only to benefit and bless those who suffer or are in need. As sons and daughters of God, we cannot inherit the full measure of eternal life without being fully invested in caring for each other while we are here on earth."


"No matter how many temples we build, no matter how large our membership grows, no matter how positively we are perceived in the eyes of the world — should we fail in this great core commandment to 'succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees,' or turn our hearts from those who suffer and mourn, we are under condemnation and cannot please the Lord, and the jubilant hope of our hearts will ever be distant. ...


"The work of caring for one another and being 'kind to the poor' is a sanctifying work, commanded of the Father and divinely designed to bless, refine and exalt His children."

A beautiful picture of a print they showed during his talk:


Intellectual Reserve, Inc.http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/60743/

And I know he was not talking about that to necessarily praise the Church Welfare Program although it is indeed such a monumental and praiseworthy undertaking, but to help us see and yearn (more) to the needs of others, reach out, love, and BE KIND TO THE POOR.

From another conference talk I loved, by Elder Ballard:

"Great things are wrought through small and simple things," he said. "Like the small flecks of gold that accumulate over time into a large treasure, our small and simple acts of kindness and service will accumulate into a life filled with love for Heavenly Father, devotion to the work of the Lord Jesus Christ and a sense of peace and joy each time we reach out to one another."

Lake Cities Ballet, Sleeping Beauty, and Legoland

Last night was a night to remember, first time for Ella to attend a full-fledged ballet performance, Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty by the Lake Cities Ballet Theater. This ballet company recruits and trains at the Ballet Conservatory of Lewisville where Ella goes for her classes. The performance was stunning: the dancers, the music, the costumes, the choreography, everything was really good! Ella was excited through it all although initially I thought that she may get tired or bored, it was a four-act ballet after all: two and a half hours. We loved watching the dancers tell the most beloved story of the Sleeping Beauty through their graceful body movements. A true delight! I love arts.  Dance and ballet, in particular, always touch a very deep string in my heart. I had watched a similar performance but by the Dallas ballet last year and it was very comparable in quality. Hrishi was happy to come with us although I could tell he was a bit bored at times or hard to contain himself with a smile or laugh when the guys were performing! How can I make him like (male) ballet dancers?!???! :-) I think they're awesome!!!! He was a great sport through it all though and happy that Ella enjoyed it as much as she did. He did warn me though, next time we only need two tickets.

Ella kept saying that she wanted to perform on that stage someday, and so we told her it's really up to her and that if she keeps practising and working as hard as she has been so far, sky is the limit. This morning still excited about the performance as her teacher and her assistant teachers were in the ballet as the Queen and the Lilac Fairy, Ella got up and made two beautiful cards for them. I'm really happy and grateful that she never hesitates to compliment and thank others. I knew she was going to be more focused and pay more attention this morning in her class, as she got a glimpse of the recital atmosphere at last night's performance. Her recital is on June 7th and their theme is Circus Gallop. It'll be fun, I'm sure! I already got to see pictures of the costumes and they are very cute.

Today after the first session of General Conference for which I'm so grateful, especially because we get the opportunity to hear the Lord's prophets from the comfort of our home, we got to go to LegoLand Discovery Center that has opened three days ago at our nearby mall in Grapevine Mills. You see, I had bought tickets back in January after hearing all the hype about it. And I'm sure glad I did, it was well worth it. Plus because I bought them so far in advance, we actually got them discounted. Ella was in paradise for the two hours we were there. She had such a blast building and re-building car models, farms, castles and the such, running and sliding on the playground, and watching a 4-D movie (which really was the best, complete with winds, snow, and rain effects! We enjoyed it all just as much.) So we walked out of there with an annual pass. Only 5 mins away from our house, this is real good entertainment to enjoy during hot summer or cold winter days.

Now off to tiding up the house as tomorrow we have a dear family from our ward come by to watch the morning session of the Conference and have lunch together. 

I look forward to sitting down and taking some good notes, hopefully. I'm ready for Ella with her coloring and General Conference related games and based on how she did today with all that, I think we may have good chances to enjoy tomorrow's talks :)