Miss Teen Extraordinaire Pageant

Last night we had the privilege of attending a fantastic event, The Miss Teen Extraordinaire Pageant.

Let me back up a little.
It was two years ago on Wednesday 25th of March that the girls came home to America and became part of our family.
For two years I have tried and tried to get Nastia to want to participate in something. She has tried track and hated it. She tried gymnastics and hated it. She tried to  play guitar and hated it. Each of these things she quit before she could perform for us or even show us what she had learned.
I understand the reasons for her not wanting to do these things. But a a parent it is sad for me to watch her just give up every time and not try to keep going. We have wanted her to feel good about herself and find something she loves to do. Find a group of people that she connects with and show us who she is and especially show herself what she can be. I believe that for the most part our other kids have started to do that.
So when this opportunity came to us, I thought it would be a fabulous way for Nastia to feel special.
But let me tell you how it went :)
Nastia came home from school and showed me a note she was given at school. I asked her if she knew what I was signing. She didn't, so I explained to her that it was for a pageant. I then explained to her what a pageant was and what she would need to do if she participated in it. (I explained it was completely optional and in fact it was limited to only 15 girls and they could come from all over the south of our county.) She flat our refused to participate! Shocked? Neither was I :)
I tried to talk to her some more about it and told he how much fun it would be and that her best friend Jenny (a cute girl with down syndrome from her class) has done it for a few years and love it. She expressed that she didn't think she had any talents and when I gave her some ideas of things to do she just said no. So I left it alone (I try to pick my battles).
A week later she came to me again an asked if I had signed the paper. I explained again that she would have to be on stage and perform in some way and this time she wasn't sure for a minute, she thought and made comments and then said no again. Again I left it alone. But I kept feeling like I should just make her do it.
So a few days later my neighbor and friend Maddy (She and her fantastic Daughter Whitney run the pageant) came to my house to tell Miranda of a dream she had had of her performing at the cultural festival (another story!). I decided to just ask if there were any open spots and if Nastia could possibly participate. We were told that a couple of girls had just dropped out so there was a spot available. So I just decided to sign her up right then and deal with the consequences of that choice later. Did I have to deal with it, Yes I did, and YES I WILL (after). But as you will see from the pictures. It was so worth it!!!!

this is there opening number. They danced to Shake it off by Taylor Swift.

Nastia is on the far left.

Nastia doing her talent

She sang a Russian song

Being escorted out by Colton

Some of the other girls waiting to get their awards (Jenny Nastias friend is in the Red)

Award for Miss Enchanting!!

Girls from the ward that came.

At the end!

My great friend Raychellene who loaned us Nastias dresses for the evening.

We were all very proud of Nastia

Our other family member Robyn came as well!!

Almost fell.

Some peer tutors and friends from school.

Heading home with crown and sash.

Let me quickly express my gratitude to Whitney Talbert and her Mom Maddy Talbert for putting this fantastic event together.
Without people like you, there wouldn't be a place for these fantastic young ladies to be able to share with us their talents, joy of life, amazing personalities and beautiful spirits. They are an absolute joy to be around and you can't help but fall in love with them. You have given them an opportunity to show the world that they are more than their disabilities. That is a truly amazing gift.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing my daughter to show us all (especially our family) her contagious smile and personality that she usually hides away behind her past traumas. We knew it was in there! Thank you for giving her a place to shine and to feel accepted for the person she is. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

PS: if you missed it. Come next year. You will NOT regret it.  :)

Life Is Too Short To Wait

Life takes the strangest twists and turns, and I am just along for the ride.
I have been thinking about this post for many days and just wasn't exactly sure how to write it.
So I just decided to jump in.

No nothing untoward has happened, I have just so many thoughts floating around in my head I needed to find a way to express them.

Last week, one week exactly ago, I had the privilege of participating (watching), through the magic and power of fabulous technology, the funeral of Jeremy Bear, which took place in Australia. Jeremy is the brother of some of my closest, dearest friends and also someone I have known, because of my friendships with his family, since I was a teenager. I obviously wasn't as close to him as many others were but I was still extremely saddened as I followed his journey battling melanoma cancer. Jeremy was a fantastic guy. He was someone that touched many peoples lives with his kind heart and gentle manner. He was a wonderful husband to his beautiful wife and a fantastic father to his 3 adorable kids.I was touched by the many beautiful things that were said about him during the funeral by his family and close friends. It made me think. 
I have pondered many things. The reasons we are here, why the Lord would call back someone with a young family that needs him and why we, all of us, need to suffer though such sadness?
I am sure each of us could come up with all kinds of answers to questions like these. The fact is, none of us really know the answers. I have things I believe, and you may share those beliefs or even understand them differently to me, or you may believe something entirely different. It doesn't really matter. What matters is what we take from situations like this. What can we learn to do better.
Here is what I took from the sadness of losing Jezz and his example to me.

Family is the most important thing there is.
In the immortal words of Ferris Bueller "Life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."
I believe we all get caught up in our own very fast paced life and we do miss what is going on around us.
I live in a place I love. Mike and I have been so blessed to be able to create for our family a wonderful life. I believe with everything I am, that this is where we are supposed to be living. I know that if we weren't here, we wouldn't have the girls with us. And I know they are supposed to be here with us!
But, living here in America means not getting to be a a part of life with my side of the family. Mike has a great family, that I love. I couldn't imagine our life without them in it.
But he, through circumstance, is an only child and his father passed away 10 years ago. While he has extended family who are fantastic, we only get to see them for large family gatherings, which sadly only happen occasionally. His mom is the only family that we get to spend time with on a regular basis. We all love to see Grandma. She is fantastic and there is nothing like spending time with people that love you no matter what.
My family is big. 10 kids. 7 of us are married and my parents have 26 grand children (including my 6) That is a lot of family that my kids are missing out on.
It was that thought that spurred my decision to JUST DO IT! You've all heard that nike slogan before. I used to just do it, all the time. But as a parent with bills and the every day living of life, I have stopped just doing it, for fear that I might do it wrong. I might make a choice that I will later regret. I especially feel that way when the decisions are about spending money, a lot of money.
But after Jezz passed away, and before, when I saw his brother and sister in law, do everything they could to get over to Australia to spend just a little more time with him before he passed, and then watched the videos of the time they had there and the enjoyment that came from it, I realized something.
I realized that it shouldn't be about all the other things I could spend that kind of money on (because believe me there are a lot of things) it should be about the experience of my kids getting to know my family, or for some of them, getting to meet them for the first time.
It should be only about the memories that they will get to make with their family.
It should be about the TIME that they will get to spend together, because none of us know exactly how long we have here.
We shouldn't waste a second of it worrying about how much it costs.
We should worry about what memories are we making with our kids, because in the end that is all we have when we die. Memories of time spent together.

So I say, just do it. Live like you are dying. Do the things that make you happy. Visit the place that you have always wanted to go. Make memories. Life is much to short.

So THANK YOU Jezz for your example.
For giving me the push I needed to JUST DO IT! 

I am so excited for us (all 8 of us) to get on that plane and make the trip and some fabulous memories. 10 years is too long.

                                                   AUSTRALIA HERE WE COME! 

                                                                    So you better
                                                                      Watch out ;)