Catching up with Aubrey

One of my favorite things about parenting is watching my kids develop their own talents and interests.  Each of our kids has had a clear vision of what they enjoy and talents they want to develop from the time they were small.  Each of them is incredibly unique. None are carbon copies of Dan or me (if that were true, then all the science experiments I exposed my kids to at early ages would have created a wanna-be doctor like me.  Nope).

I find it so interesting to watch the process of the kids finding interests that "speak" to them. When they find their niche, they never have to be reminded and encouraged to pursue that interest. They seem to find a sense of purpose and "flow" that is impossible to fake and force.

I started thinking about this topic the other day when I started organizing pictures into a logical order to post on the blog in order to catch up the last few months.  I separated the pictures by child and noticed how each child's interests and goals were evident in the pictures just from the last few months.

The first catch-up blogpost will be focused on Aubrey.

The first two weekends of March Aubrey performed as a vivacious, beautiful and pink-haired Mersister in a community production of The Little Mermaid.

At the end of each performance the Mersisters would greet their adoring young fans and sign autographs.  So cute!  By the way, by the second week of shows Aubrey's wig was changed out for the long-haired one below. Much better than the pink fluff she had to wear the first week.

Hey, look . . . in Aubrey's bio in the program I even got recognized and thanked for driving Aubrey to oodles of theater and voice lessons over the years!

 And a close-up look at her theater makeup on the way to a performance.

On May 30th Aubrey performed in a recital for her private vocal lessons.  She sang a jaw-dropping rendition of a ballad from the musical Ghost.  

 She and her best friend Emma were the emcees for the entire event, and they were HILARIOUS.  They even pulled off with great finesse a comic musical theater number to start the show.

This sweet girl of ours works hard to overcome challenges which would be daunting to anyone.

This day we were celebrating her completing her first bloodtest.  She said "it wasn't that bad."


And, I love this about Aubrey. She seeks out opportunities to strengthen her spirit. I was lucky to spend a few hours with her in the temple while the youth in our ward performed baptisms for the dead.

And one more picture, just because.  We had a few crazy rainstorms the end of May.  When it's raining hard I try to pick up Aubrey from the bus stop, which is a block away.  One day the storm came on so suddenly and so strong that by the time I processed that it was time for the bus dropoff, Aubrey and our two neighbors were almost home. They were absolutely sopping wet.  It looked like they had taken a shower in their clothes.  Aubrey didn't want to ruin her shoes so she waded home through the flooded street in her tights.  When she got home she was HYSTERICALLY laughing.

And that's a glimpse into Aubrey's life through the end of school. Next up, Joseph.