Elaine's Dress Rehearsal

Yesterday (Friday) I took Elaine to the dress rehearsal of her ballet recital which is coming up tonight (saturday).

I love watching the older ballerinas, because i know that Elaine aspires to be one someday. I wonder what she'll look like when she is their age and how wonderful a dancer she'll be.

I should have known early on that dancing would be her passion, but she was my first and i didn't realize that what she was doing was in any way unique. I need to dig out a video i have of her at 18 months old....it's quite impressive. I was watching "7 Brides for 7 Brothers" a classic musical with lots of great dancing. During the barn raising scene is some of the best dancing in the whole movie, and the most uptempo music as well. As soon as the music for that scene started, little tiny Elaine became glued to the screen. After watching for a few moments she started to try to dance just like the actors on the screen. She kept wanting me to play it over and over, and eventually i got out the digital camera and took digital video of her dancing. It was seriously the most precious thing ever. She really had it down, every step, at only 18 months. Now at the time i think i just figured every kid at this age must like this kind of thing, however i have since discovered that none of my other kids had any inclination to copy with such exactness a dance seen on TV at the age of only 18 months. Even now that Maggie and Katie are both older than 18 months, they just like to dance around crazy if the people on the screen are dancing. But not Elaine, she loves to watch dance sequences over and over and try to recreate them.

Elaine's favorite gift to give someone on their birthday is a performance. GrandDad's birthday/retirement party is coming up and she knows it! She has been preparing a performance for about 2 weeks now, picking out costume and music and making dance steps. It's hard to believe she is only 6, and that she already knows her passion in life. It makes me so happy to see her dance, to see the joy it brings to her and the grace with which she performs. I thank Heavenly Father every day for the sweet spirits he sent into our home, and for the joy of watching their talents grow. I can't wait to see the talents develop in the other children as well...currently Maggie excels in gymnastics and Katie loves to sing, who's to say if these will continue to be their passions but it's fun to watch them grow in all areas of life. I guess what i'm trying to say is I just love being a mom :)