Weekend Play Date

The girls had a couple of friends over for a playdate... they had a great time together! This is a silly face photo of the group...

... and here is a smiling face photo of the group. 

At the end of the evening they played outside with a couple of other neighborhood friends. The weather has been so nice this weekend!

May Weekend Fun

 

Bento and sushi at Crazy Sushi! 

Lauren and Emily have been having a great time playing with a new friend from across the street. 

BBQ lunch at the Beaverton Farmer's Market. 

Girls visiting our friend Jane at New Seasons. 

Jane recently went on a trip and bought these cute mugs for the girls! 

The girls love to play tetherball. 

Lauren created this cute hairstyle on her own! 

Swimming pool fun!

Post-swimming pizza. 

We pitched in for a neighborhood basketball hoop and it was an instant hit. :)

Spring 2018 Piano Recital

Lauren and Emily did a fantastic job at their piano recital! Unfortunately the videos are too long to upload here. Lauren played Remedy by Adele and Emily played All of Me by John Legend. 

Group photo of the performers. 

MAWS and DD came to watch the recital. 

Grandpa and Grandma Rufener also came to watch the performance. We are all so proud of the girls' performances!

Happy Mother's Day

The girls made me a delicious breakfast! A puffy dutch pancake with berry compote and chicken sausage. 

We had Grandma and Grandpa Rufener, MAWS, and DD over for dinner. We had a great time celebrating! 

Fun Times With Friends

The girls have been enjoying the nice weather and time with friends! Last weekend the girls met up with Amanda for a bike ride. 

We also had a neighborhood street party last weekend. 

Post-swimming photo of Lauren and her friend Camille. 

See sawing at the playground. 

Comparison to a flashback photo from five years ago!

We watched the girls' taekwondo instructor, Master Eric, test for his fifth degree black belt... it was very impressive! Here is a video of him breaking ten marble slabs at once.

Black Belt Testing, Part Two

The girls successfully completed part two of their first degree black belt test! It was a long day... over four hours! Students from all over the Portland metro area were testing at the same time. 

They did A LOT of exercises, including push ups. 

Video showing kicking drills. 

A few minutes for meditation. 

The next part of the test was forms which are choreographed taekwondo routines. It was neat to see so many students doing the forms at the same time. 

Video clip of one of the forms. 

They also did board breaking... the next four videos show Lauren breaking boards. 

The next four videos show Emily breaking boards. 

Getting ready for the graduation ceremony!

Emily getting her black belt... she is on the left. 

Video of Emily getting her black belt. 

Emily running back to her spot with a big smile on her face. 

Lauren getting her black belt... she is fourth from the left.

Video of Lauren getting her black belt. 

Lauren running back to her spot. 

Group hug!

Group photo at the end of the ceremony. The girls are in the second row from the front. Emily is third from the left and Lauren is fifth from the left. 

First degree black belts! Congratulations... what an accomplishment!