KJ's dance recital

An interesting thing about teenagers is their intense bond. Peekaboo's two BFF's have been in and out of our home for YEARS but as the teenage years have become more of a reality so has the presence of her friends. Where they once came over for a few hours to play, they now 'hang out' whenever they can. Where they used to politely ask what they could eat, they now open refrigerators and pantrys and tell me what I'm out of and what they'd prefer I'd stock and what's gone bad. These added girl's are a huge part of all of our lives. Obviously they are dear to our daughter's heart and thus it endears them to us, but we are also legitimately attached to all of her satelites ourselves. When opportunities arise to attend concerts or sporting events or recitals we try to go and be a support. Tonight we went to KJ's dance recital at the Alpenrose Dairy's Opera house in Portland/Beaverton. I know I've been there before but I can't recall why or how... The opera house is this darling little 19th century reproduction of an old opera theater. It's ornate and beautiful and a bit shabby in places. Kyrena's dance school is located here in Newberg and her recital only included Newbergians so it was quite a drive for all of us. This was a cute little homespun recital. the kind where they delayed the start of the recital for 20 minutes because people (family members) still weren't there and then they started and paused while one of their youngest jingle bell girls had to make a run to the bathroom. It was the kind of a recital where the young ones stopped in the middle of their performance to wave @ Grandma and children stood in awe and confusion in the middle of the stage, forgetting to leave after performing. In short, it was darling if completely chaotic. Kyrena did a lovely job. Last year we went and saw her in a production of 'The Nutcracker' and it was starteling to see how much she'd grown since then. Last year she was a cute little girl. this year she was a young woman. It's amazing what can happen in a year!!