New desk for Ava

Grandpa Jon got Ava a nice corner desk for Ava for Christmas. She was excited to get it put together and into her room. She helped her dad with the entire process of putting it together--and it was from IKEA, so there was a lot to put together! 

We had to do a little rearranging to get it to fit right. We went through her books and got rid of a bunch that she has outgrown or didn't want anymore, and managed to get rid of her bookshelf. It was a pretty old, crummy bookshelf that Dave has had since he was about an 8th grader. The desk has some shelf space for books, and the rest fit on her night stand shelf. You'll in the picture below that she's also getting her room painted this pretty shade of blue. We were testing out a few different colors, and this is the one she decided to go with. It's exciting to clean out the room a little bit and make some changes! I'll share some after pictures once we get it all painted and put back together.  Thanks for the desk, Grandpa!

Tyler's first semester grades

Simply put, Tyler rocked his first semester at Mesa Academy. We are beyond proud of how well he did this first semester in his new school. He had to adjust to major changes in his academic life, and he exceeded our expectations. It hasn't been without struggle and hard work, and he has been nagged pretty consistently (by me, especially) about keeping his grades up. All of that hard work has paid off though. He ended his first semester with....STRAIGHT A's! Nice job Tyler, we couldn't be more thrilled about this new school and are so glad we found a place that can challenge you and push you to be a better student. We knew you could do it, and you proved us right. Keep up the good work next semester! In place of Computer Technology and Music Notation, he'll have art and P.E., so it should be a fun spring semester. I'm sure those will be fun classes to change up the schedule a bit. Check out this awesome report card!

Ava's trapeze lesson

Ava's main Christmas present from us this year was a 3 pack of trapeze classes to be used before IFly leaves at the end of April. They do monthly shows for the public, and pick a few students to fly in the student show. When I went to their November show, I asked Marco (the owner) if Ava could be in a show this season. He said she could be in the December show, so I made sure she got into a class this week because the show is this Friday. She had a great time last year when she got to take a couple classes, so was really looking forward to today. They have moved the rig to a different spot on the Phoenician grounds--the 3rd one in 3 years, so if these pictures make it look like Camelback Mountain is facing a different direction, that's why. 

She's been asking me what I thought her next trick should be, and I recommended a straddle whip or a split. She decided to go with the straddle whip. I had demonstrated it for her earlier this week so she knew what it looked like. As I expected, she did it just right the first time!

There were only 3 other kids in this class, so Ava had plenty of turns. The one girl in the group was about 15 and so scared that she cried on her first time up. She wanted to come down so badly, but they kind of made her go. Efe tried to convince her by pointing to Ava and saying that she could go first and that if Ava can do it (you know, because she's so much younger), than she should be ok. This girl wasn't having any of it though. She must have heard that Ava has flown before, so that didn't work. They finally got her to go and she hung from the bar for a couple swings. When she got down, she went over to her dad, still crying and said "why did you make me do that on vacation?" She was so mad at him. But, she ended up going up there a couple more times--never did a trick, but seemed more comfortable hanging each time. Her brother did it once and wouldn't go back up. I'm sure they see that quite a bit working in a public trapeze school (with mostly one timers/bucket list fillers). I can't imagine paying all that money for my kid to try it and have them chicken out. Then again, they're staying at the Phoenician over Christmas break. The money probably isn't an issue. Ha! I was very proud of Ava for being so brave every time. She has no fear! I suppose it has something to do with the fact that she's been watching me do it since she was about 3.

 My baby girl is FLYING!

I didn't notice at the time, but when I was going through videos to post, I saw all the birds flying with Ava. Pretty cool! 

Once it was time to catch, she did pretty well. After he missed the first two tries, Robin adjusted his timing a little bit, and after that she had it figured out! I think she got to try catching about 6 or 7 times, which is way more than they usually let people do. They were trying to make sure she was "show ready," so gave her a few extra turns.

It was kind of fun to have Robin there to catch her. I was there the first day Robin ever took a swing on the trapeze, and was there the first time he did a catchers lock. Fast forward a couple years and he's working at IFly and spending his summers teaching kids trapeze at a summer camp in California.

I showed Ava this screenshot and asked if she knew who it was. She knew it was Robin, but thought it was me that he was catching. Nope, that's you, baby girl! Nice form!

The toe point in that photo above was a bit of a fluke, as in most of her catches, her feet looked more like this. Still awesome though! She'll get the toe point down soon enough. 

Marco was trying to reminder her to "stay tight" after the catch so it'd be easier to get back to the return bar.

Now, I'm not a big fan of seeing a return bar dropped for little kids. Too much can go wrong when you toss a flying metal bar towards a child swinging through the air. If the person on lines pulls too hard or the catcher tosses too far, they can fly right into that bar. Since they were getting Ava ready for the show though, they wanted to try to get her to the bar. She tried several times, but kept missing the return bar.

She tried one last time, and sure enough....smash, right into the bar. She grabbed for her arm immediately, and was crying by the time she got off the net. I was pretty worried about her little arm, even thinking there was a chance she injured it more seriously.

Here is the video of it happening. Ouch! She was ok shortly after we got home, but the whole car ride back she was complaining about it. She still wants to do the show, but doesn't want to try for the return bar again. I don't blame her, but I think she'll be ok in the show. Efe is catching, and he's very experienced. If anyone can keep her safe up there, I trust that it's him. It was fun to spend some time watching Ava fly, and we're both looking forward to next time. Good job Ava, you're so tough! 

Horihan Christmas

Christmas day is always so much fun with all of these kids. It's crazy to think of how old they're all getting! We were missing the Schomakers this year, but the rest of the crew was here. 

Ava got a new volleyball from Grandpa Jon, and apparently it was important enough to be part of the pictures.

Tyler and Ava both got watches for Christmas from us about 3 years ago, and they've both been wearing them ever since. It might be one of the most used Christmas gifts they've ever received. Well, the color has all worn off of Tyler's and it was a getting a little small, so it was on his list for Christmas, and it's what he got from his cousin Brecken.

Sydney and Hailey are growing up to be such great girls--smart, kind, helpful, and sweet. Not to mention, beautiful!

Ava asked for "sequin changing anything" for Christmas, so she got 3 pillows, a bracelet, and a Kindle case--all sequins! She was excited, and I can see why, they're fun to play with!

Even Grandpa had to check out the new pillow. It's definitely not something you'd want to sleep on, but at least it's only on one side. 

Look at all these beautiful girls! Ava and Hailey were wearing matching dresse. 

Happy Christmas from the Horihans! 

One of the best things about Christmas at the Horihan's is that the kids can go out the gate and be at the park. Of course Tyler wanted to try to make a movie with some of his cousins. Here is the video he ended up putting together using the footage they shot on Christmas. Click here for the link to his You Tube channel. As Tyler would say "like and subscribe to see more from Innerlock Studios!"

Braden got a hover board for Christmas, so everyone had to try it out. I thought it would be easier to get the hang of, but not so much. I need a little more practice...the rest of these guys did ok though (except maybe Aunt Susan).

Mike, Bethany and Baby Theresa joined us a little later in the day too. She's such an expressive little girl! 

She has recently discovered her tongue, and enjoys showing everyone. 

Something interesting happening on those phones, Dairman boys? 

More interesting stuff on phones....kids these days. Ha!

Baby Theresa doesn't have much hair yet, so the girls thought she needed a little decoration on her head. 

They ended the day playing some Scattegories. 

We had a very nice Christmas again this year. I feel very fortunate to have such an amazing family--both my family and the family I was fortunate to marry in to--to spend the holidays with. We have some great traditions that the kids look forward to every year, and we enjoy making all of these memories together. This year was a little different because my mom went back to ND to spend Christmas with her mom and family back home. We all missed having her here, as it's become a bit of a tradition to have both of my parents and Karen's family here for Christmas Eve and morning. The kids look forward to Christmas so much every year, and it makes it all worth it to see them enjoy these traditions and special times. It's hard to believe another Christmas is over! Bring on 2018! Thanks to everyone who helped make it special for the kids again this year. We love you!

For the album of all of our pictures from Christmas, you can visit this link.