Dance like nobody is watching...

Dancing is an everyday affair at the Cosby home. One of the girls favorite things to do is to blast loud music and prance around the house in varied styles of dance. Ben and I use it to our advantage too. We dust and mop while we dance, we hear about Belle's school day while we dance and we burn lots of energy while we dance.

With the start of school came the beginning of a new chapter of formal dance training for Isabelle. This is her third year in dance, taking a year off last year to try out gymnastics only to find herself back in the studio again. She gave up her tap shoes this year for jazz and still wears her ballet shoes each week too. Isabelle was thrilled to move into the "black leotard classes" and has the perfect dancers physique. With any luck she will follow her Christensen Aunt's footsteps and thrive in dance for many years to come.

And so it began with Olivia's adventure through the dancing world as well. At just 2 she enrolled in Mrs. Boni's Tot's Tutus and Tails class where she currently has the fluffiest leotard and can't wait to put it on each week. She is very proud to go into the dance studio alone each week and follows rules as well as anyone her age. Isabelle is beyond thrilled to see her little sister dancing and begs to miss school each week to accompany her to her class.

We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once.
― Friedrich Nietzsche

Music Maker

Isabelle started piano lessons a few months back and so far seems like a natural. She is such an avid reader that we figured why not introduce reading music as well and Ben and I have both been surprised at how quickly she has picked it up. She ended the summer with a "Western Fiddle Recital" where she was thrilled to wear her cowgirl get-up and played Lost My Partner as a duet with her teacher, Mrs. Abbott. What a doll.

Isabelle Cosby, First Grader at Last

We tried our best to stop it, but a new school year started again the last week of August. Fortunately, this year we were not quite as frazzled as a year ago when we didn't have our moving boxes unpacked yet and hadn't met a single friend, yet we were all still nervous for the big day none the less.

We met Belle's teacher, Mrs. Cordera, the week before and being back in the school didn't really settle any fears but instead I think did the opposite. Belle was so sad to learn that her two besties, Emily and Paloma, would not be in her class again this year and the big new 1st grade classroom looked to have a lot less fun than the colorful kindergarten room she spent her last year playing in.
We celebrated the night before her big day with Grammie and Grandpa and a meal chosen by Belle, a 1st grade sundae, a father's blessing and our annual Back to School Fashion Show. After several outfit changes, Belle decided on a "Western" outfit to wear on her first day of first grade.

Soon it was time to make our way to the school and although our little Isabelle was nervous and anxious, she put on a brave face and marched into her classroom. She doesn't know that she is in an accelerated class this year but a few weeks in she is already thriving, making a 100% on her first two spelling tests (and the bonus list as well) and being friendly to the other students and new friends. Over night Isabelle has grown up and she and her dad are left here scratching our heads and trying to stay one step ahead of our little Jelly. She suddenly ties her own shoes, rides her bike without training wheels, has her ears pierced, reads music, finishes chapter books over night and asks us questions that make our hair stand straight up! Ben and I are so proud of the little girl she is becoming and we pray that she has a wonderful school year learning and growing and continuing to choose the right!

Last few lazy days of summer

None of us were ready for the school year to begin again. And when I say none of us, I mean it. Isabelle kept asking us to not remind her, Olivia screamed NO, Ben wants to ship the girls away to be raised by Mary Poppins to avoid the real world and me, I was just sad to see the summer go by so quickly and the girls get older and wiser.

We tried to fit in as much fun as we could before the school bell rang again and here is some proof of our adventures.



I guess all good things must come to an end, right? And now since we can't spend our days in our swimsuits, if we could just get the 100 degree temps outside to say adieu as well.

Great American Roadtrip...Final Chapter

When we pulled out of Whitefish early in the morning for our return trip to Utah, we planned to get as far as Idaho Falls and then decide what our next steps would be. After 7 hours in the car we thought we may stop for the night but knew no matter what the girls would be ready to stretch their legs for a bit. We quickly found our way to the Falls and all 5 of us enjoyed walking around the beautiful park, Temple grounds and getting some fresh air for a bit. The girls fed some very aggressive ducks and did cartwheels in the cool grass for almost two hours before we decided that we were ready to pack back up in the car, grab some dinner and drive the last 5 hours south to Salem. The trip took us all day but the girls were great and we once again realized that the Ben Cosby family could in fact survive a long car ride.

The next 10 days we filled our time with cousins, playgrounds, shopping, watching the London Olympics and all things fun at (Great) Grandma Joan and Grandpa Neal's house. We loved our morning exercise in the cool mountain air and rewarded ourselves daily with a walk to Fast Gas for a drink and treat. We finally hiked the BYU Y after graduating more than a decade earlier bright and early one morning and enjoyed ice cream at the Creamery on 9th more than once. We visited many loved ones at different cemeteries and celebrated Grandma Joan's 81st birthday with a party and cake!

A highlight of the trip was for sure Salem Days at the end of the week. The girls loved the Little Buckaroo rodeo and Belle was sick that she and LiviBell were not in the events competing. The girls rode in their cousin Zoey's pink car in the Children's Parade and Olivia never stopped waving the entire route. We woke up way too early to run in the Salem Days Fun Run and once again were so proud of Isabelle and her determination to succeed. As luck would have it, a cannon was shot off at the same time as the 1 mile race began so naturally the racers took off. It wasn't till about 2/3 of the race was over that the officials screamed to STOP because the cannon was not suppose to start the race and instead the runners all needed to come back to the starting line. I thought this would have been a perfect time for Belle to give up but she never bat an eye. She marched back to the starting line, out of breath, and ran the mile again finishing in 4th place in the 6-8 year old category. Ben ran as well pushing Olivia and surprised us all by taking the silver medal and of course Grammie took the silver medal too in the 5k. I was just glad to finish the race and thought my 7th place was A-OK. Afterwards we ate a yummy pancake breakfast, gathered our medals and enjoyed the small-town parade.




You would think that after 23 days on the road, sleeping in different beds, changing time zones and being ill twice that we would be ready to head back home but I don't think any one of us were over enthused to make our way back to the airport and board our plane back to the hot and humid heat awaiting us. We knew that Ben would have to get back to work and that school would be starting again soon and worst of all...Grammie wouldn't be with us 24/7 and none of that sounded overly appealing. We loved all of the friends and family we visited along the way, the time spent in Montana, the beginning of a special relationship with LiviBell, the cool and dry air and especially the endless family time. We are so grateful that we had the means to enjoy such a wonderful family vacation and know that these are the memories that the girls will remember always.

A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in. ~Robert Orben

**In closing, Olivia had a raging fever on the flight home and we prayed that we could just get home before she felt any worse. Thankfully we made it all the way to our driveway before she spewed and she and Isabelle spent the next week at home sick with Hand Foot and Mouth Disease. Hooray for bringing home a souvenir!

H-O-R-S-E

If you know Isabelle, then you know she loves horses. She always has. She was a cowgirl for her 3rd Halloween and carried a mini stuffed horse around named Spur for years. She never missed a trip to the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo and has seen more country music concerts than most adults. So naturally, Isabelle has always admired Grandpa Elmo and likewise he has always had a soft-spot for Belle.



So you can imagine her surprise when Grandpa bought a horse! A REAL HORSE! She is a ten year old Grey mare and is gentle, trained and perfect for a little girl to learn to ride. Grandpa had it all arranged and even bought a horse trailer to pick up our new family member in. Both girls were beyond excited when Grandpa headed out in his truck with promises of a horse upon return.

The next couple of days were magical for little Jelly. She instantly bonded with her new best friend and told me that she was gonna have to pee outside in the trees for the next little while since she would not be able to take time to come inside. She quickly became comfortable on top of LiviBell and was soon riding her around the corral alone guiding her with a soft nudge or kick of her shoe. Belle desperately wished that I had brought her hat and boots from home, but sadly they just didn't fit in our suitcase so she had to be a cowgirl in her Converse sneakers and hairbow.


Grandpa taught the girls all about LiviBell and helped them brush her and ride her. Olivia was thrilled with the new pet as well and mostly loved feeding her grass, listening to her neigh and petting her. Isn't getting a pony every little girls dream???

Sadly knowing sweet Isabelle, I began worrying the day LiviBell arrived about the day we would have to say goodbye to her for this trip. When I told Isabelle that we were going to have to take her new best friend to the Dude Ranch where she would stay until we could return again, she melted. She cried and cried and begged her dad to find a home in Whitefish and relocate permenantly. She sobbed that she couldn't bare to say goodbye and told us that she loved her and already missed her too much. It was painful and I actually ached for little Isabelle and Olivia and wished that somehow we could have a horse in our backyard to eat our grass and jump on our trampoline.

Thankfully when the time came, Isabelle gathered her compsure and was able to say goodbye to her dream come true and felt good when she saw just where LiviBell would be spending her days while we are away. We may never be able to fully thank Grandpa for this experience for our little girls and we now feel an added pressure to return to Montana ASAP!