Meet Our New Baby

This little man is going to be named Ethan Douglas Ballash. We've posted the whole ultrasound video. You may note just how long it took (insert facetious tone) for us to find out he was a boy!

And FOREVER Later....

I actually got on here to read all about my brother-in-law Jason's big new job news (say that 10 times fast), and I happened to graze past our little blog which was an ode to Halloween. OK! Time for an update!

We've had some big changes here at the Ballash house, starting with one I can't really mention online (and for those of you who know, please don't comment me or facebook me or myspace me or anything about said life change because it's still a secret from many people!) But the change is big enough that even though I can't yet say it, it's still worth mentioning.

Aside from our secret change we've also got one I feel like shouting from the rooftops: Douglas is on his final semester at Embry-Riddle. 2 and 1/4 months left and he's officially a college graduate! I can't even count the ways this graduation will be a blessing. We still don't know where he'll be working upon graduating, but he's applied all over and had a couple small leads. It's still early in the process so we'll keep you posted. (And if anyone knows of anyone who's hiring aerospace engineers, please feel free to let us know.)

We are dying to get out of Prescott. Of course, we'll miss all the friends we've made here dearly, but I can't say it's been my favorite place overall. Doug is on job number 3, count 'em 1-2-3 that has run out of work for him to do recently. Sure, the economy is rough all over, but having three jobs in 6 months is ridiculous. And as Doug has just piped in.... Why hire someone if you don't have work?! So, with our savings gone, our debt at an all-time high, and our food storage waning, we are just hoping to get to a bigger city with more opportunity ASAP.

And on that pathetic note we leave you with these hopeful and happy thoughts:

Kyleena.

Happy Halloween!

This year Kyleena was a lady bug.
Heidi gave us these cute hair clips. Lucky us, they matched her Halloween costume perfectly!

This one's a little blurred, but she was pulling a funny face so I liked it.

These are all cell phone pics. Kyleena Trick or Treated at the mall Dairy Queen and they gave her a free ice cream cone...

.....yay......

Reason Halee Hates Nature TV

Doug always watches those nature shows and I just can't stand to watch animals eat eachother. Sure, I'm no vegetarian, but today on this special on coral reefs that Douglas tivod I learned about shrimp who ganged up on a starfish, flipped him on his back, and would then eat him to death for weeks.  I expressed to Doug then what I will express to you now: we may eat other animals, but we certainly don't put them on their backs in the kitchen and slowly eat them to death over a period of weeks. Nature blows.

Michael Jackson: King of Pop

I would be remiss if I failed to post something about Michael at this time. It took me a few days to get here, I was grieving in my own way; watching music videos, playing his music in my car, dancing around my living room with my 1 year old daughter who would hear the beat and-- without realizing mommy was sad-- just had to break out.


· I remember watching music video after music video when Erica and I were riding in the back of her family van all the way to Vegas and back.

· I remember requesting anything by Michael Jackson at every dance I ever attended, and playing something by Michael Jackson at every dance I ever DJ’d.

· I remember thinking it wasn’t coincidence that he became “King of Pop” when he swept the Grammys in January 1984 and I was born in February 1984. Even though I was due in January, I’m sure I said, “Come on! Let me stay and watch Michael win, I’ll totally miss it if I’m all born and junk!”

· I remember dancing to “The Way You Make Me Feel” on swing nights at the MAC.

· I remember looking through Kristen’s Michael fan folder and thinking, “Man, I really should think this is crazy, but I can’t help it. I love it!”

· I remember teaching “Beat It” to my Encore kids, and watching Encore perform “Beat It” on several occasions, always while I thought, “Nobody does it like Michael.”

· I remember teaching the “Beat It” dance at countless dances, parties, and classes.

· I remember teaching “Thriller” to a group of youth for a Halloween mutual activity.

· I remember dancing “Thriller” at homecoming on the football field my junior year and the summer after my junior year at BYU Young Ambassadors Camp. They almost wouldn’t let us perform it because it was kinda “dark” (Hello! Michael posted a disclaimer: This in no way expresses a belief in the occult. Duh!)

· I remember learning and teaching a dance to “They Don’t Really Care About Us” on 3 separate occasions.

· I remember seeing a jazz/lyrical dance to “Earth Song” when I was 12. That was what inspired me to dance other things besides ballet.

· I remember watching Ashley and Rick perform a Rumba in a dark studio to “Whatever Happens” off the “Invincible” album.

· I remember hearing “Invincible” for the first time when Ruthanne bought it and played “Privacy” loud and clear over the BHS dance studio speaker system.

· I remember dancing around mom’s Z3 convertible to “Come Together” and thinking Michael’s version beat the Beatles version 10:1.

· I remember driving in my car and hearing song, after, song, including two in one week that sang “mama say mama saw ma-ma-coo-saw” and thinking “ah, another Michael-inspired copy cat.

· I remember making a list of 3 Michael songs that I claimed, when played in the correct order, could turn me just the right amount of on... (Douglas, for your benefit they are—in very particular order—“Come Together” “Privacy” and “Dirty Diana” and for a bonus afterwards throw in “Blood on the Dance Floor.”)

· I remember making an entire mix based around wanting to play Alien Ant Farm’s “Smooth Criminal” right next to Michael’s “Smooth Criminal.”

· I remember seeing “Captain Emo” at Disneyland and thinking that Captain guy rocked! I also remember protesting the retiring of the attraction and seeing it one last time.

· I remember finally deciding ballroom was cool when I was scrutinizing the “Blood on the Dance Floor” video.

· I remember doing foetes over and over again to “Beat It” in my basement at Windsor Manor Court. I thought that was the BEST song for foetes ever, and it didn’t occur to me until right now that I probably owe the fact that those are so easy for me to that song and the hours of practice it encouraged.

· I remember learning the moves from his “95 MTV Video Music Awards” performance for the talent show. We were shocked and appalled that we didn’t make it.

· I remember making the coolest mix for a street dance out of his “Ghost Remix” and the kids loving the choreography.

· I remember begging for “ABC” or “I Want You Back” to be in our Encore Medley.

· I remember swearing I’d pay anything to see Michael Jackson live in concert. If he ever had a comeback, I’d be there.

· I remember freaking out when he did this little smile he’d sometimes do in the middle of a dance.

· I remember playing a part of “Man in the Mirror” over and over again and trying to count the pencil turns. I want to say he did 11?

· I remember teaching myself the moon walk but always being frustrated when I saw him do it better and on the tips of his toes.

· I remember practicing this move Michael did on the stairs, all the while thanking my ribs and cursing my feet.

Michael Jackson changed what dance was for me and for the world. He brought this funky, technical, sharp, isolated, style to the TV where everyone could witness the power of singing and dancing at the same time. He made it suddenly a requirement that if you wanted to be a huge pop star you’d have to be a triple threat. No more “white man’s overbite.” He pushed dancers to become better-- to study their field. To practice until you make perfect and then keep practicing so you never lose what God and all that practice gave you.

· I remember being inspired by his music and his performance in ways that changed me as a performer forever. He hasn’t just been another artist. He has been a part of my life and my culture for as long as I’ve been alive.

R.I.P.M.J.

Halee

Happy Birthday Douglas!

It's Dougie's 26th birthday today. We've got big plans:

• I'm picking him up from his new job (working as an R &D Engineer for Performance Automotive Group) and we're going out to lunch.
• When he gets home from work we're going to go buy him a new cell phone.
• Transformers! (He's like a little kid about this, he's so excited.)

All in all, it should be super fun to say the least. Anything where I get to hang out with him usually ends up being super fun.

Coming Soon: Guatemala

So we're back from our trip to Guatemala. I plan to blog all about it... but that'll come after we celebrate today first:::: (See Above!)