Clara is 10 moths old!
Dear Family and Friends,
I'm sorry that it has been so long since my last post. It seems the time has been flying by, and as a family we have been extra busy the last few months. I have to admit this time of year is my least favorite. These months tend to be very gray, cold and dry, so I always look forward to Easter and the beginning of Spring. Actually, the winter this year has been quite mild, and we have had a few spring-like days, so I shouldn't complain.
Things have been busy in the Ripka household. Clara is growing and changing by leaps and bounds. She has completely mastered crawling and is able to pull up to a standing position and walk while holding on to something. She can also stand for several seconds without holding on. The most exciting development for me is her love of dancing. She dances every time she hears music, and changes her movements based on the style of music she is listening to. As a child, I was very involved in ballet, and friends used to comment that I never walked anywhere, just danced, so I am thinking Clara may have inherited the dance gene from me. She will be 11 months old on March 20th, and we are starting to think about when we might be able to organize her first birthday party. I think it's incredible that our little girl is going to be a year old soon; she's growing up way too quickly!
Clara's first bath in the tub!
Post-bath cuddle time
Joey is doing well and keeping busy. In February he traveled to the U.K. to perform an organ recital in the chapel of King's College in Cambridge. It was a quick trip, but the recital was very successful and he was excited to play in such a famous venue. The only downside was the unusually cold weather in the U.K. The chapel was freezing, as were his living quarters in the college. He managed to play well in spite of his frozen fingers. He has a couple more recital coming up this month. This Wednesday he will perform a noon recital at First Church in Fairfield, CT. It just so happens the church sits directly across from St. Paul's Episcopal church where Joey was Organ Scholar while attending Yale. We hope to see some familiar faces in the audience.
On March 2nd, Joey and I performed a violin and piano recital at Calvary Church. It was the first major recital that I have given since Clara was born, so I felt a sense of pride in being able to play well in spite of my severely reduced amount of sleep and practice time. I also came down with the stomach flu 5 days before the recital, but somehow managed to pull through and perform. The church was completely filled with people from both our church congregation and the community, and we received a very warm and enthusiastic response. It was great to feel so supported and appreciated. Our program consisted of the Mozart Sonata for Violin and Piano K. 301, Brahms Sonata in G Major for Violin and Piano Opus 78, Beethoven's "Spring" Sonata Opus 24 and Wieniawski's "Polonaise Brilliante" in A major. We performed Meditation from Thais as an encore. It was a challenging program but also such rewarding repertoire to perform. The recital represented a nice combination of both pieces we had performed together before and some new works. My parents from Minnesota and aunt and uncle from Virginia came to CT for the recital, and it was great having them here. Joey's mom was able to visit us from Minnesota for about 10 days prior to the recital, which was a huge help since she was able to watch Clara while Joey and I rehearsed together. Clara really enjoyed spending time with her grandparents and godparents during the last couple of months.
Post-Recital Photo
Well, that's the news for now. Hopefully Spring will arrive sooner than later, and we can start to enjoy the outdoors a bit more. We have yet to visit the beaches in Rhode Island, so we look forward to that. I will try to post more frequently now. We have some fun events coming up in the next few months, and I will certainly make sure to include a "Clara's First Birthday Party" post!
Best wishes from Joey, Erin and Clara!
