Recital #1

Ryley had her first piano recital last night. She did a wonderful job and had a great experience. For her first piece she played "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and finished off with "Up on the Housetop" and "Jingle Bells".

Steven is the Primary pianist and has a great time watching the girls sing in opening exercises, but this was their first opportunity to do something musical together. They've had a great time practicing over the past few weeks and it was really fun to watch them perform.

I charged the video camera all day in preparation for the recital and when my moment came to record I realized it was dead. I have thus learned a valuable lesson that you cannot charge a video camera and leave it turned on- it defeats the purpose. I am SO disappointed to have no video to post, but please stay tuned for spring when her next recital takes place.

On a personal note, I'm sorry to say that while in my youth I gave up piano lessons after only a year. I loved doing theatre and have since picked up the guitar, but to this day I regret that decision. I have been taking lessons myself over the past six months and hope to advance past "Chopsticks" sometime soon. I opted to skip this recital due to the fact that I would be the only adult student, however, come spring I may just set my pride aside and go for it!

What's the worst that could happen? Don't answer that.

Holiday Festivities (Thus Far)

For some reason Haley J wasn't really into decorating this year.

Sorry

I have to apologize to our family. I have been terrible with posting pictures of Haley's growth. I promise to be better. Here she is. She sure is a wonderful, happy baby. She has blessed our lives immeasurably.

Thanksgiving 2008

We had a great Thanksgiving this year in Kentucky with two of Steven's sisters and their families! The kids had the best time with their cousins. It was so great to see everyone and spend this special time together.

Thank you for having us Kathryn and James.

Weekend Whereabouts

It was a busy but fun weekend. Steven and I attended a residency gathering on Thursday evening. While the three eldest kids had fun with a sitter,Haley accompanied us downtown to a nice dinner.

I had a great time with girls from our church on Friday. Like most other girls around the United States, we too, went out to dinner and then hurried, with excitement, to the movie theatre. Like most other girls around the United States, we too, were SO very excited to finally be able to see the nation wide release of......... "Bolt"! J.K. Of course. We went to see Twilight and had a wonderful evening doing so. Thanks ladies.

Saturday was fun and relaxing. That evening the kids played at a friends house while we stopped by a home filled with BYU alumni who were eagerly anticipating the upcoming game. Steven loves watching his "Cougs", but if they are falling behind he also loves turning the game off and focusing his energies on something else. Therefore, we happily left at half time, picked up the kiddos, and returned home for a night of board games and treats.

Sunday was wonderful as usual. This past Sunday I endured something never tried before. Steven got called out to the hospital and I survived church all by myself with four children. I had been nervous for this experience but as I think back now realize how silly that was. The kids did a great job.

Monday morning Steven got exciting news that all surgeries and appointments were being held off until the following day. Something about a gas leak. While a gas leak of course is not exciting news, it happened to be the morning of Ryley's Thanksgiving play at school. With all the planets now properly aligned Steven was able to attend with me.

We hope you all have a fantastic holiday. What a wonderful opportunity to come together as family and friends in celebration of those who came before us and all of the wonderful blessings our Heavenly Father has bestowed upon us.

Happy Thanksgiving!






What appears to be a random picture is actually "Trevor Turkey". He has become quite a tradition in our home.

Tagged

I'm sorry to say until now I had never responded to "tags" before. I must admit though, I have a great time reading the answers to other "tags", so I'll do my best at joining the fun when called upon to do so. One of my cute roommates from Rick's tagged me for this one so here goes!

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. Preparing to graduate and leave Ricks.
2. Began my one (and only) semester at Utah State.
3. Had a great summer doing EFY.
4. Searching for my adorable husband. (Wish I had known then that he was still 2 years in my future. Wouldn't have stressed so much!)
5. Decided to major in Psychology/Sociology.

5 Things On My To-Do list today:
1. Fold clothes. (my least favorite chore by the way)
2. Play with kiddos.
3. Work out.
4. Pack (we decided last minute to go visit family for Thanksgiving - VERY excited)
5. Run to store. (I'm going to try making a Chocolate Pecan pie this year - I'll let you know how it goes.)

5 Snacks I Enjoy:
1. Hot Chocolate.
2. Sun-Dried Tomato Wheat Thins.
3. E.L. Fudge Cookies.
4. Pretzels and Pickles. (my old roommates will get a kick out of that one - I still love it.)
5. Chocolate Cake Donuts. (these are NOT allowed in the house while I'm getting baby weight off!)

5 Places I've lived:
1. Albuquerque, NM (born and raised)
2. Augusta, Georgia
3. Germantown, Maryland
4. Colorado Springs, Colorado
5. Utah/Idaho (college years).

5 Jobs I've had:
1. Mom (best ever)
2. Secretary/Receptionist
3. Dairy Queen (Believe it or not I had my degree when I held this job - long story)
4. Golden Swirl (a "thanks" to my sister for giving me hours whenever I wanted them)
5. Professional Dancer (O.K. So I dressed up in a large hamster costume and danced around a stage for children. It was still pretty fun)

5 People I Tag:
1. Melissa
2. Joy
3. Breeana
4. Rachelle
5. Jana

Dreams Discovered

A friend called the other day, and while I'm well known for letting our machine pick up - but needing to speak with her, I answered while in the middle of a game with the kids. She could hear the kids laughing in the background and asked what we were doing. I told her we were in the middle of playing dodge ball and she started to laugh. She thought that was the funniest thing ever and I realized then how frequently I "live through my kids". I find myself often playing anything and everything with them that either I enjoyed playing as a child, or, those games that no one wanted to play with me as a child. I had great brothers and sisters but being "the baby" of the family definitely offered one big drawback. By the time I was old enough to create fun games in my head, they were "too old" to play them. My sister who is just 12 months older than I was great as well, but as we grew she preferred doing her nails while I preferred digging with them in the dirt.

Fortunately, now I am a mother of little ones and have the great pleasure of making them play with me. Not really. Hopefully they enjoy the games I teach them, and while they discover exciting games for the first time I have the chance to live out childhood dreams that never came to fruition.

I have been able to enjoy all of the classic pleasures such as paints, play dough, tag, hide n' seek, paper airplanes, fort making, and of course, board games in general. Additionally, I have been able to teach them fun games like dodge ball - this is a great one if you have any pent up energies from the day. Make sure you remove anything breakable from off the shelves first. Capture the flag. Zoo Keeper (this is a great game too! I can't believe no one wanted to play this when I was little. The kids love it. They are the "animals" and while they run around the house I get to be the "zoo keeper" and catch them. Once locked in their "cages" I get to throw food at them and teach them tricks. How cool is that.) Recently we added "Find the Treasure" and "Spy Mission". With Find the Treasure I draw a map of the house and map out a path way they must follow in order to, what else, find the "treasure". Along the route I hide numbers (1-6) and show those on the map as well so they have hints along their way.
Spy mission is even better. You first cut out foot prints of an animal and then lay them in a path around the house - leaving the animal to be captured at the end of the path. Next you turn out the lights and give everyone a flashlight. As they make their way around they will find your "footprint clues" and eventually discover which animal is hiding. Oh, that was a fun one. I have to give the girls credit though for coming up with that game.

I leave these in detail hoping that some of you may find them fun and useful, and, for all my friends out there who are shaking their heads while reading this, please, let me assure you that I also enjoy playing the game of "put a movie in and pass out on the couch for a good nap."