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Thursday, October 6, 2011
All In "The Program"
This year was Sophia's first year in the Primary Program, and Aubrie's last year. So it was a bit bitter-sweet for me. I was so grateful, however, that I was lucky enough to have all my kids in the program at least for one year. All the kids, but Boston, were sitting on the same side, and luckily we could see Boston up on the top row, so I spent the whole time trying to give them all equal "looking" time! That was a lot of work! LOL
Aubrie had to give a talk. Her talk was on "How choosing the right has blessed her life". She spoke about certain standards she has kept that will help her keep the Strength of Youth standards when she is a Young Women. She told about her decision not dance at a Sunday recital when she was four, and her decision to call and ask if she could watch a particular PG 13 movie, when she was at birthday party a few years back. She did a GREAT job! We had several people tell us that.
Boston and Ethan did very well with their parts. Boston memorized his, and Ethan read his. They both looked really sharp in their suits! They both sang all the songs and knew all the words. Ethan's class had a special singing part, and Ethan got a bit shy then, but I could still hear him. During the program all the boys sang "Praise to the Man." Ethan and Boston sang their loudest then. The Spirit was strong when all the young boys sang that song!
Sophia was a hit! She stood in the front the and she sang louder than anyone. She knew a lot of the words, and just faked the ones she didn't know. Not only did she sing, but she rocked back and forth to the music as she sang. She also memorized her part, and said it loud and clear. Everyone was talking about her, and I could even overhear people that didn't know she was my daughter talking about that "cute girl in the pink polka dot dress that sang louder than everyone." My Mom was loving it, as it reminded her of me at that age! I could see her tear up in the back. Sophia really enjoyed being up there, and you could see it. I hope she doesn't lose that zeal for life, and not caring about what others think. Even though they all just adore her!
By the end of the Program I was exhausted from laughter.
Oh, one of the funniest things about the program was when one of the Deacons picked up a piece of bread that fell on the ground and put it back in the tray. We were glad he wasn't passing to us!
Paino Recital 2011
The weekend before school started up, Aubrie and Boston had a piano recital. They are now back with Heather. She missed teaching them, and fit it in her busy school schedule. She combined with another teacher, since my kid are her only students. Boston played a song by Mozart, and a Star Wars Medly by John Williams. He probably would have played Clocks by Coldplay, if she would have let him. He plays that song every morning. In fact, a few weeks ago, Boston said there was a guy in the lunch room at school with a piano, advertising for his piano lessons. His friend got on and played a song out of his piano song book. Then Boston asked if he could get on and he played Clocks, of course. All his friends came over to watch and listen. Since then, he has been tagged as the musical kid! He said he is trying to get together a band! Ha! Ok, so back to the recital. He did a great job! The Stars War Medly was the hit! Lots of clapping!
Aubrie worked really hard on her piece. She played Morning Mood by Evard Grieg. It is a very pretty song, and it was difficult to play. I'm impressed that she stuck with it! She also had a great response from the audience. The kids also had to write up reports on their composers. I liked that they had to do that! It makes them really appreciate music more. I'm thankful for Heather, and her love for my kids and her patience when they go through there "musical slumps!" They are becoming great pianists. I can't wait till they are playing hymns from the song book for family home evenings! That what matters to me.
August 2011 Beach/Disney Trip
So here we go, round two with the Beach/Disney except this time we were at the Hendrickson's. They were so great to accommodate us. We loved staying there. Aubrie had the girls to pal around with, and their boys are also our boys age. We got to their house Thursday night. Their girls were at girls camp till the following morning. So we woke up and went to Disney first thing, and then LouAnn met us with the boy later in the day. We were able to get on Star Taurs twice in a row, and were happy to FINALLY get all the segments. Not only did we get all the segments, but I was the spy on one of the rides. It was the first ride we rode when we got to the park. Sophia started freaking out, saying she didn't want to ride the scary ride. She was getting it confused with the Tower of Terror since you can't see the ride till your on it. We finally got her on it, and she liked it. Our next ride was Space Mountain, and she fought us the whole time. She was screaming as we were sitting down with her, and so Ben just had to walk off, she was so hysterical. We realized we scarred her by blindsiding her with Tower of Terror the last time we went to Disney. She still will not ride Space Mountain, and even if I mention it to her she gets upset. Disney wasn't very busy, and the weather was great in the morning. We spent the other half of our day over at California Adventures. We didn't ride the roller coaster last time we were there, and so we HAD to get that in! Also, we rode the new Arial ride for Sophia. Our last ride of the night was Soarin over California. We waited in line, right before you get on the ride for 30 minutes. They wouldn't tell us what was going on, but we knew someone had to be hurt. When we got off the ride, we saw a family crying and then saw a person on a stretcher gettting worked on. We still don't know what happened to them, but since they started the ride again, we assumed it had nothing to do with the ride.
Super exited waiting in line face!
Sunday we went to church with the Hendrickson's. The kids thought it was cool to go to church with their friends. Sophia had no problem going to primary by herself, and Aubrie was elated that she got to go to Young Women with Jamie. I went to Relief Society by myself. It was a great ward. The building was really cool. It's a two story building and has two chapels. The kids thought it was the coolest thing. While there, we ran into the Cooks (Andy and Carrie). It was nice to see her. Later that evening we had a BBQ at the Hendricksons with the Hellewells, and Nelsons. It was so nice to be surrounded with old friends. This trip made me really think about moving there. I realized how much I loved being with our friends, how much I miss the weather, and the people there. It's so laid back, and low drama. I love it there! It actually got Ben wanting to move there, too. Its now in the back of our minds, if there ever is a possibility. It's in the Lords hands, now that he knows we would consider it. So many things I would miss here, and so many things I wouldn't. Ok, can't think about it now. So many attachments here! Anyway, it was a GREAT trip! Also on this trip we were introduced to "Kids History" on youtube. Check it out sometime! You have to watch them a few times to appreciate them!
Madrid Soccer/ Music Graduation
In between our two trips to California, Ben slipped in another trip of his own, as he met up with Chad Snow for the Real Madrid/ Chivas Mexico Soccer game. Both of them served their missions in Spain, and he invited Ben to the game. I was excited that he could go! He had a great time, especially since Madrid won 4-0!!
As the summer was winding down, so was Ethan's music class. He has been in the Let's Play Music program. It is a three year program, but fortunately he was able to do the two year accelerated program, and he graduated the end of July! At the end of the program they compose/write their own song. I'm so proud of his originality, and love for music. He doesn't love to sing, but he really likes to play the piano, and make up his own stuff. I'm glad he stuck with it. He was the only boy in his class! He is now in piano and doing great. I hope he sticks with that! At the graduation all the kids had to play the song they wrote. When he played his, he was standing and moving his legs. He was FEELING it! The parents got a good kick out of it. What a funny boy! LOVE HIM! 
On a side note, here is the "eco friendly" robot Ethan made at Robot camp. He also made a real robot. He had a great time. Notice him in his gymnastics jersey. He loved taking gymnastics. He is strong and fearless. He made the team over the summer. Once soccer started it was way too much. Then mad science conflicted and he chose mad science instead of gymnastics. He was sad when they cancelled mad science!
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