The other day, Brittany was given a photography assignment in school and she came home very excited. She loves taking pictures and was excited to see what she could do. Some of the pictures she took came out wonderfully well and we were all very impressed. Check them out:
I think she loves outdoor photography the most! It was fun to watch her out taking pictures! Keep up the great work, Brittany! 🙂
Today, Sarah played her flute in church to accompany the choir. It was very pretty. Sarah has a natural talent for the flute and wonders why we bug her so much to practice! 🙂 Great job Sarah! We look forward to hearing you play even more!
Tonight Angela and I went to a reception of some friends that we have known for a long time. We usually only see them anymore at the wedding receptions of their kids. 🙂 It was at a mansion near where I work. It was a beautiful setup and the food was amazing as well. What really warrants this blog entry however, is the bar. No, not the alcohol bar (this is an LDS family), but the CANDY bar! The wedding collors were green and purple. Near the door was a table with every kind of purple and green candy you could imagine… M&Ms, Jelly Belly beans, chocolate wrapped in purple and green, gummi bears, and all sorts of other things!
The picture above doesn’t even show everything that was there! They had plastic bags with twist ties there for everyone to fill up a bag before they left as a gift from the bride and groom. We thought that was AWESOME and put that in our bag of ideas when our daughters get married! After all, you can’t get drunk on candy! 🙂
Today I took off work and we went as a family to the Brookfield Zoo. Ben got a season pass for the zoo for his birthday and it included the whole family! Ben and Zach love the animals. The girls enjoy it too, but we think that they (especially Sarah and Brittany) are kind of sick of going! 🙂 Oh well! 🙂
Ben’s favorite animal was the hippo and the whole time, he kept saying “PO” “PO” to go see the hippo again. Unfortunately we didn’t get any pictures of the hippos. 🙁 We’ll have many opportunities to go back this summer.
We did get some pictures of the tigers which he loved as well! He kept roaring and roaring and everyone thought he was sooooo cute! He wanted to go pet the tiger and couldn’t understand why we couldn’t walk into the area and give the tiger a great big hug. It was pretty funny!
The only negative side of the zoo today was the number of people! It was a perfect day and the last day of spring break for many and so there were literally thousands of people there! It was VERY crowded! We had a hard time (especially) in the indoor exhibits, keeping track of the kids! It didn’t deter from the fun we had, however!
We came home from the zoo completely exhausted but happy that we were able to spend time together as a family.
Sarah got home from Disney today and she had a great time! As we said earlier, she marched on Sunday. On monday, they had some clinics where they played music with a professional Disney conductor who gave them tips and critique. They then spent the rest of the day split between Animal Kingdom and Epcot. It was cloudy and a little rainy, but they had fun anyway. On Tuesday, they spent the day at Hollywood Studios. The weather was better and they had a ton of fun there as well. They then left on Tuesday evening to come home and arrived this afternoon! She was happy to be home and was very tired after the long 30+ hour bus ride back! 🙂
Welcome home, Sarah!
Spring Break for the kids started today, and instead of being NUTS and driving down to Orlando to watch Sarah and then immediately turning around and driving back, we decided to stay at home and relax… Well, at least Angela and the kids did. I worked most of the days to save vacation days for an extended vacation this summer.
Today Angela and the kids went downtown to the Field Museum. It’s nice having a yearly pass, because you can go down and spend as much or as little time as you want and not have to worry about not getting your money’s worth! 🙂
Today, Sarah marched in the parade at Disney World! She said they had an absolute blast! They were getting a little nervous that they might not make it because on the way down on the bus, they got caught up in a HUGE traffic jam where a semi truck carrying 44,000 pounds of bacon jackknifed in the middle of the interstate and ended up on its side and sideways blocking ALL the southbound lanes. They couldn’t turn around in the median because they were in buses. They had to sit for over 6 hours on the freeway! YIKES! 🙂
They did make it on time, however (with not much to spare) and thoroughly enjoyed the activity! We have some friends who just happened to be down there that day and both families were able to see her and cheer her on! We’ll post some pictures that they took as soon as we get them!
Go Mustangs!
Today Sarah and the Metea Valley Marching Band boarded buses for Orlando! They are going to march in the Magic Kingdom Main Street Parade on Sunday afternoon and they are all SO excited! They have been looking forward to this for months! I’m sure they’ll keep themselves busy during the 36 hour drive! 🙂
After Sarah got dropped off and we did a little house cleaning, Angela took the older kids (I stayed home with Ben while he napped) and went to see “How to Train Your Dragon” at the theater. They really liked it.
We’ll miss you Sarah! We can’t wait until you get back home on Wednesday!
Congratulations Brittany and Sarah! Today we found out that both Brittany and Sarah made it into higher audition groups in high school next year! They are so excited! Sarah was the most worried she wouldn’t make it but was extremely relieved when the results of the auditions came back!
We are very impressed with the music programs in our district. Sarah has just loved band at Metea this year and is looking forward to being in it next year (hopefully also as a marching leader in the marching band). Brittany is looking forward to orchestra at Metea, because we have one of the best orchestra directors in the country. Mr. Liu was at Waubonsie last year and came to Metea this year. The kids at Waubonsie are still really sad that he left, but what a blessing for us!
Tonight the Young Women in our Ward had a fashion show, where they modeled modest clothing and formal ware. They had the gym decorated up like a runway with lights and balloons and had personal bios of the girls and their dresses. Sarah participated in the show and Brittany brought her friend and enjoyed the show from the audience.
It’s hard to believe how grown-up Sarah is getting! We keep thinking (and mourning) about the fact that in 2 1/2 years, she’ll be in college and we won’t see her much! 🙁
Well, it’s that time of year again and Zachary will be playing spring soccer. Angela signed me up to be the head-coach this season which stunned me when I got the notices! 🙂 Anyway, tonight, we had a meeting for all soccer coaches where they talked about the rules of the league. We then picked up all our equipment and rosters. We have 9 kids this season and I am looking forward to the games. Wheatland Athletic Association is a good organization to be organized under. They really care about the kids (who come first before winning). I like that because it takes off a lot of the pressure.
Tonight the Primary had a talent show at the church and both Kirstyn and Zachary participated in it. There were a lot of very cute and talented acts. Kirstyn played a song on her clarinet:
and Zachary showed his reading talent as a display for “non-performing talents” on a tables they had set up:
They both had a wonderful time, and Zachary especially enjoyed the refreshments. 🙂 Kirstyn received a LOT of positive comments on how clear of tone she had when playing. Many people who have musical talent told her that this is a gift, because most first-year students squeak a LOT! 🙂 There were also many who commented that they couldn’t believe that Zachary was reading at the level of the Magic Tree House Books already! 🙂
