Halliday Family Blog – Page 69 – What in the world is that family doing?

Etiquette Dinner

Tonight, our ward’s young men and young women had an etiquette dinner, sponsored by the Priests Quorum (16-18 year olds). They did a GREAT job and put a LOT of effort into making the night very memorable. It consisted of quizzes on how to have good etiquette and how to act in specific dining and other situations (like cell phone use, dating dos and don’ts, etc.).

We then had a great dinner of pasta, salad, and drink and the kids really enjoyed themselves. It was by far the best etiquette dinner that the youth have ever had (they have one each year). They have their work cut out for them next year. 🙂

By Kirk Halliday|2010-04-04T12:08:16-07:00March 18th, 2010|Church, Home Life|0 Comments

Metea Collage Concert and Auditorim Opening

Tonight, Sarah and the rest of the Metea Valley High School freshman and sophomore fine arts students performed the school’s first “Collage” concert in the new auditorium, with more than 300 students participating in two consecutive shows to accommodate the massive crowds that poured in.

We were all awestruck by the sounds of the various instruments from the Symphony Orchestra, String Quartet, Symphonic Bands, Symphonic Winds, Jazz Ensemble, Steel Bands and Percussion Ensembles. Accompanying the musicians were the Cecillian Singers, Bass Chorus, Concert Choir, Vocal Jazz Ensemble and United Voices.

The various ensembles were strategically positioned around the auditorium to awaken the senses of listeners as the various lights and sounds moved about the room.

It was amazing that a school right now of only sophomore and freshman students did so well. It sounded GREAT! Angela volunteered to help out with the programs (she directed people as they came in the main doors) and I brought the kids.

Keep up the GREAT work, Sarah!

By Kirk Halliday|2010-04-04T12:01:59-07:00March 17th, 2010|School|0 Comments

Literacy Night at Gombert

Tonight Zachary and I went to Literacy night at Gombert Elementary. Unfortunately, Kirstyn was sick and couldn’t go, so we really missed her there. Zach LOVES reading and we think he has a photographic memory. The other day, he sat down at breakfast and looked at a placement of all the states with their capitols and he memorized all of them in the time it took him to eat! WOW! We wish we had that kind of memory.

Anyway, the theme of the Literacy Night was around the Olympics. Zach made a flag that each family carried with them. On it were things that we like to do as a family around reading. He drew pictures of the Magic Tree House books, church magazines, and family reading time.

We played all kinds of reading and matching games and had a fun time. After it was over, Zach got to pick out a gift bag with a book and some treats! He was really excited to do this and couldn’t wait until it was over! 🙂 Zach just can’t get enough reading and we are so proud of him for loving it.

By Kirk Halliday|2010-04-04T11:45:05-07:00March 16th, 2010|Home Life|0 Comments

Sarah Goes to Mormon Prom!

Today Sarah and a bunch of the 16+ kids from our ward went to an area-wide “Mormon Prom.” This is a more formal church dance for all the Priests and Laurels (16+). Tickets were required and to go, you had to agree to abide by the church’s dress standards. Dates are not required but many get dates and go. Sarah went with a group of girls and a couple of guys. They got corsages and boutonnieres and all went up together. Before the dance, they went to Olive Garden and had a nice sit-down dinner. Sarah had a lot of fun and even danced a bit. They had pictures taken as well.

Angela and I went and picked them up after the dance and the whole way home, they didn’t stop talking about it. Sarah was excited to go rather then going to the school-sponsored dances. It seems as though the school ones are getting worse and worse. There are things that go on during some of the school dances now days that I can’t even type here. It’s nice to know that there are opportunities like this for the kids to have some clean fun and feel good about themselves when they get home.

By Kirk Halliday|2010-04-04T12:10:56-07:00March 13th, 2010|Church|0 Comments

Kirstyn is Master of Ceremonies!

Today, Kirstyn had a reader’s theater in school, where she acted as Master of Ceremonies! She was very excited to do this and did a GREAT job! The theater was a collection of readings about famous African Americans. They were: 1) Phyllis Wheatley and the Famous Poets of Yesterday, The Tuskegee Airmen, The Great Migration, and The Scientists Hall of Fame. Not only was she the MC for the entire program, but she was also the main narrator for the Tuskegee Airmen reading. Unfortunately, I had to work, but Angela was able to go see her performance. Go Kirstyn!

By Kirk Halliday|2010-04-04T11:38:24-07:00March 10th, 2010|School|0 Comments

Sarah Solo and Ensemble Performance

Today Sarah went to Downer’s Grove North High School and participated in the Illinois State Solo and Ensemble Festival. She played a very hard piece that her private flute lesson teacher had given her (at least it looked incredibly hard to me)! She did a great job and the judge was impressed! 🙂 Naturally, she said that she made some mistakes but if she did, I didn’t hear them. I just want to be the proud dad! 🙂

Keep up the GREAT work Sarah!

By Kirk Halliday|2010-04-04T11:38:05-07:00March 6th, 2010|School|0 Comments

Customer Advisory Board Dinner

Tonight I had a wonderful dinner and activity in downtown Chicago! At work, I am a member of the Customer Advisory Board for LogMeIn, a vendor we work with that provides us the ability to remote into people’s computers from anywhere. They had a dinner at Smith and Wollensky’s Steak and Chop House in downtown Chicago. It is one of the best of it’s kind in the city. I invited two of of my other collegues to come with. As part of the evening’s activities, they asked me to stand and give a short presentation to the group about how we were using the product. We have saved a TON of money by using it.

The dinner was awesome and that was just the appetizers! I was almost full after that. Dinner (after the casual appetizers) consisted of crab cakes, a 14 oz mouth-watering New York strip steak, garlic mashed potatoes, vegetables, and triple-layer chocolate cake. Yum! I drove home home almost ready to burst! It was a LOT of fun! I enjoy doing things like this.

By Kirk Halliday|2010-03-06T06:18:16-07:00March 3rd, 2010|Home Life|0 Comments

Ben’s Birthday Party!

Today we celebrated Ben’s birthday with a little party. He was very excited to have us sing to him and to open his present. He couldn’t do it fast enough! 🙂 He was so funny to watch! He would get a present, rifle through the bag, see what it was, get excited for about 5 seconds, and then reach out and ask for the next one! I think that if we just gave him presents of just bags with nothing in them but a small piece of candy, he would be good! He just loves opening stuff! 🙂

Brittany made him a “dog” cake (with a little help from Kirstyn) as the present from her and Ben was excited about that! He LOVES cake and ice cream! We put him in his chair and when he saw the cake, he went wild! He was also very excited to blow out the candle on it!

After he blew out the candle, we all had fun eating and talking. He is getting MUCH better with a spoon and didn’t get as much all over himself as he did last year! What a cute boy! We all love him very much! 🙂

Happy Birthday Ben!

By Kirk Halliday|2010-03-06T06:08:49-07:00February 28th, 2010|Home Life|0 Comments

Brittany Solo and Ensemble Performances

Today, Brittany was involved in the regional Solo and Ensemble festival which she has participated in in the past couple of years as well. This morning, she sang in a girls ensemble of 6 girls and they did a GREAT job! 🙂 Brittany sang alto.

She then went back in the afternoon and played a violin and base orchestra duet with a friend of hers. She did a wonderful job in that as well. She got top scores in both performances and she was very happy! Great job Britt!

By Kirk Halliday|2010-03-01T06:10:28-07:00February 27th, 2010|School|0 Comments

Benjamin Turns 2 and New Portraits of the Kids!

Happy Birthday to Benjamin! Today he turned 2! My how time flies! It’s hard to believe that our little guy is growing up so fast! Brittany and Kirstyn made him a VERY cute cake (picture will be posted when I finally pull it off the camera) and we sang to him and he smiled and clapped! We will be having a family “party” for him on Sunday when he’ll be opening his presents, blowing out his candles, and eating his cake!

Today the kids were off school and so Angela took them to the portrait studio to have pictures taken. They turned our VERY well! Ben is quite the funny kid! His hair is just getting wilder and wilder by the month! : -) They took a bunch of pictures and it was hard for Angela to decide what to purchase! Here are a couple of the best ones that she decided on:

We can’t wait to get the pictures back and get them hung up in the house! It’s amazing to see how fast the kids are growing! It seems like yesterday that Ben was born and now he’s 2! What’s worse is that it seems like yesterday that we were in college and Sarah was just born. That was 16+ years ago! Yikes! 🙂

By Kirk Halliday|2010-03-01T06:08:09-07:00February 26th, 2010|Home Life|0 Comments

Kirstyn Band Concert!

Kirstyn had a GREAT band concert tonight. The three elementary schools that their band teacher teaches at, were combined together at Scullen Middle School for the concert. It is hard to believe that the kids have only been playing for about 6 months! They sound GREAT! I know, I know, I said this with both Sarah and Brittany as well, but it still never ceases to amaze me! The kids and the teachers work really hard to help the kids be the best they can be. Kirstyn loves playing the clarinet and enjoys practicing whenever she can. So far, we haven’t had to push her much to practice. She’s still in that honeymoon phase and I’m sure we’ll have to start reminding her all the time soon. 🙂

Keep up the GREAT work Kirstyn!

By Kirk Halliday|2010-03-06T05:57:46-07:00February 24th, 2010|School|0 Comments

Angela Home at Last!

Angela had a slight delay in getting home and didn’t walk through the front door of our home until about 3:00am! She was exhausted, but had a GREAT time! They left Wednesday afternoon and on Thursday, they shopped, went to the “Lion King” show, and had a blast, Friday, they went to Hoover Dam and hung out some more, and then Saturday morning, they went to the Las Vegas Temple and had a wonderful session there…

"The Girls" - Yolanda Fisher, Jemma Weisler, Tami Reid, Angela, and Jennifer Nix

Hoover Dam

The Bellagio Fountains at Night in Vegas!

The Las Vegas Temple on Saturday Morning

They all had a GREAT time and laughed and cried together a LOT. They are talking about making this a yearly event! 🙂 It’s wonderful to have Angela home. She had a ball telling us all her stories!

By Kirk Halliday|2010-02-25T21:17:49-07:00February 21st, 2010|Home Life|0 Comments