Halloween Orchestra & Percussion Concert - Taya & Bladen

Taya is in Chamber Orchestra this year & is absolutely loving it.  She struggled last year in Philharmonic Orchestra because the songs were too easy & she got really bored playing them.  Now that she made it into Chamber, she's finally feeling challenged & is LOVING the music she's playing on her viola.  She is doing FANTASTIC!

Theme from ET - John Williams

One of my very favorites.  Taya loved this one.

Jupiter - Holst

I always liked this piece.  I played it in high school on viola & Lorien did too on cello.  It's one of those classic high school orchestra pieces.  It's beautiful & the violas actually have the melody in one section which is really rare.

Origins - Balmages

Taya loved this one.  It was her favorite (mostly because of the didgeridoo).  It was a fun one.

And Bladen decided to try the Intermediate Percussion Ensemble (instead of band) this year.  He's having a lot of fun with it.  It has broadened his horizons with all the different percussion instruments.  I also kind of loved that he was the only one in the group that knew how to play piano so he got the piano solo for the 2nd song.  He was loving that.  I know that learning instruments are not always fun & exciting, but after so many years of practice & growth, it's SO rewarding to see your progress.  He rocked it big time & I'm SO proud of him.

Clangor by Wesley Denkins

Bladen played a metal drum for this one.  He said it was a lot of fun.

Puttin' Out The Cat - Chris Brooks

This is the piece he got the piano part for.  He LOVED this one.  It was his favorite in the concert & now he's asking me to teach him more jazz pieces on the piano.

Karakurenai - Andy Akiho

This was a fun ensemble piece with both percussion ensembles playing together.

Both the kids did an amazing job & I am so proud of them.  They are incredible musicians & continue to amaze me at every concert they play in.  I love you two.

 

October Happenings 2024

 

October is a fun month filled with all sorts of fun things.  We had a blast all month long.

My cousin Sydney, got married in October so Trek & I got to go to her wedding reception at the Springville art museum.  In the museum I saw 2 paintings painted by my dear friend Meg Rieker.  She's AMAZING!

And since it was my cousin's wedding, most of my dad's brothers & sisters were there so I had to grab a quick picture of them all together (minus my dad & his brother Keith. . . both of which are dealing with cancer right now). It was fun seeing the siblings together.

We attended a stake Family History Fair at our church building.  The kids really enjoyed that.  They had all sorts of fun things set up for the kids to do.

We also did an escape room with friends.  We totally escaped with time to spare.

Taya painted pumpkins with her YW group.  She painted some minions.

Dad left the house for the first time since his surgery in May.  He's been bed bound due to his Cancer.  But in October, he got out of bed, & took me, Cari, & my nieces to get pedicures.  He was SO CUTE.

As a family we built the ugliest "Haunted Gingerbread House" ever.  It was a fun day project with all the kids.  We got messy & somehow Lorien even wound up with mustard in her hair?!?

Bladen did a really fascinating abstract art project for his English class.  He got the best score in the whole grade level.  I was proud of him.

Dani as Mrs. Peacock - CLUE 2024

 This was Dani's costume "Sneak Peek!"

Dani as Mrs. Peacock!

"Well,  someone's got to break the ice, & it might as well be me.  I mean, I'm used to being a hostess, it's part of my husband's work.  And it's always difficult when a group of new friends meet together for the first time, to get acquainted.  So I'm perfectly prepared to start the ball rolling.  I mean, I-I have absolutely no idea what we're doing here.  Or what I'm doing here, or what this place is about, but I am determined to enjoy myself.  And I'm very intrigued, &, oh my, this soup's delicious, isn't it?"

"Oh, whoever it is, they gotta go away or they'll be killed!"

Trek as Colonel Mustard - CLUE 2024

 This was Trek's costume "Sneak Peek."

Trek as Colonel Mustard!

"Yep, two corpses.  Everything's fine!"

"This is war, Peacock!  Casualties are inevitable.  You cannot make an omelet without breaking some eggs, every cook will tell you that!" -- "But look what happened to the cook!"

"Are you trying to make me look stupid in front of the other guests?"  "You don't need any help from me Sir!"  "That's right!"

"If I was the killer, I'd kill YOU next!  I said if . . . *IF*"