Josh finally got some work this week, thanks to the generosity of our friend Lane. He has a Jersey cow that he uses as a nurse cow for raising calves, and circumstances were such that he needed to have someone milk her (Natalie is her name) for a few months. With the milk he gets, he will nurse four calves and sell them in a few months for a handsome profit. It's a very generous deal from Lane, and we're very grateful that Josh will have some cash flow. It's like a part-time job to do the milking twice a day on your own, so this is an adjustment, but he's been doing very well!
Today, one of Josh's best friends for the past eleven years, Drew, gave his Farewell talk in our ward, and he'll be leaving on Tuesday for his mission in Iowa. He has spent countless hours at our house just hanging out over the years, so I feel like our family has a small part in sending him out as well as his own. Josh also received his Duty to God Award today. Congratulations Josh!
Joseph and Jesse have been busy with Choir happenings. They sang in Solo & Ensemble Festival last week. Joseph sang a duet with Amanda called "When I Close My Eyes" that was beautiful. Jesse and her best friends Kalli sang "I'm a Wanderer", which is a spiritual. They got a high enough score that they got to do a repeat performance at the high school choir concert. Jesse also accompanied for three people, including Joseph and Amanda.
The High School Choir concert was awesome! The Madrigals sang an extremely technical song called "The Sounding Sea", and it was one of the highlights of the evening. Mary also had a Middle School concert the week before that, and she had fun doing that.
She had such a busy month of February playing the piano and the organ, that it was a miracle she got through it. She had Piano Festival (which she got a "Superior" rating on - Yeah!), the Solo & Ensemble Festival, which I just talked about, she accompanied the congregation on the organ, and she played for the choir too. Good thing she loves to play the piano and sing!
Mary also played in Piano Festival (and got a "Superior" also - Wahoo!), and sang "The Call" in the Middle School Solo & Ensemble Festival. She sang beautifully - I was so proud of her. Mary had some time off of soccer and track (yes, I know - two sports is crazy) this week because of a hurt knee. We have been putting Lemongrass, Marjoram and PanAway essential oils on it, and they have helped it heal much more quickly than it would otherwise.
Peter has had two outdoor soccer games, with Bruce as his Coach. He plays goalie for half the game, trading off with other players. He also played in Piano Festival - one song called "Race Across the Serenghettti" and another called "Un Poco Espanol", and he got an Excellent rating.
Libby played "A Knight's Tale" and "Bewitching Boogie" for Piano Festival and got a "Superior" rating! Way to go Libster! She also had a gymnastics performance last weekend, and she was the only one to do several hard moves. She is going to start soccer this week, and now soccer and gymnastics are on the same day!
Bruce Josh and Joseph have had a great time playing for an Indoor Soccer League, and I've had a ball being their #1 fan. They have a really good team, so watching them is a clinic in soccer every week. Their last game was this week, so now they're thinking of signing up for a new round of play, which I hope they do!
I gave a lesson today in Relief Society about Service, which was really fun. I enjoy teaching RS!
The Lord has been blessing us in so many ways, and we are so grateful.
Family of Fifteen: The adventures of a happily married mother and father, 6 amazing children, 4 rock-star in-laws and 3 grand-chlidren!
Showing posts with label piano. Show all posts
Showing posts with label piano. Show all posts
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
The Games Report
Nobody wanted the break to be over. We just played and had the best time. Telestrations has been the hit game so far. We played twice on Christmas Day and laughed so hard!! The game is basically like the telephone game, where you whisper something to the person next to you and it goes around the circle and you see what you end up with. In this game instead of whispering, you alternate between drawing a word and guessing what was drawn by the person next to you. We actually took pictures of two of the drawings, but you have to look at the progression going down, not left to right. On the left is one word, and on the right is another.
You won't laugh nearly as hard as we did - it was one of those things where you had to be there, but I tell you, when we saw Bruce reveal that he had written "Fun", we laughed until we were crying. Fun? How is Josh supposed to draw "Fun"?? And when Jesse put "Ugly Man", there were more tears going down faces.
We have gone to the late church schedule. Hallelujah! Since we don't get to sleep in on Saturdays a good part of the year (because of soccer games), I love sleeping in on Sunday. One of life's little luxuries that I am grateful for.
Josh is still looking for work. He has applied at a lot of places, but nothing has come up yet. He will keep looking!
Joseph gave a great talk in Church today on Faith. He used a lot of material from True to the Faith, Preach My Gospel, the scriptures and conference talks. He spent about 5 hours researching material and another five hours putting it together for the talk. He said he only included about 1/2 of what he had written down, and even at that his talk was still 12 minutes long. The counselor in the bishopric had to tap on his leg to tell him to stop. :) I told him afterward to not give Joseph 3 minutes. He's got to have more time than that!
Jesse made the commitment to learn Jeux d'eau (by Ravel) for Festival in about 6 weeks. She has learned 7 out of 13 pages. This is the hardest piece she has learned yet by far. She knows the first 7 pages really well, but they are not a tempo yet. A tempo is an eighth note equals 144 bpm, and there are 32nd notes all over the song. Craziness!! I love hearing her playing this song.
Mary had to do a project for science class in which they had to model an element, and her group is "Neon". She made a vest out of purple felt. She did it by making her own pattern from butcher paper and sewed it herself! I was really proud of her.
Peter has been playing the Wii like crazy. So has Bruce. I won't make any more comment on that. Ha ha Peter has made a goal to read the Book of Mormon this year. Yeah!
Libby surprised me this week. I was getting her piano pieces ready for Festival. I made a guess at what level she was on and played through some of the songs and thought that they would be challenging, but she could do it. When I played them for her, she listened and then sat down and played through one of them. She learned the whole song in about 10 minutes, playing it all the way through, a tempo, no problems. Wow! Needless to say, I went back to the store and picked a book that was at the next level for her. Festival songs are not supposed to be terribly hard, but if you can sight read them and play them in ten minutes, that's too easy! She's only eight, but she's really moving along in piano.
Libby also performed at halftime for the boys basketball game on Friday. She did her Gymnastics routine. She got lots of compliments afterward because she did so well!
I did 3 Raindrops this week within a twenty-seven hour period! In case you haven't heard of the Raindrop Technique, it's a method of applying essential oils to the feet and to the back, incorporating massage and reflexology techniques. One lady I work with has had wonderful results with the Raindrop. She gets one every two weeks. I incorporate the oils that come up on the Compass for her, and she takes NingXia Red Juice on a regular basis. (Contact me if you want to know more NingXia - I have a good website for it, but it has my full name on it, so I don't want to give it out on this public blog.) It has been a tremendous blessing for me to be an instrument in the hand of the Lord in bringing some healing to her life.
A few months ago, at Bruce's work, they announced that they wanted to reduce the on-site workforce by 20%. Bruce promptly signed up for it and got it approved. At the end of last year he cleaned out his cubicle, and now works completely from home. This makes sense, since his team is all in Vancouver and Israel. If you wonder if globalization has taken place, let that be an indicator. So we can live on our 2 1/2 acres, have our little farm here in Idaho and be close to great outdoor recreation and beautiful rural surroundings while Bruce works from his office in our home with Israelis in Tel Aviv. It's a beautiful life.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Renewed Commitment
I'm going to blog. Even if it's only a few sentences at a time. I used to blog on Sunday afternoons. That time seems to have disappeared into thin air.
We dropped off Josh last weekend at college! He started classes on Thursday. He reported that none of his classes "were hard at all". Ha ha That made me grin. I hope that remains true! He went with three of his roommates to Grandma and Grandpa's. How fun is that? Is was weird for me to think that he was at my parent's house without me. That doesn't happen very often. I had to admit to myself that I was a little envious.
Joseph got a hairline fracture in his right fibula last Tuesday. It didn't even show up in the x-rays, but my friend Karen tested that the bone was compromised. We have been putting basil and marjoram (for muscle), wintergreen (for bone) and lemongrass (for ligaments) on the injury. He is able to put weight on it and walk without pain, but not for very long. It starts hurting soon. But it will heal up quickly, and he won't be out the entire season like we thought at first. Sadly, my nephew Chris did break his wrist and will be out for the rest of the season.
A sad thing happened at our high school this past week. A 15 year old classmate of Jesse's - a sophomore - was hit by a car driven by an 89-year old man in a cross-walk by the school, and died. He was not a friend of Jesse's but she had classes with him last year. Today Jesse told me that she had learned he was an only child. Oh, I just can't imagine something like that. Unfathomable.
Jesse is working so hard in soccer and piano. We got to go to a Faculty Recital last Friday night of a renowned local professor of piano performance. He did a concert in honor of the 100 year anniversary of Chopin. Two of the dozen or so pieces he played were pieces that Jesse has learned to play in the last six months. It was awesome to hear them in the concert! She is also starting as a stopper on the Varsity soccer team, and doing a great job.
Mary, Jesse and Joseph are singing in a Stake Youth Choir for Stake Conference next Sunday. I'm the director. It's so fun to direct this choir. They have a great sound, and certainly bring the Spirit when they sing. Mary is also a staple of defense on her soccer team.
Peter got invited by the U12 team to play up as a guest player on their team when he can. He was strutting around like he'd received an invitation to play in the World Cup, he was so proud and excited about that. He really enjoys his U11 team too. Last game he played forward, mid, defense, and he practices as keeper a lot too.
Libby made up a board game tonight. We played for awhile and had fun doing it. This is the second game she's made up, and they are quite creative! She is in 3rd grad and Peter in 4th now. Their classrooms are just opposite each other in the school.
Bruce is coaching the High School JV boys soccer team. They have been doing well. He is a good coach - all the Moms say their sons appreciate Bruce as their coach. He is also still irrigating on his parent's farm, although that should be ending soon.
I had a hard day today. I have so much on my plate right now. There's simply a lot to do, a lot of irons in the fire. Trying to balance everything is challenging in the extreme. Speaking of which, I need to go to bed!
So, I'll try to get in more blogging. It's another thing I'm trying to balance.
We dropped off Josh last weekend at college! He started classes on Thursday. He reported that none of his classes "were hard at all". Ha ha That made me grin. I hope that remains true! He went with three of his roommates to Grandma and Grandpa's. How fun is that? Is was weird for me to think that he was at my parent's house without me. That doesn't happen very often. I had to admit to myself that I was a little envious.
Joseph got a hairline fracture in his right fibula last Tuesday. It didn't even show up in the x-rays, but my friend Karen tested that the bone was compromised. We have been putting basil and marjoram (for muscle), wintergreen (for bone) and lemongrass (for ligaments) on the injury. He is able to put weight on it and walk without pain, but not for very long. It starts hurting soon. But it will heal up quickly, and he won't be out the entire season like we thought at first. Sadly, my nephew Chris did break his wrist and will be out for the rest of the season.
A sad thing happened at our high school this past week. A 15 year old classmate of Jesse's - a sophomore - was hit by a car driven by an 89-year old man in a cross-walk by the school, and died. He was not a friend of Jesse's but she had classes with him last year. Today Jesse told me that she had learned he was an only child. Oh, I just can't imagine something like that. Unfathomable.
Jesse is working so hard in soccer and piano. We got to go to a Faculty Recital last Friday night of a renowned local professor of piano performance. He did a concert in honor of the 100 year anniversary of Chopin. Two of the dozen or so pieces he played were pieces that Jesse has learned to play in the last six months. It was awesome to hear them in the concert! She is also starting as a stopper on the Varsity soccer team, and doing a great job.
Mary, Jesse and Joseph are singing in a Stake Youth Choir for Stake Conference next Sunday. I'm the director. It's so fun to direct this choir. They have a great sound, and certainly bring the Spirit when they sing. Mary is also a staple of defense on her soccer team.
Peter got invited by the U12 team to play up as a guest player on their team when he can. He was strutting around like he'd received an invitation to play in the World Cup, he was so proud and excited about that. He really enjoys his U11 team too. Last game he played forward, mid, defense, and he practices as keeper a lot too.
Libby made up a board game tonight. We played for awhile and had fun doing it. This is the second game she's made up, and they are quite creative! She is in 3rd grad and Peter in 4th now. Their classrooms are just opposite each other in the school.
Bruce is coaching the High School JV boys soccer team. They have been doing well. He is a good coach - all the Moms say their sons appreciate Bruce as their coach. He is also still irrigating on his parent's farm, although that should be ending soon.
I had a hard day today. I have so much on my plate right now. There's simply a lot to do, a lot of irons in the fire. Trying to balance everything is challenging in the extreme. Speaking of which, I need to go to bed!
So, I'll try to get in more blogging. It's another thing I'm trying to balance.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Oh, the Lovely Color of Green
Lovely, lovely green. Our pastures are the first thing that we notice in the spring. Several in the family commented on them today. Bruce put the llamas out on them temporarily, because the dry pasture was a mucky, muddy mess. I love seeing the llamas graze on pasture.
The other farm news is that we traded Gussie for Millie. My Mom's gonna be sad about that because she thought Gussie was so cute, and she actually named her. I'll miss Gussie too (as much as I miss animals, which is actually not very much). Gussie was a black/red angus mix. We traded her to someone on craigslist who had a seven-month old jersey heifer.
This is a really good trade for us, because we've been wanting another jersey cow for milking. 
We still have Buttercup, but we need another one to trade off with when they dry up and calve. I named her Millie, and the name stuck.
Libby got put on the milking schedule for the first time.
She now has a turn with Joseph and me.
She also gets to feed Toodles and Toodleloo.
Mary had a choir concert, and she did a great job. See if you can pick her out in this crowd of brightly colored 7th graders! 
Bruce and Peter had to round up our horses for Libby's birthday party. This is a great shot of father and son on the horses. Peter is getting really good at riding. He is the one that most asks to ride out of all the kids.
Libby turned eight years old in March!
We had a fun birthday party for her. The night before she asked me if I would wake her up right when she was born, which was 2:00 am. I said no. Even then, at 6:00 am when we sang Las Mananitas to her, she was wide awake. Happy Birthday Libby!
Josh was in the first musical that Middleton High School has ever done.
He was the evil dentist in Little Shop of Horrors. If you don't recognize him from this picture, join the crowd. Even close friends here didn't know who he was at the beginning of the play! Josh said they kept telling him, "You've got to be more mean!" He had to be cruel to one of the female characters. Afterward, he told me that he didn't like how that felt, and didn't want to ever do that again (not the acting - but the being cruel to a female part).
One evening in March we went over to our friends' work, which is a warehouse where they package nutritional supplements, and played hiding go seek. This is Joseph and Jesse hanging out with one of their best friends, Erica.
This is Libby and Elysia.
It was fun because Craig came to stay with us for two nights. He came to the warehouse with us, and got the nickname of "Mountain Man".
Jesse posted this on her Facebook profile.
She spends every spare second with this piano.
For Spring Break, we went to Island Park to a condo. Bruce had to stay home and work, which was a bummer, but the rest of us went for five days. We had a most relaxing time, not being hurried by anything. On our way home, we went by Hebegon Lake, which was totally frozen over. The kids got these pictures:
On March 27th, Libby got baptized!
She chose Joseph to perform the ordinance. She was SO excited for her baptism. She counted the weeks and days down, and absolutely loved the whole occasion.
I was asked to give the prayer at the baptism, and as I sat on the stand and looked down at Joseph and Libby sitting on the front row dressed in white, it was one of the moments of pure joy in life that make all the others worth it. Grandma and Grandpa from Idaho came,
as well as Grandma and Grandpa from Colorado, 
as well as Bruce's brothers - Gary and Stephen, and families. Thank you to everyone who attended!
Peter came in 4th on the Pinewood Derby. He had the green car below. (That is John Deere green, by the way).
Mary had a Beehive activity where they carved ice cream. She has wonderful Beehive leaders.
Coming soon: Pictures of Josh's prom date!
The other farm news is that we traded Gussie for Millie. My Mom's gonna be sad about that because she thought Gussie was so cute, and she actually named her. I'll miss Gussie too (as much as I miss animals, which is actually not very much). Gussie was a black/red angus mix. We traded her to someone on craigslist who had a seven-month old jersey heifer.
This is a really good trade for us, because we've been wanting another jersey cow for milking. 
We still have Buttercup, but we need another one to trade off with when they dry up and calve. I named her Millie, and the name stuck.Bruce also bought two new calves that he named Toodles and Toodleloo. 
Toodles
Toodles
Toodleloo
We are bottle-feeding them right now. He bought them for $25 each, and in a few months, we'll be able to sell them for about $200 each. Since we get the milk from Buttercup, it's no cost to us, except for the time it takes to milk her (which we do anyway) and the time it takes to feed the calves (10 min max) . When we spread it out between 8 of us, it's not so bad.
Libby got put on the milking schedule for the first time.
She now has a turn with Joseph and me.
She also gets to feed Toodles and Toodleloo.
Mary had a choir concert, and she did a great job. See if you can pick her out in this crowd of brightly colored 7th graders! 
Bruce and Peter had to round up our horses for Libby's birthday party. This is a great shot of father and son on the horses. Peter is getting really good at riding. He is the one that most asks to ride out of all the kids.
Libby turned eight years old in March!
We had a fun birthday party for her. The night before she asked me if I would wake her up right when she was born, which was 2:00 am. I said no. Even then, at 6:00 am when we sang Las Mananitas to her, she was wide awake. Happy Birthday Libby!Josh was in the first musical that Middleton High School has ever done.
He was the evil dentist in Little Shop of Horrors. If you don't recognize him from this picture, join the crowd. Even close friends here didn't know who he was at the beginning of the play! Josh said they kept telling him, "You've got to be more mean!" He had to be cruel to one of the female characters. Afterward, he told me that he didn't like how that felt, and didn't want to ever do that again (not the acting - but the being cruel to a female part).One evening in March we went over to our friends' work, which is a warehouse where they package nutritional supplements, and played hiding go seek. This is Joseph and Jesse hanging out with one of their best friends, Erica.
This is Libby and Elysia.
It was fun because Craig came to stay with us for two nights. He came to the warehouse with us, and got the nickname of "Mountain Man".Jesse posted this on her Facebook profile.
She spends every spare second with this piano.For Spring Break, we went to Island Park to a condo. Bruce had to stay home and work, which was a bummer, but the rest of us went for five days. We had a most relaxing time, not being hurried by anything. On our way home, we went by Hebegon Lake, which was totally frozen over. The kids got these pictures:
On March 27th, Libby got baptized!
She chose Joseph to perform the ordinance. She was SO excited for her baptism. She counted the weeks and days down, and absolutely loved the whole occasion.
I was asked to give the prayer at the baptism, and as I sat on the stand and looked down at Joseph and Libby sitting on the front row dressed in white, it was one of the moments of pure joy in life that make all the others worth it. Grandma and Grandpa from Idaho came,
as well as Grandma and Grandpa from Colorado, 
as well as Bruce's brothers - Gary and Stephen, and families. Thank you to everyone who attended!Peter came in 4th on the Pinewood Derby. He had the green car below. (That is John Deere green, by the way).
Mary had a Beehive activity where they carved ice cream. She has wonderful Beehive leaders.
Coming soon: Pictures of Josh's prom date!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
From the classical to country - and everything in between
We had a busy, busy June. And it hasn't stopped!
The High School boys' soccer team put on a soccer camp for the younger kids. This is Peter and Libby all geared up and ready to go!
I got bucked off my horse, May, on Wednesday, June 17th. We were riding along the side of the street in the neighborhood behind ours when she got spooked by Cookie, the 3-month old filly, and started to shy onto the street. Then she started to buck, and off I went onto the asphalt, of all things. Bruce later commented that he thought there was a belt on her saddle that was too tight underneath. Anyway, I got the wind knocked out of me, but I got up and started to walk. My first thought was, I need to go to Karen's house! She lives right by there, and she is an essential oils guru. Just a few weeks prior to that I had seen her do a world of good on Jesse, who had a really sore tailbone from falling in the garage.
I walked to her house, about a block away, in pretty bad shape. Well, I could walk, but it was all I could do to concentrate on that and get to her house. Unfortunately, she wasn't home, but some other members of our ward were home across the street, so they took me home. I had Bruce put some PanAway on me (a Young Living Essential Oil), and I could feel the ache drain away from that spot. I was very grateful. I was able to sleep that night, and the next day Karen came and did the Raindrop Technique on me. It made it so I was totally functional the next day when I needed to be. Once again, I was so grateful.
Thursday night Peter and Libby had Showmanship Practice for 4-H.
Our wonderful project leader, Kevin, and his daughter Kelsey, helped them get ready for showmanship at the fair.
Friday and Saturday was the annual Idaho Youth Games. I coached two soccer teams - Mary's and Peter's, and we had a fun time. Here are some highlights in photos from the Friday night Fun Night.
Here is the long process of trying to get these three to smile all at once for a picture. Nearly impossible.
Jora and Bailey were on Mary's team,
and Jay and Jaren were on Peter's team.
Jesse's team won 2nd place in their division! Veronica, Maddy, Sarah and Allie are her soccer buddies.
This is my friend Karla, who Libby has nicknamed "The Master of Soccer". Our children play soccer together, and we have become good friends sitting on the sidelines together the last few years. She just finished a round of radiation for the cancer she was diagnosed with, so I was really glad to see her and get this picture with her.
Here is Libby on the rock climbing wall. The guide said, "Has she taken a rock-climbing class somewhere?"
She must have climbed this wall at least a dozen times.
This is Josh and Joseph racing up the wall. Josh wants you to know that "Joseph started before me." :)
And here is Mary climibing the wall too.
Bruce went fishing with Dave, the fishing guru, on Friday night and Saturday. Dave told me later that he was done about four hours earlier than Bruce, but Bruce would not stop fishing. On the way home, late at night, Bruce was driving, and Dave said, "Are you tired?" Bruce replied, "No, I'm all right." So Dave said, "Then why are you listening to head-banging rock, hugging the steering wheel and going 45 mph? Let me drive!" We had a good laugh about that. But NO SALMON. That stunk.
On Monday we packed up and went camping with friends to Sage Hen Reservoir. We've been going there every year (except for last year when we thought we were moving) since 2002.
This year we had Fred & Amy, Calvin & Elizabeth, Todd & Kristie, Greg & Rachelle, Gary & Tami, and Jesse and Britani up there with us. It was SO FUN. We love this trip.
The Saturday after we got home from camping, we went downtown to a nice restaurant and Josh, Joseph and Jesse were part of the Youth Pianist Showcase for the day.
They got to play on the piano for the restaurant guests, and received a free lunch and about $8 in tips (each) to boot! Grandma and Grandpa (Bruce's parents) happened to be in town, so they came with us. 
It was just a delightful experience. But one sad thing - I forgot to get a picture of Josh while he was playing. Can you see a big capital L on my forehead for LAME!! Sorry Josh...
I also had one of my other students play at the restaurant, so that was fun too.
That night, I took Mary and Peter over to our project leader's house for another showmanship practice. The next day I wondered at the variety in my life. In the morning to be going to a fancy restaurant and then in the evening going to a farm and working with sheep. I'm glad to have that kind of diversity, and glad my kids have it.
The High School boys' soccer team put on a soccer camp for the younger kids. This is Peter and Libby all geared up and ready to go!I got bucked off my horse, May, on Wednesday, June 17th. We were riding along the side of the street in the neighborhood behind ours when she got spooked by Cookie, the 3-month old filly, and started to shy onto the street. Then she started to buck, and off I went onto the asphalt, of all things. Bruce later commented that he thought there was a belt on her saddle that was too tight underneath. Anyway, I got the wind knocked out of me, but I got up and started to walk. My first thought was, I need to go to Karen's house! She lives right by there, and she is an essential oils guru. Just a few weeks prior to that I had seen her do a world of good on Jesse, who had a really sore tailbone from falling in the garage.
I walked to her house, about a block away, in pretty bad shape. Well, I could walk, but it was all I could do to concentrate on that and get to her house. Unfortunately, she wasn't home, but some other members of our ward were home across the street, so they took me home. I had Bruce put some PanAway on me (a Young Living Essential Oil), and I could feel the ache drain away from that spot. I was very grateful. I was able to sleep that night, and the next day Karen came and did the Raindrop Technique on me. It made it so I was totally functional the next day when I needed to be. Once again, I was so grateful.
Thursday night Peter and Libby had Showmanship Practice for 4-H.
Our wonderful project leader, Kevin, and his daughter Kelsey, helped them get ready for showmanship at the fair.
Friday and Saturday was the annual Idaho Youth Games. I coached two soccer teams - Mary's and Peter's, and we had a fun time. Here are some highlights in photos from the Friday night Fun Night.
Here is the long process of trying to get these three to smile all at once for a picture. Nearly impossible.
Jora and Bailey were on Mary's team,
and Jay and Jaren were on Peter's team.
Jesse's team won 2nd place in their division! Veronica, Maddy, Sarah and Allie are her soccer buddies.
This is my friend Karla, who Libby has nicknamed "The Master of Soccer". Our children play soccer together, and we have become good friends sitting on the sidelines together the last few years. She just finished a round of radiation for the cancer she was diagnosed with, so I was really glad to see her and get this picture with her.
Here is Libby on the rock climbing wall. The guide said, "Has she taken a rock-climbing class somewhere?"She must have climbed this wall at least a dozen times.
This is Josh and Joseph racing up the wall. Josh wants you to know that "Joseph started before me." :)
And here is Mary climibing the wall too.
Bruce went fishing with Dave, the fishing guru, on Friday night and Saturday. Dave told me later that he was done about four hours earlier than Bruce, but Bruce would not stop fishing. On the way home, late at night, Bruce was driving, and Dave said, "Are you tired?" Bruce replied, "No, I'm all right." So Dave said, "Then why are you listening to head-banging rock, hugging the steering wheel and going 45 mph? Let me drive!" We had a good laugh about that. But NO SALMON. That stunk.
On Monday we packed up and went camping with friends to Sage Hen Reservoir. We've been going there every year (except for last year when we thought we were moving) since 2002.
This year we had Fred & Amy, Calvin & Elizabeth, Todd & Kristie, Greg & Rachelle, Gary & Tami, and Jesse and Britani up there with us. It was SO FUN. We love this trip.The Saturday after we got home from camping, we went downtown to a nice restaurant and Josh, Joseph and Jesse were part of the Youth Pianist Showcase for the day.
They got to play on the piano for the restaurant guests, and received a free lunch and about $8 in tips (each) to boot! Grandma and Grandpa (Bruce's parents) happened to be in town, so they came with us. 
It was just a delightful experience. But one sad thing - I forgot to get a picture of Josh while he was playing. Can you see a big capital L on my forehead for LAME!! Sorry Josh...I also had one of my other students play at the restaurant, so that was fun too.
That night, I took Mary and Peter over to our project leader's house for another showmanship practice. The next day I wondered at the variety in my life. In the morning to be going to a fancy restaurant and then in the evening going to a farm and working with sheep. I'm glad to have that kind of diversity, and glad my kids have it.
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