March 26, 2007- posted late

March 26, 2007

Happy Birthday to Kayla!!! She turns 11 today! We had very fun party on Saturday. Kayla designed the whole party herself. It was a bunny party, done up in purple and green. She had 5 girls come, they watched “Flicka” and even had a treasure hunt. We even decorated her cake. We found a cake that was done already and on sale, and then put more frosting on the top and added coconut we colored green and two chocolate bunnies and covered it with jelly beans. It turned out so cute! I’ll include pictures. She got some very fun gifts and loved it.

Well, we survived Spring Break! I put together a comprehensive chore list and the kids worked for points for our “Family Spring Break Party”. The kids were AMAZING!! They were mopping, vacuuming, scrubbing, it was awesome. We deep cleaned and deep organized the ENTIRE house except Marisa’s room. I am so proud. Now, I can function. Well, for our party, we ordered the special cheesy bite pizza from Pizza Hut, we went out for ice cream and everyone got their own McFlurry or Blizzard, and then we watched Eragon. I have to say I thought it was a VERY violent film for a PG rating. But it was interesting anyway. Cool dragon!!!

We also went out to play tennis. Oh it felt good to have 70 degree weather- I almost cried. Marisa started the tennis team today and LOVED it!! They are doing try-outs this first week, and she said that so far, she is doing great! She will be working out every day after school for 2 hours.

Tyler tried out for and got accepted into the boys pre-team. However, it’s more of a money and time commitment, so as with Kayla, we will wait for summer. Tyler also had a fun scout campfire night on Friday night. He passed off some stuff (not sure what its called) and made s’mores. He loved it! He also has his school musical coming up and he got special speaking part as George Washington. I will tape the performance and take pictures.

Bob is busy putting in more overtime. At first I thought it was great (for the extra $), but now we just miss him. Alayna is doing great. We see her maturing and its wonderful. I am working full time 2 days this week, so she is excited to play at friends houses. Always more fun, probably, than hanging out with me.

Well, I should get back to work. Congrats to those in Logan on the success of the Messiah. So sorry we couldn’t make it.

Kris and Family

March 19, 2007

March 18, 2007

It has been another couple of busy weeks. To catch up faster, I will just list what we have been up to. We miss hearing from everyone!!

Marisa had her Festival of Orchestras a couple of Mondays ago. (This was the one she was 2nd chair for 7th grader first violinists) It was an awesome program despite the fact it was 2 ½ hours long. Marisa is doing such a fabulous job and looks like a pro out there. We also got to hear the HS Symphony orchestra (about 100 members) and they were amazing. They did William Tell’s Overture and the new Pirates music. I videotaped it if anyone wants to see Marisa and the HS.

Marisa is also starting on the tennis team after Spring break. She is so excited about that!

Marisa had her solo violin recital last weekend. I can’t remember the piece she played (Minuet maybe?), but she did a great job. She says she feels much more comfortable playing in a large orchestra.

Last weekend, a popular LDs speaker named Barbara Barrington Jones came here to speak to our Stake. She spent all Saturday (9-3) with the young women. Marisa LOVED going. The Stake YW president called Marisa and asked if she would play the prelude music before the main program. Marisa ended up organizing 5 YW into a string quintet to play the prelude and it was fantastic! So, I have asked them to do the prelude to the Women’s symposium coming up next month.

I ended up this week getting a bad stomach virus or REALLY bad food poisoning. I haven’t been that sick in such a long time. I feel much better now, but it knocked me out for a few days. I just hope nobody gets it this week- its Spring Break!!

Speaking of Spring break, I have spent the last few days deep cleaning and organizing. Its always a wonderful feeling to have this place almost perfect- even if it doesn’t last.

I had 3 parent/teacher conferences last week. All fantastic reports!

Last night we started rehearsals for the Stake RS choir I am conducting for the Stake RS symposium next month. We had a bad turn out- only 6 people. I hope we get more the next rehearsal.

Tomorrow Tyler gets to try out for the beginner Boys gymnastics team just for fun. I think he will have a fun time. Kayla still wants to be on team. She has already been accepted, but it’s a large time commitment. I guess we will see what we can arrange this summer.

The job hunt is stressful. I have started applying and pray some jobs will open up. There are some open for a school about 30 minutes away from here, but I think that is just too far away. So, I am hanging on, hoping something will open closer to home.

We celebrate Kayla’s 11th birthday this week. We have a fun party planned for Saturday.

Alayna is doing great. She is less of a pain and much more of a help nowadays. She has been a good listener and I just love it!!

Well, I guess that sums up our last two weeks…
Kris

March 4, 2007

March 4, 2007

Well I can sum up our week in two words “inclement weather”. We only had 1 ½ days of school this week and its even been too cold for the kids to go outside and actually enjoy the snow. So, now I know exactly what spring fever is and I am pretty sure we all have a bad case of it! This week is supposed to be much better with temps rising about 10 degrees which should help. This week will be full of makeup concerts and activities that had to be postponed.
We did watch a cute movie with the kids yesterday called The Great Panda Adventure. Plus, the kids love playing “Deal or No Deal” on the computer. I should have Alayna go on the actual show- she made a fake half million dollars yesterday!
Well, that’s it! Hopefully there will be more to report next week, until then…