Alayna, All-state, and A very long day!

November 21, 2010

Revenge of the Alayna

For those of you who have been reading our newsletters since Alayna was 2, you will remember the, um, “adventures” we experienced with her on a weekly (sometimes daily) basis. I think THAT Alayna came back this week. First, she decorated her entire face with my bright red lipstick (I should have taken a picture!) When I asked her why she did it, she said she just wanted to see what she would look like as a clown. Awesome (note the sarcasm). Then, I had Kayla check on her in the bath and Kayla said I better go in there. She was bawling and I asked what happened. Apparently, she had decided that her arms are too hairy and so she took my new razor and tried to remove them. In the process she cut her arm. She was crying not because the superficial wound hurt, but because she knew she had disobeyed and she figured with the amount of blood lost (again very minimal) she thought she was dying. I did give her soaking wet body a giant hug to reassure her she was fine- but it was super hard not to break out in hysterical laughter. A good lesson learned in obeying your parents! That evening she dropped a bowl and it shattered on the kitchen floor. When I ran in to see what happened she said, “This just isn’t my day!”

A very long all state day

Yesterday was a VERY long day. Marisa spent all Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in Ames, Iowa for All-state. Bob, Alayna, and I headed to Ames at noon yesterday. Kayla stayed here for the big stake youth activity and Tyler stayed for his 1^st beehive/deacon activity. We had to be there to pick up Marisa by 2:30, but her call for the concert wasn’t until 7. So, we decided to make the most of it. First, we went to Kmart to do some Christmas shopping any buy poor Alayna some pants (since all of her are high-waters, ripped, or too tight she can’t breathe.) Then, we went to see Megamind in 3D! Alayna was purely fascinated the entire movie since this was the 1^st time she has ever seen something in 3D and I can’t remember the last time I saw a movie in 3D (must have been when I was really little and they used the blue and red paper glasses.) Anyway, we absolutely loved the movie. It was hilarious and very entertaining.

Then we went to subway to grab a fast dinner before dropping Marisa off at the coliseum. We had a tough time finding a parking spot because not only was all-state being held, but there was also a football game at the university. Talk about traffic!

The coliseum looks exactly like the Marriott center in Provo. Alayna entertained herself by running around the top area until the concert started. Warning: Mom bragging ahead!

Ok, so over 5,000 high school kids auditioned in October for all-state. Only 200 made it into the orchestra, about 300 into the band and 600 into the choir. 177 Iowa high schools were represented. Only 80 violinists were chosen for that orchestra and Marisa was one of them! They represented the top 1.7% of high school musicians. Now how cool is that?? I took some pictures, but I couldn’t get in very close. For those of you in Iowa that are interested, it will be broadcast on Iowa Public Television (Nov. 25 at 7PM and Nov. 28 at 5:30PM.) I will try and tape it for grandparents. The orchestra played the “Patrie Overture” by Georges Bizet and Tchaikovsky’s Final from Symphony #4 (which was my favorite!!) By the time they did the final number (Battle Hymn of the Republic), poor Alayna was in tears. It wasn’t because she was touched by the music, the concert was 2 ½ hours long and she couldn’t take it anymore. She even brought a book with her but she finished the whole book in one hour. Anyway, we topped off the evening with Frosty’s at Wendy’s and made the long 2 ½ hour trip home. We hit our pillows by 1:00. A very long day.

(Orchestra on the bottom, choir to the left, band on top, whole right side of coliseum packed with people)

(Can you tell she is tired?)

Misc:

Tyler’s team won their game again this week.

I discovered a cute way to make a cheap teacher gift.

We are watching the dogs again. They are becoming part of our family.