Broadway Soiree

Friday, Sept 18th

At the "Von Trapnell's" House

Well since I always have an itch to perform, and I want my kids to have opportunities to perform too, I thought it would be fun, (and less time consuming than another musical) to get together with some friends and perform for each other.  I asked my friend Cheryl, our fabulous music director from King and I if she would accompany everyone, and my friend Julie agreed to host, and we had a super fun night of Broadway music.  My four oldest children sang pieces from Into the Woods,  and all together with our friends I think we had 18 pieces performed.  Afterwards, we enjoyed treats, while the older kids, who couldn't get enough, all gathered around the piano and sang their hearts out to Frozen and other pop songs that either Dallin or Brooklyn could play on the piano. It was delightful.  I'll definitely repeat in the future.

Russ went above and beyond offering his coffee table as a stage for the performers.  :)

Sean singing "Giants in the Sky."  He nailed it.

Daphne did "I Know Things Now" basically to perfection.

The "Von Trapnell Family" singing Edelweiss

Hayden sang a very darling "Into the Woods"

The house was packed with lots of friends old and young.  Actually young and younger. ;)

Dallin & his friend Charles sang the duet "Agony" complete with costumes and some shirt "ripping" choreography. I saved them for last, and rightly so because they brought down the house. 

Brighten Your Space

September 18, 2015

The Bus Stop

Today was Mr. Terry's last day as our elementary school bus driver.  I don't remember any of my bus drivers from school.  But I can confidently say that Mr. Terry is the best bus driver ever.  He is retiring to take care of his wife who is a brain cancer survivor.  She is currently relearning how to walk.  I'm really thankful for ordinary people like bus drivers who go out of their way to make the world a better place in their own unique way.  Mr. Terry decorated his bus for the seasons and holidays.  He called me to give me treatment tips for Hayden's frequent bloody noses.  Once, he made a special stop by our house because Hayden didn't make it to the bus stop on time due to his shoes being missing.  Mr. Terry made the ride to and from school a good way to start and end each school day.  He could have been mean and cranky but instead he lined the windows with leaf garland and hung hot air balloons from the ceiling in the fall.  He put antlers and a red nose on his bus in December.  My kids and I will always remember him because he took the time to brighten his space in the world.  And it brightened ours too.  Mrs. Terry is in good hands.

Lumberjacks

Sept 12, 2015

East Mountains

Our next door neighbors, the Ostlers have property in the East Mountains, and invited us to come up and get some fire wood for the winter.  The kids LOVED riding in the back of their truck once we got up to their property.  Everybody worked hard cutting, carrying and loading the wood.  And now we are set for the winter!  Bennett still talks about cutting wood and riding in the truck, whenever he sees the Ostlers green truck in their driveway.

Double Digits for Sean

Sean turned 10!!!

Sting:  "Not much more than a letter-opener, really"

It's always great when it's Sean's birthday because the birthday love gets shared a little faster.  :)  What I mean by that is when we all go around and say what we love about the birthday boy or girl, there isn't a person who takes an awkwardly long time to think of something nice to say.  Normally, that person is Sean. Even if we tell him in the morning that it's so-n-so's birthday and by the time we finish dinner, he needs to have his comment ready, he still can't think of anything nice to say about the birthday person!

All teasing aside, we love our Sean.  And some of the things we love about Sean are that he is slow to anger, he plays well with his younger siblings, he is a problem solver and he is gentle.  Super grateful to have this young man in our family.  Happy Birthday Sean!

August Quotes

Hayden:  (legos) I don't know how I built it.  I guess I'm just a master builder.

Sydney:  Bennett!  How could you?!?

Me: Sydney, calm down, I'm sure we can fix it.

Sydney:  You don't know how to fix rocket boosters!

Hayden:  I don't like lick gel.  Dad did it to me once.  At family pictures.

Sydney:  What is daring?

Me:  It's when you try new things even if they are a little scary.

Sydney:  Oh.

Me:  Do you think you are daring?

Sydney:  I fink sometimes.

Me:  I think I am daring sometimes too.

Sydney:  No, I don't fink you are daring.

Sydney:  Hayden, I told you a millions times:  Mater DOESN'T have kids!!

Dallin:  Well, that was less cool than I envisioned.  (mentos in soda)

Sydney: (trying to say something but can't spit it out) I fink I'm just a little bit drunk.

Dallin was doing Sydney's hair one day and asked for a fancy braid.  Dallin offered her pigtails instead.  Arthur said, "You don't know how to braid? Come on!"  Dallin responded, "Hey, my braiding skills are WAY more advanced than most boys my age."

Sean:  When I grow up, I am getting a convertible and I'll drive all around town with my top down.

Sean:  Someone messed up my world!! (Mario Bros.)

Sydney:  Um, this smells like zebra.  (? random)

Hayden:  We were being a little too silly, but now we are stopping.

Sydney:  Grand Old Flag is more fun than this song.

Dallin:  Are you my friend, Daphne?

Daphne:  Yeah!  Wait, why?  What do you want?

Hayden:  Come on legos, we can DO this!

Sean:  Hayden, I'd say you're a medium in charisma.

Bennett:  I want to ride the lellow bus!

Sydney:  Whatchya doin' Bennett?  Oh!  Makin' a pancake tower?

Daphne:  Aunt Emma is getting married?!

Me:  Yes she is!

Daphne:   Whoa! when did she meet him?

Me: This summer up at Aunt Jewel's house.

Daphne:  Whoa! That kinda reminds me of Anna and Hans.  Except hopefully Sam is nicer than Hans.

Bennett dumped a plate of blueberries on the floor and I told him to pick up the berries and throw them in the trash.  "Otay, otay," he said.  I went back to what I was doing and hear him saying, "Oops, squished!" and "Uh-oh, I missed," as he was hurling blueberries in the direction of the trash can from a distance.  Guess I should have told him to PUT the blueberries in the trashcan instead of throw them in.

Sydney to Lucy:  Looks like a great day to swim in your pool!

Hayden:  Mom, can you get me that yellow thing that spins around really fast?

Me:  The drill??

Hayden:  Yeah!

Me:  Uh, no.

August Abridged

Music Man

We took the four oldest to see our friends the Shepherds in Music Man.  Ryan was Professor Harold Hill and his two girls Lucy was Amaryllis and Sophie was an upstanding citizen of Rivercity, Iowa.   It was such a fun show and they were all STARS!  Go Shepherds!  Afterwards, we enjoyed delicious cinnamon rolls at Frontier Pies across the street.

Sydney is an Artist

 Sydney wanted to paint something on this piece of wood and since it was just sitting in our backyard, I figured why not.  She and Daphne worked on this collaboratively--One side is a daytime scene and the other side is a nighttime scene.  They turn it around to correspond with the appropriate time of day.  

School Supplies!

When I was at the store filling my cart with my 5 lists of school supplies, I was asked if I was opening a school!  I oughtta be with this much stuff!

The First Completely Free Day of Summer

Arthur took the oldest four on a four-day backpacking trip the last few days before school started.  I love this tradition, and this time, it was only Bennett, Sydney and I at home.  We didn't have anything scheduled and it honestly felt like the first relaxing day I had all summer!   With things so delightfully quiet at home, Sydney and I got to tackle her agenda, which doesn't always get the first priority.  When we woke up the first day, she asked what we were doing that day.  I asked her what she wanted to do.  She said, "Let's make my princess pillow case!  Wait, let's have breakfast and go to chic-filet for lunch.  Wait, let's make the pillow case first and THEN have breakfast."  

I just let her call the shots.  And it was a good few days.

Daphne Graduated from Primary

This is a picture of Daphne giving her last talk in primary on her 2nd to last Sunday in Primary.  She turned 12 this month and moved to Young Women's.  She was ready and is excited to be a part of the young women's program for the next 6 years.  Can't believe I have two kids in youth now!  (Feeling old.)

Daphne moving up to Middle School

Again.  I am old.  Here are Dallin and Daphne doing their registration paperwork and picking up their schedules at the middle school.

Star Wars Nights at the Steel's

Our friends, the Steels have been showing the Star Wars movies in their backyard for the last several months.  The first Monday of each month since May.  Unless it rains and then it gets moved to the next Monday.  I think that's happened almost every time, actually!  The kids love it! We bring our chairs and blankets and treats and lay in their backyard to watch Star Wars.  Bennett just wanders around the yard annoying everyone and getting endless amounts of snacks.  (Lots of popcorn from the awesome R2D2 Popcorn holder.)  And when Darth Vader appears, he yells, "Dart Bader!!!"  over and over.  In case anyone missed the villain's entrance. 

Dallin for LIFE!

Dallin earned his Life Scout award this month.  Next stop EAGLE!  I'm proud of this kid for staying on top of it and working hard to achieve the requirements needed for Life Scout.  He's a good kid.

16th Anniversary

Arthur and I celebrated 16 of marriage this month.  I surprised Arthur with a picnic dinner up in the Sandias with a view of the city lights as the sun went down.  I feel so blessed to have the beautiful family we started 16 years ago on August 12, 1999.