April and May events

In early April, our ward went on a youth trip to Nauvoo and Carthage - they all had a great time!!!
Then, Blair and I flew out to Utah to pick up Lauren after completing her first year of college.  She had amazing experiences and is really happy!

We met many of her new friends, most of whom are leaving to go on missions.

 Here is her new home - off-campus housing.

This is a view from the alumni center on BYU campus.  I love seeing the big Y with the mountains right next to it.  I don't think there is a more picturesque college campus anywhere.

 And so the road trip began....if you are the only child traveling, you get to push all the elevator buttons and you always get to open the hotel door with the card.  Small victories!

So, Lauren was home long enough to do a bit of shopping, hang out with the other kids, watch one of The Sound of Music performances and then leave again.  She is staying in Utah for Spring and Summer terms - taking a class and working at an on-campus job.  She will be home again in August.  She just had her annual heart cath and biopsy and all the results are fabulous - what a blessing!!!

Below is the Mother's Day Menu that was delivered to me in bed early that morning.

 Nathan was in charge of all the cooking (by his choice).  It was all delicious!!!!

May is the time of all the end of year concerts.  Megan's band played a number featuring the clarinet section.  She just loved having to stand up there in front of everyone.... I tried to include a video clip but couldn't get it to work.  Just use your imagination

Rachel always loves the music her director chooses.  She is standing for us to clap for her solo section - we couldn't actually see her play because of the position of the piano.

Lake Zurich has a Memorial Day Parade and program - here is Megan marching in the band.

 Here is Rachel playing Taps while we honor the fallen military people.  Her friend was echoing on the other side of the monument - nice effect!

 Last year, Blair went to Woodbadge - a leadership Boy Scout camp and he received his award at the court of honor this week.  It represents A LOT of time and effort.  Nathan also received his 2nd Class award and his first merit badge - he is so enthused about going to scout camp and earning merit badges.



This gives you a taste of what May is really all about - studying, finals, huge school projects, late nights, stress and the joy of having the school year finally end!  This is a replica of the Washington Monument for a history presentation. 

May Birthdays

 Back in 2000, Rachel had the best birthday ever!  She got a baby brother the day before her 5th birthday.

 Now, look at them 12 years later - still birthday buddies!

Rachel's birthday always includes watermelon in one form or another..

 Such a beautiful smile!

A small celebration this year.

 Homemade strawberry ice cream for dessert - decor was yellow because that is Rachel's favorite color.

Nathan got a new suit in honor of his 12th birthday.

He was ordained a deacon by his dad.

Chocolate chunk bundt cake that he made himself - it turned out perfectly!

2nd year of playing baseball - he keeps improving and I am enjoying it more and more.

Yesterday, Nathan came home from school with 2 awards. Most valuable player - for 6th grade chorus (voted on by the other members of chorus). Also, the 6th grade band leadership award given by his director. Way to go!!!

The Sound of Music

Lake Zurich High School performed the Sound of Music the last week of April.  All the cast members were high schoolers except Nathan, 6th grade, and the 2 little girls, 4th grade and 1st grade.  They were all darling and he lit up the stage each time he came on. 

Maria's first tries at teaching the kids to sing

Do-Re-Mi

                                            Singing "The Sound of Music"

Afraid of the thunderstorm

Kurt convinces Maria to teach him a dance

Singing "So long, Farewell" at the party

In their play clothes with Uncle Max

The wedding scene at the Abby - notice the pretty backdrop

Kurt was the ring-bearer

The final concert - in their traveling clothes.  (I stayed up really late after dress rehearsal making Nathan's leiderhosen - the one they had for him was so short it looked like underwear.)

Curtain call

Rachel played trumpet in the Pit band - they were amazing!

Here is the support crew at the end of the night - Great Show!!!!!

Bugler's Holiday with Band accompaniment

Here are brief snippets of Bugler's Holiday with the band in the background.

March Madness

All of our March Madness began with the high school band contest called Solo and Ensemble where Megan did a solo and a clarinet choir, Rachel did a trio, duet, and solo, and I accompanied 15 different events. It was a crazy day but everyone did well.This is Rachel's trio at Solo and Ensemble. This was the first time they performed Bugler's Holiday.

The next event was the high school band concert. Here is Megan with the clarinets.

At the concert, Rachel's duet with her friend Lindsey got an award for "Best of Day" from Solo and Ensemble meaning their judge thought their duet was the best thing she heard all day.

That weekend, Bishop Blair and the two girls spent 23 hours at the church for an entire weekend for a Book of Mormon marathon where they read the whole Book of Mormon cover to cover.

Next in our March Madness was NHS Induction where Rachel joined the National Honors Society.

Following that, we had another concert. This time it was the high school orchestra where the trio played Bugler's Holiday this time with the symphony orchestra accompanying them instead of just me. It sounded great!

And in case two high school concerts wasn't enough, the next night Rachel had the Wind Ensemble Invitational where her trio performed Bugler's Holiday for the last time. This time, though, they played with 3 college trumpet players and had the Wheaton College Symphonic Band accompany them. WOW!!!

So, naturally, four events at the high school meant that I needed to go to the middle school. Good thing Nathan had his show the next night. Their spring play was "Get Smart" and Nathan was Fred, one of the college kids. He did an excellent job!!

But I didn't feel like one trip to the middle school was enough, so the next week we went to his chorus concert. Nathan gets so into the music and is one of the most animated kids on the stage.

And then two nights later, the Madness continued because we got to go back for Nathan's band concert where he is first chair saxophone and we can only see him when he sits up really tall and peers over the stands.

And while this all happened, SPRING CAME!! After the most mild winter ever, spring came in early March with singing birds, blooming flowers, blossoming trees, lots of sunshine, and warm weather.

Rachel got her Senior Pictures taken to advertise the studio for the other juniors at her high school and they turned out beautifully!!

And to top it all off, MEGAN IS DRIVING!!!! She got her permit and asks if she can drive everywhere all the time despite having very little practice yet. However, she is doing quite well.

And now the kids are on spring break to relax after all this March Madness. But if that was March, I'm not sure I want to see what April and May have to bring. Wish us luck!!

Bugler's with orchestra

Here is the entire Bugler's Holiday with the HS orchestra. Rachel cringes when the strings try to hit their high notes.