Piano Recital

Danni and Josh had their piano recital this evening. Danni performed "Rushing River" by Melody Bober while Josh performed "Jazz Grove" by Lee Evans.

Danni earned the "Piano with Beauty" Award. Sis. Favreau mentioned that she has a very nice touch on the piano - she plays elegantly and smoothly with sweet dynamics. She also mentioned that she wears beautiful accessories to lessons - shoes, nails, necklaces, etc. Danni has really improved a lot this year. Danni also received an honor for earning 300 pts. Great Job Danni!!

Josh earned the "Jazz Piano Award" by he only likes to play Jazz. Jazz is hard to play because of the accidentals, but Josh loves to play Jazz. Josh improved a lot without really practicing. Josh stayed after the recital to help clean up. What a great kid!!

Memorable Monday Angela's Field Trips

Angela was selected to attend Mr. LaMantia to see African Cats at the IMAX.  Porter had a drawing and a certain number of students who worked hard on their AIMS were invited to go.  Angela was so excited since she hasn't been on a fun field trip since she started Porter.  I gave her enough money for popcorn and a drink and she was one happy girl.  I'm sad that she hasn't had a lot of field trips since starting at Porter, but she had a ton of field trips at Roosevelt.

Angela had a field trip to the the Stuffington Bear Factory and I went along too.  We took a tour of the factory and then each student was allowed to make a teddy bear.  Angela really enjoyed this field trip, especially bringing home a cute bear.  It was great to spend this time with Angela and her 1st grade class.  This was my favorite field trip that I went with on Angela.  

Easter

I love the Easter season and the powerful spirit it brings. We started off our Easter celebration two weeks earlier by attending the Easter Pageant. We attended the pageant with the Clawson family, Jeff and Lauren, and Lauren's Grandparents. It was a great experience to watch the pageant up close and feel the spirit as the actors/actresses portrayed the life of Christ. Emily sat on my lap during the performance and clung to me during the part when they acted out the last week of Christ's life. It was neat to see the pageant through her eyes and watch up eyes light up when she saw the resurrected Christ. It was the perfect opportunity to remind our children the true meaning of Easter.

There were a lot of traditional Easter activities that we participate in this year. It's such a great time to spend as a family.

Dyeing Easter Eggs

We went outside to dye our eggs so that we could get great pictures. Danni helped the girls dye the eggs while I was able to take pictures. I really enjoy her help. The wind picked up and gave a us a nice breeze to remind us that it is still spring.

Finding Easter Baskets

The Easter Bunny hid the Easter Baskets again this year and the younger two girls loved hunting for their baskets and was well as their siblings. Josh and Danni slept in so the younger girls decided to find theirs too. If you didn't get up at the crack of dawn, you missed that hunt.

Easter Pictures

I love getting Easter Dresses for my girls. This year, I didn't want to look real hard to find modest dresses, so I just put a shirt underneath the dress. I love taking Easter pictures of my family. The are growing up so fast and I want to remember them at every occasion.

Attending Church Services

We had a beautiful Easter program. There 5 choir numbers and two wonderful talks about our Savior. The spirit was so strong in Sacrament Meeting that I didn't even realize that we went over by 30 minutes. During Sunday School we listened to Elder McConkie's last talk about the Savior's last week and his powerful testimony of Him. What a great Easter service!!

Easter Dinner with the Grandma and Grandpa Wall

My mom made cute Easter baskets for her grandkids and fill them up with goodies. It was a fun Easter and it was great to have my mom home this year.

Easter Egg Hunt with Grandma and Grandpa Pace

We went to our traditional park for pizza and an Easter Egg hunt. The older kids hid the eggs and then the younger ones went to find them. This year, Grandma brought a pinata for the grandkids too. It was so fun to watch the kids hit the pinata. I also enjoyed watching the grandkids move the pinata so that the others couldn't hit it. My camera died, so I didn't catch much of the pinata action.

Angela's Lemon Tree

Angela's tree died after a hard freeze this winter. Her tree started to bloom in January and then the temperatures dipped below freezing in February. The tree thought it was spring, but it was still winter, so we lost her tree. Here is a picture after we planted her first tree. Look how young Angela looks.

Angela decided that she wanted a lemon tree this time around. So, Jim headed to the store to buy a cute little lemon tree and Angela helped plant the tree. There is a lemon on the tree, which adds to the excitement. Angela loves her lemon tree, and I be thrilled when it produces.

Field Trip to the Farm

Emily went to the Superstition Diary Farm for her kindergarten field trip. She went there last year when she was in preschool. It was fun to tag another with her and a couple of her classmates. They rode on the hay ride and saw lots of dairy cows. They fed some of the animals that the farm has. She took time to pet the farm animals and even held a chicken. She even found time to play on the hay. It was a great field trip and Emily had a lot of fun.

Memorable MondayBritt and Danni

Danni loves picnik and develop this cute picture of Britt and Dani. Danni is getting clever with picnik and is developing super cute pics. Britt and Danni spend so much time together that they think they are sisters. The girls have spent so many time together over the years. Whenever they is a family get-together, there always hanging out together. They are truly BFF's.

Jeff and Lauren visit

Jeff and Lauren came for to AZ for a visit just before Easter. We were so excited to see them and planned a fun day along with my parents, the Clawsons, and the Barneys. We headed off to the park for a BBQ and hang out. It was so fun to watch our kids interact with Jeff and Lauren. It was great just to be together as a family and just chat.

Debbie bought Grandpa Wall a book titled "Tickle Monster" which was perfect for my dad. He read the book to his grandchildren and they loved it. It's one of those memories that I'll cherish forever. We spent two days with Jeff and Lauren and loved every minute it. It's so great that we have these opportunities to spend time with the family. After dinner at Costa Vida, we took some snapshots near the fountain. Thanks Jeff and Lauren for the visit!!

Memorable MondayGraduation Tests

My kids are taking their AIMS tests this week.  AIMS (Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards) is given to students from 3rd - 8th grade and again in 10th grade.  All students must pass the 10th grade AIMS tests to graduate from high school.  Before the AIMS test, students from the Mesa School District just needed to the take the required to curriculum to graduate.

I went to Jordan High School in the '80s and we were required to take different tests plus the required curriculum to graduate.  One required test was the listening test.  We needed to listen to the story told over the PA system and then answer questions on the paper given to us.  It was the stupidest test that I ever took - a listening test to graduate??  One day I was asked to come to the counselor's office during my senior year.  The counselor told me that I was in danger of not graduating because there was a test that I didn't pass. I thought that I passed all required tests and was confused and nervous that I wouldn't be able to graduate.  As the counselor and I talked and looked over the records, we realized that it was me who was in danger, it was my friend Tammy Watts who was.  I was relived that I met the requirements to graduate and I hope Tammy was glad to find out that she needed to pass another test before it was too late to graduate.

Chess in Lakeside

Josh competed in a chess tournament with weekend in Lakeside, AZ. He participated in 5 games on Saturday and Sunday. He was really excited to participate in this tournament and spend time with his friends. He had a great time and enjoyed playing chess with his competitors and his friends.While Josh was competing, we were playing. It was snowing in Lakeside, we took the opportunity to play in the snow and take lots of pictures. It was fun to spend time with the girls.The Taylor chess team took 4th place overall. The team made a grand entrance to accept their trophy. They ran up and aisle, crossed the back of the auditorium and then ran down the aisle onto the stage to receive the trophy. It was fun to see the boys so enthusiastic! An old teammate, Nick Thompson, won 1st place in the high school competition. It was neat to see the boys from Taylor support their friend. It was great to see his teammates stand on their feet and congratulate him.

Memorable MondayOld Friends

I had the opportunity to see some old friends this week - the Girondas. They were in town to spend some quality time with family. We met up with them for some lunch. It was fun to see them and talk about old times. 

My mom had a visitor this past week too - Evelyn Harless.  She used to live across the street from us when we lived in UT.  They move to AZ before we did.  When we moved to AZ, we ran into them occasionally.  Her sister lived in our ward and we got to know the Faraoni Family.  I caught up with Shannon, Evelyn's dauther, in Institute as well.  My mother-in-law knows Evelyn Harless too and tells us stories about how she helped them when they lived in Salt Lake City. It's amazing that ours paths have crossed so often.  It was so fun to listen to my mom and Evelyn reminisce about their "Sandy" days.