Family is Everything

We have seen many loved ones lately!

Jessica, Chris, and George drove in from LA for a visit. Wahoo! We ate dinner at the park, saw the movie "Villains" which Chris helped produce, Jessica took Izzy on a lunch date, had a game/pizza night, and enjoyed Sunday dinner and walks together. George has grown up so much since they moved!  We're looking forward to our pit stop at their house in LA later this month. 

Birch, Sara, Chloe, and Cooper drove to Utah for graduation. Alysee, Dallin, and Hailee graduated from BYU and UVU. Catching up with their family at the Provo Rec Center pool was great. Penelope went swimming for the first time! We bathe her each night so it's no surprise that Penny was in her element. My girls in matching suits melts my heart. James nailed rock climbing! He also attempted the tricky ropes course.

Penny met Grandma Ditto! We had a Ditto cousin dinner. Mary and Sara were gracious to host in Vineyard. Grandma made a superb dessert and we got to see people I wish we saw more often!

Olivia and Avery came to stay with us! We caught up, went to the Butterfly museum together, and they supported Isabelle at her soccer game. Izzy was hysterical when they left. 

Family, keep coming please! Nothing brings us more joy.

The Show Must Go On!

It’s over!

My recital has been booked and planned since January! That is a long time to anticipate an event.

Turns out I’m cursed with recitals. Last recital, Jessica was up all night the night before with food poisoning. When she lived here, we did combined recitals. Jessica barely made it to the recital and sat in the back near the bathroom. I had to miss a previous recital because I had covid. This recital, I got hit with a bad cold. I was pretty sick Thursday and Friday. I was extremely congested and my voice sounded raspy and hoarse. Saturday, my illness didn’t suddenly disappear, but it was a little better. I felt the prayers.

I have 17 students! My schedule is filled to the brim. On Mondays I teach from 9:00-9:30am, 4:00-6:00pm, and 6:30-8:00pm. On Thursdays I teach from 4:00-6:00pm and 6:30-8:00pm. One student quit after the recital, so I am now down to 16. I’m proud of these musical humans! Nearly all of my students played their songs memorized!

I tried out a new venue for my recital, the Sandy library. It has a grand piano and I was pleased with the instrument and the space in general. There was a microphone and I had control over the volume, so I was able to hear the students announce their songs well. This venue is free which is excellent. I did still charge my small recital fee to help cover printing and other costs.

3 of my students didn’t perform at the recital–Zoey Hoover as well as Elena and Daniel Miranda. I also gained a student at the concert. Jessica still teaches a couple of students remotely and one of her students played the violin. Sophia nailed it and many complimented her after. I accompanied her and played duets with 4 other students.

This year, I had a folded program which is different than in the past. Shoutout to Jessica (and Canva) for helping with the design. Also, instead of giving my students a sugary treat at the end, I opted for piano music socks for each of the performers. These were popular and Izzy claimed one. Sorry honey but those are mine. Andrew also eyed them and wants some.

Something I continue to have to work on is not letting my stress get taken out on my family before big events (like recitals or hosting big dinners). Not to brag or anything, but I was prepared and didn’t owe anymore apologies afterword. I think it helped that my students were prepared! Originally we had a conflict and Andrew and the kids weren't able to attend the recital. Having them there meant the world to me. (James was at a birthday party.) Izzy helped me go early and set up chairs and Penny was eye candy for the audience. Andrew recorded the recital and I've already listened to it again!

My next recital will be a Christmas recital! I’ve always wanted to have a holiday event and now that we won’t be in Brazil during December, it can happen. Christmas music is simply the best. I forewarned parents that we will be starting Christmas music in September, so hopefully they don’t get burned out.

After the recital, Andrew and I got tacos with McCall and Trevor. James and Izzy got to watch a movie with Grandma Langlois and Penny got to tag-along and be the cutest fifth wheel ever. What a superb way to celebrate the end of this event! Way to go Ditto studios! 

What a Day!

We've been anxiously waiting to go to the symphony and a cooking class for months! Both happened on the same day! Saturday, April 13 was noteworthy. 

Symphony 

The Symphony does a family series geared towards youngsters. It's significantly shorter and more interactive for kids. Our kids got free tickets from their PBS kids adventure passes. I was shocked when I heard they even let babies go to the production. Penny fit right in and even dozed off. The symphony music was outer-space themed. They had 2 actresses come on between songs, and a screen showing images of outer space. The crowd was enthusiastic to hear that the grand finale was the Star Wars theme song. The music throughout the production was charming.

Our children were greeted with outer space slap-on bracelets as we entered Abravanel Hall and these were received warmly. Our seats were perfect for our needs. I was able to stand behind us and rock Penny to sleep. We were on a balcony. Izzy was glad she didn't fall off. I hope to go to this event again. I was proud of our kids for sitting still and engaged.

Cooking Class

For my birthday present, I wanted an experience. I've always wanted to take a cooking class and now I can say I have! Andrew and I went to a gnocchi pasta class at Harmon's grocery store. Whew, making homemade pasta is not for the faint of heart. We made ricotta gnocchi and potato gnocchi. We also had a simple salad, a sausage sauce and prosciutto sauce. It was flavorful! Most people in the class seemed to agree with me and Andrew and liked the potato gnocchi best. The potato gnocchi dough was delicate and sticky to work with. It was surprising to learn that you only have to boil the gnocchi for 2-3 minutes! 

We worked in groups of 4 to make the food. It was nice to have helpers. I thought maybe I would attempt making the dish at home, but after experiencing the intensity firsthand, I'm not so sure. Only trying to make one kind of gnocchi instead of 2 seems less daunting and maybe doable. Working with such high quality ingredients definitely made a difference in the taste! I enjoyed all the fancy cooking gadgets. The knives were so sharp and easy to chop with! I used a device that peels potatoes for you! We made a list of a couple of these items that will elevate our kitchen. It was the first gnocchi class at Harmon's and we were the guinea  pigs. I will say we were crunched for time. About half the group finished plating their meal at the time the class was set to end. We took our dessert to go. I would be up for another class! The street tacos class has been calling my name and Andrew has been more into cooking than ever before, so now's the time.

The best news is that Penelope was happy for the babysitter. Wahoo! I was anxious about this especially after the last time we left her. We went to bed with full bellies after this terrific day feeling like life is beautiful.

Spring Break

I had lots of intentions for Spring Break and we filled our time.

Swimming Lessons

The kids have been eager to get back in the water after a several month hiatus. There were 4 days of swimming and lessons were 40 minutes each day.  After some reviewing for Izzy, the children got back into the groove. James has been bragging about managing to grab the rope on the last day. I let the kids pick new swimming suits. Izzy and Penny have matching suits (stay tuned for pics this summer). Penny's is a long-sleeved version though because we've got to protect those baby rolls.

Ninja Kids

Since we have a one month membership to Ninja Kids, we utilized our passes. The weather during spring break was less than ideal. In fact, it snowed 3 days, maybe even 4. The snow didn't really stick, but the point is that it was cold enough to snow. Because of this, we weren't able to ride our bikes to Cold Stone like we wanted.

Afterword the kids requested this photo. They were wiped out.

Thanksgiving Point

We have been antsy to go to the new exhibit at the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point. We've been debating getting a pass to Thanksgiving Point and finally went for it. We're members! I think we will use these passes lots! We went to Thanksgiving Point twice over spring break. On Monday, we went to the Museum of Ancient Life with the Bradshaws and on Friday we went to the Museum of Natural Curiosity again with the Bradshaws for Adrianna's birthday. We also tried out the new carousel. Unfortunately 2 buses full of children joined us at the Museum of Natural Curiosity and it was overcrowded. We have plans to go to the Tulip festival in a few weeks when Jessica is in town too.

Rent "Wonka" and get popcorn from the theater.

Andrew finally got to see this movie! He has heard the songs repeatedly playing at our house. I didn't get to watch much because drum roll... I was busy booking flights for our family to go to BRAZIL! What! I still can't believe it's actually happening. We originally planned on spending Christmas in Brazil this year, but things changed and we're now going in May/the beginning of June. Brazil recently changed their travel guidelines and it's now required to have a travel visa to enter, so we frantically filled those applications out for each of us. Many thanks to my parents for paying for this once in a lifetime experience! 

See "Fiddler on the Roof" with Grandma

Grandma Langlois turned 86 today. My siblings went in on a new Firestick TV for her and her excitement level is through the roof.  Andrew and I helped her get the new TV set up. It turned into an adventure. We had to figure out the name of her WIFI, create an Amazon account for her, figure out passwords for multiple apps,  etc. but it all worked out. She was thrilled and made Andrew and I her special root beer freezes. For Grandma's birthday, I got her a ticket to see the play "Fiddler on the Roof" with me at Hale Center Theater. I was completely blown away by the production. It was one of the best plays I've seen there. The performers replicated the emotion to a t. Tevye put his whole heart into his role and nailed it. I ran into Brenda Stott there from our old ward in Pleasant Grove which was a nice surprise.

Big thanks to Andrew for driving to pick grandma up for the play during rush hour. This took him about an hour and 15 minutes due to traffic and a big accident. When I drove grandma home after the play, the freeway was deserted.

Invite the Thomans over for games and cookies!

We have new friends in our neighborhood thanks to James! The Thomans are great. They have 2 kids and one (Josh) is in James' class at school. We had such a great time playing "Cover Your Assets," "Just One," and "No Thanks" with them. We even let the kids stay up late. 8:30 feels like midnight sometimes around here. I made peanut butter chocolate chip cookies for that night and couldn't seem to stay away from the dough...

Other random Spring Break Happenings:

• The kids had playdates. James played with Taft twice- once at our house and once at his. Izzy went to Cantrelle's house and Quinn came to ours.
• We cleaned my parent's house.
• We organized our basement.
• I set up a dessert night with friends at "The Chocolate."
• Andrew went to the temple.
• Andrew and I did an at home date night. We got Cafe Rio and rented the movie, "The Boys in the Boat."

Penelope is too big! Makes me sad. This girl was a trooper. Keeping up with her 2 older siblings meant she missed many naptimes, but she survived and smiled as big as ever.

Easter

As I testified to our kids about Jesus' resurrection, I was touched. We had a still moment Sunday morning that turned out just like I hoped. We read 2 books about Easter, watched some church videos, and did our egg activity (each egg has a scripture and object in it). The kids were engaged, Penny was napping, and it was something I want to remember among the chaos (choir practice, family video call, dying Easter eggs, etc). There was a musical program at church that I helped organize which turned out well. I'm relieved it's over. I think it's the biggest ward choir we've had and we sounded amazing (I'm not biased at all. I did have to stop singing briefly so I wouldn't get choked up as I thought about the words.) Later we had a delightful dinner at the Bradshaw's home.

I had the week off of teaching piano and thought I'd have much more spare time than I did, but oh well. I got to spend quality time with the kiddos.

March Mayhem

Time is a thief. How is it almost April?? Here is a hodgepodge of recent, unrelated events. 

Bucket List Item

We met my brother Joel at the Tracy Aviary. It was incredible! Joel lives near there. Jill was still in town and joined us. Going to the Aviary was refreshing. It was not a madhouse like many other family venues tend to be in Utah. In fact, it was fairly empty as we walked around. Joel had been before and it felt like we had our own personal tour guide. We went to a live bird show and I giggled. It was informative, engaging, and funny. The kids were fascinated. Man, the birds are not scared of flying close to humans heads. Jill and I got a workout in from ducking so much. The Tracy Aviary is on the "PBS KIDS" adventure pass which meant I was able to get all of us in for free! This activity was a "peak" for everyone that day. The one "pit" was that Penny had a blowout, but crisis averted. We had a change of clothes and all was taken care of just in time for the bird show.

Saturday, February 24

We have another upcoming family event planned thanks again to our PBS Kids adventure passes. We have symphony tickets for a special family show geared towards kids. It is outer space themed and I think it will be a favorite among our youngsters. I can hardly wait. 

Celebratory Dinner

To commemorate Andrew's new job we took the kids to Texas Roadhouse. James has been asking for the last year when we can go back. The steak was flawless. Andrew and I agreed that it was the best steak we've had. Maybe things just taste better when employed... 

Friday, March 1

Family

Rob's (my BIL) grandma, Angela recently passed away. Though she was 90, her passing was sudden. We spent time with Angela while we were in Cape Cod last summer. She loved my kids as if they were her own grandkids and got them pez candy. Her passing has made me want to cherish my time with my grandparents even more.

My grandpa has been hospitalized twice in the last month. It's a miracle he's still alive given his medical history. We joke that he is the cat with 9 lives. I've hosted my grandparents for dinner twice recently. Nobody adds humor and fun to a game quite like grandpa. My brother Jeff also happened to be in Utah visiting and I was delighted that he was able to meet Penelope. He spent most of the evening holding her. I think he's as obsessed as we are.

Saturday, March 2

Now that he has a beard, my brothers look more alike than ever.

We met my grandma at Chick-Fil-A on my Grandpa Reed's death date. I can't believe he's been gone for 6 years. I'm eager to see "Fiddler on the Roof" with grandma next week. Here's to making as many memories together that we can!

Saturday, March 9

Birthday

James is 7! He felt it took all of his willpower to wait until March 16 to open his presents. Time moved at snail speed for him. 

James' birthday fell on a Saturday this year. He chose to go to Ninja Kidz. Ninja Kidz is an indoor trampoline park. We met one of James' friends from school there. We enjoyed chatting to Josh's parents while the kids bounced. We went early and boy am I glad. By the time we left, the crowds were overwhelming. I ran into a friend from book club and enjoyed chatting with Linnea. James got worn out which is not something we see often. It was cheaper to buy a one month pass than to pay for one time at Ninja Kidz, so we will be returning. Hello spring break!

For dinner James wanted a whole chicken with mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, and a quadruple layered white cake with vanilla frosting and ice cream. Shoutout to Andrew for perfecting this delicious chicken and helping with the meal. James savors my cooking and makes it worthwhile.

We got James' bike tire fixed as one of his presents. (We've had to replace his tire over 4 times now). James also got new pants and shorts from us. We paid for a one month subscription for James to watch the UT jazz basketball team.

James was spoiled by family and friends! He also got a UT jazz hat, a basketball that hangs on his door to practice shooting, a large remote control monster truck, a monster truck shirt, a book of jokes, Pokémon cards, a Tesla remote control car, and a Cold Stone giftcard. Let's just say that James was one happy boy. He got to wear a birthday crown at school and chose to bring oatmeal cream pies as his treat to pass out to his class.

Here are 7 things I love about James (and let's face it, it was hard to narrow it down):

    1) James is an excellent reader. At parent teacher conferences, we saw his reading testing scores and he is well above where he needs to be. I secretly love seeing James staying up late reading in bed. 

    2) James is my go-to helper. Having James around is the best! He does all sorts of things for me-- sets the table, gets the mail, takes out the trash, helps pack the diaper bag, delivers things to neighbors, etc.

    3) James is athletic. He is good at soccer! He is one of the strongest little boys I know. He cruises on his bike. He is a natural swimmer as well. We'll see how he does in baseball. James claims he wants to be a professional basketball player. He's got a ways to go. On his bday he exclaimed, "I didn't know you can dribble a balloon!"

    4) James is spiritual. He knows so much about the gospel. He told us that his primary teacher asked why we need the Book of Mormon and his response was: "because some of the pages of the Bible were ripped out." His primary teacher told me he says the most thoughtful prayers and how impressed she is by him. 

    5) James is the best brother. James can make Penny laugh like nobody else. He is always thinking about his sisters and has been known to ask "can I get a treat for my sister too?" What 7 year old does that?

    6) James is so tender-hearted. He knew it was 2 of his friends birthdays, so James spent the morning making Eva and Taft pictures. One of James' friends isn't in his class at school, so he made sure to save a Valentine just for him. James shared his birthday treat with our carpool since there were leftovers.

    7) James is curious and enthusiastic. See what I did there, I snuck in 2 more things about him. James likes to pick Andrew's brain and ask all sorts of questions I would never even think of. He knows a lot about outer space for this reason. He is also learning Chinese at a rapid pace and loving it! He was such a happy baby and that smile has stuck around. He knows it too. After seeing a video of himself on his birthday James asked, "how do they make my voice so cute in videos?" 

I love you 20 billion basketballs baby James. (That nickname seems outdated. He's too grown-up!) I guess I'll stick with a more timeless nickname. I'm glad you made your debut 7 years ago Buster Brown.