A week or so ago, Ellie tried out for the spring production at the junior high: Once Upon a Mattress. After eagerly awaiting the results, she found out that she was initially part of the chorus. Since rehearsals have started, she has been cast additionally as one of the 12 princesses that didn't pass the queen's test.

She is so excited to be part of the musical and we look forward to seeing her performance. (Let's just hope it doesn't clash too much with softball!)

December 22, 2010: A GNO to the Mt. Timpanogos Temple

For those of you who don't know what "GNO" is, it stands for Girl's Night Out. When Ellie turned 12 in March, she got her temple recommend. But when it was our ward's turn to do baptisms, she was unable to go. I had promised her that we would find another time to go, especially since we had the whole summer ahead of us. Summer came and went, school started, schedules got even busier, and I still had never taken her to the temple.

When we were in the waiting room at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, I called the temple to ask them about their schedules for baptisms--and we went ahead and planned on going that Wednesday because we didn't have mutual that night. When Wednesday came, we invited Maggie to go with us so she could support Ellie for her first time.

Arlan Greening, a former member of our ward, was working the baptistry recommend desk. He couldn't believe how old the girls had gotten and was so supportive of Ellie. We visited while the girls got changed. The crowds hadn't come yet, so it was quite empty. I sat with Ellie at the side of the baptistry while Mags did her list of ten. And then it was Ellie's turn. What a special night this was! I found some quiet to read the scriptures and just enjoy the quiet. The girls came out and we left in almost 30 minutes!

Since things had gone so quickly, we decided to stop at The Chocolate for a treat. It was a great night with just the girls, doing good things. I hope we have many of these to come.

December 7, 2010: Ellie's Christmas Concert

All I had heard about this concert was that they had to dance during one of the songs. That a boy actually had to touch a girl. So we sent Mags a little early to get a spot for us since I needed to visit teach and John wasn't home from work yet. We got there as quickly as we could, just in time to enjoy their warm-ups. I really like the new Lakeridge choir teacher. Her name is Mrs. Covington and she is a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (that's not the only reason I like her--she has been really encouraging and supportive of Ellie). She included several of the choirs for a few of the numbers, then broke out into the different classes.

One of the groups did a really good rendition of "Carol of the Bells." It's one of my favorites. And then, it was time for the song and dance number. You would think they would have been told to spit in their hands and then hold hands. The looks of utter disgust and displeasure were more entertaining than the song itself. You know how I know this? I don't even remember what song they sang, but I remember the dance number!

I will try to upload some video in a bit. I didn't get any photos because we were too busy videotaping.

November 19, 2010: Sunsets and NERF Guns

Tonight was an amazing sunset! I had to share the pictures. It looked kind of "end of the world" to me.






Also, John and I hosted two couples so he could teach them about the new Family Search program. Ellie and Griffin had to entertain themselves, so they prepared for battle. Nerf battle.

October 30, 2010: Halloween

Last year, Griffin knew what he wanted to be for Halloween. He had put on his snow hat (that has flaps that cover his ears) and a pair of swim goggles and just KNEW that he wanted to be a WWII pilot. I figured that he still had nearly a year until that would come into fruition and that he would most certainly fall back on a Star Wars costume as he does every year.

It was coming closer to Halloween and he was sticking with his WWII pilot idea. Now we came upon the trickiest part of the costume: the leather jacket. After talking to one of my co-workers, she said that she had a jacket and goggles from her grandfather who was, in fact, a pilot in World War 2, and the she would be happy to lend them to Griffin. I couldn't believe how fortunate we were! Even though the jacket was a bit big, Griffin loved it and felt extra special since it was authentic. (A few people when they saw him thought he was "Flick" from "A Christmas Story," but I didn't tell him that.)

Since Halloween fell on a Sunday this year--and we're fortunate enough to live in Utah--trick-or-treating universally was on Saturday. Unfortunately, there was a major storm coming in for Saturday night. And after living in Utah for over 20 years, you think I would have learned the #1 factor in Utah weather: if you don't like the weather, wait 10 minutes. I took out Griffin, Ellie, and Liam Elliott in the van. They were absolutely drenched, but I figured if we could get it done before it got dark, at least it would be warmer and safer. Of course, after about 30 minutes, they were done and we went home. And then, 30 minutes later, it stopped raining for the rest of the night. Remember that #1 factor? If we would have just waited, it would have been fine. Griffin was done. Ellie, of course, went back out with Liam and then another set of friends.

Needless to say, we were NOT lacking for candy.

October 19, 2010: The Great Juggling Act (Parties and Concerts)

The time of year has come where we seem to need to divide and conquer to attend all of the events that are a part of our children's and families' lives. This week was just such a week. Maggie passed her written test and received her driving permit (yippee!). So we went driving for the first time. I had forgotten how unbelievably stressful that is. It's kind of like childbirth. For the first one, you have no idea just what an ordeal you are in for. And then, after delivery, you say to yourself, "I will never do that again." A few years pass and you think, "Oh, that wasn't so bad. I can do it again." With the first labor pain for child number two, it all comes rushing back to you and you say, "Wait! I remember! I don't want to do it again!" I think teaching a teenager to drive falls into the same category. But after a few tries, we found the right venue for her and seem to have made some progress. Both of us are a little more comfortable now. Fortunate for us, this event usually does not coincide with other scheduled events in our family. It is just one of those things that still needs to happen, but isn't set in stone.

However, Ellie's junior high choir concert and the ward skating party DID happen at the same time. Griffin loves the skating party as he takes his 3-wheeled scooter (named "Scoot" of course) and rides around the skating rink. He also gets to eat all he wants (if he has the patience to wait in line). Ellie also loves the ward party as it is a major social and food event in her life as well. But this year, the two events coincided. So, in order to help Kristen Preston with set up, we went to the rink early, unloaded her car and started the set up (mostly so they could get some dinner), and then I grabbed Karlee and Ellie and took them back to the junior high. The advantage for me was that I was there early enough to get a great front row seat. The downside? No skating party for me.

John really stepped up to the plate--or should I say, onto the floor--and skated with Griffin. I supported Ellie in her first junior high performance. I'd say it was a successful night for everyone involved, but John took a big spill on the rink and paid for it for the remainder of the week. I guess there's no gain without pain.

September 24, 2010: The Lords and Ladies Masquerade Ball

This is something I WISH I had pictures from, but we were SO busy working that there was NO time for pictures. A friend of mine, Candace Bergquist, hosts two big fundraisers each year. First is the Princess Festival in the summer, where young girls can participate in fairy tale activities. The second is for adults: the Lords and Ladies Masquerade Ball. Both of these events benefit charities, so I told Candace my girls and I (and Cherise) would be willing to volunteer. She, in turn, said that after our "shift" of 2 hours, we could participate in the activities. We were really looking forward to it, but we were so slammed that we weren't able to stop working until there was about 45 minutes left in the night and all the food was gone. Still, it was worth it to be there and help out. We quickly switched into our outfits (we finally got to wear our masks!) and the girls had a good time walking around and dancing for a short time. I think we'll be back next year!

September 22, 2010: Photo Shoot with the Young Women

The Bishopric keeps photos of the young women on their wall, along with a checklist of how each one is doing on their personal progress. We try to update their pictures as they move into the next class and thought we'd just include all of them in a photo shoot. I've included the pictures of Ellie and Mags.

August 28, 2010: The Stake Extravaganza Welcomes the Princesses!

Each year, our ward puts on what is called a "Ward Extravaganza." Basically, it's a ward party that signifies the end of the summer. This year, however, our stake wanted to do something to include everyone in the neighborhood as a fellowshipping and missionary opportunity. My camp director, Kristen Preston, is also the ward activities chair and was assigned the task of "entertainment" while she was at camp, so we decided to jump in and help since it was kind of our fault that she couldn't pick what would have worked for her.

She has a friend who has nearly authentic costumes for all the Disney princesses. We took several of the young women and turned a part of the park into a photo op for little girls (or whomever!) who wanted to be with a princess. Ellie was Alice in Wonderland and Maggie was Snow White. I also lent my wedding gown so one of the girls could be Giselle from "Enchanted." It was a hit! After the crowd finished coming our way, the girls walked through the park. It was such a hit!