Go Alexis!

Last September, the choir director at Rocky Mountain invited Lex to be in the State Junior High Honor Choir. She spent Friday and Saturday of last week with over 300 select students from all of the state - learning, having fun and preparing for a combined concert. We got to go to that concert Saturday night at the beautiful new Syracuse High School! The concert was amazing, but the highlight for us was when the director, Kelly De Haan, announced that Alexis was one of four girls who landed a solo in the number, "Still I Rise." Over 100 girls tried out! Lex did an outstanding job. She's got the personality and the voice! We loved her, and so did everyone else!
Sharon got this shot of Alexis and Kelly De Haan after the concert. The kids absolutely loved this guy!

Meeting the Familia in Mesa

Jack and I had a trip to Mesa planned even before the engagement. We were so glad we did. We went the weekend before Martin Luther King Day - flew down Friday afternoon and came back Monday morning. What an adventure! Basically, we cooked, ate, met the family, went to a botanical garden, ate, went to church, cooked, ate and came home. We loved every minute!
Here's Dalena - at home in her kitchen! The girl LOVES to cook!
Danny helps - and he does dishes.
I've never seen so much "hands on" cooking! Picking herbs, kneading dough, chopping herbs, meats and vegetables, grating and slicing cheeses, grinding wheat - you name it! And the pizza was delicious!
This is Casandra - Dalena's youngest sister. Casandra lives with Dalena and goes to nursing school.
The kitchen was crammed full of family - the Schellenbergs. Everyone was free to make pizza to their own taste!
I had to take a picture of Dalena's dishes. She has no sets of dishes. Danny says it's not a big deal if one breaks. Dalena says, "Whenever I see a pretty dish I like, I buy it."
Saturday, after a wonderful breakfast of crepe-like pancakes, filled with yogurt and smothered with fresh-made apple topping, we went to a Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. Dale Chahuly was a featured artist there.
After visiting the gardens, we went to dinner at Grande Lux. This was the chicken pot pie that Danny and Dalena shared.
On Sunday, we went to church at Danny's ward. Dalena joined us after she taught Primary in her own ward. She wore Aunt Lu's gray dress!
After church, we made sopes for dinner. These are some of the tastiest little meals I've ever had! Next time Danny and Dalena come to Utah - we are definitely making sopes!

The news we've all been waiting for!!!

Early Wednesday morning (January 7th), I woke up to the sound of my cell phone ring. I checked the clock - 1:07 AM. I thought, "It's Danny! He's given her the ring!" I went out to the kitchen and checked my phone. Nothing. I must have dreamed it.

Well, I'm not dreaming anymore! When I checked email about 8:10 PM on the 7th, there was a message from Dalena, "Here is a picture that you may like." I looked at the photo attachment, "Dan, Dalena, the dog and the ring." RING!!! I yelled at Jack to put his glasses on and come into the office. I opened the picture and the phone rang, before Jack came back with his glasses on. It was Danny, wanting to know if I had checked the email lately. Yes I had! Wahoo! We are so excited!

We actually had flights to Phoenix scheduled for January 16th. Now we get to see the ring, give the beautiful couple big hugs and MEET THE IN-LAWS! We couldn't be happier!

Dean's Baptism Day

On January 3rd, 2009, Dean was baptized and confirmed by his dad. Congratulations, Dean!

Happy Birthday, Jen

Jenna's birthday is on New Year's Eve. Grandpa Grose calls her the Chuck-a-Rama girl, because Becky went into early labor after Grandpa took her and Bryan there to eat.
After she opened presents, she took us and the Williams in to see her new bedroom - a gift from her mom and dad.
She knew about the room - but the new desk Bryan made her was a big surprise!
Jen loved her desk!
Here's Jenna in her finished room. So cute! (Jen AND the room!)

Jackson's Birthday

Here's Jackson, by the snow cake his sisters made for him - complete with ten burning candles!
Jack had to try a couple of handfuls of bubblegum that he got for his birthday!
After the party, the kids took advantage of the unshoveled stairway leading from the deck!
We stayed pretty late for games, but even the littlest kids were in the middle of it - all night!

The Cleaning Crew

We played games every night between Christmas and New Years! Even the days after New Years, because there was no school. One night, when the games were at our house, Jace came up the stairs and asked me where the vacuum was. I showed him, and asked why he wanted it. He said, "It's a surprise."

A little while later, the kids called for me to come downstairs. They had cleaned up the whole TV/play room - and it looked nice! Here's a picture of my cute little the cleaning crew...

Christmas Day

We got up early and drove to Syracuse to watch the cute little Barber kids open their gifts. Their kids are at such cute ages! They have so much excitement! Here's a picture of the whole family in their Christmas PJs (which was actually taken on Christmas Eve, but oh well)...

One of the kids' favorite gifts was the kitchen, complete with pots, pans, dishes and food. Then made all of us breakfast! Mine was eggs, an orange and an onion! Oh my!

One of the funniest (albeit sad) things was Bo's reaction to the gifts. He opened the first one, a little work bench with pegs to hammer, and loved it. Then, his mean Mommy and Daddy TOOK IT AWAY FROM HIM so he could open another gift. So sad! They finally got him interested in the 2nd gift and everything settled down. And for what? They yanked that one away from him too, so he could open another gift! It went on like that until all the presents were opened. He was one sad little guy. But, he got over it.

We stopped at Jeff and Angie's to see what Santa had left there, then we came home and waited for the families to come to visit us. We ate breakfast casserole and past out our gifts to them.

Around 3:30, I called Dad. Nobody had been to visit him yet. I grabbed four of the oldest grand daughter, who still happened to be at our house, and we went to visit him. Lex, London, Kate and Amberly sang for him and played the piano. He loved it and so did the girls!

What a fun visit from Danny and Dalena!

On a carriage ride in SLC

We all slept in the morning after Dan and Dalena got here. Then she and Jack went to the store and she cooked us breakfast - well brunch. Eggs, shredded potatoes and cheese and tortillas. I think that's the morning she cooked the tomato sauce to spoon over the eggs - made from scratch with tomatoes, onions and jalapenos!
Dalena pinned up Danny's new pants so I could hem them. Haha!
The two of them took off in the afternoon and rode the Front Runner to SLC. They went shopping at the Gateway, then took Trax over to Temple Square. Jack gave them money for a carriage ride, which was a nice thing for him to do. I think they had a great time. They got some cute pictures!
At Union Station in Ogden
Sunday morning, Dalena made a quick German Apple Baked Pancake (YUM!) which we consumed on the way out to Gus and Sharon's ward to hear the girls sing - then they stayed out there most of the day. They came home in time to visit with the families who showed up for Sunday night.

Monday, we all shopped most of the day. That night, Dalena made calzones and we invited Grandpa to eat dinner with us. Afterward, we watched a DVD of Planet Earth, which Dalena gave us as a Christmas gift. It was amazing - so interesting and funny too!
Dalena's yummy calzones!
Tuesday, they went shopping and down to Justin and Joann's to pick up the large picture the kids planned to give us for Christmas. We didn't know at the time that that's the reason they went to Syracuse! They got back just in time to go to I Fly at the Junction. I Fly was a Christmas gift from Jack and me. Danny, Dalena and Lisa all flew for their first time. Dalena was a bit apprehensive, but she was a great sport and ended up enjoying herself.
The three CERTIFIED iFlyers
We barely got home in time to get ready and down to the church for Christmas Eve Eve. Dalena made Mexican Hot Chocolate for that.

After Santa had all 25 of the grand kids sit on his lap (there were a few who would not), he asked Dalena to come up and visit with him. He asked her what she wanted for Christmas. She was a little embarrassed. She told him, "You're making a brown girl blush!" I think Santa quite enjoyed visiting with her!
"You're making a brown girl blush!"
After cooking breakfast for us one more time, Dalena left with Danny for the airport. We felt bad that she couldn't be here with us for Christmas - but she had to work all Christmas Day. It was wonderful having them both here for a few days!
Danny dug out shopkas from his mission stuff!
Danny wanted to make sure Dalena's Utah winter experience was complete - so they shoveled snow!

We've had our fill of Ward Choir Programs!

We first went to West Haven to hear Sharon and her girls sing on the program with the ward choir. The 3 older ones sing with the choir. Reagan joined her sisters in singing "Star Bright." Very nice!

We saw an old friend who moved into the ward 3 years ago - Mary Jean Brown Leatham. She is the ward chorister. It was great to see her again! We also saw Butch and Rachel Campbell (former members of our ward) and Dad's cousin and his wife - Jack and Joan Patterson.

Next we traveled to Plain City where Mike performed with his ward choir. It was a great program too - although I missed hearing Mike sing a solo!

Back to North Ogden 25th (Singles) Ward to hear Lisa and her friend, Amber Taylor, sing a duet of "Oh Holy Night." They sang a Capella and did a nice job! I enjoyed the music and talks of the singles ward members (in spite of myself!)

December 19th - Allison's Pre-school Program and a long wait...

Friday was a snow day. We left early for Bountiful so we could watch Allison, Marianne and Joann sing in "Miss Jeri's Pre-school Program." They started off the show, singing "When Christmas Comes to Town." Both girls thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Alli loves the microphone and isn't the least bit shy about grabbing it and singing her guts out! Marianne is a little more precision - and knows every word and every pitch. When Joann started singing the wrong words on one of her verses - Marianne let her know about it - and NOT very subtly either! One of the fathers recorded their song - I'll post it when I get a copy! Check back!

After the program, we went to dinner with the Barbers, then planned to head to the airport to pick up Danny and Dalena. Their plane was due to land at 8:30 PM. Ha! We got a call, saying that it had been delayed - at least until 9:45 PM. We decided to drive to Elaine and Russell's to hang out while we waited. We hung out - visited with Elaine, Russell, Micaela and (bonus) Katie and Aaron (and Kadence). We hung out long after they had all gone to bed. Danny finally called at 1:40 AM to say their plane had finally landed! We got home at 3:00 AM!

December 17th - Jack's 66th birthday and Orion Junior High's Concert

Jack woke up this morning another year older. We went shopping in the afternoon, then to Nate and Tyler's choir concert in the evening. Happy Birthday Jack! I love you!

Nathan and Tyler both sing in Orion's choirs. Nate is a 7th grader, so he's in the beginning choir. He told his mom and dad not to tell us about the concert - he didn't want anyone to come. Nathan! Tyler is in the concert choir. They sang a couple of numbers with Weber High's Chamber Quire - then some of their own at the end of the program. Both boys have very nice voices - but are a little lacking in enthusiasm. Hopefully, that will change! I'd love to see them both sing for Scott Wood when they get to Weber High! We took Dad with us to this concert and he very much enjoyed it! No pics! :(

December 15th - Plain City Elementary Choir Program

Amberly sings in the Plain City Choir. She invited us to hear her sing. It was a very nice program! Amberly had a little solo and she did a great job! Amy took some pictures. I hope to get at least one to post!

Music and the Spoken Word & mini-concert

We braved the snow storm and drove to Music and the Spoken Word this morning. We didn't get tickets for the Christmas Concert, but Elaine said she could get us tickets for either Thursday or Sunday morning - so we chose Sunday. We sat two rows behind President Monson and President Uchtdorf and their wives and family members. We loved every minute of the broadcast and the mini-concert, even though we were instructed NOT to applaud or laugh during the broadcast. Keith McCord told us that we could smile, but to do it quietly.

Brian Stokes Mitchell was superb as was Edward Herrmann. We couldn't have been more pleased with the performance! It was magnificent! Although the broadcast was very restrictive, the mini-concert was very informal and relaxed. The performers and the audience had a great time!

After many standing ovations at the end of the concert, President Monson went on stage to present some gifts to the guest artists - and while he was up there, Brother Mitchell presented him (and us) with a wonderful performance of The Impossible Dream.

RECIBID AL REY

I have several students who are LDS. Three of them have been talking about their choir rehearsals for several months. They sang in the Tabernacle last Saturday night (their Friday night performance was canceled because of Elder Wirthlin's funeral). Last night, they sang at the Ogden Tabernacle. Mike and Kathie Linsley (missionaries to a Spanish Branch in Ogden) got us tickets and went with us. What an experience! The program was scheduled to begin at 7 PM and finally started at 7:20, confirming the Linsley's tales of the habitual tardiness of the Latinos. Once the concert began, however, it was well worth the wait!

The Latinos are totally into their music! Many of the numbers were done with guitars, drum, maracas and a small harp. In one number, the director turned around and asked the audience to clap. Everyone joined in, enthusiastically! Later, in the song, some of the people had stopped clapping. The director noticed, turned around and got them going again! One of my favorite parts was Las posadas - it's a little "parade" wherein Joseph and Mary journeyed into Bethlehem (starting at the back of the tabernacle) and made their way to the stage - getting turned away by several "innkeepers" along the way. Young children took those parts, and they had beautiful, clear voices!

A lot of the music was unfamiliar - but very beautiful! We loved hearing the Spanish version of Mary's Lullaby, Still, Still, Still and Oh Come All Ye Faithful. By the time we had heard 3 choruses of that last song, we could sing along during the 4th verse with the rest of the audience. We totally enjoyed the experience!

Ward Christmas Party

I'm hoping someone took pictures at the ward Christmas breakfast! We've done the same thing the past few years. We meet in the chapel for a small pageant, staged by the Primary and narrated by the YM/YW. Every child in Primary has a part, whether Mary, Joseph, shepherds, wisemen or angels. The kids act out the Christmas story while the youth read a dialog and the story from the bible. The costumes are wonderful and the kids really do a great job with the acting, narration and singing. One of the young men - the one who was chosen to read the story from the Book of Luke has the most wonderful voice! He has to be put on earth to be the follow-up for Lloyd Newell when he retires! His name is Mitchell Weaver - so remember I predicted that!

After the Nativity, we had breakfast and then a visit from Santa (aka Jeff Livingston). Jeff borrowed Jack's Santa Suit, hair and beard for the gig. We had the hair and beard "done" at the wig shop - dropped it off, not even asking the cost. SIXTY-FIVE bucks! I think I'll try to do it myself next time around!

When Jeff dropped off the gear after the party, I asked him if he had fun. I thought maybe he'd want Nancy to make him a suit so he could be a regular! Ha! He said, "I hated it! I hate that stuff! Bah! Humbug!" He was serious - but I sure heard a lot of people say that he was one of the best Santas we'd had!

Plaid Tidings

We have season tickets to Rodgers Memorial Theater in Centerville. We had seen Forever Plaid several times already, and with our tight schedule, we actually thought about giving our tickets away - but we didn't. We were so glad! We both loved the show. It was the same premise as the other Plaids, but this one was all about Christmas. The four guys who made up the quartet were so good! Cameron Nichols is/was in Choralaires with Lisa, and we've seen him in a couple of other shows. Great voice! My favorite was Ian Fife - a Kyle Korver look-alike. So cute!

Lomond View's Choir and Orchestra Concert

Last Friday's concert at Lomond View was a two-fer. Baylee played the violin in the orchestra and Haley sang with the choir. Haley had a solo part and did very well. Both girls are so beautiful and talented! I'll post pictures of them when I get them.

Baylee's Reflections Award

Baylee won an award for a water color painting she did for the Reflections Contest. The theme was WOW! Baylee is in 6th grade, so she was competing with junior high and high school students! I'll post a picture of Baylee with her painting when Jeff and Angie send me one. :)

Rocky Mountain's Christmas Choral Concert

Another great concert by Rocky's Choral Department! Lex and London are in the Concert Choir and Alexis is in the Chamber Choir. This was a two-fer! One concert - two grandchildren! I'll see if Shron will send me a picture.