Category: Art

Weekend

Thanks to Sarah and Bryan, we were able to attend the Christmas concert with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Alfie Boe, and Tom Brokaw. Squeeeee! (That was for you, Alfie!)

IMG_0092Joe and Stacy sat with us. My parents were there, too, but our seats were in different areas. We had a great dinner in downtown Salt Lake City with my parents, Joe, and Stacy. I love living here.

I liked seeing Gail Halvorsen, aka The Candy Bomber honored at the concert.

Paige, Gail Halvorsen, and Richard, 2010 at our church in Sahuarita. We were members of the same congregation for a few years.

We got a good 8 or 9 inches of snow. This means we spent the morning clearing snow and trying to make our way to piano lessons. Tricky.

We shot our Christmas music video with our adorable kids.

Mark said to me tonight, “When we were making that movie, I felt like I was in Hollywood.”

When I asked how that felt, he said, “Pretty good!”

The 2009 Christmas video is the one to beat. Wish us luck.

Take a bow!

These photos are evidence of many years of dance. The daily and weekly sacrifices that Paige makes to be a dancer are enormous. Paige is graceful and she is strong. We are so proud of her. It’s not easy joining such a tight-knit studio in the middle of Nutcracker rehearsals. She did a beautiful job.

Both sets of grandparents were able to come to the performance! Thank you! Thank you!

Timothy’s Reflections Entry

Timothy enjoys making little films. For the school Reflections contest he decided to show what it was like to explore the Secret Garden at Spring Lake. The theme of Reflections this year is “The Magic of a Moment.” The music he chose is from the 1993 soundtrack from The Secret Garden.

I think his little film is charming and it captures a really beautiful afternoon.

Timothy is such a sweetheart.

Ballet Recital 2012

Paige’s dance recital was a beautiful success. She received a trophy for dancing for 6 years with her studio. She joined the studio before they had a building of their own in which to meet. Over the years, she danced on wood, concrete, and carpet before her studio was able to build a facility with proper floors and mirrors. That’s what you do in a small town. You help build it and you always keep a dream of how it can be. I’m so thankful for Michele Igason, who took Paige under her care and helped her become a beautiful dancer. Her studio has not made a profit in the three years since her building was completed. Such sacrifice has blessed our life and we will never forget it.

The green costumes were for a number from The Incredible Hulk. Mark waited in great anticipation for this number, and when it turned out to be quite graceful, he turned to me and said, “This is NOT what I expected.”

Paige was in 7 numbers and the pink tutus were my favorite.

“Suits” looked like it was the most fun to dance. The girls had a great time.

Spring term Shakespeare

These last few weeks Paige has been studying Shakespeare. We began with tragedy.

And then we needed a break from tragedy.

Next, we read A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

She wrote and illustrated a children’s version of the story.

Then we watched the play.

It was a good time and now we’re studying Hamlet. She’s an old pro at Hamlet because we studied a children’s version several years ago when we performed the play with friends.

I’m a believer in helping kids discover simplified versions of the classics when they are young so they already know the plots and they can enjoy the language of the originals when they get older.

Good preparatory Shakespeare materials:

A picture book: A Midsummer Night’s Dream retold by Bruce Coville, illustrated by Dennis Nolan

For elementary grades: The Shakespeare Can Be Fun Series by Lois Burdett

For 5-7th grade: Shakespeare Stories by Leon Garfield and Michael Foreman

More here and here.

Art by Mark

Have you decided if you will watch a movie this weekend? If you were at our house, we’d at least discuss watching Star Wars again.

Here are some Star Wars scenes. Can you identify the films? Mark hasn’t seen all of the Star Wars movies, but he plays Lego Star Wars on the Wii each Saturday.

Obiwan (happy face) and Anakin (frowny face) by the lava

 

Death Star! Emperor shocking Luke, Darth Vader sans cape

 

Star Wars 2 gladiator battle with Jenga Fett in the center with serious flames from his jet pack

 

Ensemble 2012

Looking for a little entertainment? Here are the songs from the ensemble concert.

The first piece is Timothy’s Amen! and Kumbaya.

 

Next, we have Daniel’s Guantanamera. You’ll want to dance to this one.

 

And now here is Paige’s piece, Slavonic Dance. Yes, she really plays that fast.

Piano Ensemble 2012

We had three performers at the Piano Ensemble concert at Centennial Hall last night and I just felt proud to be related to them.

This was Timothy’s first year. Here he is on stage ready to take a bow.

Here is Daniel performing his piece, Guantanamera.

The above photo indulges my idea of how the world should view our children.

Here is Paige’s piano number and her little head.

Fashion is a big part of the evening. I enjoy seeing the pretty dresses each year.

Paige was just breathtaking and her piano ensemble number was, too.

Bristly

Some days I can’t think of anything nice to say. But here’s a cactus for you to look at until I am in a more agreeable mood.

Listing all the good things that actually happened today will just make me feel worse for allowing myself to be in a funk. However, I would like to thank Masterpiece Theater for the excellent cry it helped facilitate and I’m grateful for the leftovers in the refrigerator which meant I didn’t have to cook dinner.

Thank you.