Hope of America

If you're from this area, you've probably heard of Hope of America. If not, hear is the low-down. Over 7,000 kids from 60 schools around Utah County showcase what they have learned about American values thru patriotic dance and music. Every 5th grader in the county has the opportunity to participate in the chorus while others dance. This is the 13th year for Hope of America, but our first. Hannah and her 4th grade got to dance during the song, The United States of America, which highlighted some of our 50 states. Hannah was a Hawaiian girl. It's funny. I was little embarrassed by how often I had a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. I specifically didn't sit down last night and post this because I thought I would better composed this morning. But I'm not really. I have always been a little soft when it comes to patriotism. We are so lucky! And I know you know that. But stop and think about what it means to be an American and what life is for us because we live here. What if we didn't live here? What if we couldn't go to school? What if we couldn't go to church? What if we couldn't choose our profession? What if we had to work?(Well, you get what I mean.) What if we couldn't leave to enjoy other people or countries? What if they couldn't come here? What if we couldn't vote? What if we couldn't talk to our friends? What if? I know there will always be things that, even as Americans, we disagree on. It's hard not to see those differences during and election year. But I am proud to be an American. Even with our differences. I am grateful for those freedoms that we enjoy. I am grateful for those before me who fought for those freedoms. I am grateful for those who still fight. And I am grateful for elementary school kids who reminded me! Anyway...this was a free performance. Because of that, there was quite a crowd. But, even after the small inconveniences of parking and seating...this was such a great evening! I'm glad that Hannah lives in a place where she has the opportunity to participate in such a memorable event. Below are a few pictures and a clip from the event. I apologize in advance for the quality. I failed to take my video camera, so the clips are coming from my camera, which isn't the greatest for video. And as far as the pictures...I don't know. I think it was just too dark and too far.

Hawaiian Hannah

So I was having a whale of a time being able to publish both the clip and the slide show on the same post...so, without further adieu...Hawaiian Hannah! She is third from the end on the front row in blue. Remember to turn off the music player below!

Oil Change

This post is for the pharmacy...

Jonny showing Mom, Jennie, Hannah and I how to change our oil. (Mom is taking the picture) Nice socks Hannah!

Art & Music Showcase

Sorry about all the posts. But a lot has been going on, and today is the first day I've had to sit down and write. Anyway, Monday was an Art & Music Showcase for Hannah's class. They have been learning to play the recorder this year. (I like to call them flute-o-phones, but Hannah corrects me. It does crack her up though.) They also have been working hard at art. Here is a sampling...

Hannah's Fourth Grade Recorder Concert

Again, I can't seem to put both a slide show and video on the same post...hmmmm. I wonder. Anyway, turn down the music player at the bottom to hear the glorious sounds of Old MacDonald! She right in the middle of the screen. (By the way, she has a crush on the boy sitting in front of her...RB)

Emotional Extra Email

My brother sent me an email...I don't usually pay attention to all the "extra" emails. It was moving. Since I feel like every post I write is 16 pages long, I won't copy the whole email. But, I do feel like the quote at the end was concise enough to pass along.

"Work like you don't need the money, love like you've never been hurt, and dance like you do when nobody's watching."

Emergency Room

Hannah had a soccer game today. Timp Blast played awesome! They passed so great! They just keep getting better and better! They won 7-0. Hannah had the rare opportunity of playing goalie the first half-she usually plays mid-field or forward. Anyway, she did great-she stopped two goals and her kicks were great! But just before half, one of her team mates, Linda, got tangled up with another player. We luckily have a dad from our team who is a orthopedic surgeon. After a quick glance, Linda was off to the emergency room. Hannah was pretty angry with me that I wouldn't rush down to the hospital to see how she was doing. We had to have a reminder of the non-appropriateness of pouting just because things don't turn out like she wants...aka, because she doesn't get her way. Bad Guy Mom again. Anyway, I explained to her that the emergency room team probably wouldn't appreciated the whole Timp Blast soccer team and their families (even if ours is small) running down to check it out...even if Linda would. But, she was really worried about her. (She even mentioned her at our dinnertime prayer.) Well, Linda's mom called. She informed us that Linda broke both her bones just below the knee. OOWWWCH! Hannah spends the weekend at her dad's who just happens to live a block away from Linda's family. Hannah has already made her a card and is planning on trip to Linda's tomorrow-maybe to take a movie or a book. DARN! Before we received the phone call from Lusz (Linda's mom), Hannah asked me if it was her femur that she broke-moer than once. I thought it was a little odd that she would ask that. No, I replied. And I left it at that. I mean, I guess it could have been. But it was just one of those things that I kept wondering about-why she would ask that. Then it dawned on me...we are Brian Regan fans-as is my family. We own one of his DVDs and recently watched it. I hope this doesn't come across as insensitive...but I think this is why Hannah asked. We love Linda, and are going to miss her at the practices and games! (For those of you with little ears and eyes around, this is a PG clip. You will also need to pause the music player at the bottom to watch!)

Clogging Now....and Then!

Most, if not all of you know, Hannah clogs. And most, if not all of you know, I used to. I guess if about 10 steps counts, then I still do. It's funny-the first year, I could keep up with Hannah. Not so much anymore. In fact, I tried to do something last night and I thought..."Wow, that is a lot of weight coming down on my knees and feet!" So maybe I shouldn't clog anymore. Anyway, clogging is pretty big for us. In fact, a couple of my nieces have started. So I thought I'd clue you in.

Clogging Now...

Hannah has been clogging for almost 3 years. She clogs with Extreme Rhythm Studio in Lindon. Bethany Hulse is the director. She knows how we feel about her, but she is soooo great! She has the perfect combination of love and disciple to really, really teach these girls. But because her family is still growing, Ashley and Emily have been the instructors. They have had no small task keeping these girls with lots of energy and non-stop feet with taps, on task. Her group (Stompers) consists of 7 darling 4th and 5th graders who work soooo hard. I am so proud of them! We recently returned from St. George for a competition. These girls did amazing! Out of ALL the Intermediate teams there, they came home with the highest score! More than once over the years I have thought, "Eek...they are performing this WHEN?" But EVERY, and I mean EVERY time, they prove how really amazing they are! The most important thing for me is that Hannah LOVES, LOVES clogging! (She has a T-shirt that says "Clogging is my life!") I will forever be grateful to my mom for the suggestion. I remember when she did, I wasn't really sold on it. I had this picture of me clogging. Hannah was NOT going to put on a big, puffy dress and dance to Orange Blossom Special. Anyway, they have one last competition at Lagoon coming up next week. I'll let you know how they do!

Clogging Then...

I loved clogging too. My instructor was Dennis Cobia from Orem. We were the Sunshiners. My partner was John Gourley. We had an experience like Hannah's team...out of all the teams, we brought home a high score from Ricks College. We travelled to North Carolina. We were National Champions. We were 8-10. I remember 2 of the boys... Chris and John doing a duet to "Shake It Up". I remember a group of grandpa and grandmas-Old Timers. They were good! We performed all over. I would take an autograph book and have people I would meet-mostly cloggers-sign in it as we travelled. I think the most famous autograph I have is Bob Welti. What?! You've never heard of Bob Welti? He used to be a news anchor for KSL. LOL! Anyway, I just clog with Hannah now. And I still love it! Thanks for letting me reminisce.

Private or Public?!

Ok...I am still learning. I thought I better post this while our blog is still new so that hopefully you will all get the scoop. I am having this inner turmoil-apparently I have a lot of them-over making our blog public. So this is the deal. I am wanting to still keep our blog private-at least for now. And I have sent invites to you all. In that email that link will take you to a Blogger page. You have 3 choices. To sign in with a gmail account, to make an account, or to view as guest. This next part is where I messed up. If you sign in as a guest, you will lose that privilege after 2 weeks. Sorry! Otherwise I will have to invite you again. SOOOO....with that being said...if you love us...sign up! Kidding. If you want to sign up, great. If there are too many of you who don't want to go through the hassle, and would rather me keep inviting you I can do that I guess. But I would probably just end up making it public. I know my mom has been concerned about my grandparents be more confused. I don't know. I don't want to make it too hard- just a little! :) And for those of you who may be thinking we have all these weird stalkers...we only have a few. (This is my shout out to Leon!) Anyway, hopefully those of you who haven't been on yet, will, so that you are more informed. I would love your input! Because if YOU won't logon, what's the point?

Newbery Medal Winners

While I was compiling a list of recent books I have read, I realized some of the books I had read were because Banana is involved with the Newbery Program at school. Between 4th & 6th grades, if a child reads 50 Newbery Winners (not runner-ups), they receive a little trophy, $50, and their name on a plaque in the library. But, the child can't read more than 25 the last year. So last summer, thanks to my super-oopider "daughter entertainers"-The Rhoton Ladies (I don't know what I would do without them and I wouldn't have known about this program last summer-Oh! Those Rhotons are another post. I guess I will have to get their permission first. Everyone should be as lucky to know the Rhotons)-they started Hannah on her Newbery Journey. A great goal and here is Hannah's progress.
2004-The Tale of Despereaux
2000-Bud, Not Buddy
1993-Missing May-just finishing up
1992-Shiloh
1991-Maniac Magee
1990-Number the Stars
1987-The Whipping Boy
1986-Sarah, Plain and Tall
1972-Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh
1970-Sounder
1963-A Wrinkle in Time
1961-Island of the Blue Dolphins
1952-Ginger Pye
1945-Rabbit Hill
1942-The Matchlock Gun
1941-Call It Courage

Way to go, Hannah!

There isn't a bad one in this bunch. Although, I am partial to The Tale of Despereaux, Bud, Not Buddy, and Number the Stars. Last I talked with Hannah, her favorites were Ginger Pye and Call It Courage. Thanks to Mrs. Ruesch for knowing Hannah well enough to guide her in her selection of books!

Hannah's Home Evening Treats

Some of you may know that every Monday we (mostly Hannah) are in the business of making cookies. Several months ago, Hannah's clogging studio was presented with the possible opportunity of going to Florida. I explained to her that if she was willing to try and earn some money, then I would try and make it happen. The amount that Hannah had to come up with was $500. I told her that was about $10 a week. Hannah kept thinking and thinking about how she was going to make that happen. Then our neighbors told us about their granddaughter. She was making brownies each week and selling them in her neighborhood-and apparently making a killing! So this is how Hannah's Home Evening Treats was born. It has been hard work, and we have had mishaps along the way. For example, today not enough flour made it into the Snickerdoodles. Oh, well. But if you were lucky to order this week, you did receive a discount. And Crisco changed their shortening. The 0%transfat version doesn't work as well for the Oreos. I know you will that I'm crazy, but it's true. So I guess bring on the transfat? Thanks to all of you who have supported this! Really! I get a little weepy over how lucky we are to live where we live. She is now over the $300 mark. (I do make her pay for her ingredients.) Unfortunately, Florida is not going to happen this year. Maybe next year. And if not, something else. But wherever we end up, a little of each of you will be with us!

Embarrassing Day!

So here I am again posting... and I thought I wouldn't have anything to say. I'm sure that comment is pretty amusing to most of you reading this! Anyway, Hannah came home from school today. Remember, we have been on Spring Break. I asked her how her day was and she gave me a more than unexpected response. She usually replies "good". (That's another post for another day.) Today she didn't reply. I looked at her serious and said "Uh oh. Bad day?" She replied, "Umm...more like embarrassing day." She then turned around to show me a huge...I mean, HUGE rip in the seat of her pants. LOL! (Only I didn't laugh then.) "What happened?!" She claims that she has no idea how it happened. Of course. "Why didn't you call me to bring you down a change of pants?" She then said, "Was I supposed to?" I often wonder what I could be doing better as a mother. I hope that I can raise a daughter who is confident and sure of herself...she can stand up and be great with who she is and what she believes in...nobody will bring her down. BUT, WHO DOES THIS? Apparently Hannah. I LOVE HER!

So after I originally posted this, I told my mom about how I thought about putting a picture of her pants on. So, with Hannah's permission, here are her (very cute) pants. (Mom wanted Hannah in them!)

Try, Try Again!

So, Spring Break is now over for us. We had a great week staying home, doing things with family and friends-things that we don't get to do enough. One of our last "hurrahs" was to stay at home and play video games. This may not seem like a big deal, but to us....WOW! We just don't do it a lot. Anyway, I had left the room for a sec and walked back in to see H-Banana in tears. :( I wonder where she gets that from! See was trying very hard not to show me her tears. I was a little surprised and asked her what was wrong. She said, still trying valiantly to hold back anymore tears, "Mom, I couldn't do something (on Spyro), and I tried to use the saying 'If at first you don't succeed, try, try again'! And it didn't work! I tried 11 times!" I really did feel bad for her-even if it was a video game. But it made me think how often we have to try and try and try and try and try...and try and try and try and try...and it made me think of those we have around each of us, cheering us on, of a Heavenly Father hoping we won't give up, knowing we can do it! I am grateful for all of you who cheer us on- in ALL that we do. We are so much more because of you! We are constantly learning and trying. Don't give up! We are cheering for you too! (As for H, after a short discussion about it's ok, I'm sure that we can figure it out, I'm sure you can do it, we took a break and played Skip-Bo. And she STOMPED me!) :)

Here I Am......

Rock you like a Hurricane! Ok, this wasn't really my idea for my first post. (Trevor from the pharmacy came up with it.) But because we had such a good laugh, I decided to leave it. I have had a little inner turmoil over "To Blog, or not To Blog". Now you know which has won....for now. Thanks to Courtney-her youthful rationalization and knowledge has gotten me this far. We'll see how it goes.