Violin recital

Here is a video of Lisa's recital a couple of weeks ago.

Recitals Galore

Last weekend was packed full of recitals and performances.

Lisa kicked things off Saturday morning with a violin recital. I was busy taking video (which I may get around to uploading someday), so no photos of the performance itself, but here she is with her teacher and the other students who performed.



Then everybody (but me) played a couple of songs each in a piano recital, some solos and some duets. Again, no photos of the actual event (but you can come over and watch the video if you'd like!), but here are a few shots from after the event was over.

Rachel and her duet partner:



Looking like she's concentrating:



All the performers (with Jim Brickman looking over their shoulder). They enjoyed playing on the Yamaha grand piano behind them. These pianos are WAY expensive. Some of the ones they had on display were listed at over $60,000. You can buy a Ferrari for that! (Okay, a 20-year-old used one, but still...)



What the heck, might as well get me in the picture, too, for no particular reason...



We went straight from the recital to our ward Christmas party. During dinner, the kids (and Yumiko) played some of their recital pieces as background music. Here they are lined up for their eight-hand version of "O Holy Night".



Later in the program, the Primary sang, and some of the kids (including Daniel) accompanied the singing with bells.



And finally, Lisa played as part of our "ward orchestra".



She played again on Sunday as part of a musical number in Sacrament meeting. No photo of that one...

Anyway, it was a busy weekend! Everybody is glad it's over.

Still more senior pictures

More senior pictures

Here are a few more of Rachel's senior pictures. Still more to come...

Halloween

Yeah, so I'm about three weeks behind, but here are a few photos of Halloween. Everybody went their own ways with friends this year, so I didn't even get a photo of everybody together. Oh well, everybody had fun.

Senior pictures

Rachel got her senior pictures back. Here are a few of them. More to follow one of these days...

Eagle Project

Last month Andrew did his Eagle project. He installed some fencing for the Ridge to Rivers trail system, which is a series of about 130 miles of hiking / mountain biking trails in and around the Boise foothills. The fences were put in to keep people on the right trails to help prevent erosion, etc.

Since the area is up in the foothills, we had to haul in all the materials by hand.



The sections of fencing he installed were scattered out over about a mile of trails, so there was a lot of hiking between the different locations.



He had a really good turnout, and got quite a few people there helping.



Getting ready to install a couple of sections.



Dad, Jeff, and Matt got assigned to the longest and farthest-away section. Here they are just getting started.



Making it all precise. That's what you get with a bunch of engineers and physicists on the job...



Jeff and Matt working really hard. Hey, somebody's got to keep those digging and tamping bars from rolling down the hill. :)



Getting it all straight.



Nearing completion on this section.



All done with this one!



Andrew.



Another one of the sections. He did eight or nine total.



Rachel, Andrew, and Lisa being goofy.

Fiction 101

Lisa had an interesting assignment. They were supposed to write a story that was 101 words long. A lot harder than it sounds at first! That's not very many words.

Anyway, here is what she wrote...

Green Eyes

I smiled at Kyle before the door closed. Last time I ever saw him. It happened so fast.

He sent flowers, flowers I couldn't see. I was fine, I said; forgiveness wasn't easy, but what could he do? It's over. I just listen now.

Incredibly, it's a new world. A fly buzzes. The phone rings; my fingers find it.

Kyle. He apologizes over and over. I just want to be friends again. Not his fault; he didn't know our project would literally explode in my face. Now I dream about color, form, vivid markings of life.

I miss my green eyes.

More Swimming

Well, the swimming season is over. Andrew seemed to enjoy being on the swim team this year. It was a lot of work, with practices or meets five days a week, but he made some friends, had fun, and got better. I'm impressed at how well these kids can swim.

Here are a few more photos. I still haven't figured out how to get good ones...






Yumiko, Lisa, and Andrew in the stands watching other swimmers.



Since most of the pictures come out blurry anyway, let's call it an abstract and pretend that it's artistic... :)

Homecoming II

Here are some photos from Rachel's second Homecoming date for the year. With our stake crossing the boundaries of four high schools, there is a lot more opportunity for cross-school dating than when I was in high school. Or else Rachel's just way more popular...