Music Festival

In preparation for the upcoming Music Festival, Rylee's school choir put on a practice performance for family and friends.

Rylee is in the back row middle, to the right, in green.

They sounded great.
Next, the orchestra played. They sounded AWESOME!!!

It seems their teacher has a passion for orchestra... and it shows.

UPDATE: Music festival was this week. Rylee said their judges had nothing but good things to say to their choir. She was excited and confident about their performance.

Green Milk!

St. Patrick's Day eve, Abree came down to my room at bedtime and said, "Mom, we've got to put milk out, so the leprechaun can turn it GREEN!"

Where did she get this idea? She must have heard about it from school. It has never been a tradition here before.

Initially I thought about turning her down, but then decided what the heck, it's a pretty simple request.

She was SO excited the next morning, when the milk had actually been turned GREEN.

The rest of the kids asked, "Why do we have green milk on our counter? Isn't it going to get rotten?"

I guess they didn't share in the magic or thrill of green milk. :)

Later that day, Taylee brought me this and said, "Happy St. Patrick's Day. Mom!"

Isn't he cute?!

I LOVE his freckles and pointed ears.

Happy Birthday Relief Society!

This year the Relief Society lessons and meetings will be focused on the history of the Relief Society. This past Tuesday, we had our RS Birthday dinner. We talked about the past General RS Presidents and the story of the very first RS meeting.

I gathered all things old, or at least old looking, and rummaged through my house until I found enough 8x10 frames to put all the past RS President's pictures in.

This is an adorable VT handout about how the Relief Society was organized after the "pattern of the priesthood". Here's the blog I found it on and here's the actual printable. It's so cute. I made up several for my VT ladies.

The menu that evening was lasagna, salad, bread and birthday cake.

Simple, but yummy.

The sisters had plenty of time to eat and visit...

as we desperately tried to get the technical part of the program working.

After about 40 minutes, we decided to continue... video or not.

For our program, we had Emma Smith come talk to us. She shared some of her experiences and stories of being the first RS president.

Next, we wanted to play this video, ("Live Up to Your Privileges")but with our technical difficulties (getting the computer to talk to the projector) we ended up sharing it as an audio.

I thought this was a funny picture..... the past interfacing with the present. :)

In closing, Jessica Whiting (Emma) shared her personal history and testimony of the Relief Society. She talked about how when she turned 18, she was thrilled and excited to come into the program. She also talked about her early RS college experiences, her RS experiences as a young wife and as a mother. She moved around A LOT and the connecting factor in all of their moves was the Relief Society. The Relief Society was always there to welcome, to be-friend and to provide relief.

I loved hearing Jessica's testimony and history. I can attest to the things she shared. I too am thankful for the Relief Society program. I have been on the receiving end of much "relief" at times. I am proud to be a part of a world-wide sisterhood. I love the Relief Society!

Harmony in the Key of IDAHO

Treyson is in 4th grade. When you're in 4th grade, you study your state. So this year Treyson is learning about IDAHO.

He can tell you about IDAHO's state bird, flower, tree, gem, horse, etc. He also knows about the flag and state seal. Several weeks back, I heard him reciting/chanting something over and over. When I asked him what he was saying, he told me he was reciting the motto on the state seal.

I can't remember it now..something in Latin.

The program had good variety; different instruments, many hand/body movements while singing, cool props and lots of different types of song.

They sang a mix of; Native American "Flying Eagle", African American spirituals, Chinese improvisations, a Mexican folk song and a Basque folk song. --These are the different cultures that settled in IDAHO.

Treyson got to be a part of the "Tamborrada"... a Basque folk dance.

He told me as we were walking home that afternoon, that one of the girl's hands he was supposed to hold kept slipping. He said she wouldn't hold on to him, but just hold her arm out straight. Cooties, I suppose. :)

I think he was proud to show me what he had learned. He caught my eye, as soon as he was on the risers and kept looking my way the whole program. I'm guessing he was making sure I was paying attention and saw everything. I'm sure it pleased him when I snapped a few pictures too. :)


Way to go Treyson!

Blue & Gold Banquet

It was that time of year again.... time for the Cub Scout Blue & Gold Banquet.

This year the cub scouts were asked to make and decorate a cake with their dad. The theme for the cake; "something you like to do outdoors".

Jason and Treyson decided to make a fishing cake. Treyson helped to frost the cake, then sprinkled on the green coconut for grass. Jason did the placement of candy rocks, characters and trees.
Treyson was proud of their creation.
He asked, "Do you think it will win, Mom?"

Me- "Were you making it to win... or making it to have fun with dad?"

T-"Well, I was just asking if you thought our's COULD win."

Me-"I hope you had fun with dad and that it's yummy to eat."

T- "I know I didn't make it to win, but do you think it COULD win?"

Me-"I hope you had fun.... no matter what."

Of course he was making it to WIN! :)

These poor fishermen were not having very good luck that day. One guy's line is caught in the tree, another guy caught an old tire and the 2 stormtroopers got their lines tangled! Look at the fish, they're just taunting them...and some are swimming upstream. :)

Each cake was given a voting cup. Cub Scout families got to cast 3 votes per person, by putting "Cub Bucks" in the cup of the cakes they liked most. Treyson hovered around the cake table, watching his cup fill with "Cub Bucks".

In the end, there was no 1st place, 2nd place, 3rd place, etc. the Cub Scouts just got to keep the "Cub Bucks" to use at the "Cub Store".

Whew! so glad he didn't have to WIN... to win. :)

We enjoyed a nice dinner of BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, chips and salad.

That night, about 15+ boys received awards/advancements!

Treyson earned his BEAR badge. Now he has the next 5 months to work on his arrow points... then onto Webelos (sp?).

It was a fun night.

A big Thank You to our great Cub Scout leaders.

Soup-er FHE

For our Valentine's Day FHE, we had the opportunity to visit and have dinner with Grandma Ison.

We brought over cheesy, chicken, potato & veggie soup (Candice's recipe- YUM!), along with some homemade bread.

Let me tell you.. getting a full crockpot of soup from Meridian to Caldwell, during rush hour, wasn't an easy task. Luckily, I had planned for spillage with a thick bath towel and cookie sheet on my lap. I ended up with only a little dampness on my pant leg and tired arms from strategic maneuvering the heavy pot. :)

During our visit Grandma kept saying, "I thought someone else was coming... but I'm sure glad you could come." :)

When chatting and talking about how old the kids were, one of them asked grandma how old she was.

She said, "Guess!"

They took turns guessing, then Jason said, "39".

She said, "Bad guess" with a twinkle in her eye.

Then she revealed she wasn't quite sure how old she was.

I asked her, "What year were you born? We'll figure it out."

She looked at me and gave me the cutest little raise of the eyebrows and shrug.

I told her I thought she was 95. She was ok with that.

We cleaned up after dinner, then visited in the living room for a bit.

Grandma said to me, "What would you like, when I'm gone?"

"Uhhh. I don't know. I love a lot of your things. Maybe something that I remember playing with as a child. Or something that you made."

She said, "I think the grandchildren and great-grandchildren should be able to pick something they want."

I don't know what's "claimed", but it sounds like Grandma is thinking about giving her things away.

We visited a little longer, talking about the things in the room. A few things she talked about she would say, "You know those are antiques don't you?".

We also talked about how Grandma had decorated beautiful eggs. The kids ooo-ed and ahhh-ed over the pretty eggs.

I think the "Joseph Smith- sacred grove" egg is one of her favorites. She's pointed that one out to me several times and also showed it to the kids over and over.

Before we left we hugged and kissed a few times before getting out the door.

Grandma said once again, "It was SO good to have you here. I thought someone else was coming, but glad you were here." :)

It's such a blessing to have Grandma here. I love that my kids know her and will remember her.

I love you Grandma Ison!