Family Gathering

Memorial Day weekend, Angela and Nanette were planning on coming to Caldwell. I thought it would be fun to have a family gathering. I sent out an email invitation to all and hoped we could make it happen... and then it did. :)

For the first part of our gathering, we had dinner. I was hoping for warmer, dryer weather, but we toughed it out and gathered under Grandma's carport for taco salad.

Hoodies, ear warmers and blankets welcome!
Grandma Ison

Rylee

Ciarran & Colin

Aaron & sweet Lydia

Arielle

Chanel

Dean & Candice

Angela

Tim, Karen & Sydney

A cool new meal strategy; let the kids play inside (warm , dry and entertained) while the adults eat, then tell the kids it's time for dinner.

They were having so much fun playing "house", that when I told them it was time for dinner I heard, "Awww, but we're still playing."

After a quick clean up, they finally decided they would come out to eat.

Jackson & Treyson

Taylee & Micaela

Lizzy, Tim & Audrey

Katelyn, Abree

Lizzy

Morgan

The next part of our plan, was to visit the cemetery and Grandpa Ison's grave site.

The weather was cool, but for the most part we stayed dry.

At Grandma Ison's request, we gathered around and sang a few songs; "The Family Home Evening Song" written by Uncle Lynn Hansen(?) and "I Am A Child of God".

Emma

Grandma told anyone who would listen, about the chicks and who they represented, (on the headstone) over and over.

Rylee

After the cemetery, we sent husbands/dads and kids home, while the girls gathered back at Grandma's for "chick chat".

We looked through memory picture albums.

Caught up with one another's life happenings.

Answered "get to know you better" questions.

Shared treats.

And met new family members.

This is Tiffany's new family;

Scott, Darin (new husband), Tiffany

Isaac & Shelby

Welcome to the family!

Many of us stayed WAY late talking.

Grandma Ison didn't want to miss a thing and managed to stay up for all of it.

Family, thanks for gathering. It was fun.

Next gathering? We are tenatively planning on the second weekend in August, in Utah, when Martha and her boys come to visit.

Hope to see you there!

Finale

Last Friday, was Rylee's final Cantus concert of the season.

This concert was a tribute and overview of Cantus' excellent first year.

The evening began with each choir (chorale, concert, virtuoso) singing a song from their award-winning performances at the Heritage Festival.

Next, we heard an original song, "I've Got Potential" by Taylor Olson of BYU's Noteworthy. Rylee was in the backup quartet, as Taylor sang and played the piano.

Next, we heard a mix of contemporary songs from guest performers and Cantus choirs, in honor of hosting BYU's Noteworthy and Vocal Point throughout the year. Some of the song's they sang were, "Marchin' On" -OneRepublic, "Time of Your Life"- Green Day and "Keep Holding On" -Avril Lavigne.


In honor of their Disneyland trip, they sang several Disney songs from; Beauty and the Beast, Mullan, Hercules and The Lion King.

My favorite performance of the night, was the last number. All choirs sang, all performers performed. It was touching and POWERFUL. They performed, "He Lives in You", from the Broadway musical, The Lion King.

It was amazing!

Curious? Here is a link to the Cantus Facebook page if you're interested in seeing photos and video clips of their performances. The video clips don't do the performances justice, but at least you can get a taste. Here's the final number, "He Lives in You" .

I still get chills when I watch it.

I believe Rylee is looking forward to next year already. Rumor has it, that their tour will be in San Fransisco. The year after that, they will tour in Hawaii and eventually Carnegy Hall, in New York!

Anyone interested in joining?

Track Meet

In Rylee's words:

"Last Friday, was the last track meet of the season. We were against Lewis & Clark and Lowell Scott Middle Schools. The events I competed in were discus, long jump, 100 meter and 800 meter.

Some friends; Kirsten Forrester, Justine Jewell, me and Melissa Brown.
This wasn't the best meet for me. The long jump went ok. I usually average 12 ft 10 in, this meet my highest was 10ft. There were students measuring the jumps and the line judge wasn't always fair.

I jumped a total of 3 times and my mark was off, so I scratched twice....so she said (line judge).

This was my first time doing the 800 meter, the coaches asked me to do it the day before, so I was scared. There were a lot of girls in this event. It was really crowded. We had to be divided up into two groups for two different starting places.

My good friend Melissa was also competing in this race.

The 800 meter is two laps around the track. I was given the task to do it in 1:20 per lap. I got caught at the last 50 behind two girls.....

and then my friend Melissa passed me!

I ran it in 2:54.7 and that's good for it being my first time, but because Melissa passed me, she gets to go to districts. I'm sooo mad! Not at Melissa, but because I got boxed in by the opposing team."

This was a rough meet for Rylee. She came home VERY disappointed and in tears. She really wanted to go to districts. Guess this was a "character building" meet for her. :)

Flower Pin Cushion

Continuing with the flower theme.....

I made my mother-in-law, a flower pin cushion for Mother's Day.

I'd been wanting to make one of these for some time now. It's made with cute printed fabric for the petals, a solid fabric for the middle, fiberfill, felt and a golf tee. The golf tee goes on the bottom, so that it can be put in a spool of thread for ease and convenience.

They were so fun and cute, I made several.

To Evelyn: If by chance, the moon, stars and planets have aligned just right and you are reading this, sorry for the spoiler... it's in the mail. Love you. Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

As is tradition in my home, I was served a Mother's Day breakfast, by Jason and the kids. Because we have 9:00am church, I hopped in the shower and missed my chance to have breakfast in bed.

Still yummy at the table , also less risk of crumbs in the sheets or spilled milk. :)

Jason gave me clothing and treats. Clothing for my new size and treats to keep me at my old size. Just kidding, I will only eat them on my FREE day. The kids each gave me cute handmade gifts they had done at school or secretly constructed behind closed doors. So sweet.

Our young men got it "right". They served all mothers/women Symphony CHOCOLATE bars, after sacrament meeting. After church, I promptly opened and consumed 1/2 of mine, before getting home. Just the beginning of my chocolate buzz for the day.

In the evening, we went over to my mom's house to celebrate with her, along with Dean/Candice, Tim/Karen and Brinton/Amber's families.

It was a CrAZy busy house, but fun.

"If mother's were flowers...

I'd pick you!"

A kid's rubber boot, with cute little purple pansies.

I also made this cute, miniature Happy Mother's Day banner, to put on a triple-layer chocolate cake.

Gifts for my mom.

Emma, this is for you... a cake banner 'stache. :)

To go with our very rich chocolaty cake, and to complete my chocolate buzz, "Death by Chocolate" ice cream, of course.
Death by Chocolate? Yes please... there are probably worse ways to go. :)

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!
I love you!

Nerd Nails?

Rylee said, "Mom, what do you want for Mother's Day?"

Not wanting her to feel like she needed to spend money and seeing how cute her toenails looked, I told her I would love it if she painted my toenails.

She gave me an array of options.

I chose, then she started to paint.

Finished product... hot pink background with multi-colored dots.

We decided that they looked a little like the candy, Nerds.

Rylee discovered that LESS is MORE..maybe less dots next time.

Here are Rylee's toes.... my inspiration.

Thanks for the cute toenails Rylee!