Bye, Bye!

Treyson, Abree & I attended Rylee's last school choir concert of the year, this week.

They sang 50's themed music, featuring a "Bye, bye Birdie" medley.


"Hi Nancy!

Hi Helen!

What's the story, morning glory?

What's the tale, nightingale?

Quick, tell me about Hugo and Kim!" "Hello Mrs. Miller, this is Harvey Johnson..."

This nerdy soloist, was cute and stole the show. :)


For one of their final songs they sang, "Graduation (Friends Forever)".
I love this song. So sweet and sentimental.


With Rylee being in 8th grade, this is her last year at Heritage Middle School.
Bye, bye middle school.... Hello, highschool!

Yikes!..No way!..I can't believe it!

Memorial Day BBQ

Jason had taken Memorial Day off, but still wanted to do something nice for his employees.

He decided to do a BBQ lunch, at the carwash.

He invited the kids and I along to help and participate.

He provided the burgers, hotdogs, soda and condiments

while the employees brought the salads, chips and dessert.

Lunch was enjoyed by all..... especially by our kids! :)

Later that evening, we went to the "Meridian Speedway". The weather was cool, but not freezing. It was nice to put on a jacket, rather than be BAKED by the sun.

We had a good time watching the races and rooting for our favorite cars.

When Abree discovered a GIRL was driving the car with the PINK numbers, she turned to me with wide eyes and said, "I want to race a car!"

All I managed to say was, "Oh."

(Please no, please no, please no.)

Happy Memorial Day!

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. :)