8th Grade Promotion

It is official we now have a high school student.

Tonight was Brandon’s 8th grade promotion. I can’t believe how the time has flown, it seems like only yesterday we had his Kindergarten promotion.

And yet here we are 8 years later!!

Brandon was part of the group that led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance.

They had 2 kids give speeches. One was Matthew Linhart (his friend above) and the other was Cortney Monroe one of the awesome girls in our ward.

The teachers also put together a slide show of all the kids baby and 8th grade pictures.

After that all the kids received their certificate.

Brandon we are so proud of you. You worked hard, made good friends and always tried to do the right thing. You will do great in High School next year.

End of the year performances

Last week we had 2 end of the year performances to attend. On Tuesday we went to Zachary’s choir concert. He has had vocal music this quarter and this was their performance. You can tell how excited he is to be singing in front of people.

Then on Wednesday we had Brandon’s end of year Dance performance. He has had a dance class this semester and they had an end of year performance. He was only in the class dance, but he did a great job.

Beautiful Weather…..

not so beautiful discovery,

Today the weather here is BEAUTIFUL. The mid 70’s and windy. This is unheard of for AZ.  So this morning all the windows came open.

When we opened the curtains in the loft this is what we found on the ledge.

Sometime in the past few days(since we last opened the curtains a bird flew into the window and sadly his life ended.)

The boys thought it was so cool, Rachel doesn’t get it, I am a little grossed out and Bob is not looking forward to the project he has to remove it when he comes home tonight.

Oh well, it is not going to stop us from enjoying this great weather before it is gone for good.

Relay for Life

A few weekends ago Brandon and I had the chance to participate in Queen Creeks, American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life.

This is the second year that I have done it. It is such an incredible night.

Out little Relay raised over $50,000 to fight cancer.

Because we raised so much the mayor of Queen Creek shaved his head that night.

The highlight of the night though is the luminaries and the candlelight laps. Where all the lights in the stadium are turned off and everyone walks to remember those who have had to fight this fight. It is so touching to read all of the tributes on the luminary bags along the track.

Here are a few more pictures off my camera that night, but to see some incredible pictures from a professional go here.

This last one is Brandon and Mason about 4:30 when they finally crashed.

The theme this year was “Lights, Camera, Relay” so every team picked a movie. Ours was “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” that is why all the crazy clothes, hair and make-up. Some of the pictures are from the lip sync we did.

You can catch a part of the amazing lip sync we did here. ENJOY! (you have to scroll about half way down the page to see the post the video is on.)

Ethan’s School Projects

Last week Ethan brought home his art folder of some of the projects he has worked on this year. He is a great artist.

Also this weekend he made a diorama. He just finished a report on Beavers and had to make a diorama of the beavers habitat.

Rachel’s new phrase

This is Rachel’s new favorite phrase. She says it every time things don’t go exactly her way.

She crosses her arms and stomps her foot every time.

Piano Recital

Tonight the boys had a piano recital. Brandon and Ethan both did a great job on their songs.

Brandon played “The Sailors Story: by Faber and Faber and “Fur Elise” by Ludwig Van Beethoven

Here are 2 videos of him playing  “Fur Elise”

Ethan played” Lazy Lion” and “Chocolate Cake” both by Bastien.

Here are his pieces.

School Pictures

The kids school pictures came in a few weeks ago and I am finally getting around to post them. This year they offered a package where you could get the proof on disk. It is pretty cool. That way I can print out whatever size I need and can then send them to friends and family so easily.

Ethan  1st grade

Zachary 6th grade

Brandon 8th grade