March 2012

March was quite the eventful month! We started with a trip to New York City for Megan with the Chamber Choir and Bryce and I tagging along as chaperones.  We had a great time – here’s a look at some of the fun things we did:

Visited the 9-11 Memorial and museum, which was quite stirring, especially hearing personal accounts from a fireman who was in one of the towers when it collapsed and was the only survivor from his ladder company and from the owner of the deli across the street and his memory of that day.

Taking the ferry out to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  Ellis Island is fascinating and it was really cool to hear the choir sing the National Anthem on the front steps.

Seeing the choir perform in St. Patrick’s Cathedral and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.  Both cathedrals are incredibly beautiful and very impressive in size and grandeur!  This picture is at St. Patrick’s.  Kim and Rob met us for this performance and also came into the city the following night to take us to a delicious dinner in Greenwich Village for Kim’s birthday – thanks for sharing your birthday with us, Kim, and thanks to both of you for showing us around the city!!

Taking in Broadway musicals!  We went to see “Wicked” and “Lion King” with the choir and then Bryce and I also decided last minute to see “Mary Poppins” once we were on our own.  All were wonderful, but “Wicked” is still our favorite – this was Megan’s second time seeing it, and Bryce and mine 4th time!

Of course, we also visited Chinatown and Little Italy, Canal Street, Times Square, Central park, the Lincoln Center, FAO Schwartz, The Plaza hotel, and went to church on Sunday with the ward that meets in the same building as the Manhattan temple.

The highlight of the trip was seeing Megan, along with the rest of the National Youth Chorus, perform in Carnegie Hall.  It was truly amazing and an experience I know Megan will never forget!  The choir sounded so incredible!  Bryce and I were so glad we got to be there.

After the choir kids went home, Bryce and I took the train out to New Jersey and got to spend a wonderful evening with Kim and Rob (and a little bit of Brandon :)). The home cooked dinner and breakfast the following morning were awesome and the company even better! Thanks for putting us up!!

After our trip to NJ, we took the train back to NYC and spent the remaining 3 days of our trip enjoying some of the things we didn’t get to see while we were busy shepherding choir students.  We took a long run through Central Park (LOVE!), went to the Museum of Art and the Natural History Museum, visited Times Square and Rockefeller Center, pretend shopped on 5th Avenue, visited Park Ave.and Dillan’s Candy Bar, and had lunch at Serendipity.  We also took in Blue Man Group and of course, Mary Poppins.  It was an awesome trip and we can’t wait to go back to New York!

While we were in NY, my dad was busy here with the other three kids.  He attended Devin’s Grand Concert, which we heard was amazing, Seth’s basketball tournament,  and also cheered the boys on at their Court of Honor.  Seth received 3 rank advancements (he is now a First Class scout) as well as several merit badges, and Devin was awarded his bronze Eagle palm and several merit badges as well.

My dad was also thrilled when they had a snowstorm that produced more than 8 inches of snow so he could spend the day snow blowing the entire neighborhood, which he did. He had been praying for snow while he was here even though I told him it wasn’t going to happen since this winter has been so mild and the most snow we had received before this storm all year was a small skiff.  Guess he must be living right. :)  Bryce and I were glad to miss it.

Autumn and Seth both participated in the school Storytelling competition and both did well enough to progress several levels.  Autumn was eventually chosen as one of 8 storytellers (out of more than 300 that originally entered) to tell at the school assembly, plus she earned a medal with her name and “2nd place” engraved on it – she was pretty thrilled.  I’m including the video of her telling her story if you care to watch. :)

Autumn–Little Hoot

Autumn competed with her dance team at their second dance competition of the season and did a great job.  Their hip hop and jazz dances both took first place in their categories and their lyrical dance took second.  They also took an all-around high point with their jazz dance, which means it was the top scoring dance of any dance in their age division, which included some pretty tough teams.  They did a great job and are continuing to improve even more.

Seth also performed a musical with his Storytelling Troupe called “Big, Big World” and did a great job with that.  He has worked really hard with this after school group for the past 3 years and is sad to see it come to an end now that he will be leaving Elementary school behind.

Devin is keeping busy with school and after school practices for “Willy Wonka”.  We can’t wait to see the finished play at the end of April!

After weighing lots of different factors and some prayerful contemplation, Megan has decided to join the small percentage of college bound students who say “Thanks, but no thanks” to BYU and will be attending Utah State University this fall on a four year full tuition and fees scholarship.  She is SO excited for this next chapter of her life!!  She is going to be rooming with a friend from choir and has decided to major in Elementary Education with a double emphasis in math and music.  We could not be more proud of her and all she has accomplished, the wonderful young lady she already is and the person she is becoming.