Good news.

On Saturday, Emily and I had a Romantic era piano competition in downtown Portland. We got to play on a beautiful Steinway piano. There were around 500 students playing that were divided into classes of 7-10 students. There are honorable mentions (which are only given to 1 student per class -- and that's only if the judge even wants to give out an honorable mention) and then there is the first place winner out of the entire competition. This was Emily's first competition. . .she was so nervous, but she did AMAZING. We got to play in the same class so we could support each other. We both gave each other big smiles after our performances.

We got a call from our piano teacher this morning with the results. . .


THE GOOD NEWS-----

EMILY GOT AN HONORABLE MENTION!!!!

It's crazy she got an honorable mention on her first try! Way to go Emily!

THE SECOND PIECE OF GOOD NEWS-----

SARAH GOT FIRST PLACE! (For the 3rd year in a row) (Out of nearly 500 students!)

Easter.

We don't have any pictures from our Easter, so I took some from Ethan and Linda's blog. (Sorry guys!) It's so fun to see how big Andrew and Mikaela are getting. They are way too cute! We can't wait to see them this summer!

Andrew carrying Mikaela's basket and helping her fill it with eggs. (He couldn't be any cuter if he tried!)

Bike ride.

We went for a bike ride on Sunday evening because the sun was out and it was finally in the 70's!!! After General Conference, we made dinner and quickly cleaned up so we could have a good amount of time for our ride.

I can't believe we got so many pictures. . .it sure is hard riding a bike with one hand while looking through a view-finder on a camera! I nearly ran into a curb 20 times!

Mom also almost ran into the curb because it was so sunny! She kept saying, "These sunglasses are worthless!"

Emily and I had fun by riding our bikes without the pedals. Emily called them our scooters.

This is Mom getting on her bike after deciding to walk up a hill. It doesn't really help to laugh hysterically while you're trying to get up a hill.

My favorite picture of the evening.

Funny students.

Today I was teaching one of my brand new students how to play "Ode to Joy." I asked her if it sounded familiar to her. I told her a man named Beethoven wrote that piece. Her eyes lit up and she said, "Beethoven? I've heard of him! He lives around the corner from my house!"

I couldn't help but laugh. I then had to explain to her who the real Beethoven was.

I'm so happy to have a job where I can teach these adorable little children.

Emily in first grade.

Emily found a spiral bound book that she made in first grade. Apparently she drew pictures and had an adult help her type out her words. It was some sort of journal/story book for the kids. We just wanted to share some hilarious words from "first grade Emily." (If only you could see the artwork that accompanies each entry.) (You also have to picture the most adorable little girl with big, beautiful brown eyes, a cute ponytail with a bow and a Hannah Anderson dress with leggings.)

Okay. . .she's about 5 years old in this picture. . .but we don't have any first grade pictures on the computer right now. It's pretty acurate, though. . .she was just a little taller in first grade.

"We are going to have a fun time at school, because it is fun." 10/1/99

"My brother went to buy some balloons at the store. Then we brought them in the house." 10/18/99

"I am going to have a good Halloween when it is Halloween. I just like Halloween. I like Halloween." 10/21/99

"The hamsters name is going to be chicken. Because it is a good name for her." 11/9/99 (I'd like to know what hamster she was talking about. . .we didn't have a hamster when she was in first grade!)

"I like my friend. She is a good friend. I like my best friend. She is a good friend." 11/15/99


"I am going to get my Christmas tree today with my sister and my brothers. I am going to have fun and my brothers are going to my house. I like Christmas. I like my mom." 12/6/99

"I like reading my books because I like reading books. You should read them. I like to read. My sister likes to read. I do too. Do you like reading? I do too. Do you like reading? Are you reading? Reading is fun." 12/10/99

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST--

"I am happy today. I am not bad. I am happy, you should be happy. My sister is good. I am happy, she is not bad. She is good. I am not liking this. My sister is not good, she is bad. She is bad, I am not." 12/15/99

Now that I have humiliated Emily on the internet, I have to go through my old first grade projects. Boy, there must be some really ridiculous stories in there. I don't think I want to look. . .

Congratulations!!!

Congratulations to Philip and Kaylee Rayner -- They're going to be having a cute little baby boy! We are so happy for you guys! We love you!

Spring flowers.

Here are some of the pretty things around our yard. Our tulips and hyacinths haven't bloomed yet. . .they always bloom so much later than any other yard around the neighborhood. Hopefully I'll take some pretty pictures when they finally decide to bloom.

Lazy bones.

I forgot to post these pictures a couple of weeks ago.

The silly kitty thinks any bed in this house belongs to her!

Enrichment.

We had a fun Enrichment Night last Thursday evening. Tari told me to not post pictures, but I couldn't resist.

We learned the hula from Brother Mossman. I can't tell you how funny it was to see all these grown women try to dance.

There's Tari again!

You can sort of see her again in this one! (Way over to the left.)

Sorry Tari. :)

P.S. I am going over to the Tingey's tomorrow to take pictures of their cute new baby. Hopefully they turn out okay. I might post a couple of my favorites tomorrow.

We did it again.

Last night Emily and I performed our "Chopsticks" duet at the LDS Performer's Concert. We have never performed in front of such a large audience. We weren't nervous during the first half. After the intermission we got totally nervous. We were 4th from the end, which at first I thought was great, but we got so nervous waiting. Mom was worried Emily was going to have a panic attack. She kept saying, "Mom, my throat is closing up and I can't breathe." I guess that would be the definition of a panic attack! Once we got up there, we turned towards the audience and put on our "Groucho Marx" glasses. Everyone started cracking up. That helped us lighten up a bit. We had it memorized so we didn't have to worry about page turns. We choreographed the whole piece with swaying back and forth, jumping up and down, looking out at the audience, trading places and much much more. Emily and I could hardly contain our laughter up there because people kept cracking up at us. I guess it was the silly glasses. After we took our bow, we couldn't believe the applause! We even got some whistles and woot woots. It was so much fun. (After the fact.)