Sunday, September 28, 2008
So Proud
I had a very proud day on Saturday. First of all, my sweet, 4 year old Alison scored her very first soccer goal. It was seriously so exciting. I wish I could have captured it on camera! :) I was also proud for several reasons later that evening. I am first and foremost proud to be a member of Relief Society. I was very moved by the talks of the broadcast. Surprisingly, it didn't make me homesick. Which leads me to the third reason why I was proud on Saturday-- I am so proud to be part of the Hopkinsville, KY stake. The stake presidency put together an amazing program and meal for us. It was great to get to know lots of new people and feel of their strength and spirit. The dinner was seriously out of this world. They served BBQ chicken with all of the sides and then an entire table full of desserts. It turns out that one of the pastry chefs over at the Opryland Hotel is a member and he prepared the desserts for us--too bad I didn't have my camera with me. Anyway, after the dinner, I was sitting next to a sister in the Stake Relief Society Presidency and I was complimenting her on such a fabulous meal. She said, "Oh honey, you live in the south now--and we know how to cook!" I am proud to consider myself an adopted southerner!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
BUSY BUSY!
What a week!!! Between our church callings and our kids' schedules we always seem to be running. Here are some highlights of this crazy week!
This was on Wednesday at the 1st grade "lunch bunch". Parents are invited to come and see what the kids are learning and stay for lunch. We sat down across from Rachel's friends. When Nathan sat down a little girl named Ava said, "Wow, are you the President?" Before Nathan could answer Rachel replied, "No, but he IS the bishop". It was pretty cute.
On Thursday Nathan's brother Bryon came into town from Hawaii. It has been a long time since we have seen him (a couple of years we think), so it was fun to have dinner and show him around the town.
Nathan smoked three racks of ribs. They were a hit!! After Bryon and his parents left Nathan's buddy Aaron Castleton flew in from LA and his brother Brent and his family came into town from Florida. All of the guys (Nathan, his dad, Mark, Brent, Bryon, and Aaron) all went golfing on Friday and Mark got tickets to the Ryder Cup in Louisville on Saturday. They guys were in heaven. They were able to see all of the greatest golfers in the world play and they even saw some celebrities (George Bush Sr. and Michael Jordon to name a couple). They didn't allow camaras into the tournament, so I can't post pictures, but I know they will never forget it!!
While Nathan was hanging out with the guys I took the girls to their soccer games. They look pretty cute in their uniforms!
I have decided that soccer is like a part time job! It has been crazy keeping up with both of their schedules this fall. I am hoping that they will want to just stick with dance.
After soccer we drove 2 hours to Nathan's brother Mark's house to hang out with Grandma and the wives and to celebrate Hailey's birthday. I can't believe that my baby is 2! I want to stick her in a little time capsule so that she will always stay this sweet. This is Hailey feeding her new doll that she got for her birthday. I said, "Hailey, what's the baby's name?" She thought for a minute and responded, "baby". Makes sense to me!
Her sisters and her cousins were more than willing to help her with her gifts. If you look closely at Hailey's hair you can see where she gave herself a little haircut.
Notice the tears. I think she was a little intimidated by all of the attention!
Clearly she got over it when she started eating her ice cream cake!
All the cousins getting ready for bed! We look forward to seeing you all at Thanksgiving!! After this picture was taken we drove home (2 hours) , went to bed, Aaron and Bryon flew home, I spoke in church today, and the youth just left our house after a BYD (Bishop's youth discussion). The week has been wonderful, but I am exhausted!! I keep hoping that things are going to slow down, but I am realizing that they never will. I guess it is good to be busy! Seriously, I really can't complain. I feel very blessed.
This was on Wednesday at the 1st grade "lunch bunch". Parents are invited to come and see what the kids are learning and stay for lunch. We sat down across from Rachel's friends. When Nathan sat down a little girl named Ava said, "Wow, are you the President?" Before Nathan could answer Rachel replied, "No, but he IS the bishop". It was pretty cute.
On Thursday Nathan's brother Bryon came into town from Hawaii. It has been a long time since we have seen him (a couple of years we think), so it was fun to have dinner and show him around the town.
Nathan smoked three racks of ribs. They were a hit!! After Bryon and his parents left Nathan's buddy Aaron Castleton flew in from LA and his brother Brent and his family came into town from Florida. All of the guys (Nathan, his dad, Mark, Brent, Bryon, and Aaron) all went golfing on Friday and Mark got tickets to the Ryder Cup in Louisville on Saturday. They guys were in heaven. They were able to see all of the greatest golfers in the world play and they even saw some celebrities (George Bush Sr. and Michael Jordon to name a couple). They didn't allow camaras into the tournament, so I can't post pictures, but I know they will never forget it!!
While Nathan was hanging out with the guys I took the girls to their soccer games. They look pretty cute in their uniforms!
I have decided that soccer is like a part time job! It has been crazy keeping up with both of their schedules this fall. I am hoping that they will want to just stick with dance.
After soccer we drove 2 hours to Nathan's brother Mark's house to hang out with Grandma and the wives and to celebrate Hailey's birthday. I can't believe that my baby is 2! I want to stick her in a little time capsule so that she will always stay this sweet. This is Hailey feeding her new doll that she got for her birthday. I said, "Hailey, what's the baby's name?" She thought for a minute and responded, "baby". Makes sense to me!
Her sisters and her cousins were more than willing to help her with her gifts. If you look closely at Hailey's hair you can see where she gave herself a little haircut.
Notice the tears. I think she was a little intimidated by all of the attention!
Clearly she got over it when she started eating her ice cream cake!
All the cousins getting ready for bed! We look forward to seeing you all at Thanksgiving!! After this picture was taken we drove home (2 hours) , went to bed, Aaron and Bryon flew home, I spoke in church today, and the youth just left our house after a BYD (Bishop's youth discussion). The week has been wonderful, but I am exhausted!! I keep hoping that things are going to slow down, but I am realizing that they never will. I guess it is good to be busy! Seriously, I really can't complain. I feel very blessed.
Friday, September 12, 2008
American Idol Concert!
Last night Nathan and I went to Evansville, IN to see the American Idol's summer tour. Evansville is only about 40 min. from Nathan's parents house, so we dropped the kids off and then we all spent the night. It was so great to be able to enjoy the show and know that the kids were in good hands. Thanks James and Rosie!! I know that most of you reading this are idol fans,
so I am going to give a synopsis of the show with my opinion thrown in. You don't have to agree--just my opinion!
For starters, the Roberts Stadium is a fabulous arena because it is fairly small. We were on the side on the 5th row (GREAT seats), so it felt pretty intimate. The sound was also great. It is pretty amazing that you could hear above all of the screaming, but you could and it was awesome!! Another cool thing about the show was that the idols performed the full versions of the songs--not just the shortened TV versions.
The top 10 performed in order that they were eliminated. The top 8 performed 3 songs, David A. performed 4, and David C. performed 5. They did a finale with all 10 together.
10. Chikezie: I had forgotten about Chikezie, but his voice was actually really incredible, and his energy was a fun way to start the show. I don't remember what he sang, but I liked it.
9. Ramyelle: She was probably my least favorite. Her voice is OK, but I was wondering how she made it this far on the show. She had on a skimpy outfit with high heeled boots (can anyone say pretty woman?). Anyway, as Simon would say--forgettable.
8. Michael Johns: The girls went crazy for him. My favorite of his set was "We are the Champions". He could really belt it out!
7. Christy Lee Cook: Another revealing outfit, but I actually enjoyed watching her perform. She did "God Bless the USA" that she did on the show and it was excellent.
6. Carly Smithson: AMAZING. She was actually one of my favorites of the evening. Her voice was spot on! She did an Evanescence song that really blew us away. I also liked her version of Celene Dion's "I drove all night". She was awesome.
5. Brooke White: Granted, I am biased, but it was so refreshing to see a beautiful girl dressed modestly! She did "Let it be" on the piano, and she also played the guitar. I loved all three of her performances.
4. Jason Castro: I was not a fan of Jason's during the show, but hearing him live was outstanding. He is very unique and fun to listen to. He has such a gorgeous face--if only he would cut those dumb dread locks!
3. Syesha Mercado: I loved her voice, but by this time I was thinking David Archuleta's next!! So, I had a hard time focusing.
2. DAVID ARCHULETA: YEAH! I am such a fan--and so was everyone else in the audience. The stadium erupted with screaming. It was pretty crazy, but so exciting to be there! His voice was as pure and crystal clear as I thought it would be. While he was singing I remembered Randy Jackson screaming "crazy vocals!!" I couldn't agree more. SO sad when his four songs were over.
1. DAVID COOK: YEAH!! I am a fan of David Cook's as well and it was cool to see a rock star in the making. He was throwing out guitar picks and touching the girls hands. He was great. I especially liked "Billy Jean" that he did on the show. Between his loud music and the girls screaming my ears were ringing, but it was so worth it. My only critisism was that his pants were WAY too tight. His butt is just too big to wear those pants. Other that that, great performances!
The following is a you tube clip that was posted today of the concert last night. I can't take credit for filming it, but it is really close to our seats, so this will give you an idea of what the concert was like. It is David A. perfoming "Angels". It was definitely one of my favorites. Anyway, I think that is enough rambling about the show. It was a great time. I am glad that Nathan and I will be able to share this memory!! Just for the record, he was screaming too :)
so I am going to give a synopsis of the show with my opinion thrown in. You don't have to agree--just my opinion!
For starters, the Roberts Stadium is a fabulous arena because it is fairly small. We were on the side on the 5th row (GREAT seats), so it felt pretty intimate. The sound was also great. It is pretty amazing that you could hear above all of the screaming, but you could and it was awesome!! Another cool thing about the show was that the idols performed the full versions of the songs--not just the shortened TV versions.
The top 10 performed in order that they were eliminated. The top 8 performed 3 songs, David A. performed 4, and David C. performed 5. They did a finale with all 10 together.
10. Chikezie: I had forgotten about Chikezie, but his voice was actually really incredible, and his energy was a fun way to start the show. I don't remember what he sang, but I liked it.
9. Ramyelle: She was probably my least favorite. Her voice is OK, but I was wondering how she made it this far on the show. She had on a skimpy outfit with high heeled boots (can anyone say pretty woman?). Anyway, as Simon would say--forgettable.
8. Michael Johns: The girls went crazy for him. My favorite of his set was "We are the Champions". He could really belt it out!
7. Christy Lee Cook: Another revealing outfit, but I actually enjoyed watching her perform. She did "God Bless the USA" that she did on the show and it was excellent.
6. Carly Smithson: AMAZING. She was actually one of my favorites of the evening. Her voice was spot on! She did an Evanescence song that really blew us away. I also liked her version of Celene Dion's "I drove all night". She was awesome.
5. Brooke White: Granted, I am biased, but it was so refreshing to see a beautiful girl dressed modestly! She did "Let it be" on the piano, and she also played the guitar. I loved all three of her performances.
4. Jason Castro: I was not a fan of Jason's during the show, but hearing him live was outstanding. He is very unique and fun to listen to. He has such a gorgeous face--if only he would cut those dumb dread locks!
3. Syesha Mercado: I loved her voice, but by this time I was thinking David Archuleta's next!! So, I had a hard time focusing.
2. DAVID ARCHULETA: YEAH! I am such a fan--and so was everyone else in the audience. The stadium erupted with screaming. It was pretty crazy, but so exciting to be there! His voice was as pure and crystal clear as I thought it would be. While he was singing I remembered Randy Jackson screaming "crazy vocals!!" I couldn't agree more. SO sad when his four songs were over.
1. DAVID COOK: YEAH!! I am a fan of David Cook's as well and it was cool to see a rock star in the making. He was throwing out guitar picks and touching the girls hands. He was great. I especially liked "Billy Jean" that he did on the show. Between his loud music and the girls screaming my ears were ringing, but it was so worth it. My only critisism was that his pants were WAY too tight. His butt is just too big to wear those pants. Other that that, great performances!
The following is a you tube clip that was posted today of the concert last night. I can't take credit for filming it, but it is really close to our seats, so this will give you an idea of what the concert was like. It is David A. perfoming "Angels". It was definitely one of my favorites. Anyway, I think that is enough rambling about the show. It was a great time. I am glad that Nathan and I will be able to share this memory!! Just for the record, he was screaming too :)
Sunday, September 7, 2008
A great week with grandma!
My mom has been here all week and I am sad that I didn't take any pictures!! Every time there was a great photo opportunity I forgot to bring my camara--I am so scatterbrained!! We had such a great week though. It was so fun to show her abound the area. Nate was a great tour guide both here and in his home town of Owensboro (now my mom can brag that she has seen the largest sassafrass tree--in the world). Serioulsy, it was great to show her around and give her an idea of what our lives are like here in Kentucky. Yesterday, we had a fun day shopping in Nashville and the kids were thrilled to eat at the Rainforest Cafe. Hailey cried and cried when we dropped grandma off at the airport. We will all miss her, but what a great week of memories!
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