End of Year Concert

The last concert of the year is here and I'm glad to finally see it end. It wasn't her worst year in choir, but it was pretty close. First, we missed auditions for her to be in Premiere, so she was put in the beginning choir class for girls, again. They had a class presidency who did nothing and halfway through the year some of them were asked to leave the class. Then before Christmas, her class was told that they could audition to move up to Premiere for the last half of the year. Gabbi did, but when it came time to decide, her teacher pulled Gabbi aside and told her that if she moved her up, the girls' choir would be in a world of hurt and she just couldn't part with her. That one angered me. That's when they made her president as well. 

Then to top it all off, for the final concert, her teacher encouraged her to try out to do a solo for the concert. She didn't want to do a solo but decided to put together a quartet. They worked really hard on it, before school, during lunch, and after. When they tried out, their teacher told them that she had literal goosebumps and that they were a shoo-in to perform at the concert. The week her teacher announced the special numbers Gabbi, and her quartet weren't on it. They went up and asked their teacher why she had changed her mind. She told them that she had decided to go with all seniors for the final since it was their last concert. I can understand that, but at the concert, I discovered that wasn't right. Only half of them who did special numbers were seniors and all those who were chosen had done multiple numbers throughout the year. Gabbi's teacher played a horrible game of favorites and I'm glad she's finally done with her.

When the concert finally started, I was just crossing my fingers that it wouldn't go as long as it did last time. No luck. With all the special musical numbers that concert dragged on. They all did a great job in their group numbers, but I only liked one or two of the special musical numbers. It's almost like they ran out of time to practice. That made the whole tryout situation anger me even more. Gabbi's group did some really fun songs and even had some fog blown on the stage for one of their numbers. All their practice (what practice they actually had since their teacher pulled in the solos and duets to use their class time to practice) paid off even without the help of their teacher. I just hope this experience doesn't change her mind about continuing in choir. The only good this that happened from her teacher was a glowing recommendation just in case they tried to throw her in the beginning choir at her new school.

Mother's Day

I had no intention of doing anything for Mother's Day, but Gabbi had another idea. She texted Christy to see what she could do to help. I didn't really think that was fair since Christy is a mom too. Luckily for Gabbi, she only had her kids for the morning, so she happily helped Gabbi plan some fun for the evening. I wasn't quite sure what they had put together, but as soon as Christy got there, I was kicked out.

When I was finally called back into the kitchen, I came to a kitchen counter full of very yummy-smelling food. They had cooked stake stripes, roasted potatoes, fruit salad, salad, rolls, chips and homemade salsa. Not only did it smell good, but it also tasted amazing. When we were done eating, we cleaned up and played a game before Christy had to head home. It was a fun night and I'm glad that we got to spend it with Christy.

Festival Choir Concert

I still have issues with Gabbi's choir teacher, but I'm grateful that Gabbi has never backed out despite everything that has happened this year. She wasn't really excited about tonight because it was her birthday. Not only did she have her concert, but she also had driver's ed, road, and a driver's ed parents meeting. It was a really busy day for her. I was only hoping that this concert wouldn't last as long as the Christmas concert did. Gabbi said it was just the groups performing their festival songs and that's it. I was crossing my fingers.

The boys' group went first and then I realized just how long this concert was actually going to be. After the boys were done singing, they had 3 special musical numbers. Then Gabb's group went up. They did a great job on their songs, better than they did at Christmas, which means they're getting better. When they were done, another set of 3 musical numbers was done. This was going to be a long concert. Just shy of 2 hours, the concert finally ended. After waiting for Gabbi to grab all of her things, we finally went home. 

Baptisms

One of the best perks about being back in Utah is being so close to a temple. We can go as often as we are able, and it doesn't take the whole day. I have loved being able to go once a week. The kids have been able to go a few times since we've been here. It's bright and early, but the fact that they can go is all that matters. 

Family Dinner

It's been a while since we've all been at family dinner. With the busy schedules and lives of all the older kids sometimes they're there sometimes they're not. We still weren't complete tonight because Ben wasn't there, but it was the most complete it's been in a while. It was nice.

Cats

The cats always find ways of making me laugh. We got them a new cat tower and they were all weirded out by it. At first, Dale was all over it while I was putting it together, but when I was done with it and in place they didn't want anything to do with it. I had to spray catnip spray on it for them to come near it and then they didn't want to leave. It was fun watching them.

On top of all that, we took Dale outside on the new leash we got, and he was on cloud nine. I tried to coax Chip out, but he wouldn't come out. He watched from my bedroom window. When I came in to check on him, he was sitting on my dresser. That's not a normal place for him to sit and it took me off guard. He jumped down from there faster than a speeding bullet...as they say. It's a good thing we love these 2 guys.

Primary Boys

Today for our primary boy activity, we focused on Moms. The boys first made a card for their moms with a handwritten note on the inside and then they were shown a really cool knot-tying activity. They could either make a necklace or bracelet for their moms or really anything that they could come up with. A lot of them even chose their mom's favorite colors. They were better behaved today than they have been in the past, which was nice and when the activity ended, they all went home.