Two Piano Recitals

I have a student, Nichole, that I've been teaching for nine years, and this year she's a senior. I planned and organized a recital just for her on May 17th.

I made a photo book for her with all the pictures I had of her from her recitals with me throughout the years.

She told me what colors she wanted, which was a pale aqua and silver.

I was fortunate she chose those colors, since I had several decorations leftover from a Relief Society birthday dinner I'd put on a few years ago.

I cut out glittery silver pianos and piano keys to put on the walls.

Nichole worked very hard and had lots of extra practices with me, to learn seven songs to perform a the recital. I made invitations and had her give them to her friends and family.

I also made a slide show of some of the pictures that I'd put into the photo book.

Nichole requested cheesecake for refreshments, so I made three different cheesecakes and toppings from scratch the day before the recital.

I walked about 4 miles with all I did for set up, and even though I was wearing my compression leggings, this is how my legs looked at the end of the night---

I had my usual recital on Saturday morning, June 8th.

I used watercolor flowers as my theme this year, with yellow, pale pink and dark pink as my colors. I made about twenty largish organza flowers in those colors. I also added black vinyl to a white charger plate to make it look like piano keys. I love the way it turned out!

I even used pastel colored organza for my piano keys backdrop, instead of my usual white. It was all fabric that I already had from previous events. I didn't buy any fabric.

The Stinsons came to visit and the girls played in my recital.

As I've been doing for the past few years, I divided my students into two recitals.

The second group was quite a bit larger than the first group.

I had the pink and yellow tablecloth from a previous Relief Society activity, and was happy to find a way to use it again.

                        

Kent set up a fairy recital as part of the decorations, which was very cute.

Since it was in the morning I asked everyone to bring breakfast food, and had set up tables in the large side of the cultural hall for people to sit and eat.

It was a good idea, except there wasn't enough time after the first recital for people to finish eating before it was time for the second recital. The first group kind of had to be rushed out to make room for the second group, and there wasn't really time to clean up the mess made by the first group before the second group came. Lessons learned for the future!

Stinsons Come to Visit!

The Stinson family came to visit for a few days at the beginning of June.

The clematis bush in front of the house was in full bloom while they were here.

Kiera and Savannah wanted to do some sewing while they were here,

so I helped them to sew some pillow covers.

The hydrangea bushes were also looking lovely in June, so I poised they girls to get some pictures.

This was definitely a bumper crop year for the hydreangeas!

The Stinsons' visit coincided with my piano recital (they planned it that way) so both the girls played in the recital.

We were able to do something different with them that we hadn't done before.

Stafford County was where George Washington's boyhood home was located, and a replica of that home was recently built.

The fun thing about it was that everything inside the rooms were reproductions, so guests were encouraged to touch. The girls had to try out the rope bed.

The house was built according to specifications found in letters and records.

There were some 18th century games to try out.

Savannah found a broom and tried it out.

Along the trail from the visitor's center to the house replica were some of the "Rules of Civility". It was an etiquette handbook that George Washington copied out as a school exercise when he was 14, and tried to live by the rules found therein.

Their visit was just five days, but we packed in lots of activities and had a great time with them!

Visit to the El Paso Carsons for Mother's Day

We were excited to visit the Carson family in early May, since we hadn't seen them since the beginning of January. The twins are at an age where they're still learning lots of new things and changing fast.

Kent and I had a very early flight, so we arrived in El Paso in time to have lunch with Andrew at his school.

Andrew is in kindergarten this year.

Cuddling with Sylvia after we got home from lunch.

After school we met Andrew to walk home with him.

It turns out my good friend Dana Barton, who lives in Oklahoma, was visiting her daughter in El Paso at the same time we would be there. It was really great to see her again after 11 years!

The Carsons have a hammock in their back yard which brings them hours of fun. I love this picture of Tyler with the twins; he looks so happy.

                              We always come prepared to go hiking when we visit Tyler and Rachel's family. It's a great family activity and we love joining them on their hikes!                 

I thought it was so adorable of Christian walking with his hands clasped behind his back that I followed him around to take a picture.

One evening we had a little friendly game of baseball in the backyard,

then roasted some marshmallows to make s'mores around the fire pit.

I love that Melody loves to wear dress up clothes! It's so sweet. And I glad she has a nice big sister who likes to dress up with her.

Rachel is an awesome cook and always makes wonderful meals. Andrew and Sylvia like to help her.

I went into nursery with Melody and Christian, and took some cute pictures of them.

                                

They're wearing the matching outfits that I made for Lissa and Garrett in 1986, I just bought new shirts for the twins to wear under them. They looked sooooo cute!               

After church we took some pictures, but the kids were moving targets and wouldn't stay still.

The kids did pretty well with us holding the twins, though! As usual, we had a very enjoyable visit with the Texas Carson family!