Happy Father's Day Dad!

10 things I learned from my dad....
1) Heart and Soul on the piano both parts
2) Patriotism, be proud to be an American
3) Stand up for what's right no matter what
4) Golf, but that didn't stick....sorry Dad
5) Respect for my elders, especially mom
6) How to be a good parent, or at least the best you can be
7) That my Heavenly Father loves me
8) You don't back down from your responsibilities, commitments or promises
9) Do whatever task that has been given you the very best you can until it is completed
10)  That there are consequences for our actions and that we should accept them good or bad

I have learned much more from my dad.  He has always stuck by me, even when I'm sure he just wanted to knock me upside the head and shout "What the h--- are you thinking?!"  I love him more than I will ever be able to say in words. 

One day when we were talking I asked him what his favorite hymn was and he had two.  One of them is "Because I Have Been Given Much".  If you know the words to this song then you know what my dad is like.  He a pillar of strength.  So for Father's Day since I can't be there with you dad here is my present to you (isn't technology wonderful?) 

This is Marvin Goldstein's arrangement of one of my dad's favorite hymns (see above).  Sorry for whatever mistakes there are but I kinda decided to do this while I was sitting in church this afternoon. 

This is for you dad, I love you!

Sleepovers, Yard Sale and Trevon's Birthday.............

So I've been a big slacker and not written.  No excuses....just lazy.

Last Friday night Leslie brought the boys to stay for a couple hours while she and Cambria went to Relay 4 Life.  Her salon had a booth and she had signed up to walk from 7 to 9pm.  When she got back we all went to Jamie's in Layton.

I have to tell you how much I enjoy it when my daughters are being just goofy sisters.  We laughed and talked and I went to bed at about 1am and I am not sure when they got to sleep.

Bright and early the next morning the girls got out their stuff for the yard sale.  I made my way downstairs a little while later.  It actually was the first warm and sunny day we had had in almost a month and we all just sat outside enjoying the sunshine and the warmth it brought.

Trevon came out and we all got to wish him "Happy Birthday".  He's 5 now and will be starting kindergarten in the fall.  They just grow up too fast.

Once all the kids were up and dressed I took Cambria and Dominique to the store so we could get the things they needed for their lemonade stand.  They then proceeded in setting it up and trying to drum up business.  They ended up making a little over $9 which they split up amongst themselves to put in their vacation jars.

The yard sale was over about 1pm and Leslie packed up her stuff and her kids and went home.  Patrick made us lunch, a turkey sandwich and chips, which was sooo good because we were soooo hungry.

Then Jamie and Trev layed down for a nap and Jax went in his room to play with his friend.  I read my book and watched movies on TV.  When they got up Jamie and I took Trev to Walmart so we could get the things for his birthday party Sunday and I still had to get his present.

Sunday we went to this new park by Jamie's house.  I had to take the boys in my car because Jamie's was full of all the party/picnic stuff.  So Jax and Trev and Jax's friend Alex were walking to my car and I had the cutest conversation with them...

Alex-So which one is your car?
Me- the silver car right there. (my new Cobalt coupe)
Alex- WOW it's SWEET!
Me-giggle
Jax- (puffed up all proud) yea and it has REALLY soft seats in it.
Me-giggling still
Alex- (as we got closer) This car is really tight, really it is the coolest!
Me- why thank you (giggle)

Jax was all proud and I was thrilled that I could be the coolest Grandma with the sweetest, tightest car. A Chevy Cobalt...who knew?!

The park was really nice and we were the only ones there so we had the bowery all to ourselves.  Charles and Deb, and Angel, and Leslie, Paul and the kids all showed up as well as Patrick and a couple of Jamie's friends with their kids.

We had fried chicken, potato salad, Debbie made her yummy fruit salad, Leslie brought watermelon and of course birthday cupcakes.  It was a great afternoon and the kids played hard.  We just sat in the bowery with a nice breeze, just enough to keep it from being too hot, and talked.

Trevon is a speed present opener.  He would open a present and quickly glance at what it was and hand it to Jamie and go right on to the next one.  No stopping to admire or let us see what it was.  It was just like he was doing business. He had them all open in less than 5 minutes.

I sent the feedback on "Emmanuel" to Dale and he has sent me the next song, "Winter Wonderland".

I am currently reading "Divine by Choice" by P.C. Cast.  I enjoy her books.  The humor in them has me laughing out loud.  They are fun reads.

A Sleepover with........Mister???????

So another week has come and gone and we are hitting the halfway mark for the year.  Time is flying by way too fast.

My co-worker Jade (UPC clerk) decided not to come back from her LOA.  She is going to be a stay at home mom.  While I am very happy for her....I'm a little sad for me.  This means that I will be doing both jobs from now on since she won't be replaced.  I will truly miss her, she is such a good friend and she gave me a lot of help and encouragement during my change in jobs.

Saturday evening Jamie came to hang with her friend Monica and I took the boys to see Shrek in 3D.  I hate to admit this, but it was the first movie I have seen in 3D.  My favorite part of the movie......Hearing Jax crack up.  Trevon had a little trouble getting his 3D glasses to stay on, they were a little too big for his face.  The boys thought is was a very good movie.  Me, it was cute and I laughed and I liked Fiona better as a the tough leader of the Ogre's, she could kick some butt.

After the movie I dropped Jax off at Johnny's and took Trevon back to Monica's cause he wanted to see his mom and play with Monica's kids.  Monica and Jamie have been friends since they were 5.  Recently Monica's house caught on fire and they have just finished rebuilding.  I of course had to go in and snoop have her show me around.  It is beautiful and I am so glad that they have a home again.  I stayed and gossiped talked for a while.  It was very fun catching up and hearing all the latest about people we all knew.

Because we thought that the boy's were going to spend the night and Jamie would come over later to crash they had brought Mister (their Chihuahua).  So when I got home I got to have some quality time with Mister.  I went to bed and of course Mister had to sleep with me.  This is tough for me cause I am just not used to anyone or thing sleeping in my bed.  Every time I moved Mister would be right up against me a minute later.  When Jamie and Trevon came in (I'm pretty sure it was about 4am) Mister promptly jumped out of my bed and ran to Jamie.  I'd like to say it hurt my feelings but....YAY!  I had my bed to myself!

So yesterday I had to do the musical number for Sacrament meeting so I went early to get one of the pages copied because I HATE to have to turn the pages.  I was coming back down the stairs from the library thinking about my solo and then I saw Edris at the bottom of the stairs so I was grumbling at her for getting me to do this. I was not paying attention to where I was walking and my heel got caught on the carpet on the stair and I went flying head first down the stairs.

Okay....this was not one of my finer moments.  The worst part about it was Edris and her husband and someone else (I'm at a blank as to who) got to watch the whole thing.  It is so much better to have a clumsy moment with no audience. When I fell I also let out a yell so it brought even MORE people over to see what happened.  Oh my!  The next thing I knew Edris' husband was running to me and asking me if I was okay.  I looked around and told him I was fine, just embarrassed. I was also hoping nothing was showing that shouldn't be.  I jumped up before I even had a chance to see if I was hurting anywhere.  Later as I sat in Sacrament meeting different parts of my body were starting to ache. 

When it was time for me to go up to the piano I had to go up 2 stairs.  My friend John Valberg was sitting on the stand next to his wife Carol (one of the choristers).  He had been one of the people to run to my rescue.  I looked at him as I was going up the stairs and quietly told him that I wouldn't fall this time.  He just quietly laughed. 

I played Paul Cardall's arrangement of "God Our Father, Hear Us Pray".  It went well and I DIDN'T fall down the stairs on my way back to my seat afterwards.  When we were leaving the chapel, John walked by me and shook my hand and started to laugh again.  I told him that I was so glad that I could entertain him today.

When I got home and changed my clothes....I found I have a huge bruise on the side of my knee.  It hurts and is really ugly.  I had to take some Tylenol before I went to bed to help with all the aches.  Today I feel pretty good my right arm aches and my knee still hurts but the rest of the aches have gone away.

Dale J. sent me the next song for me to try.  It's "Emmanuel".  I have been having a lot of fun working with him.  It is giving me new music and new challenges. Plus I've made a new friend.

In which I deserve the "Greatest Grandma Award"..........

I think if it weren't for my grandchildren and neighbors I would have nothing to write about....SERIOUSLY!

Last SATURDAY (5/15) night the only thing that happened was at about 9:30 there was a quiet knock on my backdoor.....it was Carol H.  She was sheepishly standing there and I asked "What's up?"  She pulled out from behind her back some papers on which I could see music written. She quickly told me that THURSDAY her daughter Emily told her that she was asked to do the musical number for church on SUNDAY (5/16).  She was wondering if I would please look at this music and see if I would want to accompany Emily and her brother Caleb TOMORROW in Sacrament meeting.....

It was 9:30 on a Saturday night....I didn't even look at the music I just took it from her and said "of course I'll do it".........To which she replied "if you try it out and don't like it call me and let me know".  Yea right, the night before they are suppose to sing.  Then she asked if I would want to get together with them in the morning to run through it a couple of times....DUH!?!?!?! But I was nice to her and said that would be a great idea (without trying to be too sarcastic).  After all I do love Carol and her family.

Sunday was great.  The song was a song that Carol had heard when she and her husband Bill went to Hawaii last year.  She loved it so much that after the meeting she asked the lady that sang it who it was by and then found the music.  It is called "Savior" by Melanie and Roger Hoffman and it really is a beautiful song.  Emily and Caleb sounded so good and I do enjoy playing for them when they sing.

Work this last week was really quiet and boring (or more so than usual) since Conly was on overnights to help with the electronic mods.  So there was no one to throw markers at me from my window or try to scare me or just come to my window and talk to me for a minute.  Conly is also my lunch buddy so I had to eat lunch by myself 3 of the 5 days.  My friend Connie usually eats with us when she can and she could eat with me 2 of the days.

Friday night was Cambria's Dance Review at Bear River High in Tremonton. I went out there right after work.  When I got there Leslie was doing our friend Shelby's daughter McCall's nails for the Red and White dance Saturday night.  It was so fun to see McCall.  Leslie used to babysit for McCall all the time and now she was doing her nails for her first date.  How life does go on and comes back around.

Gunner heard me talking and started yelling (he was in the bathtub).  Leslie told me to go up and help him finish up but when I got halfway up the stairs he was running out of the bathroom...you guest it ....NAKED (like always).  He was so excited that I was there he said he was done with his bath. 

The Dance Review was  great.  Cambria danced her heart out as always.  It is just a really long night.  It starts at 6:00 and goes to about 9 or 9:30....sitting on hard gym bleachers.  I didn't take any pictures this time cause I just wanted to be able to watch her dance with no distractions. 

Saturday Cambria's Jr. Elite group was doing the halftime at the Stampede football game at USU.  It has been cold and rainy for most of the month of MAY soooo yes it was freezing at the football game.  It felt like a fall game...everyone huddled in blankets.  At least it didn't rain!

The game wasn't even good.  Paul says that this is a league that is made up of all the guys in high school that didn't make the varsity team.  Watching them play as older men...I can just say Braxton's football games will probably be more entertaining.  There was MAYBE 200 people there to watch the game.

Stampede is the Logan team, they even had cheerleaders?  Leslie and I watched them and decided that they were the girls in high school that tried out for cheerleader and never made it. They even did a dance at halftime and Leslie and I couldn't stop laughing (we were up far enough away from everyone else that no one heard us).  Then Cambria's group came out and showed them how to do it!  Of course the announcer messed up and called them the VanDell's instead of the VaDel's.

Cambria didn't care she was just glad to be able to dance another time. I told her I deserved the "Greatest Grandma" award for sitting there freezing my ass butt of to watch her dance. After we went to  Texas Roadhouse for dinner.  I had the smothered chicken breast with mushroom and onions...yum!  Gunner really liked our waitress and would talk to her every time she came to the table.  He is such a little flirt. They have buckets of peanuts in their shells on the tables and that was all Gunner wanted to eat.

When I got home I had a message on my machine...it was Edris...so I'm now doing the musical number for next Sunday.  At least she gives me a week to get ready.....

I just sent my feedback on "We Three Kings" to Dale J. so I'm waiting for the next song.

I am reading "The Walk" by Richard Paul Evans.

Mother's Day weekend........

Saturday Cambria had another day of team competitions but Leslie also had a wedding to go to at 4 so I stayed home so I could watch the boys.  Jamie went with Leslie and took care of Cambria after Leslie had to leave and then Cambria spent the night at Jamie's. 

Braxton was a little upset because Cambria was getting to have a sleepover at Jamie's so I told Leslie to let the boys sleepover at my house.  It would be her Mother's Day present.  The boys were so excited that they didn't want to wait until 3 to come over.

When they got here we played outside (it was actually a nice day).  Braxton brought his scooter and his football.  Braxton is all excited because he is going to get to play football this fall, so he was busy kicking and throwing his football around. 

They were really pretty good and went to sleep at a reasonable hour.  Sunday morning they fought played with each other (which Leslie says is the norm for them).  It didn't matter what toy Braxton had, Gunner wanted it too.  I had them pick out a movie, hoping it would settle them down.....didn't happen.  Then they sat on the couch and wrestled with each other and fighting about who was going to sit where.

Sunday afternoon Jamie had a bar-b-que at her place. She always puts on a great bar-b-que.  Patrick is the grill man and he is pretty good at it.  We had ribs, chicken, hot dogs, green salad, fruit salad and chips.  Angel came as well and Leslie and her family.  The kids had a great time playing together. 

It turned out to be a very nice Mother's Day.  I am so proud of my girls and the mother's that they have become.  They are my best friends.

I just finished sending the feedback to Dale J. on "Here We Go A Wassailing".  I can't wait to see what the next song he sends me is.

I am currently reading "Tempted" by P.C. and Kristin Cast.  This is the 6th book in the House of Night series.

Cambria's School Progam or The Recorder Concert......

Last night I received a phone call from my granddaughter. She told me that today she would be in her 3rd grade program at 1:45 and would I please come and watch her. How could I refuse that invitation? On the plus side that would mean I could work 6 hours with no lunch, burn 2 hours of vacation and start my weekend early. It was a win win situation.

When I got to work this morning I went to find Shift Manager Ken to tell ask him if I could leave early today. The conversation went something like this.......

Me: Hey Ken I need to ask you for a favor..
Ken: Sure what do you need?
Me: My granddaughter is having a program today at...
Ken: Sure go ahead and leave when you need to.
Me: Thanks, I'm not going to come back so I'll need to put in a couple of hours of vaca...
Ken: Sure, just let me know when you've put it in so I can approve it.

WOW!  That was easy!  No begging, crying or bargaining involved.  Then before I left he saw me in the hall and told me to have a great rest of the day and also wished me Happy Mother's day.  I love Ken he is the BEST!!!!

I went to Cambria's school and found Leslie (fighting with Gunner about him wanting to push the stroller all over the place).  I was expecting the usual program, cute kids singing cute songs and saying their parts.  Instead they sang 3 cute songs and then they all played their recorders for the rest of the time, with some cute kids saying their lines which ended up being them telling corny jokes.

I remember well my siblings and my daughters all having to learn the recorder in elementary school. I never did though.  That was either because they didn't teach recorder in the elementary schools I went to or because the schools didn't want to torture themselves or the parents with the instrument or maybe it is just a Utah thing......  In fact I think I still have Leslie's recorder in a drawer somewhere.

Okay, so the memories I have of someone playing the recorder were not always good ones, so seeing about 90 3rd graders on stage all put their recorders to there mouths, well didn't excite me too much.
I was pleasantly surprised when they actually sounded good.  They were all together and no one was missing their notes or making them squeak when they played the higher notes. Kudos to their music teacher.

They played the standard recorder numbers...."Hot Cross Buns", "Mary Had a Little Lamb" to name a few.  Then they started to play songs that I have never heard before and some that I would not expect to hear a recorder playing. One of the songs they played was "Amazing Grace" and some other more advanced songs.  They were really good.

The teacher teaches them the recorder like karate.  They received belts for getting to different levels.  It was quite interesting and the kids seemed to respond and learn well from it.  Once again kudos to their teacher.

Gunner of course was restless during the program.  One time he had to go to the "poddy".  Then he wanted a drink- RIGHT NOW!  I rummaged around in my purse and found half a roll of butterscotch lifesavers.  Gunner thought they were really good and ended up eating the rest of the roll.  Then I found a Tootsie Roll that I got a couple of Sundays ago.  Susan was giving them out to our Primary kids and she gave me one that I just threw in my purse and forgot about.  It was a good thing though, since it kept Gunner quiet until the end of the program.

After it was over I came home and on the way stopped at Taco Time and got my favorite-Casita Burrito- which is also the Friday special.  It was yummy and that took care of my lunch/dinner since it was around 3 when I finally got to eat.

I received my fourth song from Dale J.  It is "Here We Come a Wassailing"  My feedback is due to him by Monday.

I am currently reading "Untamed" by P.C.and Kristin Cast.  It is the 4th book in the House of Night series.  I love the humor in them and they are quick reads.

Dance Competitions 2010.....................

Spring to dancers means competition time. Cambria once again is competing solo as well as with her studio teams.

Her second solo competition was last Friday (April 23rd) in Logan. She was of course awesome and took Queen for her group (intermediate)

Here she is with her trophy and crown. There are more pictures from this weekend's competitions on my Facebook if you want to see them.

Yesterday she competed with her solo in Tremonton. She was up against four other girls. She was awesome and scored really high, she received a 98 and a 98.5 out of a possible 100. The judges loved her, but as she gets older and moves up the competition gets tougher but she will be able to do well because she is such a competitor at heart. She even critics herself and watches what the other girls are doing. Here she is with her 2nd attendant trophy for the intermediate 3rd-4th grade.

There are more pictures from this weekend on my Facebook if you want to look. After Cambria dances we hurried over and literally caught the last 15 minutes of Braxton's soccer game. He was in there playing hard. They just get so much better every year.

Go Braxton!

There he goes after the ball (he is the one in white).

Here is Cambria's Solo for this year. I finally got one recorded without having to dodge Gunner's or Braxton's heads. This is her dancing at the competition at Bear River High in Tremonton yesterday.

Other than watching Cambria dance not much else has been happening. I have received my third song from Dale J. to work on. It is "I Saw Three Ships" it is really fun to play. I have to send him my feedback tomorrow.

I am currently in between books right now so nothing there to report.