The Shows Go On

The last two nights have been full of entertainment for our family. Last night, Kent took four of the children to the Hope of America Student Showcase at the Marriott Center in Provo.


This annual events kicks off Provo's Freedom Festival. #1 is somewhere in the fifth red stripe down. Can you find her? We all had a lot of fun reviewing the songs, which we learned last year and were provided on a practice CD, so during the performance, #2 and #4 sang along. Interspersed with the students' songs were other singing and dancing groups. My kids' favorite were the dancing grannies. One of their members, who is 98 years young, did the splits! Wow!

While they were at BYU, #3 and I joined Grammy and ScAmyLu (Kent's brother's family) at UVU for the Lipizzaner Stallions show. This was a treat for me to see because I've wanted to see the Lipizzaners since I was a young girl. The show included lots of explanation about the history of the horses and their use in war and with royalty, and they did several demonstrations of the different "steps" the horses learn. It was very interesting as well as entertaining. They call them horses of battle and ballet, and it was stunning to see these horses and recognize how noble and intelligent they are. #3 and I both had a good time. (FYI, it looks like the horse is just rearing up, but he actually holds that position for several seconds, which is difficult because it puts all his weight on his back legs and throws the center of gravity off. Impressive!)

Tonight the three oldest girls and I performed in a piano recital for my students.


I am proud of all my students for the progress they have made in the past nine months or so. This is the first year that I've had students besides my own children, and it's been great to be consistent with lessons. In years past, we got lazy with piano lessons when life got busy, so I'm glad my kids didn't give up on me completely at that point. I've really enjoyed teaching and spending more time on the piano myself. I was a little surprised that I was nervous to play my piece and consequently made a few mistakes. I guess getting over the jitters is not something you grow out of with age. Or maybe I trained myself at a young age to be nervous at recitals. I think my students felt that same nervous energy tonight. It's just part of performing, no matter who the audience is.

Did you notice? I am including pictures taken inside my house...and they aren't yellow! My friends got me a new camera as a thank you for babysitting. I'm so happy! When everyone left I sat down and read the first 47 pages of the owner's manual as I played with the different features. Too bad this isn't our Book Club reading this month, because I think I'll actually finish this book. ;o)