How the Boys Spent Their Thanksgiving

Poor Christian and Sean could not be with us for Thanksgiving... of course, I really shouldn't say poor Christian and Sean, because you know where they were? HAWAII. Yeah, not feeling so bad for them anymore, are you? :) The Timpview Marching Band had the opportunity this year to travel to Pearl Harbor with two Utah veterans and play at several memorials and remembrance events--what a wonderful opportunity! It really is quite an amazing thing to see a 14 year old and 17 year old (just turned 17 the day they left for Hawaii!) tear up when talking about Pearl Harbor--truly something great to see their hearts touched like that.

The band marched in the Waikiki Parade:

Played at the Polynesian Cultural Center, (below is a clip of them playing an Armed Forces Medley--not gonna lie, the Marines Anthem is still my favorite):

and performed "Eternal Father" at the USS Arizona Memorial, among other things. This last one, according to the boys, truly was a spectacular experience--for one, they received special permission to be there and perform (it's a pretty big deal), and of course, not to mention the content of where they were--they seriously can't talk about it without getting choked up:

Once I get my hands on some pictures, I will be posting those as well. :)

Marching Band 2011

At the boys' Fall concert, the Marching Band played--all of them, all up on stage (and down around it)--boggles my mind how they can all fit them in that auditorium).

Timpview SWEEPS Rocky Mountain Marching Band Competition

As you may have guessed by the title, the Timpview High Marching band made a clean sweep of the awards at the Rocky Mountain Marching Band Competition--FIRST PLACE IN EVERY CATEGORY! It was hosted at the BYU football stadium, so we actually got to go! Hence, the AWESOME pictures. :)

First up, soldier Sean--never breaks attention, not even for a second!

 Playing multiple instruments and running around the entire show:

 

and second, Christian, our Sexy Sax Man, running around like an insane maniac (at parents' night you can shadow the kids--we've all tried it and failed. Those kids sure book it on the field!):

Go Timpview! :)

Home on the Range

This is my favorite song from the boys' Marching Band Show this year:

Happy Birthday Sean! #14

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SEAN!!!

For Sean's birthday we had a scavenger hunt--involved lots and lots and LOTS of goodies, including delicious European TWISTS (yes, we finally found a store here that sells them!). Of course, these gifts didn't come without some effort--each prize came with another clue leading to the next:

 My personal favorite was the narwhal clue--we all got to watch the youtube video about narwhals (newly introduced to me in the past few weeks--um, interesting....)

 The last clue was attached to Sean's baby, Dolly--that was fun. Poor girl thought she was in trouble. 

 Dolly led Sean to the awesome movie--MEGAMIND! :)

and of course, no birthday is complete without a cake--or in this case, cupcakes--this year's theme? Sean's two favorite animals: Narwhals and Penguins!

Band

 And the boys have both had several wonderful band concerts--I am continually amazed by the talent these kids have! 

Sean's middle school concert blew me away--I played the flute in our middle school band, there were three of us, and the other sections were much bigger, and we really didn't play anything all that exciting. At Sean's concert they had several different bands (beginner to advanced, percussion included--we didn't have ANY percussion... they have an entire section, and an after school percussion ensemble!), they played difficult yet entertaining repetoire, and they even played a QUEEN tribute medly. It was pretty dang awesome:

The next week we attended Christian's Jazz Band Pillow Concert--much different than his usual concerts, very interesting, but quite entertaining as well, and you can tell that the kids really had fun with it. They played songs like the theme from The Incredibles, The Pink Panther, Nacho Libre, etc. Christian played an awesome solo for The Pink Panther (sorry about the sound quality, they were having issues with the sound equipment and the audience was a bit loud):

Now they're done with band!--haha, for like a week, then on to Marching Band! :)

Making Chocolate Treats

The boys are great helpers--most of the time. ;)

Somehow Kelli got them to assist in making chocolate dipped pretzels for Christmas.

Lots and lots of pretzels...

Music in the Air

Last week the boys had their Christmas band concerts. Unfortunately I don't have any photos from Sean's--the Centennial auditorium is a scary place, let's just leave it at that... --but he was awesome! Sean seriously was amazing--he was on a different instrument for every song, sometimes switching in the middle of a song even. Incredible. And did you know that he's on the band council? I had no idea. He's pretty amazing. :)

Next was Christian's band concert at Timpview. First up he played a solo in his jazz combo:

And then he played another solo for the Jazz Band performance. He was a soloing fool! ;) I love their jazz band, they are so much fun to listen to!

And of course, it wouldn't be Christmas without Santa Claus...

Merry music Christmas!

The End of the Road

It's the end of the line for our dear old Wasatch Elementary School. The last time we will ever watch the kids braid the maypole--yep, Sean has graduated from the sixth grade! Onto bigger and better things. Speaking of which, Christian is also moving up in the world--HIGH SCHOOL!!! One in middle school and one in high school. They grow up so fast!






It's the end of the line for our dear old Wasatch Elementary School. The last time we will ever watch the kids braid the maypole--yep, Sean has graduated from the sixth grade! Onto bigger and better things. Speaking of which, Christian is also moving up in the world--HIGH SCHOOL!!! One in middle school and one in high school. They grow up so fast!

Music Magic

Christian playing the bass clarinet

Sean playing the clarinet

Christian and Sean's band concert--let's just say that personally, I was blown away. I never expected to hear that high of a caliber from elementary and middle school bands. My elementary school band consisted of four members--yeah, so pretty much I was awe-struck by this the whole time. Wow. If you don't believe me, check out the videos--it was quite the experience.

ODE TO JOY: Combined choirs--all the elementary schools, middle school, and high school played together in the finale.



LIBERTY BELL



NETTLETON

and my personal favorite, ROCK CREEK ADVENTURE. This one totally takes me back to Disney's California Adventure--I love it!

Real Men Wear Tights

Today was the 6th grade medieval feast at Wasatch Elementary, and you know who the king was??? Our very own Sean Patrick! So of course, what's a king without style? Gotta love a man in tights!

Magnetism?

We were playing Cranium the other day, and Sean was chosen for Charades. His objective was to portray magnetism. He's quite the actor. :)

Christmastime is Here Again!

Christmastime is here again, and boy did we have a fantastic day! Sean of course was decked out by penguin-themed presents galore, while Christian enjoyed playing with our favorite early-Christmas present, Macgyver the puppy. It was a day full of smiles and happiness all around!