Dallin is a Teenager!

Dallin's birthday started early Friday December 16th. We had him open his presents just after a yummy pancake breakfast. There was a sneaky reason for this.

See if you can guess what we had planned for Dallin that day...

Ryan took the day off work and we checked Dallin out of school. Then they headed up to Sundance to go snowboarding with Dallin's new gear. They tried the bunny hill for a while but decided it wasn't steep enough for snowboarding. Then Ryan remembered that a buddy at work had invited him to a free day of skiing at Sundance that day. He went up to the ticket counter and asked if they had a Novell special that day. The lady said No. He thought for a second and then said, "how about The Chamber of Commerce?" She said Yep and handed him two lift tickets for the day! The boys spent the rest of the day riding the lifts and skiing (Ryan) or boarding (Dallin). Ryan said Dallin did really well for his second time being on a board. Dallin was happier that night than I've ever seen him. Just wait till he gets his Christmas present!

Getting Ready For Bed

Sometimes, as I'm updating my blog, I come across little surprises like this. Eden loves taking pictures with her camera. She took this picture while they were getting ready for bed on December 15th.

I imagine Ryan took this next picture. He usually tucks the kids in. He gives Evelyn her bottle and puts her to bed first. Then he snuggles with the girls and kisses them goodnight.

Cameron reads as she patiently waits for Ryan to tuck her in.  Eden's supposed to be reading too but I guess tonight she was busy snuggling.

Cameron's Orchestra Christmas Concert

Cameron has been learning to play the Viola this year as part of a combined school sixth grade orchestra. She goes to another elementary school three mornings a week for practice. The mom's worked out a carpool so I drive all the girls there at 7:10 am on wednesday and friday and other moms picks up the girls and takes them all to their school in time for school to start at 8:30 am. It has made for some crazy mornings but Cameron really enjoys it.

On December 14th she performed for the 5th and 6th grades of both schools. Our school walked to their school at 9 am and then walked back after the performance. Cameron got to play a song with her friend Emily on the violin and another girl on the cello. 

That night the orchestra performed again for all the parents. I'm really impressed with how much the students have learned in just a couple of months.

After the performance the conductor had the students play an encore and invited the parents to come up and take pictures. Cameron is so cute.

Christmas Sing Along

We had the annual Christmas sing along at Jacque's house this year. It was nice and cozy and lots of fun. This picture is kind of a Where's Waldo. See if you can find all the Smith kids.

Christmas Piano Recital

The kids Christmas piano recital was on Saturday morning December 10.

First Eden played a duet. They only practiced twice together and it turned out pretty good.

Eden played another song by herself and then another duet with Cameron. My favorite part was how she ducked her head close to the keys when she was supposed to play super quiet. It was the cutest thing.

Cameron then played Claire De Lune. She had the whole thing memorized and it was 5 1/2 minutes long! It was beautiful. She did such a great job. All this time she's been practicing and I never realized how long the song was.

Then she played a duet with Dallin.

And for the finale Dallin played Turkish March. That is one hard song to play and he had it memorized too. He just needs his hands to grow a little bit so he can reach the hard parts.

There were about 10 or so other students that played too and they all did a great job. I'm really happy with the kids piano teacher and the technique and skills she's teaching them.

Dallin's Winter Band Concert

Dallin's taking Percussion in Jr. High this year. He played the bells and the big bass drum at their winter concert on December 6th.

The band sounded pretty good considering most of these kids have only been playing for a few months.

Wicked

On December 3, 2011 Cameron and I saw Wicked in California with my Dad and Kathy. It was so much fun. Cameron and I have been trying to get tickets for years. I finally decided the only way it would work is if I went outside of Utah, they sell out too fast here.

Don't they all look great.

Inside the Pantages Theater foyer. We were allowed to take pictures here.

I wasn't supposed to take pictures inside the theater but I took a quick one before anyone noticed. The theater is so beautiful inside.

We both loved the show. The story was so well done it made me totally want to see it again. Then, the Monday after we got back (it was a quick trip) I was able to buy 4 tickets during our banks presale. The show is coming here in August!  I couldn't believe it but I'm so happy Ryan, Dallin, Cameron and Eden will all get to go.

We also had a really nice visit with my Dad and Kathy. It was quiet and relaxing. We got to see their beautiful Christmas tree and enjoy a little warm California weather. The only down part to the whole weekend was at security in Salt Lake. They told me I had to open my Dad's Christmas present and remove the little snowglobe we had gotten him. We had to throw it away because I guess snowglobes pose a serious threat. I was mostly bummed because Eden had picked it out just for my Dad because it had a "G" for Gilroy on it. I guess this is just the world we live in now.