Dallas and the National American Choral Directors Association Conference

In March Austin’s high school choir had been invited as one of three high school choirs to present at the National music conference for choir teachers, composers and conductors all over the world in Dallas, Texas.  I did not want Austin to miss this once in a lifetime opportunity, but with him being so sick wasn’t sure how to make it happen for him.  After speaking with his choir teacher, Mr. Iverson, we agreed that If Austin’s doctors thought it would be alright and I could accompany him, it would be okay for him to go on the tour.  Eric and I hurried and found tickets, the choir re-arranged chaperones and room assignments to fit me in and a few weeks later Austin and I were boarding a plane to Dallas.  I was so glad Austin didn’t have to miss this. 

Myerson Symphony Center

Winspear Opera House

He got to sing for some of the best composers and conductors in the world.  The Winspear Opera House and the Myerson Symphony Center were both beautiful venues and were packed.  The choir’s program was met with standing ovations and brought them world wide acclaims.  They were invited to come to the World Choir Convention in 2014 because of their performance, but had to decline due to the expenses and safety concerns of international travel with a large group of students.

These are the composers of the pieces the choir sang.  Throughout the year they had opportunities to have these composers come and help them work on their songs.

One day the group went to Six Flags.  I wasn’t sure how Austin was going to deal with that, but after throwing up a few times, I think his stomach got so confused on the rides that it didn’t know whether to be sick or not so he actually had a pretty good day.  

Downtown Dallas touring:

Don't Mess with Texas

The Subway System

The Bus System

The Spot of Kennedy's Assassination 

It was fun to be with Austin and his friends.  I am sure his first choice wouldn't have been to have his mother as a tag-along, but I will always have very fond memories of this time with Austin.

Easter

For Easter our family, along with Lani and Cathy, went up to the Heywood Hideaway  in Mossyrock, Washington for a little R&R.  It was a great weekend.

  McKenna played Easter bunny and orchestrated the best Easter Egg Hunt ever.  She sectioned the cabin property off into zones and assigned each of us a zone and a color.  We each hid eggs of all colors in our zone then Mckenna had us draw colors.  We would hunt all over the property for the color of egg that we drew. 

 Everyone was able to hide the eggs and everyone was able to hunt.  It was so fun.

Here are a few of the hiding spots:

It was really a tough hunt.  Can you find the egg in the following picture?

 Look a little closer...

McKenna even had prizes organized and had hidden a “golden egg” with a grand prize.  

Eric found the golden egg and got a blue ribbon and chocolate bunny for his effort.  

What a creative and talented daughter we have.  

We all had a fun weekend and enjoyed all the cabin had to offer.

    

Dance Team

Ever since McKenna was born I have wondered if she would want to be on the school dance team. That was such a fun part of my high school years.  I made so many friends and had such great experiences, I wanted the same for my daughter.  Imagine my excitement when she said she wanted to try out for the middle school dance team!  Here is her experience in her own words:

For middle school this year, I decided that dance team was going to be my "big sport."  I was so excited to be able to tryout with my friends and do something I loved, but I wasn't sure if I would be good enough to make it.  I prayed extra hard every night during the tryouts and practiced the dance so much that I got bruises all over my body.  When I discovered I had made it in, I was relieved that it was finally over...but, dance team was only just beginning!

I made it!

In order to have our routines polished for competition we had to practice after school many days a week for hours at a time.  During the season we became like a family and went on to win all of our competitions.  All in all, dance team was a great experience that I hope to continue next year.

THE PRACTICES

Hard work, sweat and tears made us grow together.  We became one big family.

THE COMPETITIONS

It was fun to perform in front of an audience and was a great experience as well.  The first performance was nerve racking but after that I knew what to expect and it was just routine. I was able to relax and have fun at the other competitions.

 THE AWARDS

We are #1 - enough said!  We won every award in every category from drill down to best hair and everything in between.

THE TEAM

 All the girls were fun to be around and worked hard to deserve their spot on the team.  In the end everyone was able to help each other improve and built strong relationships with each other.

THE COACHES

Sarah Dayley and Tiff Tangen were great coaches.  They knew how to make the team work hard and what it would take to win.  Luckily they knew how to have fun too.

THE MOMS

By Keri:  Now I get to experience dance team from the perspective of a mom. (A big thank you to my Mom who set such a great example of support and involvement.)  It is a lot of fun, though McKenna did draw the line at letting me dance with them at practices.  I got to organize costumes and help with make-up.   I'm excited for next year too!

 

Indexing Challenge

At the beginning of the year our church began a big push with the genealogical society to get all the worldwide microfiche records into digital/searchable form by indexing in hopes of making genealogical connections easier and faster to find.  Our stake president issued a challenge to our stake that over the next year he would like to see our stake index 6 million records.  To accomplish this goal would require the effort of every member.  They started by training and teaching the youth.  Sunday afternoons at our house we would boot up the computers, download a batch and start inputting data.  We wanted to do our part.  On Sunday afternoon Carson was entering ship records of passengers sailing from Australia to the United states when he ran across one of our family names – Ellsworth.  Immediately I recognized it and started doing some of my own research.  I pulled out our Ellsworth history book to see if I could find out more information on this relative. Come to find out Curtis Tempest Ellsworth had just finished serving as a missionary in Australia and was coming home.  We then were able to piece together the rest of his story, where he settled, the family he raised, his service in his community and in the church.  What a testament to the great work this indexing was and the service it would provide to those trying to find their family members through searching old records.