Triple Piano Recital

Earlier this year, all the kids were ready for their graduation recitals.....

at the same time.

We did not plan this, it just happened that way.

This meant 3 recitals, all in one night.

It was a great night of music.

McKay graduated from Book 1 in the Suzuki piano method. McKay is a unique student. Even though Suzuki teaches students to first learn by ear, and then learn to read music, McKay has an exceptional talent for this. He can pick out the melody to any tune on the piano, in any key....any Christmas song, any song Connor is playing, any song we like on the radio.

He also loves to play duets. A lot of kids his age can't handle someone playing a completely different part at the same time. He, on the other hand, loves it! So, for his recital, he played several duets with his teacher, Mrs. Connie Bell.

Or, "Grandma", to them.

Makenna also graduated from Suzuki piano book 1. Her strengths are technique, technique, and technique. She sits perfectly; her hand position is perfect and she tries to play the exact way grandma, I mean Mrs. Bell, wants her to play. She loves to play with dynamics: quiet and soft; loud and with power. She is very good and picks up things very quickly.

Connor graduated 1/2 way through book 3. The reason they do a 1/2 way recital is because the songs are too long to keep good while learning the rest of the songs in book 3. One song is 6 pages and 3 movements long, and the other is 4 pages and 2 movements long.

Connor is doing incredibly well with his piano. It hasn't been all peaches and cream (i.e. early morning practicing) but it's been well worth it. He is playing some pretty hard Sonatas right now, and performed with as much musicality as I've seen a 9 year old play with. He loved the response from the crowd at the recital and played with much gusto! He really got into the dynamics and feelings of the songs he played and the crowd just ate it up. And by the look on his face, you could tell, he LOVED it!

During refreshments, Connor and one of his good friends Asher, decided to raid Grandma's dress-up box. (Thank you for coming, by the way, Ash!!!) Here are the results:

The dapper, weight-lifting, bobcat athlete; and the reggae robber.

"Jason" with a yellow wig; and Thor (as a robber) with a boa.

All the kids with their favorite teacher, Grandma Bell.

Super YUM! Try these, you must!

I have been wanting to try these for a while! A dear, dear friend told me about this blog.

There are so many yummy, yummy recipes that I've been wanting to try. Like this one, or this one.

There are a few that I have tried like this one (dipped in white chocolate). THIS ONE is the bomb!

So, I was very excited to try these:

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

1 large sweet potato

Olive Oil cooking spray

Salt

Pepper

Fresh Rosemary

1. Peel the sweet potato and cut it into strips…to look like fries! Try to make them all the same size so they cook evenly.

2. Spray a baking sheet and put the potato fries on the sheet, spaced out.

3. Spray the fries lightly with the cooking spray.

4. Sprinkle with seasonings…salt, pepper, and fresh rosemary. Or use whatever spices you like.

5. Roast in a 400 degree oven for 30-40 minutes. Make sure you turn the fries every ten minutes or so.

6. Let them cool briefly and dig in!

A trip with a Purpose

WARNING: LONG POST WITH LOTS OF PICTURES AND A FUNNY STORY

I didn't think we'd be taking a trip like this any time soon....atleast for the next year or two. With Brett in school and not working, the vacation fund is a little bit low.

Ok, it's non-existent.

This trip was not part of 'the plan.'

So, when my dad asked if we wanted to join him and our extended family on a trip to California, I was pretty hesitant about going, but my mom and dad so generously offered to pay for all the kids lodging, I couldn't refuse!

This trip, however, would be more than just a trip for good old California fun.

This trip was about saving souls.

My grandpa, my grandma and my dad and his siblings.

Both of my dad's parents passed away last year. My grandpa wasn't a member of the church. My grandma and grandpa we not sealed in the temple and my dad and his siblings were not sealed to his parents.

It has been about a year since my grandpa passed away. As a family, we decided to provide him with the opportunity to accept the temple blessings and to be sealed to his family.

What a great reason to visit sunny California!

The only drawback would be that Brett would not be able to come with us. He had finals the days we would be gone!!! Boo-hoo!

On the way down, we stopped at our favorite bargain-hotel-with-a-roller coaster, Buffalo Bills. The most I've every paid for a room there is $28. It's just like any Motel 6-- it's clean and the A/C works, it has a nice pool, and......let's see.......that's about it!

McKay, Jaxson, and Makenna in our room.

Connor and cute little Wyatt (with his eyes closed).

Little Jaxson got to celebrate his birthday while we were on our trip. Here, Makenna and McKay are"helping" Jaxson open his presents in the dining hall at Buffalo Bills.

FYI- I do not recommend the evening buffet. Not that great.

The kids in a trans watching TV on our new DVD player in our new van. The kids were so excited about this feature in our new car! They couldn't wait to test it out. Much to their dismay, I made the rule that in order to watch the DVD, the trip had to be more than 6 hours. This trip finally qualified! They were in "the zone."

Finally out of "the zone" and able to enjoy eachother, Harry Potter on CD, and our surroundings.

My Grandparents grave stone

All the Bell grandkids by their great-grandparent's grave.

Connor up a tree at the cemetary.

We decided to go to the Newport Temple. One of the reasons we did is because all of our extended family was staying in Newport Beach at a beautiful place called Newport Costal Villas, by Marriott. Let me tell you, these places were NICE!!!! Slept us all totally comfortably. Very clean and very upscale; very nice pools and lots to see and do. I had no idea the neighborhood of Newport Beach was so exclusive. You are hard-pressed to find any type of fast food or big box store there. We tried to find a Walmart or a Target and our GPS systems found one about 7 miles away, but ended up leading us on a wild goose chase!

This brings me to a story some would call.........funny.

I, however, find it quite embarrassing.

We set out on a quest for goods for our families. GPS in hand, we thought we had it made! To our utter disappointment, we ended up lost on a CA freeway. The freeways in California are not like UT freeways: one, straight, wide road running either north and south or east and west. I have been to California plenty of times, but let me tell you, visiting there doesn't give you any sense of direction for their freeway system. You simply have to live there and learn it.

So, we were lost for about 1 hour trying to find a non-existent (we found that out later) Wal-mart and/or an existing (but very well hidden) Target. Finally, after driving around trying to follow my iphone directions and Kim's Droid's directions, we just decided to head home. We located our destination on the GPS and then started following the directions home. We got on a freeway and felt pretty good about where we were going. After a few miles, 'Toll Ahead' signs started to show up.

Crud.

How much would the toll be?

50 cents? $1? $5?

We had no idea...and the smallest bill we (KIM) had was a $20. I had a few quarters....Alyssa had some dimes.......What to do, what to do? Veer off this freeway to another random freeway and take our chances that our GPS would be able to "recalculate" and send us on our way back home?

Or stay on the freeway, hoping that we'd have enough change to make it through the toll?

We decided to stay on because we had had enough of being lost.

The freeway was eerily not busy. It was only 9:30....but we were in Newport. They don't drive that late at night. They're all at their mansions or condo's partying the night away, or taking a stroll on the beach.

Not driving around trying to find a Wal-mart.

Only tourists do that.

So, we slowed down and drove for a few minutes, and sure enough, straight ahead, was the toll booth. We saw the toll fee.....

It's 2 dollars.

Ok. I have quarters, Alyssa has dimes.

Total sum? We have $1. 50.

That is it.

Wait!!! Kim has a $20-bill, but they don't take any bills bigger than a $5 dollar-bill.

The booth is automated and they don't take debit cards or checks.

Ummmmmm........what to do, what to do????

To the left of the fee area, I see a warning sign stating if I skip the toll I will receive a $100 fine.

Ok, that is not an option.

What to do, what to do??!!!

After about 2 minutes of sitting there, stumped, not knowing how to get out of this, a super-nice, silver Mercedes pulls up behind us.

It reminded me of one of the Cullen's cars.

In a matter of about 10 seconds I realized I'm going to have to approach that car. I'm going to have to talk to whoever is driving that car.

Funny? No.

Embarrassing? Yes.

Oh well. My motto is, "It never hurts to ask."

At that point, I know the other driver was probably wondering what the problem was and wondering why I'm was not proceeding through the toll station. This was a small freeway and only one lane to pay the toll through. So, I slowly got out of the car. I walked back to the nice Mercedes and the window began to roll down. A very nice looking man was behind the wheel. I told him of our predicament and how we were lost and without enough change to pay the toll. He asked if he can help. "Are you even supposed to be on this road?" He said. "I'm not sure...." I responded. He then gave me a dollar and said, "I wish I could help you get to where you need to go." I mumbled something dumb, profusely thanked him for his kindness, paid the toll and sped away.

We exited the freeway hoping to get home another way. No such luck. As far as we could tell (which isn't that far) taking that freeway was the only way to get home. We'd have to pay another 2 dollars to get home. So we found a local Vons, bought what we originally set out to get and got some cash dollars for the toll. We went back the way we came, got home and told our tale to our family. By then, the funniness of the situation had set in and I could laugh about it.

Arch at the Newport Temple

Entrance into the temple

Tyler and Alyssa in front of the temple.

Temple from the street

My cute mom

I am really disappointed that we didn't take pictures of all of us at the temple. We had a wonderful day and the Spirit was very strong. It was an experience I will always remember and cherish.

McKay ready to hit the pool! I think the pool was the funnest part of the vacation for the kids.

The fam hanging at The Strand beach in Dana Point. Remember all those cool tide pools we saw at our January visit? They're gone!!! Tide was too high and they weren't even visible!

Connor being a cheese ball!

McKay playing in the sand with X.

Newly returned missionary, and newly married Tyler trying to get some color. Oh, and did he get some color. He was pink, not brown.

Kids at a gas station on the way home. Beautiful sunset!

Thank you mom and dad and extended Bell family for a WONDERFUL trip! We love you all!

And thanks to Alyssa for driving with me and keeping me awake!

Swimming Lessons

This year the kids have really progressed in their swimming skills. We have taken semi-private lessons from a wonderful teacher named Amy, in Orem. Even though it's a drive, it is totally worth it. Here are some pictures from a week ago.

Connor loves the action shots!

Last year, McKay would never have jumped into the pool by himself. Now look at him!

Connor doing the backstroke

Kenna (with her floppy legs) doing the backstroke

Mick doing the backstroke

We are so grateful for such a wonderful teacher! The kids are sad that swim is almost done!

Our "New" Kitchen Table

I have "new" in quotations because our table is not really a new table--it's old.

And it's cheap.

So cheap that I was cleaning it with Lysol disinfectant spray and it took off some of the black finish. I was pretty upset, but then it gave me an excuse to do another project. I followed the same technique I used to do this table last year.








I am very pleased with the end results! Thanks again, Kim for all your help!!!

"I See Your True Colors...."

I just had to post this funny picture of the twins. It says loads about their personalities. Makenna is usually so sweet and kind and mild mannered-- (usually is the key word here- she definitely has her crazy, spazzy, drama moments) and McKay is a bucket-load of smiles and craziness. When he is happy, he is HAPPY, as this picture can attest.

I heart him.

Summer Fun!

Here are some fun things our family has been doing this summer!

Enjoying the beautiful sunsets that Saratoga Springs provides! This was on the 4th of July.

Cook-out in the mountains with some cousins and Grandma Rush!

Enjoying a family hike up to Stewart Falls. We had a blast! Our kids are awesome hikers!

Connor trying to save the forest; one tree at a time. Just doing his part.

Beautiful Stewart Falls

My beautiful family

Brett took some family to the place we've dubbed "The Polar Bear". Each time a new person comes into the family, Brett takes them up to this fresh-from-the-snow waterfall and they submerge themselves in a little pool area, right below the waterfall. Then they officially become a 'polar bear'. This water is COLD!!! I chose not to go this year......once was enough for me......but Connor got to go for the first time this year and he loved it! He felt like a 'big' kid and was very brave! This time Brett took Tyler and Alyssa (newly returned from their missions) and Tyler's fiance, Ashley.

"Legs first......ok, this isn't so bad........"

"Now the buns.......ooohhhhhh!!!!!! THIS IS COLD!"

"BRAIN FREEZE!!!!!!!!"

Way to go, Conn! Connor says absolutely nothing was going through his mind at this point because it was soooo cold.

The gang, minus Ashley. And no, that is not Tyler's 'normal' smile......that is his best Esqueleto smile. As a side note- I think Alyssa looks really pretty in this picture!

Cute Tyler and Ashely before......

AFTER!!!!!