Family Date Night

BYU is tearing down the Widtsoe Building on campus, and this evening, we drove over to watch.  Who doesn't like a good demolition?  They had two very large excavators pulling down and moving around building parts.  While we were hoping to see more building parts raining down and Brandt really wanted to see some TNT in action, we did get quite a show and stayed to watch for a long time.  Well, Kent and I watched for a long time; the kids ran around playing/imagining marvelous things.  We went for the first snow cone of the year on our way home, because after watching all that destruction, we needed a treat.  Considering it was date night, I guess I should acknowledge that Kent does know how to show a girl a good time.

 

The kids ate their own snow cones--

Blythe got watermelon and sour grape,

Brandt has surfer sunset--

but they wanted to eat some of ours too.

"Can I try yours?" they asked.

Last Day of School

Today saw the end of third and first grade for Brandt and Blythe.  The year has flown by (from my perspective), but has been really great for both kids.  They have had wonderful teachers, learned great things, and done very well.  Both received an excellent end of year report, with Brandt meeting expectations in all areas and Blythe exceeding them.  When I asked them this morning how they felt about it being the last day of school, Brandt said, "Happy and sad."  That's good.

Here is a rundown of all the things the kids liked about school, in their own words.

Blythe learned a lot.  She liked school lunch when she sometimes got it, the subtraction and plus papers she worked on, and music and PE.  She liked the field trips and class reward activities they earned for their good behavior.  She liked her classmates, a fun purse that Ms. Medaris gave her on the last day of school, and everything Ms. Medaris had her do in her private office folder.  I'm not sure Blythe could really come up with anything she didn't like.  She was always happy to go to school and I attribute that largely to Ms. Medaris who is so wonderful I wish I had a single brother I could line her up with so she could be part of our family.

Brandt said he liked recess, lunch, math, PE, and the field trip to the Scera theater to see How to Train Your Dragon 2 as part of Spirit Week.  He liked the class store, Mrs. Lee his teacher, and the class opera they wrote and performed, as well as all the music Mrs. Lee did in class.  I was grateful that Mrs. Lee was so encouraging with Brandt, and recognized what a good kid he is.  His class was so big (32 kids!) I worried he would be lost, but Mrs. Lee was great.  Brandt came home singing all the time and has made marvelous progress this year.

We are so happy that school has been good, and now we are so happy that it is over and summer vacation has arrived.  I'm going to try and help the kids be intellectually active over the break so their brains don't turn to mush.  Wish me luck.

Memorial Day Weekend

It was a busy weekend, with lots of activity, and I'm going to include all our comings and goings in one post.  On Saturday morning, with Grandma Sue, Aunt Georgianne, Mikayla and Guy, and a bunch of cousins, we drove out to Eureka to decorate great-grandpa and grandma George and Georgina's grave.  A couple of weeks ago, when we were talking about whether or not to go, Brandt said, "I want to go to Eureka! We have to go!"  Warms my heart.  I know that he isn't particularly interested in decorating the graves, but he does like going to Eureka, and the annual acknowledgement of ancestors I hope will stick.

The kids ran around the cemetery, and remarkably, although it was chilly enough for sweatshirts, it wasn't windy.  They found sticks, climbed on stuff, threw rocks, and chased each other.  Eureka really does have an appealing cemetery for the young.

We gathered everyone together to have a group shot.

I asked someone decorating graves near our graves if they would take it for us.

As soon as we took the picture and went to climb in the car, 

I discovered that Brandt had been in the car playing on his Kindle and wasn't in the shot.

Grrrrrrr.

Brandt took our picture.

This is one shot of seven.

It's the only one that isn't crooked, and it's still a bit crooked.

On Saturday, I sent out a text inviting any family members headed up to East Lawn to stop by for ice cream sundaes after their time there.  Almost immediately, nephew Steve and niece Katie and their families replied saying, "Can we come in half an hour?"  We spent some time Saturday after visiting with Steven and Sunny and their two kids Ruby and Jack, and Katie and Drew and their four kids.  We don't see them very often, and it was fun to visit, eat ice cream, and watch the kids run by.  The twins, Aiden and Ashton (your guess is as good as mine as to which is which), charmed us with their round faces and big grins.

Sunday morning we went to Salt Lake for nephew Seth's homecoming talk.  He did a fine job; it was an excellent mission report.  It was obvious he had worked hard and grown.  We had a lovely lunch afterwards and then, since we were already in Salt Lake, in the company of Lee, Cammie, and Aaron, went to the Murray City cemetery, as well as Wasatch Lawn.  The kids were delighted to decorate graves and run around, and we were pleased to visit and send pictures to Grandma George so he knew we were still taking care of those who came before.

The Barrus men singing, accompanied by Sharon, after Seth spoke.

They sounded good.

At the Murray City Cemetery seeing Grandpa and Grandma Sanders

 

At Wasatch Lawn, seeing Grandpa and Grandma Barrus,

as well as Aunt Marilyn and Uncle John

Monday morning, we met all of the DeMartinis up at East Lawn to visit with Grandpa De.  It was nice to be all there, to talk about Dad, and to watch the kids run around.  Dad loved watching the kids run around; they brought him great joy.  I hope when we gather that he takes a moment from whatever he's doing to be with us and watch.  I really miss him.  Grandma Hare and Jeff are by Dad, so we said hello to them too.

Everyone except Griffin (I don't know where he was) and Missy.

Also while at East Lawn, we went to see John and Grandma Merlynn and Kent's cousin Brian.  We saw Alison, Phil, and George, and Diana.  It's always good to see them and have the chance to visit.  I am glad that we can honor those who have come before us, and those who have finished their earthly journey.  I am grateful for time to set aside other activities and think about those we've loved and lost.

Katherine, Kent, George, Alison, and Phil Thaut, and Diana Freeman

Visiting Grandma Merlynn

Field Trip Friday #35 (and the last for the year)--Trafalga

We had to stop by Trafalga yesterday to renew our passes to Seven Peaks, and being there reminded the kids how much fun it was.  They begged me to take them there again for field trip Friday, and as I didn't really have anything else on the agenda, we went.  I got the kids some tokens so they could play games, and they came away with fabulous prizes--NOT!  Brandt got a cupful of plastic army guys, and Blythe won several small pieces of candy and a stretchy ring.

We also did indoor miniature golfing.  The kids don't golf well.  They used their clubs more like hockey sticks, moving the ball around the green towards the hole until the ball went in.  Didn't matter, of course.  I didn't even bother to get a score card, and we were only there to have fun.  We almost overtook several other golfers because of the speed of the golfing, but again, it didn't really matter.  We got a Swig on the way home too.

I think Field Trip Friday has been very successful.  The kids have enjoyed it.  I think it is a tradition we will continue next school year.  I'm going to try and do a bigger outing/activity once a week through the summer too, but not necessarily on Friday.

It is super dark in the miniature golf course. 

It's meant to be an underwater scene, so everything is painted with glow in the dark paint

and lit with black lights.

Makes for terrible picture taking and difficulty golfing.

Both kids were playing racing games,

Blythe on a motorcycle and Brandt in a car.

Neither of them are very good drivers.

Cross Country Kids

There is a fun club at school called Cross Country Kids.  Twice a week they gather and run around the fields between Rock Canyon and Centennial.  This is the second year.  When sign-up and permission forms came home, Blythe told me she "really, really, really" wanted to do it and would I fill out and the papers.  I didn't actually believe she would participate, so I didn't fill out anything.  The first day CCK met, when I went to collect the children after school, Blythe was desperate to go run.

I said to her, "Blythe, all they do at Cross Country Kids is run.  You're going to spend 45 minutes running.  Do you really want to do that?"

"Yes!" she replied.  "Mom, you get a t-shirt and a necklace and you can collect charms!  I totally want to do it!"

Ah! Blythe didn't want to run so much, she wanted a t-shirt and a necklace.  I think this is the same draw that lures people into running marathons--they're going to get a t-shirt and a "necklace" with a finisher medal attached.  She's so young to be falling victim to this sort of enticement.  I went into the school, filled out papers, and let her go run.

These past few weeks have been something of a battle.  On the days when I went to help as a parent volunteer and actually ran with Blythe, she would run.  Other days, she would whine about having to go and not want to run at all (she had the t-shirt and necklace, so why bother to run?).  I made her do it anyway.

Today was the last day and the kids ran around the big field several times.  I stood in the corner farthest from the start and called out encouragement to the kids as they came by.  Blythe did pretty well, making it around the field three times in the 45 minutes they had.  She ran/walked with Lilly Bradford and I could tell they were very chatty.  Isn't that the best part of exercising with a friend? You get to talk the whole time.  I was impressed that Blythe joined the club and stuck with it (with some urging), and that she seemed to have a good time.

Here is the last lap.  The girls would alternate walking/running between the trees.  Run walk run walk.

She looks like she's having a good time.

Birthday Bangkok

As it is my birthday today (45 years old!), Kent took us all to dinner at our favorite restaurant, Bangkok Grill.  It was delicious, as always.  I took this picture of Blythe, who wants her picture taken every time we eat here.

Blythe's wai.

Sawatdi kha.

Ninjas at the Museum

Every year, Brandt's teacher Mrs. Lee has her class do an opera. The students write lyrics and come up with the melodies, and then with support from Utah Festival Opera, their basic compositions are fleshed out. Then they practice, put together basic costumes, and with parental help paint scenery.  It was largely because of the opera that I requested Brandt be in Mrs. Lee's class. He  loves music and he loves to sing and I wanted him to have the chance to participate.

Throughout the year, Brandt has come home and shared opera progress. We've heard about the writing, and part selection, and visits from opera festival people, as well as scene painting, costuming, and of course, lots and lots of singing. And the closer the opera has gotten, the more nervous Brandt has gotten. He has been excited to perform for the school and for families, and he's been nervous about doing well.

Tonight was the big performance. We invited Grandma Sue and Aunt Mikayla to come watch, and we all enjoyed the performance. The opera was called Ninjas at the Museum. Museum workers needed help guarding their valuable museum pieces, and hire ninjas to do it. It doesn't go well as the ninjas make a big mess with Cheetos. They sang a very funny song praising all the wonderful characteristics of Cheetos, and then Brandt and the other ninjas ( Brandt was a ninja) threw bags of Cheetos into the audience. Blythe was delighted when Kent caught a bag and gave it to her.

The opera was wonderful. It was only 12 minutes long, but followed by group singing of songs from The Sound of Music, and a talent show featuring maybe six or seven of Brandt's classmates.  The evening's entertainment was about 30 minutes total. Brandt was very pleased with the way it all turned out, and so were we. Yeah for our performer!

Here is Brandt's summation of the opera.  "I was nervous, but we did great."  He's a man of few words.

Pre-show 

He doesn't look nervous to me.

He looks calm, cool, and collected.

 

Nikoli, Mateo, Bridger, Lisa, Myra, Evelyn

Museum workers who are about to sing about needing some help to guard

all their priceless stuff.

Kylie, David's head, Britton, Nikoli, Brandt, Joseph

I wasn't sure how Brandt was able to see through the production.

The bands holding his mask on broke, so we was using the bandana to hold it on.

As a result, it was down over one eye, but he didn't let a wardrobe malfunction stop him.

Jakob, Brandt, Josie

Brandt told me he needed the laptop bag as a prop.

I couldn't really envision why a museum protecting, Cheetos throwing 

ninja would need a laptop bag, but he took it in.

Turns out, the bag held lots of bags of Cheetos that he and the other ninjas

threw into the audience.

He came home with the last two bags!

Brandt, Avery, Joseph, Greta, Abi, Mateo, Britton, Bridger

 

 

Louisa, Ash, Avery, Josie, Brandt, Joseph, Kate

Singing the final song, "Slumber Party!"

Ash, Kade, Josie, Brandt, Joseph, Kate, David

 

 

 

 

Audience members during the brief intermission between opera and talent show.

 

 

Back row: Lisa, Josie, Mateo, Brighton

Middle row: Greta, Anna, Brandt

Bottom row: Nuno, Britton, Kylie  

Melissa next to Anna and Brandt

 

 

backdrop

Brandt's picture is the bright orange portrait.