Piano Recital

The same weekend as the camp out was also the kids' piano recital!  Both of my big kids did so well.  Emily pushed aside her fears of performing in public and played very well.  Christian, who has no fear, but was still a little nervous, rocked his first recital.  I'm so proud of them!

They both took such grand bows!

 The recital had both piano students and cello students!  (The two dads in the picture below both take cello lessons!  Go dads!)

Emily and Christian with their teacher, Jill Plumb

Christmas Eve {Day}

At last!  Christmas Eve!  (I was so behind in blogging I didn't think I'd ever make it to Christmas.  But, here I am, only three months late!)

On Christmas Eve Day, my friend, Joy, invited both Emily and Christian to play some Christmas music up at the Mormon Trail Center with her piano students.  Emily, who continues to not want to play in front of crowds, declined, but Christian was all about it!  And, he did soooo well (and was just so cute too :-))!

Introducing himself and what he'll be playing

 Here he is, my little Mozart.  The first song he played was one he'd planned on playing and had been practicing.

 The second song was one he'd played, but not for a couple of weeks.  He just decided to do it right then!  I was very impressed :-).

Here he is afterwards--what a handsome guy!

Grandpa and Grandma came to watch and cheer him on too :-).

 Afterwards, we went upstairs where they had a Nativity Scene that you could dress up with.  And, we have enough kiddos for Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, a Wiseman, and an Angel.

Our sweet baby!

 Everyone was all smiles one minute....

 ...And then the moment ended and it was time to go home!

Piano Man

 Christian started piano in January! To say that he was excited would be an understatement.  He could hardly wait and it's just so darn cute to watch him sit down and play!

This little boy's stubbornness pays off when he sits down at the piano.  He is an extremely hard worker and when he puts his mind to something, he usually can do it.  I never have to nag him about practicing.  All he needs is for me to ask and he will sit down and do it.

We are so excited to see our boy grow and develop this new talent!

Piano Debut

Tonight Emily had her first piano recital!  She played "Brave Knight" by Vogel.  She was very nervous, but was very brave (just like a knight ;-)) and got up and did beautifully.  She learned that it was okay to make mistakes (no one plays perfectly all the time!) and overall it was a positive experience for her!  I'm just so proud of her work and effort.  (And she was just so beautiful up there!)  Great job, Emily!!!






Daddy wasn't able to attend (he was on a plane coming home from a trip to LA) but I was able to record it so he can see it tonight.  Isn't technology great?!

Emily sets such a great example; Kari and Christian wanted in on the piano action too!

And speaking of Christian...does he look a) angelic and happy or b) completely worn out and fresh off a tantrum?  If you chose option "b" you are correct!  We were late to the recital b/c poor Christian had a complete melt-down at dinner.  He had been at the zoo all day with Auntie Erin and Jeff and had even fallen asleep on the way home!  Sooo...combine the tired and the hungry and you have the perfect recipe for a major melt-down!  And, once this kid gets going, you just have to ride out the storm b/c there is NO distracting or calming him down.  Being borderline OC doesn't help the situation in the least.  Ugh.  Needless to say, I was grateful that we even made it to the recital in one piece and that he perked up while listening to all of the kids play their lovely pieces :-).