Ethan here

hi! Me and my friend Brennon are starting a magazine. He gets to name it, I get to do the interviews. From Ethan

Desert Hills High School Performance

Courtney's dance group, Pizazz, performed the half-time show at the Desert Hills High School basketball game tonight. This is their first performance of the season and she did a great job. There were a few little glitches (her ring got caught, for one) but she didn't get upset about it. We were also very impressed that she just got right in there and strutted her stuff! I was afraid that she would get stage fright or something but she was so excited and loved doing it. We have about 7 more shows to do! ;)

Here is the video of the performance. At the beginning, she is the 4th from the left (it's actually 5th but one little girl is hidden, so it looks like 4th), then she is 5th when they fan out. They all look alike, but Courtney is the one with glasses. It's a cute dance and the girls did it well. They have only been practicing since August. They will only get better and better.

Great job Courtney!!


Courtney is the 3rd from the left:

Courtney is the dancer under the red blur:

Courtney:

Courtney and Lydia:

Choir Assembly

After Courtney's Polar Express program she wanted to go to the school library to take some book tests on the computer. Ethan's class was there and he asked if we would stay for the choir assembly. I didn't really know about it but told him that we would stay. A few minutes later, the choir students were called out of class to get ready, so we wandered to the lunch room to get a seat.

The assembly was really good with the choir singing wonderfully. They were on this little stage on risers and someone had turned on the overhead lights. Then they were given scarves to put around their necks. The kids were HOT! I got most of the songs on video but then we ran out of space on our video camera, so I pulled out our regular camera to tape. About 3 songs from the end I noticed that Ethan wasn't looking so good. He started to sway from side to side and I was sure he was going to pass out. He put his head down at one point and disappeared, so I was sure he was a gonner. I tried to get his attention and get him to sit down but he either didn't notice me or was afraid he would get into trouble. I should have gotten a teacher's attention and had someone get him to sit down but I didn't. I didn't record the last 2 songs because I wanted to be ready in case he hit the deck.

Finally, the assembly ended and I was able to catch up with him to see how he was doing. He didn't want to talk because he had to get back to class and didn't want to be late. But he said he was really hot and was afraid he was going to pass out. Poor kid!

Anyway, I was going to post the video of him almost passing out, but thought better of it. So here is a video of one of their many songs. They really sound great! (It's probably in another language because they rarely sing in English, so if you can't understand it, that's why!)


He has a choir concert at the St. George Tabernacle tomorrow night and now that I have most of the songs on video, I don't have to stress if we don't get the best seats! Yeah!! His choir director also told the kids not to worry because there aren't any hot lights in the Tabernacle. They all cheered. I guess Ethan wasn't the only one "feeling the heat."

The Polar Express

It was the Polar Express day for Kindergarten! We decorated a train car for Courtney to wear, which she was very particular about, and she went to school in her pjs. Then they had a program for the parents followed with hot chocolate. Then it was over and they expected us to take the kids home...2 hour early!! Needless to say, it has been a long morning. But the program was really cute with these gorgeous kids singing songs to us. Courtney had a speaking part all by herself, which she did wonderfully.

Here is a song they sang that I really liked:


Saying her part:

Singing:

In her train car next to her friend Dezzie:

Yoga

Bryan and I try to exercise each morning in the basement. Courtney likes to join us. The problem is that we get up and begin at 5 a.m. and we DON'T want her up that early in the morning. Just a side note: our kids get up really early anyway (6 a.m. is usual for them) but we draw a line when the clock says "5."

Yesterday she woke up really early and wanted to exercise with us. I tried to put her back to bed but she just wasn't going for it. Somehow she thinks that working out with us is a lot more fun than sleeping (I'm sure she'll get over that when she's a teenager). Anyway, it didn't work. I finally ended up promising her that, if she would let us work out on our own, I would take her to the library to get a work out video for kids that she could do every day after school. She went for it!!

So we went to the library after school but the only video they had was Yoga For Kids. She wanted it. We went home, she changed into "work out gear" and popped in the video. She had a blast for an hour doing "tree pose" and other things. It was hilarious because every 10 minutes she had to run in and show me how well she does her poses. It was great and something she wants to do again today after school. Only now she insists that she needs new "work out clothes" because she doesn't have any good "yoga pants." Good grief! :)

9th Ward Nativity

Our ward had our annual Primary Nativity last night. Ethan sang a song with some boys from his class and I have attached a clip of it. Courtney sang the "Asleep, asleep" echo of a song with her class but we didn't get it on tape. It was a cute Nativity though and Ethan was so proud that he sang his song without needing the words.

Cute Kids

We had pictures taken with my family at Thanksgiving time and we just got them. So I scanned a few to have on the computer and thought I would post them. Ethan had this thing with wanting to pose while lying on his belly. So we let him and they turned out really cute. (Just a side note: When Ethan was a baby I tried and tried to get a photo with him on his belly but he would scream and cry the entire time, so I don't have one. Now that he is older, that's the only way he wants to pose. Go figure!)