Playing catch-up: Rhiannon's senior piano recital in October

The last Saturday in October Rhiannon did a solo piano recital at the Presbyterian church.  She worked with her piano teacher to put together a program and a little paragraph about each song she played.  It was an amazing recital!!  Friends and neighbors and church family came, and I think we all were blown away by Rhiannon's performance.

Here's what I wrote about it:

"Yesterday was a really special day for Rhiannon, a day 8 years in the making. We are so grateful to her piano teacher Melanie for setting up a senior recital where Rhiannon could perform for friends and family and showcase what she's been working on.

For me, sitting there on the front row, the only way I can describe it was this: it was like I had just woken up from a long 8-year sleep and there was this beautiful young woman sitting on a piano bench playing just for me, with this stunning grace, power, and emotion. It was like I was seeing and hearing Rhiannon for the first time, and she was fantastic! She jokes about and embraces her awkwardness, but she is anything but awkward on the piano! It was out-of-this-world awesome to see that yesterday.

We are so proud of her and appreciative of the hard work and time she has put in, and for our dear friend Melanie who has supported and helped her every step of the way.

Way to go, Rhiannon!! We love you!  ❤️😍❤️"

Enjoy some videos!

2016 BHS Spring Band Concert

Last night our family went to Rhiannon's spring band concert at the high school.  It was a long night, but well worth our time!  Those high schoolers are remarkable!!!  Rhiannon is standing, I think second from the left.  I didn't have enough room on my phone to record it all, but here are a couple:

Battle of the Books competitions

Oh, my.  I have SO MUCH I need to post on our family blog!  It's been a busy, full, happy last couple of months for us!

First off,  Wade and I and our Richmond group finished up our Battle of the Books experience at two different competitions in May.  After an entire school year of weekly meetings and reading, it was a lot of fun to see what our 15 kids had learned.  I was so happy to be a part of it!

At the local competition at Pierce Elementary; three of our kids were in the final top 2 groups

In Bakersfield at a VERY large church for the county competitions; my friend Becky Anderson sitting up against the tree ran the BOB program with me.  We had a great time driving to Bakersfield together while the kids rode on the bus.  She and I talked the whole way there and the whole way back! :)

Ms Hays, second from left, let us use her classroom all year for our meetings.  Mrs. Speredelozzi in the middle runs our Accelerated Reader program at the school and helped us keep track of books read.  Lori Amster on the left had run BOB in the past and was there with her daughter.  And Yuki, in the blue, was on the top team that won the battle, out of almost 500 kids attending!  It was fun to have her mom there to see that!

Final two teams on the stage..A glimpse of just how many kids were there in Bakersfield!

I love this, and I love Wade.  I hope he'll want to do BOB one last time next year with his mom again, but I won't force him!

A huge moment for me and for our Richmond group was when the MC of the event asked kids to stand who had read all 30 books on the list.  The minimum was 20, to be able to go to the battles.  All 15 kids in our group stood along with a handful of other kids, out of the room of ~500.  I was so proud of our students for their hard work and perseverance!