'Tis the Season for....concerts & fun!

Busy -Busy - Busy ~ that's what December brings!

We had Ian's HS Band Christmas Concert. Wow! Those HS kids really work hard & do a fantastic job. There are some very talented musicians in our band and we're proud of each & every one of them. They played everything from "Amazing Grace", to "Selections from the Nutcracker", to the traditional "Sleigh Ride". Thanks Mr McC for all your hard work and passion for teaching these kids.


Blake played with our church Celebration Choir's Christmas Concert. It was a beautiful peace called 'God So Loved' and his flute accompaniment really added a special element to the piece. The choir (and Blake) are going to perform this piece again on Christmas Eve. (The boys & I were especially tickled to see his bandanna peeking out of his back pocket. You can dress him up, but he's still gonna be our Blake!

And last night Cole had his very first concert ever! He started playing saxophone just this fall. He's doing really good...although we usually make him go into his bedroom & close the door to practice. Once he gets a little more confidence in himself - wow, he's going to be awesome!
Here he is before the concert, proudly wearing his new TMS band shirt. He's excited AND nervous. Dress for the concert required band shirt, black pants, black socks, and black DRESS SHOES - no sneakers...so, he had to wear Ian's marching shoes! While they were really too big - we stuffed the toes with paper towels, so he managed to keep them on. =) (We just couldn't justify spending $$ on some dress shoes that he's probably never wear again...especially as fast as he's growing!)
WOW - talk about a big band! There's almost a 100 beginning band students up there.


And here's our Cole...really, he's in there somewhere!

Just one more performance this year - Blake & I are accompanying a soloist at church on Dec 27th. (The church schedule was too full to get us in before Christmas.) But we're doing 'What Child Is This'. Blake will be on guitar, and I'll be on my hammered dulcimer. I'm really out of practice, but with a little work, I think it will be lovely. If I get a picture of us playing that morning, I'll add it to the blog post later. Otherwise, just use your imagination! (This is when Blake, Rusty & I played on Christmas Eve a couple years ago.)


Riley is STILL watching & waiting near the Christmas tree. He KNOWS his toy duck is up there somewhere. And he KNOWS he's going to get it soon....he just doesn't know how many days until Christmas!! Waiting is soooo hard!