Birthday Pictures...Mary and Rebekah

Rebekah...one year old

Mary...10 years old

Horse Lessons

Mary could hardly wait for her first horse lesson.  She is learning how to groom horses, muck stalls, care for the horses, and how to ride.  The smile on her face never dims the entire time she is on the farm.  This was the best gift she could be given!

Happy Birthday, Mary!

Our sweet Mary is now 10!  She was excited to be the first sibling to have a birthday cake made by Spring.  I think Spring showcased Mary's personality perfectly with this cake...bright, happy, beautiful, cheerful!  All things Mary.  We celebrated her birthday one day early since her birthday fell on General Conference.  Grandma and Grandpa Powell went in on a gift for her with us and she received horse riding and grooming lessons!  Her eyes about bugged out when she opened her gift.

Mary loves all things horses and all things with animals. Her dream is to live on a farm with lots of horses, cats, and all other animals.  She has a tender spot in her heart for animals.  Mary loves math and figuring out complicated problems.  She loves to ride her bike with friends and play with stuffed animals.  Mary enjoys coloring and listening to music.  Mary is happy when she is serving other people.  I'm grateful for the kind and loving person she is in our family.

Birthday Flowers from Dad

Gymnastics

Mary chose to do participate in gymnastics this year.  I loved to watch the smile on her face as she was in her classes.  It was very evident that she loved what she was doing.  She made a lot of progress through the session and is looking forward to doing another session in a few months.

Concert Season

December is synonymous with concerts in our household!  Although it makes for some crazy and hectic afternoons and evenings as we juggle getting homework finished, mouths fed, baths, scriptures, and heading out to concerts; it is one of my favorite times.  I love sitting back and watching our children perform with these amazing musical groups.  Their hard work, the hard work of all the students, and the efforts of the directors all culminate into evenings of musical enjoyment.  I know I say this so often, but I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity we have to live in Stow, Ohio.  The music department is top notch.  Our kids have made some of their very best friends in these groups and they have some wonderful mentors as directors.

Mary performed in her choir's Christmas musical.  Even though we were seated high in the auditorium you could see her smiling face beaming throughout the entire performance.

Sam performed in his first ever band concert this month!  He has come so far with the saxophone, as has the entire 5th grade band in just under 3 months.  There are close to 200 5th graders in the band this year!  Surprisingly, Sam said he was a little nervous before the concert but once it got going he said it was no big deal!

Spring performed in both the orchestra and band concerts as an 8th grader.  She is 1st chair in both groups, playing cello and trumpet.

Thomas performed in the band and orchestra concert as a Sophomore.  He also participated in the Choir concert as the accompanist.  He also sings in the Men's Choir and Concert Choir on acapella pieces.  He was also part of a small percussion ensemble that performed for the 5th/6th grade band during their concert.  Thomas and his good friend, Thomas also arranged a series of Marimba pieces to perform for some elderly people at the apartment complex of one of the women Thomas home teaches.  

Thomas also had the opportunity to participate in the OBTC (Ohio Band Teachers Conference) at the University of Akron.  He had to audition for this opportunity and was chosen.  He spent 2 days working with guest directors and then performed a concert with some of the best high school musicians in the area.

Kimpton Night

For Homecoming Festivities the Junior High Band joins the High School Band for the parade and the football game.  They practice for 2 evenings together prior to the festivities.  I love this part of the program.  This year there were nearly 400 students in this combined band!  Spring was SO excited to be a part of this and was not ready for the night to end.  She kept saying, "I can't wait until next year when I get to do this every week!"  Thomas loved working with his buddy, Mason Marquette.  Spring's buddy, Julia Moxley, requested to have her again this year as well which made Spring's day!

Mary marched in the parade as well with her school's Student Council.  The rest of us were spectators...well the kids were candy hoarders!  They come home from this parade with more candy than we know what to do with.  The last few years I end up using what is left from this parade as candy for Halloween trick-or-treaters!

A wonderful night and Stow crushed the other team in the football game as well!  Go BULLDOGS!

Happy Birthday, Mary!

This gal is already 9!  Her smile was huge on her birthday.  She thought it was cool because there was early release from school on her birthday!  For her dinner she chose meatloaf, stuffing, and corn.  Her dessert was sugar cookies with frosting and fruit on top.

Mary loves horses and all other animals.  I think she would be in her glory if she lived on a farm and could take care of animals all day long.  She is very interested in whatever is going on around her and often goes from one thing to the next, for fear of missing out on something!  All the while with her signature smile and twinkle in her eye.  In School she really enjoys spending lunch hour and recess with the special needs kids.  She loves to play games with them and include them in the activities with her other friends.  I hope she always keeps that love for others in her heart.

Activity Days

Mary thoroughly enjoys Activity Days.  She is always so happy and excited about whatever it is they are doing.  The last few weeks they have had some fun activities.  They learned to zentangle and then they learned to sew and make a prayer pillowcase.  The sewing was so easy for Mary because, in her words, "My Grandma has already taught me to sew!"

Updated Pictures

Jacob...1 Year Old

 Mary-8 Years Old

 Spring-12 Years Old