A "Hummer" of a Race

Bryson's 2nd Cub Scout Pine Wood Derby was on Friday, March 20th. His car, a desert camouflage Hummer, was his very own design. He drew up the plans, built, and painted it by himself (with a little help from his Dad). He was so proud of that car, he really didn't even care how well it raced. Steve had explained to him that the car was totally awesome, because it was all his own work, but that it probably wouldn't win because it wasn't very aerodynamic. He said he didn't care, because creating the car was what was most important. Pretty smart boy... But, much to his Dad's surprise, he won first place in all four heats!! Guess having the wheels on straight helps any hummer! Father and son were both pretty smiley that night! So proud of my guys!

Here's a video of the second race...

David Archuleta Concert

Sometime in the beginning of February, we heard that David Archuleta (American Idol #2 winner last year and very talented kid from Utah) was coming to Idaho Falls for a concert on his tour. Rachel is a HUGE fan. We anxiously awaited the day when the tickets would go on sale. We had one of Rachel's friends get them for us, so we could all go together. They ordered them online...and were sold out in 10 minutes!! We were lucky enough to get tickets, but then had to wait the relentless weeks until the concert. Rachel was going crazy waiting. On the 20th of March, the blessed day had finally come. The night before, she helped me pick out the perfect outfit to wear. (Note to self: vests and sweaters aren't cool enough for a concert.)

We went with 5 of Rachel's friends and 3 other moms. We got there early enough for the kids to wait in line while we (the moms) went to pick up dinner. Another friend found them and stood in line to be with us, too! After waiting for two and a half hours, they finally opened the doors and the miles of people (mostly squealing teenage girls) poured into the Civic Auditorium. Then, once we finally found a good seat in the balcony, we waited once again...

Finally, the lights went low and the opening act came on. It was a girl that played much harder rock than I appreciate, and the noise (that's really what it sounded like to me) made my heart pound and made my ears ring. It made me feel really old, until I realized that Rachel wasn't really enjoying it either. It made the agony of waiting for David even worse!!!

And then... after 5 weeks, 6 days and 11 hours of waiting, David Archuleta came on and sang to us!!! (Sigh, Scream, Whistle!!) He has such an incredible voice for such a young performer! He sang all the favorites, and a few we hadn't heard before. It was over way too fast! He came back on for an encore, and it was just him and the piano. It was so great! We screamed our voices raw, sang along, danced through the night, laughed together and had such a great time!!

Rachel and her friends waiting for the concert...
for two and a half hours!

David singing "Touch My Hand"...
(Sigh, Whistle, Scream!!)

Piano Scholarship Auditions

On Saturday, one week after Piano Festival, the girls participated in piano scholarship auditions, to compete for scholarships to pay for their piano lessons. They got to choose which of their festival pieces they wanted to use for the competition. Sarah played her favorite, called "Grandpa's Pocket Watch". She competed against 17 other kids in her division. It would have been so hard to be the judge of so many talented kids. Sarah played her piece really well, but didn't win the scholarship this time. She had a good experience, though, and plans to try again next year. We're so proud of her for giving it a shot and for her great attitude!

Rachel played her favorite piece, too, entitled "Conquistador". She also did a beautiful job. There were more than 25 kids competing in her division, so they gave away 6 awards instead of just 3. When giving out the awards, the last name they read was Rachel's! The look on her face was genuine surprise. She won one of the first prizes, a $100 scholarship! Since she's performed so well this month, her teacher wants her to compete in another festival in May, for cash prizes (she would get to keep this time) and the opportunity to practice her performance skills. We're so proud of her and the accomplished pianist she's becoming.

Rachel Performs Again!

We got a call last Sunday (the day after Festival) from Sayde Dailami, the girls' piano teacher. She called to ask Rachel to perform in the Festival Honors Recital. The judges at festival choose their favorite pianist of the day to perform the piece requested by the judges at a recital on Wednesday following the festival. It was mutual night, but she decided since this was such an honor and may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, she would participate in the recital. I took her because the younger kids weren't invited, and Steve stayed home with them. I wish we had known more of what it was going to be like, and I would have had more people there to watch it. It was really nice. It included piano, violin, voice, and guitar students in each division. It gave the kids an opportunity to perform in a real concert, in a recital hall at ISU. They even taught them how to properly bow, and had a drawing from the best bows. It was really nice. The only thing that could have been better is if they had put Rachel in the right division. They had the kids performing in order of difficulty. Rachel is in Elementary III, and they had her on the program with the younger kids in Primary III. She was pretty bothered by that, but we didn't realize it until she had already played. She said she felt stupid being with all the "little kids". Her song was obviously harder than the others, so maybe people didn't even think about it. Oh, well, now that we know what it's all about, I guess we'll pay better attention next time...hopefully she'll be asked again!! She did a really great job, and her mom was awfully proud of her!

Piano Festival

On Saturday, March 6th, Sarah and Rachel participated in Pocatello Music Club's Piano Festival. This was Rachel's 4th year, and Sarah's 3rd year participating in the festival. The were really far behind when we got there, so we had to wait an extra 30 minutes past our being 10-minutes early. The tension and nervousness mounted after waiting that long. We even had to take a walk around the building to work some of it out. Then, they moved Rachel to another room, and got her right in and Sarah followed right after. Both of the girls played really well, and felt "pretty good" about their performance. Rachel received a Superior rating, and Sarah received an Excellent rating. I was so proud of them. Sarah was pretty sad, and disappointed. After 3 superiors, she earns a gold cup and now she missed it this year by one point! Sometimes an extra week of practicing makes a huge difference, and sometimes the judge's expectations make the difference. Whatever the reason, she still got an Excellent, and did her best. I hope she can learn from this, be proud of the "best" that she did, and move forward with greater resolve for next year. I'm so proud of my girls. I wish I had taken my mom's "don't forget to practice" reminders more seriously when I was a teenager. I'm sure I would be able to play better now. I hope they always want to play the piano and realize the potential they have to bless others' lives with beautiful music and their other talents.

SO COOL!

Okay, remember that part in "A Christmas Story", when the boy puts his tongue on the frozen flag pole at recess, and the fire department has to come out to help him get it off?
...Well, I have a very curious 5 year-old. On the way out the door to school Monday, Joshua noticed the frosty trail of ice that had formed itself on the iron rail going down the stairs outside. He loves to eat snow and icicles, and in all of his excitement of having both served up to him sweetly on the rail, he took a big lick. A few moments later, Steve looked out to see why he was hanging out on the stairs and noticed that he had his tongue stuck to the rail!! He was pulling, and starting to panic (as any of us would), and Steve hollered at him to stop pulling. He brought out a cup of warm water and tried to pour it over his tongue without getting him all wet before school. He went to school that day with a sore little tongue, but a happy smile after Daddy's rescue. I wish I had been faster with the camera, as I would have loved to capture that moment forever. It was so funny, and unbelievable to me that he would think of such a crazy thing to do. Then, I remembered...when I was a little girl, I got my tongue stuck to a metal bar in the freezer once....

I'm a blogger!!

Well, I never thought it would happen to me, but I've become a blogger! Why? Well, it was probably mostly peer pressure at first, but then I realized that there are really 5 very good reasons I decided to become a blogger.

1- After Sarah started her blog last fall, and I received invitations to view lots of blogs for family and friends over the holidays, I really wanted to do my own. (That would be the peer pressure.)
2- We had to deal with quite a lot with Sarah's health last year and I think this blog might give me a way to express my feelings (like hers did for her). I've never been really good at writing in my journal, so this blog can act as my "online journal".
3- I also plan to use this blog to help the people we love learn more about Sarah's heart defects and intestinal disease and let them know what's going on with her health...and all the ups and downs that are part of the package.
4- I also seem to waste a lot of time on the computer, and this makes me feel like I'm actually doing something worthwhile in this seat.
5- It gives me a way to let my family and friends that we don't see very often know what else is going on in our crazy, happy lives.

So... here goes. Hope you enjoy reading about the Brown Family's smiles and sunshine!!