Pops concert...Get ready...

RaNae had her final concert for Choir this year, the Pops concert. It was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the Chamber Choir's performances, they did an awesome job. RaNae has been in Chamber Choir for two years now(she started with the Symphonic Choir her Sophomore year), she has absolutely loved it. The Chamber Choir not only has classes during the day at school, they also have other practices and they perform all over the Quad City area during the school year. Here are two of the numbers they performed at the Pops concert. Their theme this year was Get Ready... from the song by the Temptations "Get Ready".

RaNae's Sr. Pictures

We took the rest of RaNae's Senior pictures yesterday. We had been waiting for better weather , you know warm not raining kind of days. We had fun, I don't think we took a bad picture, I included my absolute favorites. Just be glad I got tired of waiting for them to all load.

RaNae's Prom

RaNae had her Sr. Prom this past weekend. She went with Chad, and they went with a group of friends. They ate out at Granite City, we took some pics at a park in the area, they went to the dance at the Milan Community Center and then they had Post Prom at the Expo Center.

My Mother's Day Surprise Saturday (Mostly)

RaNae and Harry tried to surprise me with a special Saturday. Harry made me a hair appointment (I even lucked out with my favorite stylist, since he couldn't remember who normally did my hair) and a mini-shopping spree. I found out about the hair appointment, due to getting a text on my cell phone ( he used information to get the salon's number, and I now had a text with the salon's name and number). But I was surprised when they handed me some money and instructions to go shopping for myself. So I had a great day. After my hair appointment I went shopping and got a couple of really cute outfits and a new pair of sandals. This is the hairstyle I got, my hair looks a little different, due to the fact that I have impossibly thick hair, but I still really like it. I will have to post a pic of me later. Anyway, thank you so much to my family for the great Mother's day! I love you all!

Talking to our missionary on Mother's Day

My favorite part about Mother's day this year was talking to James in Chile. We got to talk to him for about 40 minutes, we were supposed to have an hour, but due to a mix-up with the phone number, we got 40 minutes. Also keep in mind, that 40 minutes was split up between 10 people. He says he is doing great. He had trouble speaking English, but the longer we talked, the easier it seemed for him. He told us a little about his typical day, it starts at 7:00 A.M. ( most of the missionaries start at 6:30 and end at 10 P.M.) and they have to be home by 10 P.M. and in bed by 11 P.M. Since they have their main meal in the afternoon, they work straight from 3 -10 P.M. each day without a break. He said they eat at members homes on the weekends and his Mamita (not sure how to spell it) cooks for them during the week and washes their clothes. He didn't have it that good at home. He loves it there, and he loves the people. It was wonderful talking to him. Even Joslynn (or baby J. as he calls her) talked to him. As I think of more things he told us I will include them on our blog. We love you James.

How to Succeed in Business without really trying...

Can you find RaNae?

I taped bits and pieces of RaNae's Musical this year, due to some technical difficulties, missing button, and a very unsteady hand, not to mention a bad seat made for a bad video on my part.

But, you have to see RaNae's character...she played Mr. Gatch a business man with sexual harassment issues. She also played a secretary and a pirate. My batteries ran out (thank you Ethen) and I missed the end. Anyway, she was awesome, I wish I had her courage and abilities. We are so proud of her and all her accomplishments. Enjoy!

Happy 16th Ethen!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Ethen! #16

Ethen had his 16th birthday on Wednesday. It is so hard to believe that he is 16 already. I remember that little kid that would just smile all the time, and do whatever you asked him. He is so tall now and still has the great smile. He had a sleep-over party this weekend. He had 10 kids ages 13-16 stay over. We had a little problem with some girls showing up, but I was the mean mom and took care of that. I about had a heart attack when Aidan came to me that night and said, "Mom, why are there girls in our house?" Then we had a kid that ate too much and spent the night throwing up. Other than that... my opinion, girls were easier for the teenage sleepover. Anyway, we love you Ethen.