Brandon's Spring Concert

Brandon had his final band concert in April.  Every year this concert is supposed to be outside in the courtyard, but sadly, every year it has rained, so they've had to move it inside.  This year, however, it didn't rain and it was such an amazing concert.  The weather was perfect for the evening and they did such a great job!

Here's Brandon in the Jazz Band, playing his alto saxophone....

Here's another one....

And here he is in the concert band, playing his flute (except that he appears to be taking a break right now)....What a talented young man!  Brandon was awesome and it was one of my favorite concerts ever!  The band teacher, Mr. Mansfield, is such a great teacher.  Brandon has really enjoyed him the last three years, and I am sad that he is graduating from Bonneville now.....but I guess Brandon will have other adventures at Cottonwood, right?  (But we will miss you, Mr. Mansfield)....Keep up the GREAT work!!  (Oh, and Brandon will visit for sure).

On a side note, we just started Brandon in private flute lessons last week.  He is very excited.  We have tried to find a teacher who teaches both the flute and the alto sax, but we didn't have much luck.  So, we'll try the flute for now and see how it goes....Brandon will be playing both instruments in high school, of course.  Crazy kid!  (I can't even get a sound out of either one)...Good job, Brandon!  You are awesome!

Sweethearts Dance--March 2012

Eric went to Sweethearts with Jayde.  I think she is so cute!  :)  The pre-dance activity was spent at Fashion Place Mall playing a game of scavenger hunt....fun stuff, eh?  (And cheap too). I think they had lots of fun trying to find everything on the list....

They also got a treat at the pretzel place....

....and attempted to eat a life-sized sucker!  :)

....and acted a little silly in the Hallmark store....

...and pretty much everywhere else, also.

Here are some cute pictures of Eric and Jayde before the dance....

Look at her cute shoes....

I love this picture too....so sweet!

Okay, and this one.....

They went to Spaghetti Factory for dinner and then went to the dance.

It was a fun night, of course.  And as I recall, Eric was home before midnight, which was a bonus for his tired parents.  Good job son!

Happy 21st Anniversary to us!

Happy Anniversary honey!

Yellow is my favorite color!

And these just made my day complete!

I love you Todd Jones and I'm so lucky to be married to you!

(But doesn't yellow mean "friendship?"  Does that mean he only wants to be "friends" now?)  Nope, I don't think so either!

Brandon turns 15!

Brandon had a birthday!  He turned 15 years old on April 25th.  I can still remember Brandon when he was born.....so cute and quiet.  His dimples were to die for!  And now here he is, on the pathway to becoming an amazing young man of God. 

This picture was taken the night of a stake dance Brandon went to.....I actually got him to smile.  Hallelujiah!  What a good-lookin' kid!

One of Brandon's friends (a GIRL) gave him this cupcake on his birthday at school.  Huh?  He told me she gives one to everyone on their birthday....ya, not sure if I'm believing that.....sounds a little fishy to me. :)  I mean seriously, did you see how good looking he is?

He really did like this cupcake, I'm sure of it!  But looks can be deceiving....he definitely wasn't sharing at the time... :)

Brandon and his friend, Sam, at the talent show concert.  They performed a duet together, with these glasses and it was pretty awesome!  Good job you guys!  I love to hear you play, Brandon!

We love you, Brandon, very much and feel so lucky to have you as part of our family!

Happy 15th Birthday! 

Easter 2012

Happy Easter!  This is what our Easter looked like before the kids "dug" into their baskets....all nicely set up and organized.

Eric's basket....

Brandon's basket....

Dallin's basket....

Kyle's basket....

Jacob's basket....yes, he wanted boxers!  Funny kid!

Jacob on Easter morning....

Brandon, showing off his new "Alto Saxophone" tie....

Kyle got a new pokemon game....

Dallin got a cool remote control helicopter....

Eric pretty much got an envelope with money in it....the perfect teenager gift!

It was a nice day and we enjoyed our time together as a family.  All of these events are going by much too quickly for my taste, but I'm trying to squeeze out every last drop of my kids' youth that I can before there's nothing left to squeeze.  I love these guys!

Happy Easter!