The Nitty Gritty

Hi family! It's been such a fun four weeks! Here's the update:  It was William's last primary program on Nov. 17th. I can't believe it! I remember his first program when he was flexing his muscles during "Nephi's Courage". I'm grateful I could serve in primary for the majority of his primary years. On the first Sunday of 2020, he'll advance to the Deacons quorum which means he's going to receive the Aaronic priesthood. Wow. Van loves sleeping with Will on the bottom bunk because it's a full size bed and there's room for both of them. The other night, Will was begging Van to sleep in his own bed. Van desperately pleaded, "Please William! You're only going to be with me for 7 more years!" Oh my heart! 7 more years!  The UCM Mules Football team made it to the playoffs this year! They lost the second game, but they won this one we attended. Go Mules! I love going to the UCM ball games.  This year for Tha...

Isaac returned home today from Iowa City. He and Jake Sentgeorge presented at a conference together. They left Friday afternoon so it was a quick weekend trip. Their presentation was "Should I Stay or Should I Go: the perceptions of undergraduate voice majors on their vocal studies" or Isaac said, "Something boring like that." Like our family in Utah, we had a WHITE Halloween! On our way to school we saw two deer standing in the snow watching us drive by. Will said, "I love winter!" I assumed it was because of the beautiful scene we had just beheld. Which, yes, it was one of his reasons. But his other reasons for loving winter were because "then we have a reason to stay inside and school gets cancelled sometimes." Will made most of his costume this year. He was King K Rool from Super Smash Bros. Van was Shadow Link and he used the costume Isaac made him for his birthday quest. I was a witch and Isaac was a Wookie. Warrensburg does a ...

Hi family! It's been a great October so far! Isaac had a UKEtoberfest on the UCM campus. He hosted a middle school from Blue Springs. The middle school teacher presented to the undergrad students about what it is like to run a ukulele class. Isaac was very happy about this because it validated a lot of what he has been saying about the power of the Uke for music ed. They did a "Uke or treat" where the kids had to go around and do a trick on the ukulele (play a chord, do a strumming pattern, pick a melody, etc.) for a treat. They ended the event with a Uke play along. It was a blast. Woot woot. Isaac also received a grant from the university to start building a Music Maker Space. It was only $1800.00 but it is a start.  William is so much like Isaac!! He made his own Halloween costume (King K Rool), started writing a song, and makes up all kinds of songs, rhymes, and noises while doing his homework to keep him focused. It's the coolest thing to watch your childr...

Hi family! We've been busy celebrating birthdays and partying hard around here. Now that it's behind us, we're looking forward to the FALL--playing four square on the driveway, riding bikes, taking walks, making soup, Booing neighbors (BeenBooed.com) -Remember doing this 25 years ago? and creating. Oh! And playing on our new Nintendo Switch that we won in a Southwest contest. Isaac entered in 5 emails everyday and his mom ended up being the lucky winner! So awesome! The crazy thing is about 10 years ago, she won an Xbox. So if you ever need to win a contest, contact the Lucky Lisa!  Van's 9th Birthday! Theme: Shadow Link Activity: Quest written by Isaac with homemade costumes to boot Cake: Vanilla cake with vanilla frosting and vanilla ice cream on the side. Present requests: Amibo cards, Infinity gauntlet Interview with Van: What makes you happy? Video games and William What makes you sad? When people laugh at me like when I get hurt What is your...