Oh Daniel!!!

Daniel has been thinking about getting a perm. We thought it might be a good idea for him to try out some curls before committing to a perm. I curled it with these fancy curlers. He looked a little like he was related to Medusa, but the curls turned out well.

His hair is so straight that the curl didn't stay through his afternoon nap. Sara got up early the next morning and curled it with a small curling iron so he could rock some curls at school.

My amaryllis are almost finished blooming. They are the last blooms from my bulbs for this spring.

Tuesday morning, I woke up to several friends letting me know that Yongsung Kim, one of our favorite artist, had posted a picture of Sara and I on his Instagram and Facebook accounts. Fun!

Wednesday night, Tommy Lundquist opened his mission call! He is going to the Mexico City East Mission. He reports to the Mexico MTC August 20th. Two of his best friends will be reporting to the Mexico MTC on the same day.

We will miss this teddy bear of a fella, but we are so excited for him!

Sara and I finished our finals this week. My last final was on Thursday at 1:00 pm. As soon as I finished, I jetted home, Sara and I packed the car, we watched part of Daniel's show choir dress rehearsal, and then took off to St. George for the night. (our trip will be another post or two)

Daniel is in two show choirs at Valley Vista High School, Excalibur (the all guy choir), and Vocal Thunder (their top show choir). The guys did a great job! We loved their dance moves. We kept imagining Tim up there jammin' out with Daniel. They would have had a blast together. I am so proud of Daniel. He is developing so many awesome talents!

The family went to Daniel's Friday performance. They all said that the choirs did a fabulous job. Especially Daniel! It was a wonderful surprise that Gavin was able to come with Grammy.

Sam, Vivi, Laney and Zanna were also there, but they left quickly after the show.

Daniel and Luke, Megan and Matthew Lundberg's younger brother

Daniel and Sam

Daniel and one of his best friends, Matthew Lundberg

A Daniel sandwich!

These boys have gotten to be such great friends over the last couple of years.

Andrew, Daniel and Freddy

Sam and Vivi had the girls over for the night. They had a ball! They were excited to finally see their condo and get to swim there. They went to the park and Outdoor World, they played games and ate lots of great food. Vivi is an amazing cook!!

Vivi posted this on Instagram.

Saturday night, the Ely clan met up at Hale Theater to see Big River.
Everyone said it was a great show and well done.

Papa and Gram

Lilli and her boyfriend, Jaedon

Peter and Emmett

Tori, Nellie and Ella

Dandi, Peter and Emmett

Emmett showing off his missing teeth




Jessi and Grammy

Zanna was wiped out from the sleepover and fell asleep.

With Huck and Big Joe

Most of the gang:
Sam, Justin and Stephanie Spooner, Jessi, Rich, Andrew
Heidi, Dandi, sleeping Emmett, Lilli
Zanna, Gwen, Laney, Vivi, Papa
Tori, Nellie and Gram

Thanks Gram and Papa for another awesome family birthday outing!!!

School Concerts!

I had my final week of rehearsals and the concert for GCC Concert Choir and Chamber Singers. It was a ton of fun. The theme of the concert was The Best of  Broadway. We had lots of show choir type choreography to go with our songs. I have such a great group of friends in choir with me. It was a party on stage.

This is from our rehearsal of The Lonely Goatherd, from The Sound of Music. We got to pretend to be puppets. Lucas and I got to fall in love...

...and then we soon became a trio, with baby Joey. It was hilarious!

This is at the end of The Wells Fargo Wagon, from The Music Man.

This is Concert Choir

This is Chamber Singers.

For spirit week, on dress like your role model day, she chose to dress like her Daddy. He wears the FAM*ELY  shirt often so that's the one she chose to wear. They are pretty cute!

The palo verde trees are blooming and there is yellow snow everywhere! I love it!

Sara has been working hard over the last few weeks on this textured painting project. This was her last night working on it before the day it was due. It is gorgeous!

Here it is still in progress. The flowers aren't panted yet and she is still working on the skin. Her teacher added more contrast on the arms, and Sara is pretty unhappy with what he did. She is working hard to bring it back to something she likes, but also pleases his desire for more contrast.

Susanna also had her school choir and band concert. She is enjoying playing the sax with Mr. Jesse, and loves choir with Mrs. McKinley. It was a great concert! Zanna is brilliant and learns things so quickly. I love watching her perform!

Gwen came with us to watch. These two are such good buddies.

Mr. Jesse and Zanna

Gwen, Mr. Clark and Zanna

Gwen, Mrs. McKinley and Zanna

Our dear friend, Mary Duncan, and Zanna

Sara turned in her painting Wednesday morning. I had to get a picture just before. 

I'm so proud of this girl of mine.

Laney had her musical theater concert. She did an incredible job! She had a solo, In My Own Little Corner, from Cinderella. She has such a beautiful voice.

You can watch her solo here: https://youtu.be/Oz85GRZ26EI

Lindsey Baker and Laney

Nya Foushee, Dr. Nokes and Laney

We had a party in Concert Choir on Thursday. It was lots of jamming and singing with tons of food.

Lance amazed us all with his crazy piano skills while everyone sang along.

Group hug for Dr. K.

After school Sara and I went to celebrate by eating Indian food. It was delicious!

That night we went to Goodwill to get a 70s outfit for Laney's spirit day.

Friday night the boys were all gone to the Father's and Son's camp out and Freddy was at work. Sara was gone to Thatcher, so it was just the little girls and I. We went shopping, then got some food and settled down for the night with an Elvis movie, Girls, Girls, Girls! It was pretty silly. Laney said, "Mom, there isn't really a plot. It seems like they just made the movie so he could sing songs. I can see why people went crazy over him, he's so handsome!" All three of us fell asleep about half way through the movie. It's become tradition. 

Kenny Blakeley and his buddy Danny flew in from the east coast to fix up their rental house in our neighborhood. They stayed with us Tuesday night through Sunday morning. We loved having them and the boys loved working with them at the house.

Saturday night was my school choir concert. It was a packed concert since it was Dr. K's last concert at GCC. He is moving to Wisconsin. We are all sad to lose him.

Sunday, Rich and I left right after sacrament meeting to go to Gavin's Masterworks Chorale in Tucson. He is the artistic director and conducted Ralph Vaughn Williams' Sea Symphony. It was gorgeous and Gavin did a fabulous job. Dandi performed in the choir. I was so proud of them both!

I just wanted a cute picture with my sister, but she had to stick her fingers up her nose. 

Hahaha! Silly girl!

I love these awesome people!

Leigh sends me darling pictures all of the time!!! 

I love this little grandson of mine, my Baby Sammy!

He's already playing Wii with his Daddy!

Prom 2019

I had my school choir concert the day of prom, so I didn't get to take any pictures. The boys had a great time with Sarah and Lauryn. These are the best of the pics that were taken.

Freddy, Andrew and Hayden Buford

 Sarah and Freddy, Rachel Mounteer and Tyler, Lauryn and Andrew, Ellie and Hayden