More music

During the kids morning rehearsal the parents walked the riverwalk. We checked out the concert venue, watched some rowing teams and enjoyed the pleasant weather and sun rippling on the water. 

We had lunch with the kids then went to watch their afternoon rehearsal. They are really good! I’m excited for the concert.

Poor Grace has been having a lot of pain and dizziness so that’s been a bummer. She’s been a real trooper though and has just kept plugging away.



Candida, me and Lorelle.

After the rehearsal we rode the trolley to the end of the line and went to a Spanish restaurant called “Columbia” Its the oldest Spanish restaurant in the US, it’s been called one of Florida’s top 25 restaurants and it is huge and so pretty. The food was good. We had a lot of fun. They have flamenco dancers there and I had the best flan of my life. Seriously so delicious.



Then we rode the trolley back and went “home”. Mrs Lynch (the kids school choir director) went to dinner with us too.

It’s been an interesting couple of days for me. First of all I have never seen the behind the scenes of how a choir worked and that has been so fun to watch. I can’t sing and had no idea the kind of work that goes into making a beautiful choir.

Secondly I just met the other parents yesterday and we spent basically all of the last two days together. Everyone has gotten along really well and we’ve had a good time but I don’t think I’ve ever been in a social situation quite like that. I like getting to know new people so that’s good:) 

Candy is from Mumbai. She has two kids and is a stay at home mom. She’s a little bit tiger mom-ish (in the best way) and very kind. Lorelle and Jason are from Puerto Rico. Ayanna is their only child. They met when he was a musician and she a tango/flamenco dancer on the island. Now she’s a physical therapist and he is in production. They are very loving towards each other and very nice to everyone. It’s been really fun to wander the town with them and to watch the kids learn and have fun!

I over use that word : fun. I use it all the time to mean pleasant, pleasing, entertaining (sometimes), positive and joyful.

Dinner break

Grace is having a really great time and learning so so much:)

Ayanna, Grace and Aryan

All State

It’s been a busy week. I’m not sure why though . The kids went back to school and I did some cleaning up. 

Wednesday I worked. In the evening we had New Beginnings. It went well. Each of the girls spoke. We welcomed 3 new beehives and our theme was love & donuts!

This morning Grace and I headed to Tampa for all state choir. I’ve been looking forward to the trip although I have no idea what to expect. I just got Grace settled at the convention center and us checked in to the hotel. Now we will see how it goes:)

Walk

This afternoon Rob and I took a walk with Zivers. We saw two beautiful hawks. One of the really fun things we enjoy here in Florida is seeing lots of birds and other animals. 

We started church on our new schedule today. 8am. Ward council started at 6:30. It was strange to have only two hours and to be home so early.  We did our family study of Matthew 1 and Luke 1 and had a good discussion. Ethan and Rob are both still feeling sick, they’ve been carrying around the respiratory virus that the whole family seems to have had for 2 months! Since they are sick we decided to nap instead of play a game or something. Rob did take E driving which I am glad about. I am excited for him to be a driver.

We watched a movie later in the day.

Today is also fast Sunday. Each month we fast from dinner to dinner on the first Sunday and use that time to reflect more on the Lord’s blessings in our lives, to pray for things we need. We also give a fast offering each month to help the needy. Dinner always tastes extra good on fast Sunday. 

Yesterday I went to the temple. Rob was sick so he didn’t come. We did end up going out to dinner and spent time in the afternoon cleaning the yard. He felt better after resting in the morning. I hope he’ll be well soon. 

Tomorrow is back to school for the kids. Vacation is over:(

Indoor

We had a pretty fun Friday. In the morning Grace and I went to Epcot. We had set up some fast passes. Our intention was to do two parks but unfortunately Lu wasn’t feeling well. Her joints and pain have been doing really well for a couple of months. The last week or so it’s become progressively worse though and now she’s having bad days:(  After our morning there we left so she could rest. 

We also had an appointment with the elders for dinner so I spent the afternoon getting ready. We always eat nicer food when we have company. I made Mexican lasagna, which was good. Chicken enchiladas which is easy and everyone likes, salad, corn bread and sopapilla cheesecake. Everything turned out yummy. We had two sets of elders over and had a fun dinner. I can’t believe in a year and a half (ish) that will be Ethan!


At 10pm Ethan had a soccer game. Watching indoor soccer is always a lot of fun. It’s quick and has fancy footwork. Our team lost but Ethan scored a goal and we had a lot of fun watching and he loved playing so there you go.

The boys are back

We went to the airport last night and picked up the travelers.

The whole family went.

Grace was excited to take Luka in the car. He’s actually well travelled since he’s gone to the vet several times for all his well kitten visits. 


Ethan and Rob had a great time! Rob and Abba and Michael were sick the whole time, so that’s a bummer.  Today Rob is at urgent care. Hopefully he’ll get well soon.

2019

The men are in CA. They woke up early and went to watch the Rose Parade. 

Then they went to the game. Right now, this second while I am writing, it’s the 3rd quarter and OSU is ahead so I imagine they are pretty happy. 

Rob, Michael and Abba all went to Ohio State!

Grace has Ashton spending the day and the night. They’ve been busy with lots of fun projects. They made macaroons that turned out really good!

They have made many batches of jello and eaten it. I don’t know why but if they are happy and not wasting it that’s fine.

They went roller blading and swimming. They are now in the process of making pelmeni. 

I took them to chipotle for lunch.




I took down Christmas, and cleaned the house, and did some laundry and walked the dog. 

Dani and her friends also went swimming. That’s a little bit more crazy!! I have seen lots of polar “plunging into the new year” pictures today so I guess it’s a thing??

They won!!!