A Couple of Noteworthy Items to blog out of Chronological Order

I feel like I have so much to write about right now and I'm leaving things out! Emily was in a dance recital before we left for Nauvoo and I wanted to blog it, but so much keeps coming up! She has been working on these dances for almost the whole year and the three girls in her class did a really great job. They did a 50's funk song to the song "Ain't That a Shame" and a drill dance too.

We also discovered a possum living under our shed in the back yard! We don't know what to do with it. Spencer, Taylor and I saw it the other day nosing around the back bushes and we took some pictures. It's as big as a raccoon or big cat! Yikes!

I played in a string quartet at March Enrichment. One of the ladies in my ward who plays viola had taken a class many years ago and she had to write some music, so she did and we played her piece. She actually played the cello part on her viola, because we have 2 violinists and 2 violists and no cellists in our ward. It was fun to practice, but 1/2 way through the performance, we got way off and it took me a couple of lines faking it to get back on track and it still didn't sound right, but it ended OK. Oh well. Here is the live recording. It was a difficult piece in that each part was playing a different syncopation, and it wasn't always harmonious even when we played it right. So there were only a few spots I could identify where we all were supposed to be. The rhythm changed a lot which made it fun and challenging.

Tiffany Running as Fast as She Has Strength

On March 28th I ran in a 5K race that our stake (church) sponsered. I had started running one time around our neighborhood (approx. 1/2 mile) months ago and came through the door gasping for breath. Emily was really scared, like I would keel over any second. I tried it again after a couple of months of weight training at the YMCA and it wasn't quite so bad. (Although I noticed some unsolicited jiggling in the middriff section AND the back side which was disturbing!)Then at the beginning of March, when Sr. D was out of town and then sick, I didn't want to go to the YMCA by myself, so I picked up running around the neighborhood again and wondered if I could go further than the 1/2 mile. When I found out about the 5K, I set a goal. Each week I upped the run another lap around the street. (5 kilometers = 3.106 miles)

The day of the race was freezing! I don't know the temp, but there was a good, strong wind that blew right through me. I was nervous. I had only run 2 1/2 miles up to that point but figured I could keep right on and my adrenaline would push me through. Sr. D and Emily came to cheer me on and I did it! I didn't stop running the whole time. There were people I passed who were walking. Then they would sprint ahead of me, then start walking and I would keep a slow, steady lope and pass them. It was funny.

The stake had many other things going on that day too, like a 1 mile family walk, presentations by a chiropractor, nutritionist, podiatrist, and a weatherman on hurricane preparedness; food storage displays, and the fulltime missionaries had displays up and helped out with the races. A hospital also brought over a moving lab to do free blood screenings to test cholesterol levels and I got mine tested. The results came back in a normal range. Whew! Sr. D wanted to take a picture of the lady taking my blood, "so that I could blog it". So he took a picture, but I will spare you the image!

They gave medals for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in age/sex categories and I came in 1st in the 40-42 "girls"! I think I only heard them announce a 2nd place winner, so there may have been only 2 of us, but hey! I'll take it!

I had a great time and I have kept running. I run 3 times a week and lift weights twice a week. On the days I run, we go to the YMCA and I do arms and upper body for 10 min. or so and then I run home, it's almost 2 miles and it feels great. (Especially when I finish!) I can actually feel an increased strength in my heart, lungs and legs. And I don't feel those jigglies anymore!

Popcorn Popping on the I-Don't-Know-What-Kind- of Tree

Every Spring I look out the window and what do I see? Blossoms popping on our backyard trees. They only last a few days and I think they are so pretty! Within about a 10 day stint, our trees go from bare to blossomy to leafy. I had to post a picture as I looked out the window. And now you can see what I see!

Spring Break in Nauvoo

Well, we made a last minute decision to go to Nauvoo for Spring Break. We wanted to for a while, but weren't sure we could pull it off. But we moved forward, reserving a place and even seeing if Heather and Damon could get their schedules to work with it. And everything ended up working out to do it. We pulled out right after church, Sunday, March 15 and drove to Oklahoma City. We drove to Kansas City on Monday and met Heather and Damon at the airport. Then we drove 4 or five more hours to Nauvoo. We got there in the evening and went out looking for somewhere to eat and somewhere to buy food. Most places were closed and there were no grocery stores nearby. It was pretty remote. On the main street we found a diner open, though they were about to close and had just shut off the grill. But they fired it back up for us and we ate gratefully.

Tuesday we took a horse-drawn wagon ride around Old Nauvoo and learned where everything was and got an idea of the places we would like to visit. It was a pleasant ride except for the two guys sitting in front of Sr. D and Heather. One of them was rubbing the back of the other...the whole entire ride (25 min.). Taylor mentioned the other day that he still likes pink ties, but now he doesn't like pink shirts. When asked why he said one of the guys on the wagon ride was wearing a pink shirt. :)

Our first tour after the wagon ride was the Browning Gun shop. This was Spencer's choice. After going hunting with Uncle Kim, he got to know the name Browning really well and realized that this was where the original Browning set up shop, so he was impressed.

(Hopefully a picture of the Red Brick Store will be forthcoming)

Then I wanted to go to the Red Brick Store. It was March 17th, which is St. Patrick's Day and I knew that one family who I am descended from , James and Sarah McDonald, lived in Nauvoo, and were from Ireland! But March 17th is also the day the Relief Society was organized, and it was organized in the upstairs room of the Red Brick Store. So I definitely wanted to go in there on that special day. We got a few souvenirs and Spencer took a picture of me and Heather in the room upstairs. The store is owned and run by the Community of Christ, hence the souvenirs, but they were letting the missionary sisters have a special meeting there that night and they did a reenactment of the meeting, which I heard was really neat.

Wednesday we didn't get going and didn't do a whole lot, but we had a picnic at a park, Sr. D took the kids to the temple to do baptisms. I had brought a 1000 piece puzzle, so we worked on that off and on. We rented and watched October Sky and ate popcorn that night.

(Hopefully another picture will be coming from Carthage)

Thursday morning we drove to Carthage, about a half hour from Nauvoo. There was a movie which celebrated the life of Joseph Smith through the writings and journals of those who knew him. Then we took a tour of the jail. The final room where he was shot in had a very special spirit, very reverent. I could have stayed there longer. In the afternoon we were back in Nauvoo and went to the Land and Records building and got a map of where James and Sarah McDonald lived along with other information about them. We went to the brick maker place, and the Scovil Bakery. We took a ride on an ox-drawn covered wagon and I did an endowment session at the temple while Sr. D took the kids down Parley Street and around Old Nauvoo more. After dinner we went to the building called the Cultural Hall and watched a musical put on by the Senior Missionaries called Rondeveau. It was hilarious! Very cute. The missionaries really made Nauvoo special. On every tour we went on they bore their testimony and I could just feel their love for the gospel and the early saints.

Friday we packed up and left Nauvoo. I didn't see nearly all I wanted to, but we saw and did much more than some wanted to. (The joy of history trips with teens:)) So I am excited to maybe go back someday and see it all. Before we dropped Heather and Damon off at the airport, we visited Adam-ondi-Ahman and overlooked the valley. It was neat to ponder the event that will take place there, the amazingness of the scene. We read some scriptures and then popped in the car and went to Liberty Jail. That was really neat too. The church has done an incredible job to make the facilities beautiful and inspiring, well kept and great presentations. It was sobering to ponder the trials and difficulties of the saints. They went through extremities we don't usually have to . We have our own and no matter what they are, they refine us and teach us and hopefully draw us closer to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

It was so good to see Heather and Damon and of course not long enough, but I am so grateful they could come. We said goodbye and headed to Oklahoma City. Friday we headed to Dallas. Cousin Chad was going to be ordained to a Priest, so we spent the rest of the weekend there. Fun to see family! Monday we drove the last leg and arrived at home sweet home and were welcomed warmly by our cat who couldn't stop purring.

The Finale

And this is it! Better late than never! I got the footage done yesterday, but didn't get the computer to post it. The second to last song in the Suzuki 1 book is called Allegro. Emily will now play it for us!

And now for the drum roll..........................................................the last song!!! It is called Musette.

Yea Emily! Take a bow and now... on to Book 2! :)

Episode Three of Book 1

Well, it's been delayed, but here is the next series of performances! Emily will now favor us with a piece entitled Chant Arabe.

Her next number will be Allegretto 1.

For her third number Emily will now play Good-bye to Winter.

Allegretto 2 comes next! Goody goody!

And our last number of the day is called Christmas-Day Secrets.

That's it for today's concert. The last two pieces in Book 1 will be posted tomorrow if all goes well!

Emily's Book 1 Party, Episode 2

Well yesterday I got sick so we weren't able to get the next segment done, but today we did! (And I'm feeling much better!)

The first song is "Mary Had a Little Lamb"

The next song is "Go Tell Aunt Rhody"

Our next selection will be a tune entitled "Au Clair de la Lune"

We will now be favored with "Long, Long Ago"

And last, but not least for today is "Little Playmates"

The show goes on...