Savannah's end-of-year choir concert was on Wednesday this week.  It was wonderful.  I love going to her choir concerts.  They are always so good!  They sang alot of their song from Tour and since they mostly sang at churches on their tour, a lot of their songs were religious.  They were really beautiful songs!  It was wonderful to see her be a part of such a good thing.  She makes us happy.

Megan had orchestra festival on Wednesday during the day at UVU.  We didn't get to see that, but I know she played well!  She would rather have been with the rest of the seventh graders at school, she doesn't much like being the odd one out -- being a seventh grader in an eigth grade orchestra I am told by a very knowledgeable source, is not fun.  I don't know why I did all those lessons. Poor girl!  She looked beautiful, though, and if I had been on the ball, I would have even taken a picture.  I got this one the next day, though, and she's still beautiful!!!

Sarah had choir festival on Friday during the day.  She had great fun! Being with girls her own age seems to be all the difference!  She loved not being at school and singing.  If I had been on the ball, I would have taken her picture, too!  Here's her picture from 2 weeks ago again so you can remember what she looks like in her choir dress.  :)

 

We had a big uproar with Mariah this week.  Her dad and I thought she should be on a club basketball team since she likes playing basketball so much and shows great skill.  We even found a team that practices right down the street and the cost was unbelievably low and the coach was way nice and liked Mariah.  Mariah, however, did not like the idea nor the team, nor . . . the pressure.  She would not be swayed and she screamed and yelled at us alot whenever we tried.  I guess that is that.

You know . . . parenting seems very straightforward when you start out.  But it's really not.

Cheyenne and I spent a little time together this week making no-bake cookies! It must have been Thursday since she is wearing her zebra shirt, and Thursdays are Zebra days!

Calianne and I finally got around to making that Cheetah shirt, too.  Just so you know . . . Fridays are Cheetah days.

This Friday was an especially happy Cheetah Day because we got a visit from my sister, Maggie, and her family!  Yay!!  Cousins galore!!  Megan even made a banner that said, "Welcome Gillespies!" and made a cake and frappe and strung Christmas lights in the backyard.  That girl loves a party!  Here are the Gillespies proudly modeling their banner!

We had a nice visit Friday night.  Saturday morning Elizabeth had her dance competition.  Sarah and Mariah went along to watch.  I am told that she did great!

That afternoon, Sarah, Mariah, Cheyenne, and Calianne had a piano recital!  They played so well!  We are so proud of the work they are doing to gain this skill!  Recordings of their performances can be sent to you by request.

When we got back, Maggie and I escaped the fracas for a brief hour at the pool.  Yes, you read that correctly -- we went to the pool with no kids!!  I learned a lot about swimming and a lot more about Maggie.  It was great to have some advice from an expert.  Some parts of triathlon training are fun.  :)

We had a barbecue in our backyard after that.  Finally, since no visit from the Gillespie clan is quite complete without a short play, we also got to see "Sleeping Beauty in Modern Times," performed in our very own backyard by very familiar-looking actresses!  We love a good play!  This performance also can be sent to you by request.

Bethany and Benjamin are doing well, too. . .

. . . as long as you let Bethany do a dance
and take a picture of her, too!



. . . and as long as you let Ben have the entire bag of chips to himself.

Yes, then all is well.