Our Weekend

We had quite a busy weekend. Dix and I went out on Friday night and had a blizzard with the Shoops. We sat and visited for a long time and I vented about many of Hayden's 8th grade friends being allowed to take "dates" to the 8th grade dance. Hayden is not allowed and is quite okay with it. What a good boy he is. Landon spent the afternoon and evening with Adam, so we drove over there after ice cream to pick him up and of course visited for a little while.

Dix had to work on Saturday, so I went at it as sole driver. First off, Landon's buddy Riley was getting baptized, so we all got dressed up and were at the church at 9--okay, maybe 9:05, but we were close! It was a really nice service and it was fun for the kids to see their friend get baptized. Then we loaded up and went to SPSCC for Hayden's audition for a Youth Talent Contest. Regan and Cooper fell asleep in the car (up too late on Friday?), so I left five kids in the car, under Porter's care, while Hayden and I went in. I left a bag of Oreos and a box of Cheese Nips in the car which I knew would help the level of peace. There were also two Gameboys floating around in there, so everyone was happy. After getting Hayden situated, I came back to check on the kids. They were all awake, so I took Cooper in with me, but the rest of the kids opted to stay in the car. Oh, and all the food was gone! Cooper and I milled around the "staging area" while Hayden warmed up and then performed. From what I could hear, he did a really nice job, although he wasn't terribly happy with his performance. A funny side note--on the way over, he was arguing with me that he should dress down--jeans and a button up shirt would be fine. When we got there, with him still in his church clothes, he realized that he would be terribly underdressed in jeans. All the boys were wearing dress clothes and the girls had semi-formal type dresses on. Boy was he glad he listened to his mommy! Anyway, he didn't win the scholarship, but it was still a good experience for him.
Speaking of violins, I took Landon's cracked violin and Hayden's violin in to the shop to be looked at a couple of weeks ago. They told me that Landon's violin was unrepairable (the cost of repair is more than the cost of a new fiddle!), and that Hayden really needs to think about getting a better quality instrument...like in the $5000 range! (gulp!) So we ordered a rental violin to replace Landon's cracked violin (it has been cracked for a couple of years, but has just started giving us problems with quality of tone). Meanwhile, Regan had her violin out (which really belongs to my sister Carolyn's family) while Carolyn and her girls were over. The girls were all really hyper. Regan set her violin on the floor for some reason, and then Lacy pushed the piano bench over. Unfortunately, the piano bench landed right on the scroll of the little violin and crushed it. So when I went to pick up the rental violin later that day, I had Regan measured on it and it will work for her. Landon is going to move up to the next size (1/2). We have a nice half size violin, so we are once again outfitted. As for Hayden's $5000 violin...well...I talked to his violin teacher to ask if the violin shop guy was for real. Which he is. But she said that maybe he could use a $3500 violin through high school and then if he goes on to play in college or professionally after that, he could trade up. Good violins don't lose their value as they get used, so it's unlikely that we will be able to find a "deal" anywhere. Not that we're not looking, though. Meanhwile, every penny saved (hahahahaha) is going to the violin account. *sigh* Why didn't I just teach them all piano?

So after all the fun at the audition, we ran Hayden back home to do a youth service project and then I took the rest of the kids to Riley's grandma's house for a celebration of his baptism and his and his siblings' birthdays. It was supposed to be at Burfoot park, but it was raining buckets! Porter did a magic show during the party and did a nice job. He didn't do as good a job as he did at Regan's party, but he did a good job. He said afterwards that the audience was "atrocious!" Pretty much it was Turner that was atrocious. The rest of the kids were, well, kids. And he's a twelve year old boy that could use a little more skill in child management. Anyway, he had fun doing it and it's great experience for him. Thanks for "hiring" him, Pam!

Our day quieted down after that. Landon played with a friend, the other kids watched a movie and then when Dix got home from work, Hayden and I went to the library and the grocery store. While we were there we ran into President Moss, who offered us four tickets to the Mariners Game...which started in less than an hour. So we hurried and bought our groceries, ran home, and Dix loaded up Hayden, Porter and their friend Nathan to go to the game. They made it there in the bottom of the 4th inning. They had a great time. Meanwhile, I fell asleep on the couch while reading to Landon and Regan. What an exhausting day!


Today was the day of rest. Dix took first shift with Cooper so I could sleep in an hour, then he went back to bed while I took second shift (stinker woke up really early this morning!). Church is at 11, so it's nice to be able to have that option! Dix got recalled for the third time into the Young Men's Presidency with yet another YM President! First it was Pres. Clark, then Brother Shepherd, now Brother Esquibel. Primary started off a little crazy today because we had as many visitors as we had regulars. But it turned out great. Our chorister made a fancy hat which the teachers "got" to wear if their class sang the best. Oh my goodness, you've never heard 11 year old boys sing like they did today! It was AWESOME!