President's Day

Shaw has been in Chorus after school two days a week for the last 6 weeks or so. They had a concert today in celebration of President's Day.
There are about 100 kids singing. Shaw is front row, just two or three kids left of center in this shot. White t-shirt, green camouflage pants, black sweat jacket. This is one of those situations where a photo doesn't tell the whole story- luckily the camera also takes video.

He thought he was gonna be nervous but I could tell he was digging it. He says That when he got back to class after the concert that his classmates cheered him on. He's definitely got his mom and dad's genes- being the lovers of music that we are.

Today is his birthday too. Happy 10th Birthday to ya Shaw! He's assembling some Lego gifts while I'm typing this. We sang, we danced, we caked, we candled and we blogged. We are going to have a field trip with a couple of his mates this weekend for a proper celebration for 10 years of living in this world.

Activity for a rainy Sunday afternoon

We had Stake Conference today and had no other meetings so we took a family drive down to the Gilbert Temple site. Lots of mud because of the rain so we didn't park in our usual spot for fear of getting stuck- plus we'd track a bunch of mud in the car. There are a couple of large cranes on site to move things around. We were too far out for me to see what was going on. It appears that the foundations are well underway.

It's like Rai ay ayn... on your wedding day...

I had to attend a wedding rehearsal at the Tempe Center for the Performing arts on Friday and Lesa was still at work so Shaw got to come along. I didn't actually have to attend and normally, I don't, but I loved this couple and it was close by and I was available to attend. The bride intended to have her wedding on the patio there but the plan b, in the event of rain, was to have the ceremony in the art gallery instead with cocktails in the lobby and dinner and dancing in one of the theaters. It ultimately rained pretty good and the art gallery was quite charming.

It's hard for you to detect in this photo but this is one of those horizon infinity reflecting pools surrounding the theater so it appears to just continue on down to the lake which is actually about 30 feet lower than where Shaw is standing and there is a bike/pedestrian path running along there. Every once in awhile you'll see a head bobbing up and down along there.
In this photo he's hatched a plan.

The best plans require rolling up ones sleeves.

I mean, seriously, roll up your sleeves, strap on your boots, gird up your loins kinda stuff...

Now... where was that penny?

Ahhhh... there it is, Success! I apologize on behalf of the universe for the wish that belonged to that penny. I can assure you that Shaw did toss it back in a bit further out with another wish attached. I'm not sure how much of a wish you can get these days for a penny anyways with inflation and everything. I think they are about $1.75 now.
After we were done there, Shaw and I headed over to Tempe Marketplace and Shaw sent a text to his mom to join us for some dinner. She obliged even though she and I aren't a big fan of the pizza joint there. Cheeburger Cheeburger used to serve up some great burgers- they are closed, Maria Maria which is the Carlos Santana signature restaurant used to serve up some pretty good Mexican food- closed. I think there may be some bad juju in the double name thing... We tried Lucilles (it's blues legend B.B. King's signature restaurant- I hope the double Bs aren't a bad omen) at Christmastime and thought it was pretty good- Cajun Barbecue.

But Alas! Shaw's mind was set on pizza. The thing about pizza is that even when it's not that good, it's still pretty good.

Happy 38th Birthday to Lesa!

A little class and a little culture

We all attended the Stake Cultural celebration to officially break in our new Stake Center and to continue to gel as congregations and with our extended friendships between congregations. Lesa's dollhouse was displayed again with a few additions from the last time I talked about it. It's really cool with all of the classy decor and with each room filled with both religious artifacts and historical artifacts. It probably had to be the single display that was hardest for people NOT to touch. I admit that I almost touched too, but I ultimately only pointed- I just happened to have my finger deep inside a couple of the rooms that's all... I lost my presence of mind to snap a photo of it. It was doubly cool because Lesa was invited to display it in a very prominent spot in the foyer.

A brilliant young lady on the Marimbas- it was a brilliant song choice too- moody and dark and haunting with great dynamics and even with my trained ear, I didn't hear a single missed note or any strike that wasn't exactly what she wanted. Most might have chosen a happy, poppy, bubbly song but she really added flavor to the night. Bravo!

A beautiful woman from the Spanish speaking branch in the stake- She rocked the house! Lots of shouting and cheering spontaneously. My life in the entertainment business has taught me that Latter-day Saints aren't the greatest audiences around. The concept of reverence kinda gets in our way sometimes, particularly in the church building. To shout 'Amen' or to cheer during church service is not our tradition. This event took place in the cultural hall and applause and cheering were appropriate. Her dance was about 3 numbers into the program and she really loosened everybody up going forward. The response to, and appreciation of the performers was much more spirited for the rest of the night.

This group above put the smile on Shaw's face that you see in the picture below. They sang a barbershop-type arrangement of a fun song about chunky peanut butter and raspberry jelly living and loving happily on a little piece of bread. These young men really nailed it too!
A little class and culture here- a stringed octet.

A jazz combo finished off the night and there were a few people dancing to wrap things up. There was a percussionist and a saxophone player to the right just out of the shot.
It's official now, we ARE the Hermosa Vista Stake!

Perfect attendance award

We had Parent/Teacher conference today- half way through the year. Shaw got a certificate for perfect attendance! Whoo Hoo!

His school is named after Zedo Ishikawa and this is the school mascot. Shaw is an Ishikawa Dragon.

Happy New Year!

Made another trip to the Gilbert Temple site after church today. We are going to go on fast Sundays from here on out. (Latter-Day Saints traditionally skip two meals on the first Sunday each month and donate the money that would have been spent to humanitarian aid causes- time is also spent praying and meditating) We get out of church at 1130AM which makes a long LONG afternoon for a 9 yr old when you are fasting. The trip occupies about 75 minutes of Shaw's attention and gives us a time to talk about what we learned that day and what we are fasting for. Still no detectable progress to the untrained eye. I think that all of the preliminary underground stuff is done and these machines are in place to start digging the building foundations perhaps this week.

Went on a hike to Sunrise peak. Shaw has now been to the top of just about all of the urban mountaintops around Phoenix with the exception of Camelback. The last 1/3 of that hike requires a bit of rock climbing ability and I think we'll have to save that one until he's a bit older. Sunrise is actually the tallest of all the mountains around here. He's been to Piestewa Peak, South Mountain, Shaw Butte, North Mountain, Lookout Mountain and Moon Mountain. It was really cold that day and it started to rain on us right when we got to the top but it was just a drizzle for the hour it took us to hike back down. It poured the rest of that day and night. We were glad to get back in the warm car.

He's also been to the top of Peralta trail at the foot of Weaver's Needle but that's kinda outside of the urban range. It's behind Superstition mountain which is the one that rises in the distance and disappears on the left of this photo.

We are all back to our school day schedule starting tomorrow. No church meetings this afternoon so we are going to play a game and do some reading or take a nap or just sit quietly...