Band Together

Last night Jack performed in his final concert with the Serrano Advanced Band.  He has really enjoyed his two years with the band, and has learned some skills, but more importantly has made some friends and belonged to a fun group that has done some fun things, including traveling around to compete at other schools. Next Saturday they get to play at Disneyland and then spend the day at the park. 

with his sticks in his "performance black" 

Jack is a percussionist with the band, and has played on everything from the snare kit to the timpanis to the kettle drums to the xylophone.  They have played some fun songs, but he has not been more excited about a performance than he was about last night's finale. 

For the past several months they have been working on the theme from The Pirates of The Caribbean - At World's End. I have gotten really familiar with it, hearing him playing it over and over, and I can tell you the live version sounded great! His band director told us it was a tricky one for the band, with lots of tempo changes and the like, but they were all determined to do their best and try. 

I videotaped the performance last night for everyone who couldn't be there (including Pete). The Intermediate band is set up to play at the front of the stage, but the Advanced Band is up on the stage, thus putting the percussionists at the very back.  So, I have to super zoom in my camera to get footage of Jack playing, so that makes for more blurry, shaky footage. 

Jack introduces the piece to the audience, then hustles back to start off the song-

his is the percussion you hear first in the song, and the loudest. 

And of course my camera ran out of battery (or disk space, something or another) halfway

through the performance, so I had to switch over to my iPhone camera which doesn't do

the zoom so much. So the above clip is intro and part one, and

this is part two of the song.  

Don't they sound great!?! 

with his percussion buddies backstage afterwards 

with his awesome band director, Ms. MacDonald 

The concert last night was a great end to Jack's time with the Serrano Band, 

and we are now looking forward to High School next year - 

here we come El Toro Marching Band!! 

Speedcube Skillz

Jack and his friends at school are very into "Speedcubing" on the Rubik's cube. 

 Jack even ordered a special speedcube used in 

competitions and has been perfecting his skillz on it.  It is fun to watch

his fingers fly as he solves the cube.  I am especially impressed because 

I am usually baffled by the Rubik's Cube.  I am proud of myself 

if I can get one side solved.  Jack is also inspiring his younger 

brothers to get good at solving the cube.  They each have a standard "3x3" cube,

 and Jed even has  a "2x2" cube he practices on, which has only four

 squares per side.  Yesterday after dinner in Laguna I convinced Jack 

to perform a solving demonstration for his audience of Grandpa, Grandma 

and visiting Aunt Jane.  He does it in just under 1:30, but he says his fastest

 time is in around 40 seconds.  We've watched competition videos 

on Youtube where some can solve it in under 3 seconds, but I was pretty impressed by Jack's performance here!  

Snapshots

Here are some snapshots of what has been going on with us lately.  Enjoy!

Jed earned his Wolf badge in Cub Scouts

Henry earned his Webelos badge 

Harriet and mom attended an awesome stake Young Women's program - 

Harriet loved the rocks decoupaged with paper hearts 

Henry sporting the latest fashion also favored by young Disney stars

(the shirt on tv was also red but appears orange here)  

We attend a fundraiser for the kids' intermediate school at our local Chick-fil-A.

Some of the teachers were behind the counter taking orders while others were

in the dining area serving soft drinks and cleaning up - that's Harriet's math teacher

with the broom and dustpan  

Sunday dinner in Laguna with family

cousins play Chinese Checkers at Grandma's house 

while waiting for the fish and scallops to grill 

Jed has been playing on a spring soccer team where he is learning a lot 

playing goalie has been fun and new for him 

the twins attend a youth camp out at Joshua Tree where they get to 

shoot guns among other activities - 

supervised by a Camp Pendelton Marine Lt. Col. in our ward 

Jack reaching new heights in Joshua tree 

Harriet and friend (and peek a boo Jack) hiking at Joshua Tree National Park 

Field trip with Henry's class to the Mission in San Juan Capistrano 

beautiful restored Grand Retablo in the main chapel 

Jed celebrating "Western Day" at school 

his bandit neckerchief doesn't hinder his basketball game 

Harriet gets her braces!! 

Jack and the school band have taken some competition

field trips to other schools lately - looking good in his concert black 

Young Women's New Beginnings program at our ward -

we have a judge in our ward who came and held a fun

mock trial, the girls were accused of upholding the YW values

and "evidence" of different sorts were brought forth,

all while explaining things about the legal process. 

Refreshments afterwards reflect the 

YW/YM theme for the year - Arise and Shine Forth

Harriet and the YW of our ward 

Looking pretty comfortable up there 

At the "Cubcake Wars" pack meeting, Henry and Jed

both take home first place trophies for their creations.

Henry's is a butterfly, and Jed's was a delicate shark design that fell apart 

I take six teenagers to see "The Hunger Games"on opening day, 

where we meet up with at least six (hundred) more 

Saturday afternoon in Laguna gives us the opportunity to visit

an open house at the Hortense Miller Gardens home in Grandma's neighborhood 

It's just a walk around the corner and up the hill to this house/now museum

owned by longtime Laguna resident Hortense Miller, known for its gardens 

and multitude of native Southern California plants and trees. 

hillside home

with original decor (master bath pictured above) 

patio/courtyard 

enjoying the beautiful surroundings together 

A couple of weeks ago I took a road trip to St. George

Meet up with CD, and an overlap with mom and dad!

We check out the new airport on the outskirts of town 

CD and Grandma model the bead bracelets Harriet made

for each of them and which I delivered 

Pan of LOVE! brownies, courtesy of Harriet 

Deacon Basketball

Every winter the Young Men of the ward participate in a stake basketball season in which

the wards compete with each other according to their age group.  The groups are 

split up into Deacon Basketball and Teacher/Priest Basketball.  

Jack is one of only 5 Deacons in our ward, four of whom either declined to

play full time, or had other sporting conflicts.  This meant unless we wanted

to forfeit each game, Jack would have to do some recruiting amongst his

friends in order to compete.  He did participate last year when he was a new

Deacon, but the older Deacons were so many and so aggressive, he

didn't get much playing time and didn't really enjoy the time he got.

This year, however, he had a great time and performed really well. 

Jack's best friend from school/the neighborhood was a shoe in,

and played in every game. 

They also recruited a less active boy, and some other friends, and

were able to show up with a full team every week. 

We never had to forfeit one game!  Because Pete had the most vested

interest in seeing Deacon basketball be successful, he stepped up

as the coach for the boys. 

As mentioned, Jack and his friends had a great time and performed well.  

It was fun for me to see Jack really come alive and be aggressive and make 

passes and shoot (and make) baskets and think about the game.

Their team won most of their games and made it to the playoffs.  They were

eliminated in the first round, losing by 2 points.  But they were all

in good spirits after the final game, and I feel that the season was overwhelmingly successful,

mostly to see Jack experience the game of basketball and find a little confidence. 

Here are some still shots of Jack playing, plus a video!

 #10

Here is some video action - in this game they were playing against a team with

a ringer, who they lost to.  But the highlight comes at about 2:40 when Jack's

friend passes to him and Jack puts it in the basket. This is video from the first

game of the season, and this is Jack' first basket. 

 #15

Easter Weekend

The weekend starts Good Friday afternoon when we meet with friends at the 

Sun & Sail club for our 3rd annual BBQ/Egg Decorating Easter kickoff 

It's always nice when the kids get along great 

and the moms get along great - that's our group. 

Could not have been a more beautiful day!

The kids spent time in the pool and time on the volleyball court 

Harriet, of course, got right to work...

the colorful, delicious results 

Saturday evening - baskets ready to go 

Easter morning! Also, this is the only photo of the kids this morning

 - no photo of them in their Easter best, mostly because there

 was no Easter best this year, just typical Sunday dress...

Thanks grandma and grandpa for the card and Easter green...

Afternoon Easter dinner in Laguna, eating on the deck

enjoying the day.  Happy Easter!