Christmas Shows

I decided that this blog will never really be "caught up"- so we'll just start where we are!

I've been asked to play the piano a lot at church for various musical arrangements, programs, etc. So much so that my family (especially John) begged me to say "no" when people asked again. Learning a new song and getting it to performance level takes a lot of time! But, when this opportunity came up, they told me to say "yes"! It was my first paid piano gig, yes- I was actually paid to play 4 Christmas songs at a Santa show downtown for a work party. They even threw in free dinner for John and I + a Free night at the Marriott!


My biggest fan took a few photos for me and I begged him not to take pictures like he did at my Utah State University graduation... for those of you that remember that way back when!


(Mine is the teeny tiny head at the piano.)

Allison also had a show at her school. Her Musical Theater class performed songs from lots of Broadway shows, so Allison was really in her element.


She had a big fan club of friends show up on the front row with signs and everything. They were making a little too much noise and were asked to move. They sat in the back and continued to yell Allison's name throughout the show. It was so nice to have her friends be excited for her!


Her Grandma & Grandpa Ryan plus Great-Grandma Plewe were able to come to the show, too- but I'm not sure why we didn't get a picture other than we were having camera issues + Thomas was trying to escape for some reason. Sorry, Grandma & Grandpa- thanks so much for coming to the show!

And just so Becca and Thomas don't feel left out.... (who knows when I can post again...) here they are waving to Santa on the firetruck that came through our neighborhood. Thomas likes to remind us that "Santa said I'm on the nice list." Hmmm... we'll see! ;)

Real food

It's really that simple! :)

(Oh click to get a close up, the words are teeny tiny...) Photo credit

Family Pictures!

 We just had our family pictures taken! We had them done in Alpine, and they turned out lovely!

Reflections......

.....we have a winner! Rebecca won a trophy for winning the school level for visual arts! Way to go, Becca!

 

The Visual Arts Winners!

Here is a poster she made for the school, she is a great artist!

 Here is her Visual Arts winning painting! Off it goes to District Level!

We're so proud for you, Becca!

The "Spookapalooza"!

On Friday, October 28, my family and I went to the "Spookapalooza" at the South Towne Expo in South Jordan! There was many activities to do there, including bounce houses, laser tag, a rope course, and other fun activities. Even though a lot of it was booths with people trying to sell you things, we had a wonderful time there, and we even went through a "Spook Alley", where we got many free coupons with great deals on activities and fast food! (My mom loves coupons, it was great!)

Here I am posing with Harry and Hermione (personally I like smiling for cameras instead of a serious face... oh, well...:))

Even though this picture is fuzzy, it shows how hilarious it was to watch Becca and Tommy slide down the bounce houses!

Us kids planning our strategy. ;)

Dad by R2D2. Looks pretty 3D, right?

 

Then we went to pay laser tag! Tommy had a blast!

Here we are waiting in line for the rope course, and the little guy with the balloon lightsaber!

There goes Becca the zombie! :)

Next goes Tommy!

There I am, carefully climbing up.....

At the end of the course!

Poor Tommy was crying and clinging on to me at the very end; you had to jump off from 16 feet off the ground and slowly fall down, because you we hooked on to a pulley. But Tommy thought it was a free fall, so he was very scared. Poor little guy. Finally the lady up there helping us just grabbed Tommy and let him go in mid-air because he was taking so long. (He was OK once he found you didn't just fall off.) :)

We had lots of fun at the "Spookapalooza"! Whoo-hoo!

Thriller

Rebecca insisted on being a "zombie" for Halloween and this is why: Thriller!


She loved learning the dance, performing the dance and acting extra scary. This is a new development from our cute little "princess" girl. :)

P.S. Rebecca is the one in green.

Our Trip to Gardner Village

{Please note: This blog has a new author (at least for awhile)- it's Allison! She needs some hours toward her family history personal progress awards and Mom is going crazy blogging for fun work. Enjoy!}

Our family just took a trip to Gardner Village on Thursday, we had a blast! We traveled on "Ride to a Witch" which ended up being only $1.00 per person! Who-hoo!

The witch, Bitsy, gave us a tour of their house. Here's their kitchen (with cockroach stew cooking in the kettle.).

We got to see all the witches around traditional Gardner Village, we come here every year (except when were in Texas) to see them.

Goin' on down to "Cricket Hollow Swamp"!

She's 14

She requested crepes for breakfast: scrambled eggs w/ ham & cheese and another with strawberries & cream.


Gateway activities for age 14 at the Ryans: makeup and dangling earrings. She couldn't wait! (These first 3 are "before" makeup pictures.)


We got to eat out in SLC, go to the circus and have a friend party this year. She has lots of fun friends that she loves!


This is after. (She took it easy with the makeup.) She's a joy in our family! She's taking musical theatre, drama, and dance this semester at school, so she is in heaven. We love you Allison!