Jenna's 10th Birthday Party

Jenna wanted to have a Halloween themed party for her 10th birthday party!! Jenna and her two best friends, Clarissa and Anna, all decided to be dead brides for their costume. They look pretty creepy!

I loved seeing all of the girls' creative costumes. The girls were all so animated and lively (and loud)!! Jaiden and Emily (Thing 1 and Thing 2) hid "eye balls" all over the yard for the girls to find (the Halloween version of an Easter Egg Hunt, ha ha!) Then everyone went downstairs for the candy bar game, which became increasingly loud and slightly competitive with the girls "stealing" certain coveted items from each other. They all ended up with a pretty big stash of candy. 

We went back outside for some fresh air and the girls played a few rounds of "No Bears Are Out Tonight." Then Jenna opened presents and LOVED each and every gift! She got so many cool things -- nail polish, cute notebooks, gel pens, squishy toys, a cute backpack, a lamp, a dress, leggings, an art activity book, bath bombs, a game called "Beat the Parents," a gift card to Menchies, and a gift card to Megaplex theaters!

I asked Rick if he could set up the strobe lights in the basement and tell the girls a scary story. Suddenly it was SO quiet! He had them all mesmerized! The volume quickly returned as the girls came upstairs for cake and ice-cream. They all broke out singing Happy Birthday in Chinese! Almost all of them are in the Chinese program at school. We had witch's brew with dry-ice and rootbeer floats.

I had also purchased a Halloween Bingo game, but ran out of time and so we didn't play it. I think the girls had a good time and it was a successful party!

 Pictured: Jenna and Caroline Williams 

 I was grateful for the help of Jaiden and Emily (Thing 1 and Thing 2)! They made their own costumes and made two birthday cakes -- one gluten free and one regular. They also made a play-list of Halloween songs, hid the eye-balls, headed up the candy bar game, and helped to cut and serve birthday cake. Thanks girls! 

Primary Program

Our primary program was today and it was beautiful as usual!! I got a little teary eyed during, "I Will Be What I Believe" and "A Child's Prayer." Our primary chorister, Susan Broberg (who is absolutely fabulous) had all of the Activity Day girls come over to a couple of extra practices at her house so that they could learn the verses to "I Will Be What I Believe."  Jenna already knew the song since she and Morgan had sung it for a musical number at our Father's Day Flee a couple of months ago. It is a neat song! 

Jenna, Clarissa, Audrey Song, and Elle Wilde did the sign language to "When I Am Baptized" (I Like to Look for Rainbows). I had taught it to our primary children for the primary program a couple of years ago and they were re-learning it for this program. But with the ward changes our music director decided that there wasn't enough time for all of the other children to learn the sign language and so she let these four girls do it since they were already familiar with it. I had a couple of little practices with the girls to go over it and they did a great job.

Susan Broberg's father has had a lot of health problems lately and was unable to come to the program and so Jenna's friend, Elle (ten years old) sent out a note to some of the primary children in the ward saying that since he couldn't come to the program, they could bring a part of the program to him! About 15 primary children gathered at his home to sing four songs and do their primary parts. My friend texted me after and said that it was such a spiritual experience. Brother Broberg said it was like angels were singing to him and that he will never ever forget this experience!!

Swiss Days Choir and Madrigal Performances

Josh sang with his Honor's choir at Swiss Days. He also had a small duet. The choir sounded great as usual! However there were a few hiccups! One girl finished her small group part and was trying to hurry back to her spot and accidentally knocked over the entire mic stand sending it crashing to the ground. Later on one girl started swaying a little back and forth like she was about the pass out. The girls next to her helped to support her and Mrs. Harris motioned for her to come out and sit down next to her. Then a little later another girl had to sit down and get some water and then a short time later another girl started acting woozy and had to come down as well. I am sure that the heat played a factor in this and perhaps dehydration and maybe they were locking their knees. We were grateful that the program ended before there were any more casualties!

After the performance I hurried Josh over to his soccer game and watched him play for 30 minutes. They ended up winning so they have won all three games so far! I left the game early to hurry back  over to watch Janelle's Madrigal performance. They did a great job too. She said it was definitely hot though! (More for them than for us). After their performance she went to a Madrigal swimming party at one of the member's grandparent's house and had a great time.

Swiss Days Parade

Swiss Days Parade!! 90 minutes of sweating in the heat!! Something new this year was the Santa Clara Royalty "Past, Present, and Future" with several familiar faces!! So if Janika had been here she could have been in the parade as the 2013 Santa Clara Princess. Here is the current royalty.

 Josh could have been in the parade twice -- with the United FC Soccer kids, or with the student council from his school. But he opted out. Apparently he prefers to receive candy rather than give it!! So much for serving his community...

Swiss Days 5K

This morning Jaiden and Josh ran the Swiss Days 5K. Josh got a slightly better time than last year. Jaiden and Emily ran it together and it was the first year either of them have done it. Way to go, girls! There was a drawing after the race and both Josh and Jaiden won a prize! Jaiden won a t-shirt and Josh won a $10.00 gift card to the Pasta Factory and a t-shirt and hat.

Ky is Home!!

Ky is home!!

Swiss Days Candle Making

The Young Women helped with the candle making at Swiss Days today!! The primary program practice was going on while we were setting up. It was so fun hearing the kids sing. I can't wait to see the program on Sunday!