October Updates

Piano lessons

Jacob started taking piano lessons at the beginning of the month. His teacher is a young man from our ward who is an amazing pianist. I love the fact that he comes to our house to do the lessons, it is a huge bonus. It also helps that he is a boy.....so far we haven't had any comments that "playing the piano is for girls" and I think that's because he can see that you can be a cool guy and still play the piano too. I have been very impressed with how quickly Jacob is picking it up. It's also been fun for me to have the review for myself and to be able to help him when he practices. It's really important for me to have sons who are well balanced and that can appreciate the arts and music as well as excel in sports. Next year we're hoping that Joseph will be ready to start taking lessons too. I would like for them to play the piano into High school but if in a couple years (after they have the fundamentals of reading music down) they want to venture out and learn to play the violin or some other instrument that would be fine with me. We'll have to wait and see but at least we're getting off to a good start.

Girls Weekend

So our girls weekend was at the beginning of the month and it was so much fun! We went to Leavenworth and rented a luxury condo on a golf course. It is so beautiful over there this time of year and as always it was just so great to hang out and have girl time. We left on a Friday afternoon and got back on Sunday evening. While we were there we watched general conference, took in the sites of Leavenworth (an old Bavarian style town), and stayed up late talking and eating delicious food. I am so grateful for the many women I've had the pleasure to know in my life. I take away a little something from each one of them that helps me to learn and grow and enriches my life in so many ways. Thanks everyone for the great memories and for being such good friends. I also want to express my thanks to Aaron for always being so supportive of me having these getaways. He never complains and always makes me feel deserving of the break. At the end of the weekend I love coming home to my little family and finding my children happy and healthy, the house in order, and a sweet, smiling husband who is happy to have me home. (:

Phantom of the Opera

Aaron surprised me with tickets to go see the Phantom of the Opera in Seattle. We went to the performance on the Thursday just before their closing weekend. We had heard back at the beginning of the year that they were going to be here in October but with the business of life it had just slipped my mind. Luckily Aaron remembered and got tickets just in time. The Paramont theater is so gorgeous and historic! During the intermission I waited out in the lobby while Aaron used the restroom and just gushed over how beautiful it was. It was also really fun to see everyone all dressed up....you don't see that very often these days and I totally enjoyed "people watching" all of the nicely dressed couples. So Aaron wasn't really raised to appreciate the arts but he got into my Sarah Brightman CD's years ago and after that he gave my Phantom of the Opera CD a try because she was the lead vocalist. It didn't take long before he was hooked. So I first saw Phantom of the Opera over 10 years ago in San Diego with Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford and that may have been a mistake. Because after hearing her sing the part (in my opinion) no one else can sing it better. I just wish I would have appreciated it more back then.....Anyway, we also decided that no matter how much it costs we are going to splurge next time and get the expensive seats. We had the best seats we could get (buying the tickets so late) but they weren't close enough to enjoy it as I know we would of had we been closer. The couple next to us had brought their binoculars and I was so tempted to ask if I could peek through them for a minute because the sets and costumes were incredible but I couldn't see all the details or the expressions on the actors faces. Overall though, it was a great night out and as always fun to dress up and spend time together. Thanks Aaron.