Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a wonderful time this weekend visiting with family both

here and out of town. While in Kansas City, we went to Crown
Center and we were able to do some ice skating. This was a real
treat for everyone. Even Joey was out on the ice doing everything
he could to fall, and cause others to fall as well. ;-)

Anna with Justin

L-R Krista, Joey, Sara, and Anna doing some
form of "locomotion"

Joey, and her daughter,
Haley, along with Kayla.

Joey, was surprised that he actually did
not fall down that time!
Something that was almost as much
fun as watching the children skate, was
a homeless man up on the "balcony
area", overlooking the ice arena. He
particularly enjoyed the loud and quite
upbeat music and to our amusement,
did much dancing around.
The weather was so nice, that Jeff took the
kids to the local park while we got all the
food prepared.
Dad even got in on the action!

In addition to all-day football games, we learned a new
game that Krista demonstrates with Aunt Joey in this video.
It is a rendition of the classic game, "Rock, Paper, Scissors"
This game is called "Karate Man, Gorilla Man, "Gunman"
In this game Gorilla Man eats Karate man, Karate Man
kicks the gun from Gunman, and Gunman shoots
Gorilla Man. We hope to play this game with many
of you over the holidays. :-)

Wichita Youth Symphony Orchestra Fall 2009!

After a busy rehearsal weekend,
Sara, Anna, Jordan and Kayla,
all performed in their Fall
orchestra concert this Sunday
afternoon. It was a great
concert and the kids did a beautiful job. Here is a list of the pieces that each group performed.

I hope to have video uploaded as soon as I figure out how to convert
my VOB files, but for now, here are some photos of the evening.
First on the schedule was Kayla with the Chamber Players.

For those of you who could not attend, Kayla is sitting
on the front row, 2nd from the left. Her group
played "Rondo Round-up", "Chant-Formations",
"Egyptian Legacy", and a beautiful arrangement of the
familiar hymn, "It is Well with My Soul" by Philip Bliss.
Next on the program was Jordan playing in the Repertory
Orchestra. He is sitting on the front row 4th from the right.
His group played the following pieces:

Symphony #4 in B-flat, Op 60.........................Beethoven

Carmen: Suite....................Georges Bizet

And then the Youth Symphony played with Sara and
Anna. Sara is sitting on the front row, 3rd from the
right. To find Anna, look at the front row, the first
chair on the right, and go one row directly behind him.
They played an exciting program that included:

Euryanthe: Overture................Carl Maria von Weber

Symphony #9 in E Minor

"From the New World...........................Antonin Dvorak

The kids received a standing ovation for their performance!
It was an exciting evening after a semester of hard work.

Thanksgiving Banquet

Krista, Sara, Anna, & Kayla performed at the Central Community Senior Banquet with the Chaney girls. They played many different styles of music, with each girl giving a short introduction about herself interspersed throughout the program. The girls were extremely nervous about standing up and telling a little about themselves, but they all did a great job. The Seniors enjoyed hearing many of the old hymns, as well as the testimonies and Scripture the girls shared.L-R Sarah C, Sara F, Krista F,
Hannah C, Anna F, Kayla F

Krista & Hannah

Anna playing the cello.

Sara on the viola.

Kayla, Sarah, and Sara

Here is a sampling of the music they played.

Veterans Day Celebrations!

Jordan and Kayla have been able to participate in Veterans Day celebrations at several senior centers around the area. It has been a privilege to meet many veterans and their families, as we honor them and their service to this country.

We enjoyed playing patriotic songs for the seniors with
several other families at the Bel Aire Senior Center.

Krista & Anna were able to join Jordan and Kayla at
Parkview Plaza, with Krista doing the narrations.

Mark Davis, of Hospice invited us to this celebration
at Parkview Plaza assisted living. He awarded
certificates to the 22 veterans living there,
as well as 2 military nurses.

The Whitewater American Legion was their final celebration.


We enjoyed meeting and visiting with many
veterans and their families.

Part of the program included the kids playing the anthem for
each military branch. This always aroused enthusiasm as the
veterans and their wives clapped and sang to their song.

Ministering at a Hospice Banquet

Sunday, the girls helped with music at a Hospice Banquet

remembering those that had died in the last 6 months. It was a

beautiful ceremony with many memories shared.

The girls provided prelude music, as well as

dinner and program music.

I was reminded as the girls played, and I saw the tears of
those that had lost loved ones, of the Scripture in James 4:14
"Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow.
What is your life? For ye are a vapor, that appeareth
for a little time, and then vanisheth away"

Dog Agility

  On Saturday, the older girls did not have to go to orchestra practice, so what did they do? They went to a dog agility competition at the Kansas Coliseum. It was very exciting to watch all of the dogs race through all of the obstacles.

The weave poles.

 

               The seesaw.

The dogs had to lay down on this platform for five seconds.

They had many different jumps.

The biggest dog to do all the jumps was a Great Dane. He was as big as a horse. He was so big, that he had some trouble getting his long body through the weave poles.

The Aussies were extremely fast.

This long haired German Shepherd was beautiful!

Hiking at El Dorado Lake

 

Our family went hiking out to El Dorado Lake with some friends.

We had a wonderful time.

Thank you Chaney Family for the invite.

Justin was ready on the side of the trail with this makeshift catapult.

Dad is taking a break with his unusual chewing device.

 

The whole group climbed the huge dam of the lake. When they got

to the top I yelled to them to make a line along the horizon. I don't think they

understood what line I was talking about.