Eden Lake/Eagle Heights Concerts

The following week Nolan's 5th graders at Eden Lake Elementary presented their first concert ever! It was a fun concert which aimed to show the parents what kind of progress the kids have made over the past few months.

The last song, Popcorn Prelude, was an entertaining piece where each section stood up occasionally to showcase themselves and their instruments. Everyone ended standing which deserved a hearty applause! Nolan's 5th grade students from Eagle Heights also had a concert this week and for a day or two we had to juggle one car because Nolan's battery died! It was an exceptionally busy week for us.

Honor Band Conductor

January 16th we took a trip to Marshall, MN for the Honor Band Festival sponsored by the Southwest Minnesota Band Directors Association. Nolan was the guest conductor for the 6-8th grade band. It was a very successful production and amazing to see the talent and support that brings so many kids to an event on a Saturday to make music with each other.

Chimborazo with Josie

We were so happy to see our friend, Josie before she went back to St. Scholastica for her last semester! Her past semester was spent abroad in Ecuador and she had a myriad of wonderful stories and interesting experiences. We enjoyed taking her to Chimborazo in Minneapolis to get a taste of her experience. The food was great and the company just as good.

Flurry and Drizzle

After having such an active December it was nice to celebrate my birthday with just Nolan and me. I didn't know it then but he had asked our landlord permission to add a few permanent residents to our home. On January 13th we adopted Flurry (black and white) and Drizzle (gray) from Twin Cities Pet Rescue.

I have so many cat pictures now I could break the internet but Drizzle and Flurry have been a delight. They are very friendly and love to cuddle in laps.

But, seeing as they are 4-5 months old they are still full of kitten energy and have had a ball exploring every nook and cranny of our house. Nolan and I have been devising ways to keep them from places they should not be.

But after they've played they'll eventually settle into a well deserved cat nap.

Sometimes they'll fall asleep while playing with their toys.

Flurry can fall asleep in any position. I'm trying to train them with the help of a book sent to me by Brittany. So far both cats understand "come" and are working on "sit". The bigger accomplishment will be getting them to obey me without a treat in my hand!

Prairie View Concert

On January 14th I played piano for a 3rd grade choir concert at Prairie View Elementary School. They were so adorable with all of their songs including their final number, The Ants Go Marching. I look forward to being the regular pianist for the 4-6th grade choir!

Christmas II in Maryland

After our relaxing Christmas in Cook we caught a plane to Maryland to visit my family. This may be my parents (and our) last Christmas in Maryland seeing as my dad is retiring.

We took the opportunity to see a few things in D.C. After a show at the Kennedy Center we went to see the National Christmas tree which was so bedecked in lights it was hard to tell if there was a real tree under there! The history of National Christmas Trees is wrought with damage from too much weight and heat from the light bulbs. I guess it's safer for the tree to tent it rather than deck it.

As predicted, a good amount of our time was spent making and recording music. The tradition must go on!

We did save time for game playing, however. This year Pit seemed to be the runaway favorite. The trading was fast-paced and ruthless.

We had a lot of fun at Escape This Live. We were locked into a room styled after Queen Anne's Revenge, the ship of Blackbeard, and given the objective of finding the key to get out. After a lot of problem solving, searching and teamwork we were able to escape the room well under our hour time limit.

It was a happy time ringing in the New Year with family. We all made it until midnight with ease (except Mabel).

Our last meal together was at Tony's Hibachi. It is always entertaining and delicious. We're so grateful we were able to spend the holidays with my family and with Nolan's.

Accordion Christmas

It was a lovely break I took but now it's time to bring everything up to speed! Christmas was great. We ate our fill and had a wonderful time with family.

By far one of the best things about Christmas was playing accordion music with Nolan's mom, Pat. Nolan even brought out his trombone and joined in the fun!