Samantha Dating and Dances Junior Year

 Homecoming

 Sadies

Ugly Sweater, Christmas Dance

 Morp

Community Dance

Preference

Prom

Winter Activites

 Sam was in "Into the Woods" at the High School. She was in the ensemble as Maid Marian.

 Sam had a voice recital where she sang "Mary Did You Know?"

Derrick had a fun band concert at the Junior High.

Sam First Date and Prom

Preference- girls choice

We didn't know they didn't do pictures at the dance so we have the snapshots we took at home. I also had to drive them because although they have their license, they cannot drive others for 6 months.

 Prom

She's wearing the dress I wore to my first Prom!

Helping Dad

End of School

We moved with a couple months left of school left. The kids adjusted well even though they miss many things from the old school

Derrick was immediately in a Shakespeare play and was able to perform with his class at the Shakespearean Festival

KayDee had her Kindergarten program

Samantha played the recorder with her class the last Wednesday of school at the flag ceremony. Her Grandma Laub and Uncle DJ and Aunt Whitney came to watch too. They did a great job!

Music

 Samantha and Derrick have been taking piano lessons from me once a week before school and worked hard to memorize their recital pieces.

 We had the kids play just before KayDee's Let's Play Music recital.

 KayDee finished her second year and has one more year left. We are not able to find a teacher in the area so I will have to do it with the help of Samantha and Derrick since they have done all three years.

 KayDee did a great job and remembered all of her parts. All went well except for when her piano wasn't working. It really upset her since she wanted to play what she had learned. That was fixed quickly and she performed great!

We are so happy she loves music and has done so well playing the piano. We will start again in September!

Easter 2012

 We dyed eggs with Aunt Bree and Dani this year. We colored with crayons first and then dipped them in the dye. The kids love it!

 We went back home to the town Easter Egg hunt and were joined by all the Laub cousins.

 Three cousins stayed the night and were able to play a little longer.

 We had to pack up stuff since we decided we needed to move to the farm where Kevin is working now. We just can't be apart anymore. Travis and Bree helped pack and load and we went to join the rest of the Laub's for the Easter Basket hunt at Kevin's parents.

 We did our own boiled egg hunt on Monday just in the grass next to the house.

The kids counted and sorted the eggs together after and Bree and I were excited to make deviled eggs!

Basketball

 This was our first round of basketball and the kids absolutely loved it. After their first game I was really concerned about making sure they were aggressive enough, so I paid them a nickle for when they got the ball and a quarter for each basket they made. It did help but after a couple of games the kids were so concerned about the referee calling fouls, traveling or double dribble that we had to have some stern talks with them about how the game is played. They didn't dare dribble the ball! I told them they are supposed to make mistakes and if the ref makes a call on them its okay. If they get kicked out of the game for hitting or kicking or being mean then that's not okay. I had to double the nickle when they dribbled and to shoot the ball (without making the basket) and that helped significantly.

These were the pictures I took behind the photographer. Then I matted my own so I wouldn't have to pay $10 a picture. The kids were pretty upset when they played their last game and hadn't received a picture yet. I had to reassure them that I was making them and now I hurried and did it!

Happy Birthday Samantha!

Samantha had two birthday parties. One was at Uncle DJ and Aunt Whitney's house to celebrate Dani, Chloe, DJ and her birthday together. Aunt Whitney made the fun cakes with sparklers!
The next party we did at the farm on her birthday.

Samantha turned 10 and we love having a 10 year old in our house! She is starting to grow up and her interests are changing with that. She loves to go to activity days and do the activities there with her friends. She is good at nearly everything that she tries. She enjoys acting, singing, sports, and dancing. We wish we could keep up with all those interests! She is patient with us and allows our budget and schedules to do one at a time. Samantha loves to read and has found some fun books to enjoy. She does great in school too and has really enjoyed writing of all kinds especially poetry and narratives! She is growing her hair out and is happy that her old bangs blend in completely. This year she did not get a party with her friends since we have been busy fixing up the farm house. She has been thoughtful of our time. She really loves the movies Despicable Me and The Parent Trap. Samantha is still playing the piano and is preparing for our family recital. Samantha keeps track of our family scripture reading and makes sure we read out of the "big" ones every Sunday. We love our Samantha girl and are so happy she is part of our family. She is beautiful, smart, fun and thoughtful. Members of our ward have said that they are sad since they won't get to see Samantha at age 16 when she'll make all those boys crazy with how pretty she'll be. We don't want to rush that! She really has a glow about her!

Snow

We have to get one snowman made at our house this year. The kids are getting older and know just what to do. Then they come inside and warm up with hot chocolate!

Samantha in The Lion King

 Samantha tried out for the play The Lion King and got the part of Zazu in the first cast. This is a rare occurrence for this performing group since they don't give main parts to new kids. She was very excited and she memorized all her lines and the songs. She went to practices once a week for an hour and a half for the months of Oct, Nov and the beginning of Dec.

 The second night she played a lioness and did a great job dancing with the other lionesses.

We are so proud of her since she did such a great job and followed through with all of the practices and remembered her lines. She wants to do another play and I told her she could after she had some other experiences (like basketball).

Buster

This is Buster. He was brought down from the farm to help eat our overgrown pasture. He is a really great horse and the kids love to ride him. Samantha and Derrick can catch him and wait for Kevin to saddle him. And they both can climb on by themselves. We really think it is special to have a horse in our backyard!

3 Musicans

All three kids did Let's Play Music this year. Samantha and Derrick finished and KayDee started. Next year Samantha and Derrick will take private piano lessons from me (we'll see how that goes). KayDee will continue the program and will start playing the piano as part of the second year. I am so grateful for this opportunity for my children to learn music and make it a part of them. It is something they can use throughout their life. It is something that is important to me and I'm glad I can pass that on to them.

Samantha's Recital

 Samantha has completed 3 years of Let's Play Music and played a piece she composed for the recital too.

 Miss Laura congratulating and presenting her with her trophy for completing the Let's Play Music program.

 

She played her piece memorized and did a fantastic job. Well done Samantha!

Escalante Kite Festival

 We spent Saturday morning in town to go on a bike ride and get some kites. I have been wanting to take the kids on some bike trails in town since KayDee really needs experience. Our road doesn't have sidewalks and is super intimidating for her. Kevin had to work so we all got in the car and he dropped us off along the way so we could ride our bikes about 3 miles to his work. KayDee was not thrilled but she did amazing. When we figured out all we had to do was make her the leader she actually pedaled her bike! She got scared going down a steep hill but then we talked about how to brake slowly. It was a fun time. I knew it would be a difficult bike ride and was prepared for several things. The one thing I didn't plan for was a bathroom break! Fortunately there was a club house that people were going in and so we used those facilities. It was a total success!

Every year Escalante Power gives kids a chance to read every day for almost 3 months to earn a kite or a book. KayDee's preschool class was allowed to do it this year so all three received a kite or book.

 When we went to the golf course to retrieve the earned items, there was a new fire truck there for the kids to look inside. Of course my kids enjoyed this immensely.

 "Stand in line." "Don't push." "There's room for everyone to take a turn." These were the things coming out of my mouth.

 I got to hold 2 kites and one book while the kids found something extra to do. There were bounce houses, a climbing wall, a train ride, and other fun things to do or eat. I gave them a small amount of money (everything was so expensive!) so they could choose just one thing. 

 KayDee chose to do the princess bounce castle. Are we surprised? Not really. She loved it!

 Derrick really wanted a snow cone and was so pleased since his choice lasted by far the longest!

Samantha chose the alien laser tag. Pretty adventurous!
We had a great time and then we picked up their dad.