Monday's Memory--The King's Choraleers

This past week, I reconnected with some high school friends on facebook and we chatted and shared some old photos. It got me thinking about our shared experience in Choraleers and how wonderful it was. And so, this Monday Memory...When I was in 8th grade, the high school Choraleers came to school to perform. I vowed then and there that I was going to be in that group. My senior year, I was in it! And the entire experience is one of my fondest memories of my growing up years. We sang all over the place and at all times of the day. I actually didn't do very well in my 8:00AM math class that year because of all the classes I missed due to early morning breakfast performances.

Our theme song: " Where ever we go...What ever we do... We're gonna go through it...Together"

I'll never forget singing at the Long Beach Convention Center for the Barbershop Convention. We were the only non-barbershopers there. We actually learned a medaly of oldies for that performance.
One of our last performances was a dinner at Peaks, a mortuary that had a room people rented out for social occasions. As we entered singing, the entire place was filled with our families. They had surprised us with an end of the year party. We sang for them, then we had dinner and partied.
Every once in a while, I'll hear a song that I recognize, and then realize that we sang it in Choraleers. How I loved being on stage; singing and dancing. How I loved being a Choraleer.

Singing "Hello Dolly" at a school assembly

Monday's Memory

I actually have no memory of or for this picture, but I love it and wanted to include it here. I'm guessing Milo and I must be around 2 and 4.

Up, Up, and Away!

We have tried several times over the last year to get up in the BIG ORANGE BALLOON, but were never able to because it was either closed, too many people, or too windy. We finally made it! We had a wait, so we ate our picnic lunch and rode the free merry-go-round several times. And then, finally, it was our turn. As we were walking up to the balloon, I was thinking to myself that this probably wasn't the smartest thing for a person who has a height issue to do, but it actually was great. The view was wonderful and the kids really thought it was cool. I must say, it was worth the effort. The next time, we want to go at night to see all of the lights.

Wild Rivers

It looks like going to Wild Rivers is turning into an annual event. And that is just fine with me. I love that place. The kids were older and taller this year, so we were able to do more things. It also helped that the weather was warmer, so we didn't spend as much time in the "hot tubs". My favorite still has to be the Lazy River...that is, until Carson and Wyatt decided to pull me under the elephants' trunks, where I got soaked. They thought it was pretty funny.

Carson's favorite ride had to be the Cobra...he went on it like 10 times!!! This is actually Todd, I missed Carson coming down.

Emma and Wyatt loved this ride with the pink tubes. I'm not sure what it was called, but they had a lot of fun on it.
And of course, Owen loved the swings.

Happy Birthday Sophie

Sophie turned 3 today! I know I say this a lot, but where does the time go? Happy birthday, sweetheart.

Happy birthday to me!

I've actually been looking forward to this particular birthday for some time now. First, I needed to be 61 1/2 for retirement. The district wouldn't let me retire mid year, so that made 62 the magic number. And second, at 62, I get the senior discount at the HB city beach. Instead of paying $150 for my parking pass, it's only going to be $50! I'm not sure it gets any better than that.
Todd, Amy and the kids fixed me a great dinner of tacos with strawberry shortcake for my birthday cake. All were very yummy. Then I got a phone call from Todd in DC, singing to me and later, Kathy and the kids called and did the same. All in all, a very special day. I think I'll stop at 62. It's a great age to be!

4th of July

This was a pretty quiet 4th of July. It started early with the annual flag raising and pancake breakfast at the church. The flag raising was cool. There was an old flag flying that the boy scouts were going to retire, but when the boys lowered the flag, the entire rope came down with it, so no flag raising! But they did retire the old flag by cutting it into three pieces and burning it. Very interesting. Breakfast was good. We had some old ward members come by, so it was fun to visit with them.
The rest of the day was spent at home, very quiet and relaxing. Finally, that evening, mom and I drove to Amy's to watch the neighborhood fireworks show. They outdid themselves this year. I've never seen so many great fireworks. The exciting part was right at the start, when one of the big ones misfired, and shot right across the street and into our crowd. No one was hurt, but there were some anxious moms and kids after that!