5th Grade Field Trip to Abravanel Hall/Utah Symphony

Four days after sitting at Abravanel Hall for WGU graduation exercises, I was back! On February 16, 2011, all of the 5th graders in the southern end of our school district went on a field trip to Abravanel Hall, and participated in an interactive performance with the Utah Symphony! We met in the 5th grade area of Ryan’s school. Ryan and a couple of his friends – Jacob and Graham – were hamming it up for the camera. Here is most of Ryan’s class. I wasn’t sure what to expect when we got on the bus. I waited for all of the kids to get on, and then I got on with the teachers and other parent chaperones. I expected that Ryan would be sitting with a friend, so I was going to sit at the front of the bus. My sweet kid (don’t tell him I said he was sweet) was saving me a spot next to him! I think that’s pretty good for a 5th grade boy! :)

Most of the kids were very well behaved during the presentation. It was planned very well, and kept the attention of those hundreds of kids. We had fun clapping along with the beat of Beethoven’s “Egmont Overture” and pictured the different parts of a dark and stormy night in “Night on Bald Mountain.” The highlight for the kids was the music from Harry Potter! The kids had a great time, and came away with a greater understanding and appreciation of symphony music.

WGU Meetings ~ February 8-12, 2011

Most of my blog readers know that twice a year I get to see my good friends and co-workers at our academic meetings. WGU employees from all over the country (and a couple from outside of the country) come to Salt Lake for a week of academic meetings and then graduation ceremonies. This year was my first set of meetings in my new position. It was so great! I’m back with my buddy, Cindy! Luckily we had plenty of meetings with the entire group, so I was able to spend time with Blake and Debra, too (as well as Scarlette, who didn’t make it for this picture).At our all-staff meeting Thursday night, I was also able to meet some of the evaluators that I supervise!Graduation was wonderful! Cindy and I sat together and had a lot of fun.

To illustrate the growth of WGU, when I first started, ALL faculty members sat on the stage behind the podium. This graduation, we all filled the balcony at Abravanel Hall!My favorite new tradition during the week of WGU meetings is having dinner on Saturday night with Cindy and Kim. In July, both of them were going through chemo, and neither had any hair. This time was much more celebratory, with both of them being cancer-free (and with some hair)!

Wasatch Front Fish Market “Fish Bowl Classic”

We have attended FIVE swim meets between the middle of January and the middle of March! With State coming up, the coaches encouraged the swimmers to attend as many meets as possible in order to make State qualifying times. On Saturday, January 29, Ryan competed in the Wasatch Front Fish Market “Fish Bowl Classic” swim meet at the Fairmont Recreation Center in Sugarhouse. Ryan swam the 50 backstroke, placing first in his heat! It was so much fun to watch him in the lead the entire way! Rara pointed out that Ryan was the tip of the “V” of swimmers, with the rest trailing behind him. He just missed a state qualifying time.

Ryan also swam the 50 butterfly, his best stroke. He made a state qualifying time! He swam it in 42.57, with the state qualifying time being 43.19.

Rara and Papa came to cheer for Ryan (as always). Marc, Frances, Alice, and Claire were also able to come and watch! We all had fun cheering for Ryan! We're all very proud to be his loyal fans!

Rara’s Car Accident

Rara tends Alice and Claire two or three times a week while Marc and Frances work and Frances goes to school. Ryan was out of school on Monday, January 17 and Tuesday, January 18. He was going to go with Rara on Tuesday to help with Alice and Claire. Monday evening, he just decided that he didn’t want to go.

Emigration Canyon is a crazy road in the winter. There is one specific spot where a drain has been removed (at the request of bikers) that ices over the entire road. There have been several accidents there since the drain was removed, and the canyon residents have asked many times for it to be reinstalled. Rara hit that spot and started sliding. She ended up spinning and then going up the side of the mountain, with the car coming to rest on the passenger side. Luckily, she was driving fairly slowly, so she was only bruised a little bit in the accident, instead of being seriously injured. But had Ryan gone with her, he likely would have been more injured, with the car landing on that side.

Rara’s Jeep was totaled, but at least she was ok! Whenever we shared the pictures (including on Facebook), no one could believe that she just walked away!

Catch Up...Again

I know, I do this every quarter. I start out with everything well balanced. Then when things get crazy with classes, I get behind on the blog. That's one of the easiest things to put off for later. Well, MY CLASSES ARE DONE! And when I say "done," I mean DONE! I have finished the last two courses for my PhD program! My comprehensive exams begin on April 11, so my goal is to be caught up with the blog (...and house cleaning...and my taxes...and Ryan's scout scrapbook...) by then. So, check your Google Reader regularly the next couple of weeks, because I'll be writing for a while.