Well, Life is...

So. The dog went away. (Ahem.)

But the rest of life continues. The kids are involved in fun stuff. At least the older two. We attended two concerts this past week. One for Peter and the middle high school bands and orchestras. That went...as expected. Though it was nice to see Pete play the xylophone (thanks Bent for the instrument). Honestly, he was the only one in tune. And his rhythm was spot on. Very important when your instrument carries over the entire 7th grade band. He even made up a part for one song that didn't have a written part for him. I don't know if the teacher noticed, but he didn't hit any sour notes, so it's all good.

Sarah is in choir at school. She is part of Bel Canto, an all girls group (like Xela, for those Bountiful alum), that does the singing and dancing and singing. She is so brave, and tries out for every solo. Their director is a BYU alum, and even sang in Vocal Point, their all male acappella group. Their concert was...honestly wonderful. The production moved fast, the performances were spot on. And every group did a fabulous job. She wants desperately to be in Taste of Sound, the mixed group. Not that I blame her. Most of her best friends are in that group this year, so she is anxious to join them.

Now that we've officially moved, we now have official new callings. Kendall went from High Priest Group Leader in the other ward to Executive Secretary. He keeps threatening to move back, if only so he wouldn't have to call so many people. Not his favorite activity.

I got called as a Sunday School teacher to the 14-16 year olds. It's a good thing Mom has had so much experience teaching teens. I never have since I've been old enough to have any kind of calling. I've always been in Primary or music. Or both. And Mom, if you read this blog at all, thanks for the tips. I especially liked the idea of having more activities than you have time. Very helpful.

This is also Sarah's class. We haven't decided if we are going to be mortified or pleasantly surprised by the close contact in church. Like I said, Primary or music callings have been my thing for many a year. Apparently it was my inability to be quiet during Sunday School that got me this new calling. (I never have been able to shut up in church for some reason. Mostly I think it's because I feel so bad when there's dead silence when a teacher asks a question.) It appears that the bishopric had the wrong number for us, so couldn't get us in for  our "what have your most recent callings been" interview. If they had, they would have known that the past six years or so have all been music callings. Not that I mind, but it's nice to do something else for a while. And when you're willing to say you've done music, they tend to stick you there. Forever.

Today was my first lesson, and it went pretty good, though one girl kept burying her head in her hands and then throwing it back to stare at the ceiling, sighing dramatically everytime. I have to say, everyone had me pretty scared about this class. The bishop even came in to my lesson today, prepared to "sit on them", he said. But he didn't need to. Today. Just watch...next week it'll be total chaos, and he'll be nowhere to be found. We shall see...

Of course now they know we are musical, and I have a second calling as the ward choir accompanist. :)

Kendall and I have joined a local group called the Gila Valley Chorale, a group of great singers from around the valley. We have our Christmas concert on the 28th of November (a minor snafu of scheduling moved it QUITE close to Thanksgiving). It is a great group, challenging songs, tight harmonies, and good energy from the director. We really enjoy it. It's fun to sing in a non-church setting every once in a while. And it's a great way to sneak in an extra date each week. ;)