A December to Remember

Here are some highlights from our month. We hope you also had a December to remember, filled with love and the light of the Savior. See you in 2010!

fyi: The music in the movie is from from my choir's Christmas program last year!

Proud Mom Moment

As some of you may know, I sing with the Des Moines Choral Society {click here to check out the website}. It is a little community choir here in Des Moines that is my version of a MoTab experience. I learned about the group when I first moved to Des Moines from a couple members of our ward who sing/sang with them. Not having much more exposure to choral singing than the garden-variety high school/ward choir experience, I braved an audition to see if I could bump up my experience. Much to my surprise after a mediocre audition, I was accepted and started a great journey.

After four years, the choir has become an major part of my life (now I work for the choir as the office administrator in addition to singing). And I think my passion has rubbed off a little on my very supportive family.

Last night we had our first concert of the season. Usually, Kris comes and brings one or more of the kids to support me. But due to some scheduling conflicts, Kris wasn't able to come. So Emmie and Olivia came with friends instead. As part of the concert, we ask audiences members to fill out evaluation forms to see how we are doing. Tonight, as I browsed the comments, I came across the following evaluation by Emmie.

This brings such a huge smile to my face. I don't know if singing is going to be Emmie's "thing" going forward. But I LOVE that she is being exposed to it at the ripe old age of 10. Check out her favorite part of the night--And He Shall Purify. I don't know about you, but four years ago I would not have known what that meant, BA in Humanities notwithstanding. It is a movement from Handel's Messiah (which we now love to listen to in the car all the time, btw). And I don't know if you can make it out, but at the top, in her doodles, are the words to a Vivaldi piece she sang with her choir--Implevit bonis esorientes. How awesome is that that my 10-year-old daughter is doodling Vivaldi!

It's great to be part of this choir experience. But it's greater to see my children blossoming and growing right before my eyes. (And check out her creative side with all the artsy stuff she drew around the sides.)

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year???

Remember all the fun associated with the winter season in Iowa? Lots and lots of snow paraphernalia--all over the house and garage--and fun winter storms that cause the state to shut down for days at a time.

As some of you may have heard, much of the midwest is currently being pounded by a big snow storm, the biggest in a decade according to our local weather guy. Today the snow is falling, falling, falling. Tomorrow we are supposed to get 40 mph winds that will cause blizzard conditions throughout the day. We are guessing that school, along with the rest of everything, will be closed down. That puts a damper on this mom's Christmas shopping plans, but all will be well as long as the storm moves along and roads get cleared before Saturday when I perform in my first concert of the season.

Christmas is Here!

It's official--I am a live Christmas Tree lover!

I have never had a live Christmas tree--not as a child and not as a grown up. Several times, I have wanted to go cut a tree and bring it home for Christmas. But every time, we have run into too many reasons to wait until next year.

But this year it worked out. We trudged out to the tree farm one bitter cold evening this week, took a saw to a tree we liked, tied it to the top of our car (thanks to Josh's scout knots), and headed home for the tree trimming (too bad I couldn't get a picture of us in action because my battery was dead). And now I'm hooked. It's officially Christmas and I don't know if I will be able to go back to a fake tree again. Sure it's a little asymmetrical. Sure, it leans to the side a bit (probably how we set it up as much as the tree itself). But it really feels like an old-fashioned Christmas to me--something I have been longing for for a while now.

We have the decorations up, lights on the house, and I guess I am ready for the snow to come. But oh, I will be wishing for sunny Texas on January 1, 2010!

Kaise's Baptism

After Thanksgiving, we all made the trek to Winter Quarters in Omaha to join our cousin Kaise for her baptism. We also got to visit the gingerbread display at the Winter Quarters Visitors' Center and take a look at the Winter Quarters Temple and cemetery.

The Family Comes for Thanksgiving

We were so excited to have so much family come for Thanksgiving. We had Grandma and Grandpa Tolman, Aunt Ashley and her family, and Aunt Andrea and her family. We had people in every bed and a few beds on the floor, shoes all over, and lots and lots of food. We haven't had that many visitors at one time before, but it was great. We welcome anyone who is traveling through this area.

Opus Arrives!

6:45 a.m. with Ms. Ghelf--Ready for the Day

The group on stage

Emmie with Ms. Ghelf and her friend Ashlynn (the other girl from her elementary school who made the choir)

Today was Emmie's big day at Opus. Ever since she found out she was selected for this honor choir, she has put in many hours of practice to be ready for this day--from getting up early several days each week to rehearse with her teacher to spending time at home memorizing her music. And today all her hard work paid off.

She started out at the middle school at 6:45 a.m. to board the bus to travel to Iowa State University for her day-long event. Her teacher, Ms. Ghelf, was there to greet her and share a treat bag with her for the day. Once she arrived at the university, they rehearsed all morning with a selected director. She was able to eat lunch in the dorm cafeteria with "the big people" (ie. the college kids) which she thought was quite a thrill. We got the whole run down of the wide array of eating choices, including the vast collection of desserts. She finally decided on a Philly Steak and Cheese wrap (if I remember correctly) and twist ice cream. Quite a highlight.

After lunch, they went back to rehearsing and going over the logistics of actually performing on the stage. Then they changed into dress clothes and awaited the program. Kris and I arrived at around 3:30 for the 4:00 start and had pretty good seats (pre-assigned, thankfully), considering the size of the auditorium.

Her group performed first, with three other choirs to follow. They told us that over 3,000 students auditioned to be part of the four 180-voice choirs.

Emmie did a great job. I was so proud of her as she stood there on the stage performing. She is growing up into such a lovely young women. It's hard to believe that I am already at the point where my children are starting to stretch their own wings and develop their own life experiences. What a thrill to watch as a mom.

Olivia Takes Disney World!

One of the very generous things my parents do for each of their grandkids is take them individually to Disney World during the year of their 8th birthday. It's a great opportunity for them to get to know their grandkids on a personal basis. And they get to see a whole new side of the kids, away from parents.

So after a whole week of running, running, running, my parents had a new name for Olivia--OLIVIA with a "A" for attitude. They said she was fine, but they saw a whole new side of her. And she ran them like crazy. When they got home, they were WIPED OUT! But I think they all had a great time. Here are a couple fun shots.

Friday Night Fun

What did you do last Friday night? We had fun learning the ins and outs of changing a tire on my car. I had been driving on it all day without any problem. So when Kris got home from work and asked, "How did you get a flat tire?" I replied, "What flat tire?" We went out to the garage to find the tire completely FLAT. So the boys headed outside to figure out how to remove our very dusty spare and put it on. Thank goodness for Jack and Josh. They helped figure the whole thing out. It was cold, but thankfully they got it done.

Apparently I had picked up a nail somewhere. Thankfully it hadn't gone flat as I drove to Omaha and back by myself that day. Better in the garage. After a patch on the old tire, we are back to business.

The Big, Freezing Cold Night!

Iowa, for some odd reason, chooses to celebrate Beggar's Night (trick-or-treating) the night before Halloween. So on October 30th, we prepared for the annual trek around the neighborhood asking for candy. This year the weather was awful. Cold, rainy, windy--the whole bit. But the kids wore lost of layers under their costumes, braved the elements, and had a great time.

To me Josh was the funniest part of the evening. For a couple years now, he has taken the post of passing out the candy. And he has done it with his typically stoic persona. So it was a laugh to me to see how excited he was for the festivities this year. (I think he was so thrilled with his pumpkin this year that it psyched him for the rest.) As we were getting ready to head out, he set up a candy station by the door. He hooked up Halloween music to some speakers, had a chair for the candy, and made paper decorations to put around the door. And he loved it!

Thanks, as always, to Grandma for the fabulous costumes. We really appreciate her willingness to do this for us every year. They always turn out great and are so personal. This year we had an army guy, a candy corn, and a Grecian Lady. The kids loved them and had a great time.

Never mind that on Halloween night (the real one) the weather was beautiful without a breath of wind or rain. When in Iowa . . .

Carving Pumpkins!

Halloween is fraught with traditions at this Tolman house. Here are pics from our pumpkin carving session. I obviously don't know how to work my camera very well, so I had a hard time getting pictures of each of the pumpkins in the dark. But overall, they turned out pretty well this year. Josh was especially proud of the dragon head he did all by himself. And Emmie designed her face and did it all by herself, letting her artistic side shine through. Olivia and Jack had a little help with their BOO and spider designs, but they had fun just the same.