Spotlight 2018: Brandon

Brandon, age 16

Something in 2017 that...


*you saw or did that was awesome:  White Sands

*you'll remember:  Youth conference to Palmyra and Kirtland

*scared you:  Having two AP maths at the same time


*you're good at:  I got better at climbing


*you're proud of:  Winning my first comp

*made you happy:  The cruise

*you learned:   How to lead marching band


*made you laugh:  My friends (Spencer, Cao, Emily)


*was exciting:  Flying for the first time by myself

*you earned, won, or accomplished:  Second chair euphonium in All-county band


Something in 2018 that...


*you wish you were better at:  Practicing stuff, like wanting to practice school and climbing


*you wish you could buy:  More clothes (Undercover, Rick Owens, ACG)


Hobbies:  Rock climbing, video games, and clothes


Something you like about school:  Learning new stuff


Something you don't like about school:  When the stuff I learn is not useful


Top three colleges you'd want to attend:  GTCC, Columbia, Clown College


A job you might want when you're older:  I want to somehow be helping people by doing something that's fun.

A pet you wish your mom would let you have:  None


The most important thing you do:  Coach pre-team and school


FAVORITES:


Restaurant:  Wendy's


Sport:  Rock climbing to do and Basketball to watch


Recent reads:  I don't read


Candy or other treat:  Swedish Fish


Color:  Black


Movie:  Dark Night (Batman)


Animal:  Bear


Snack:  Goldfish


TV show:  I don't watch TV


Place:  A cruise


Season:  Summer


Meal:  Sushi


Song:  Find Some Time by Tyler the Creator


Game:  Overwatch


RANDOM FACT:  I'm double jointed in my left thumb.

Spotlight 2018: Whitney

Whitney, 13 years

Something in 2017 that...

*you saw or did that was awesome: seeing the Mayan ruins. Those were so awesome.

*scared you: jumping off cliffs into the Creek in Winslow

*you're good at: singing

*you're proud of: being the Snow Queen in The Nutcracker

*made you happy: going on the cruise

*you learned:  chorus is not as easy as it looks

*made you laugh: That time in science when we were all singing theme songs at the top of our lungs. It was so funny! It was the best.

*was exciting: Christmas!

*you earned, won, or accomplished: getting chosen as a chorus major at school and all A's in first semester of 8th grade

*you read that you liked:  Uglies, Fablehaven, Twilight, Percy Jackson, Red Pyramid, Michael Vey

Something in 2018 that...

*you wish you were better at: sports

*you wish you could buy: tickets to Wicked

*you hope happens:  that I will get accepted to PGSA high school

*you're looking forward to:  All-county and All-state Chorus

Hobbies: Playing guitar, dancing, sketching, reading, and knitting

Something you like about school: Chorus

Something you don't like about school: Math

A job you might want when you're older: I have no idea

A pet you wish your mom would let you have: A cat

The most important thing you do: Say my prayers

Something you collect: Random Harry Potter merchandise

FAVORITES:

Restaurant:  PF Chang's

Sport:  Dance is not a sport, but if it was, it would be dance.

Book:  Harry Potter 4

Candy or other treat: Mints

Color: Teal

Movie: Harry Potter 4

Animal: Cat

Snack: Dried cranberries

TV show: The Great British Bake-off

Place: My bed

Season: Fall

Meal: Sushi--California rolls

Song: "What is this feeling" from Wicked

Game: Either Telestrations or One Night Ultimate Werewolf

App:  I Love Hue

RANDOM FACT:  I'm 15% fluent in Spanish.

Anything else? Nope.

Spotlight 2018: Caroline

Caroline, age 9

Something in 2017 that...

*you saw or did that was awesome:  seeing the Mayan ruins and eating a leaf off a tree in Mexico

*you'll remember:  swimming with sting rays at the aquarium at Myrtle Beach

*scared you:  the little duck washcloth that Whit and I named "No" and that haunts your dreams with a scalpel

*you're good at:  math

*you're proud of:  rock climbing

*made you happy:  meeting Sarah's cat, Benny Boo

*you learned:  how to do trigonometry from Brandon and Whitney

*made you laugh:  Johnny Biscuit on a funny DVD my parents showed us

*was silly:  Getting B a rainbow emoji coloring sheet for Christmas

*was exciting:  going to the ninja warrior gym in Atlanta

*you read that you liked:  Wonder, Wing and Claw:  Forest of Wonders, Candymakers, Pax

*you earned, won, or accomplished:  1st place in a rock climbing competition, straight A's through all of third grade, winning my classroom spelling bee, getting accepted to the Duke TIP program

Something in 2018 that...

*you wish you were better at: art

*you wish you could buy: a kitty, the Lego Grand Hotel set, unlimited cruises

*you hope you can learn:  long division

*you are looking forward to:  going on a cruise to the Bahamas

Hobbies:  rock climbing, reading, playing with Legos, singing

Something you like about school:  that I get to go to Ms. Trace for AG (the gifted program)

Something you don't like about school:  that we have stupid music during lunch. When the music is on, we have to be silent! But it's actually a little better because we have Hogwart's music. And when the music is off, we can whisper at voice level one.

A job you might want when you're older:  Marine Biologist

A pet you wish your mom would let you have:  Kitty

The most important thing you do:  School

Things you collect:  Legos, Kitty things, Books, Harry Potter merchandise

FAVORITES:

Restaurant:  Golden Corral

Sport:  Rock Climbing to do, Football to watch

Book:  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Candy or other treat: Chocolate and ice cream (any kind with chocolate in it)

Color:  Teal

Movie:  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

App:  Dragonvale

Animal:  Dolphin

Snack:  Crackers

TV show:  Liv and Maddie

Place:  The ocean

Season:  Spring

Meal:  Hawaiian Haystacks

Song:  Satisfied from Hamilton

Game:  Life

RANDOM FACT:  I can make a very weird sound in my shoulder.

Anything else? My least favorite word is "moist."

What December Looked Like

Downtown tree lighting

(Whit was at a friend's birthday party,

so missed out this year.)

Greensboro Christmas parade

Our favorite marching band

Andrew and I went to a performance of Handel's Messiah

for date night. It was beautiful. And long.

But we stayed for the whole thing.

(Last time we tried to go, years ago when we still lived in Utah,

we bailed at the first intermission.)

Our first puzzle of the season.

Said good-bye to Sister Cook, who got transferred.

Snow!

You can't actually see it, but trust me.

It was snowing. :)

Gingerbread houses

We were happy Gigi and Grandpa 

could decorate with us this year.

Stake Christmas Music Program

Whit and I practiced for many hours.

We did two performances in one weekend.

The first one was just OK and the second

one went great.

Gigi and Grandpa got to hear us perform, too.

Our powerful alto section:

Me, Tara, Jennifer, MJ, and Arlene

Furnitureland South with my parents.
Introduced them to the massage chairs.
Love those things!

Codenames for FHE

One of Whit's sweet students gave her a Snow Queen

ornament and an Arabian ornament. So thoughtful.

C's winter music program

With Sarah and Brianna,

two good friends

Greensboro Symphony Christmas music concert.

This was our second year going and we loved it.

They had an aerial silks performer,

which Caroline loved.

We had friends with us this year.

Brandon left at intermission with Spencer.

Two of the long-haired men in the stake. :)

You never know who you'll run into at the movies.

Meeting the new sister, Sister Tebbs.

And we always love visiting with Sister Erickson

The Ballet Company got to take a day off of school 

to do performances at three local elementary schools.

B's band Christmas concert.

Last-minute GNO at Bea's house.

We found out that Laura had a tumor on her kidney

and wanted to get together to show our support.

(I had to go late after the band concert,

so missed actually seeing Laura.)

So grateful to have these lifelong friends in my life.

We put together a big collection of gifts for Laura.

Her surgery went well and we found out that her tumor 

was NOT cancerous. Hooray!

C's science presentation on Animal Adaptations.

The future marine biologist chose to study dolphins.

She did a fabulous job and got an A.

C's school Christmas party

The Ballet Company also got to take a field 

trip to Raleigh to watch The Nutcracker.

It was a gorgeous performance and

so fun to hang out with Whit's dance friends

for the day.

Temple date night!

Our temple will be closing for a year and a half starting in Jan.

So glad we could sneak in a trip before it closes.

Baking day!

Yum!

Put together twenty plates to deliver

to friends and ward members.

And we even had a few left over to eat ourselves. :)

Christmas Eve after church

Our delicious Christmas Eve feast!

Crab legs (I even found some KING crab

legs at Aldi this year!), shrimp, Grandma's red jello salae,

corn, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, artichokes,

and homemade rolls. 

Sibling gift exchange

I LOVED this sketch that B did for Whit

Jumping for joy in our new PJ's

Enjoying every minute of this stage of our lives.

Christmas morning!

The day after Christmas, Ryan, Destinee and their kids came to visit!

We had so much fun playing games, eating, and hanging out.

The next morning, we went to Spare Time

and played laser tag and video games.

It was a short, but fun visit.

Finished our second puzzle.

This one is HARD.

We didn't travel anywhere over Christmas break,

but had fun here at home.

Went to our first Swarm game,

Greensboro's G-league NBA team.

Lots of fun.

Pres. Fischer's son got married.

We went to their reception in Raleigh.

We decided to go early and have some fun.

Visited the NC Museum of Art.

We didn't care for many of the modern art pieces.

But their classic and ancient art collections were fabulous!

Mosaic from the second century AD.

This statue was one of my favorites!

Ball court marker from ca 550-850 AD.

We also stopped by a trampoline park.

Andrew and I watched while the girls played.

Finished our third puzzle on New Year's Eve.

Harry Potter Christmas.

New Year's Eve was on a Sunday this year,

so we spent a quiet night here at home as a family.

We each got to choose an activity.

We played MarioKart, CodeNames, 7Wonders,

watched football, and watched Inside Out.

I love my family and am happy we could spend the day together.

Here's to a great 2018!