May Calendar Pages

May 2010

The last band concert of the year, as a beginner.

December Band Concert

Ryan's band concert was this month.  It was really fun to see how the band has progressed from beginners to intermediate players.  What an improvement!  They did such a great job.  And afterward we celebrated with some DQ.

The beginning bang looking on as the Intermediate Band plays.
This is pretty much the entire brass section - just missing the
baritone in the picture.  This year Ryan is one of two French
Horn players.

Ryan playing on his horn.

Ryan's friend - Shawn playing in the
percussion section.

December Calendar Pages

Here is the last installment of the Calendar Pages for this year.  I have begun work on the calendar for next year, but only have about 3 months done.  Better get moving if I want to have it done by Christmas.



2007



2008



2009



2010

October Calendar Pages

This is one of my favorite months of the year.  We have so many fun Halloween activities that we do all month long, that I really look forward to all the fun.

2007

Don't you just love the sword in the pumpkin?  That is courtesy of my nephew Parker.

2008
This was the last year that we went to Young's Farm in Dewey.  We loved going there every year and were very sad that they were closing.  Here are pictures of our trips there over the years.



2009
Our first year going to Schnepf's Farm for their festival.  We had such a great time we went again the next year and have already scheduled a trip this year with my niece and her family.



2010
Last year we got to do a lot of non-Halloween activities, including a free day at Arizona Science Center and Star Wars in Concert.  It was also our second year going to Schnepf Farms.

September Calendar Pages

Here I was all excited because I caught up on my entries. WOOHOO!!! Then I looked at the calendar and saw that it was September 5th. That means it's time to change my desktop wallpaper to Septembers Calendar Page - which means it's time to post the calendar pages too! So here they are for September.

I hope that you have enjoyed looking at the pages from over the years to see where we have been and what we have been doing.  It's been a fun journey down memory lane!

2007

2008

2009

2010

There have been many fun times over the years.  Much growth and many new experiences as well.  We have loved sharing with our friends and families over the years.  Thanks for all the great times and we look forward to more in the future.

A Long Friendship

This summer has been a bit of a challenge for the Harper house.  Well, now that I think about it, the past year has had it's share of ups and downs.  I will be glad to put this summer behind us.  With school starting tomorrow, I'm hoping that that will be the beginning of better things for us.  I don't believe that Ryan will agree with me - he is not looking forward to school at all.

We had been hearing the rumors for a few months, but didn't know when or if they would actually come true.  And then one evening in June, we got the phone call.   Ryan's oldest and closest friend was moving away - out of state.  He would be leaving in two days.  After making some last minute changes to activities, we were able to have him come to our house for one last sleepover and spending the next day at our house.  It was very bittersweet.

The two boys have been friends since kindergarten.  Adrian moved away about two weeks into second grade into a different school.  They stayed in touch and got together as much as they could.  When Adrian would come over to our house, the two boys would just play and play and play.  I have only seen them fight once, and rarely did you hear "we're bored" from them.  They constantly used their imaginations.  Lots of great memories and great fun was had.

Here are some highlights of the two boys together over the years.

One of the first times that Adrian came over.   I think maybe this was first or second grade.

Whatever they played, they went all out.  They would setup elaborate games and then their imaginations took over.  It was really fun to watch - and to listen to!

A fort they built out of every single blanket in the house.  They had so much fun with this - trying to get the dogs to go in there with them.  I just heard lots of laughing in there.

Bowling.  Ryan has done a bowling league for several years with some other friends.  This day, the rest of the team was not there, so Adrian filled in.

Playing with the Star Wars figures.  They would setup battles and stuff.  It took them as long to set everything up as it did to play with them.  Either way, they had fun doing it.

Setting up another Star Wars battle waiting for dinner at one of my favorite places to eat.

3D movie

Adrian went to so many of Ryan's activites.  He came along to friend day at karate, attended every piano recital and went to a couple of his flag football games, just to mention a few.

We went to the drive-ins several times.  We would get there early to get a good spot.  The boys would bring along different acitivities to do in the car while waiting for movie time.  On this particular day, they were playing Yugi-Oh.

Legos was another favorite activity.  This day, they decided to build a long "rope" of Legos.  They measured it to be 25 feet if I remember right.

Another time bowling with some of my family members.

Their last day together swimming.

Adrian & Ryan

August Calendar Pages

Wow, can you believe that August is here?  The year is officially half over and the beginning of the school year is just around the corner.  It's been a bit of a long summer here, so I am ready for school to get back in session because hopefully that means the summer (and all of it's not fun things - mostly me being sick) will be OVER! 

So, here are the calendar pages for the past four years for the month of August.  As you can tell, they mostly involve school.  I really should get a head start on the calendar pages for next years calendar!

2007

2008

2009

2010

Band Concert

In May, Ryan had his last band concert of the school year.  I think he had fun playing the French Horn, although, it depends on his mood at the moment whether he will agree with me or not.  He had fun practicing for this concert and was less nervous for it than he was for his piano recital.  He did sign up for band again next year on his own, so it must not have been too terrible for him.

He had pretty good support for this concert.  His grandma & grandpa were there as well as his cousins Ben, Brittany, Baylee and Payton.

After the concert was over, we joined Ben, Brittany, Baylee, Payton and Ryan's friend Shawn and his family - Rick, Kim and Matt for some frozen yogurt.  It was yummy and fun to visit with family and friends.

The Beginning Band

Ryan playing his French Horn

Ryan with his band teacher, Mr. Strock

Shawn & Ryan

Kim, Rick, Doug and Matt enjoying their frozen yogurt

Baylee and Ryan

Piano Recital

It was a pretty busy day.  The same day as Ryan's 5th football game, he also had a piano recital.  It was fun to watch him go from a football jersey to dressed up to play the piano.  My parents were able to come and watch him play.  He was nervous, but did very well.

Waiting in line for his turn.

Ryan playing his song.

More Music - guitars!!

In just two months time, we now have 3 guitars in our house. One electric and 2 acoustic. We do love music in our house. Here are the three of us, one evening after dinner and homework and showers and all the nightly things we have to do (including piano and French horn practice). We each had a guitar and learned three chords. It was fun, even if those strings really hurt your fingers!

Doug & Ryan tuning Ryan's electric guitar:

For my birthday, I was given a guitar. Of course it's purple! What other color would it be? I think it looks great with my black fingernails.
Ryan concentrating on the three chords we were working on that night:

Doug taking a break between chords:

The Christmas Music of Mannheim Steamroller

On the day after Christmas, we went to see The Christmas Music of Mannheim Steamroller in concert. Santa put a ticket in each of our stockings - well not in the dog's stocking. They just got a couple new toys and dog treats (which they were very happy with!). And if you know Sam, he probably would have eaten the ticket anyway.

On the way to and from the show, Ryan read us puzzles from his new THINKlers book that he got at the Christmas Eve gift exchange. That book is really fun and works perfect in the car - he read them to us and we tried to get the answers. The ones we did this night include a list of three or four items and you have to guess the missing item or what connects those items. For example: John, Paul and George? And the answer is . . . Ringo. Or jalopy, lemon, junker . . . slang terms for cars.

The concert was . . . well kinda weird. I love their music. Those are some of our favorite Christmas CD's - they even beat out my new Sting Christmas CD - shocking I know! But, the concert was strange. I mean the music was great, especially the second half. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentleman played in the traditional Renaissance style and then again in the Mannheim Steamroller style blew my socks off. Remembering it right now is giving me goosebumps all over again. I have never seen a recorder played so brilliantly before. The brass section consisted of one trumpet and one French Horn (and they were both played amazing and with such a huge sound it was hard to believe there were just two of them). I would say over half of the group played at least four different instruments. But the show itself was well not the most entertaining show I've ever seen. I mean at times I felt like I was watching some kind of strange basement rehearsal or something. I could almost hear them saying "wouldn't it be cool if we did this or we did that and then the audience would think that was funny", only the audience seemed more confused than amused. It was an experience, just not the one I was expecting.

We did have fun and are very grateful to Santa for indulging our love of music and allowing us this wonderful experience. However, I am looking forward to the next time All-American Rejects or 30 Seconds to Mars or Def Leppard or Star Wars in Concert or even better STING is in town! (He is forgiven for his Christmas CD already in my mind.)

Doug & Ryan waiting for the show to begin:

Ryan and I. And even though it looks like I'm jamming the program into his face, I am not, he is! He was the one holding the program up to his face.

Christmas Morning

Ryan is always up at the crack of dawn - literally! From the time he was born, if the sun is up, he is up. No matter how late he stays up the night before. He just does not sleep in. Except on Christmas Morning. He is the only kid I know that always sleeps in on Christmas Morning. This year he didn't get us up until almost 8:30!

We peeked over our landing to see if Santa had been here yet and sure enough, he had!

Ryan was very excited to get downstairs and see what Santa had brought him this year:

Our stockings were placed on the sofa full of goodies!
Ryan is checking the letter he left Santa to see if he got a reply - and he did!

This years addition to his nutcracker collection - a Rock star Nutcracker!

Sam really liked the smell of my stocking - over the smell of the goodies that Santa brought for him & Ranger:

This must be why - CHOCOLATE!!!
Doug opening a present that seemed to be particularly interesting to the dogs:

What on earth is this big package?

Ryan's first electric guitar!

Ryan has been telling us for months that he is ready to learn a third instrument - the guitar. He was getting pretty disappointed in us because we hadn't bought him one yet. Well, little did he know, we had been dealing with Santa in hopes of getting him one for Christmas!Sam is not so sure about all this excitement:
What is this? Another guitar - this time an acoustic that was given to us by a friend! That is the face of pure joy!

Now for the really hard decisions - which one to build first?

After we got everything opened and fully checked out and I got my sweet potatoes going for Christmas dinner, Doug made me Eggnog Pancakes. They were very yummy!

Enjoy this video of Ryan playing his new electric guitar for the first time!