She's A Teenager!

Someone decided it was time to up the ante and turn my (mostly) sweet little girl into a teenager. My question? Where did the time go?! I swear it was only yesterday I held her in my arms as a new born. Now she's gone and decided it was a good idea to turn 13 years old and be as tall as me! Where's that rewind button? Or even the slow down one? Well no matter what, I want to wish my baby girl a happy 13th birthday and hope she has a great year! Love you tons sweetheart!

She may look innocent now

Gettin' ready to eat Chicken Alfredo, yum

Dinner with Grandma Eiko

Now THERE'S the sassy girl I know

Opening her present from Grandma and Grandpa Brown

Me thinks she likes her new blanket

Thanks Grandma!

Opening a present from Grandma Eiko

What will it be?

And the winner is...

A brand new shiny watch!

The B-day cake with the funky (but cool mom) candles

Make a wish!

It's band time

Another band concert has come and gone. Cele had the first of two band concerts her school holds in the second half of the year tonight. Her band did a great job and she had lots of fun. Enjoy the music!

One Year Ago

One year ago today Cele and I lost my mom/her Amma. We still miss her and it's been a long and hard year. We just have to remember that she is no longer in any pain. We will always remember her and keep all the good memories close to our hearts.

Because it has been a year, we made the trip down to Vegas for President's day weekend so we could visit her grave site (and get away for a little bit). A much needed break with all the stress recently! This was also Cele's first trip to Vegas. She loved it!

As part of her first visit, we did a little tour of some of the funner hotels on the strip so Cele could see what there was to see. First on the tour was Treasure Island. Cele absolutely loved the ships. She thought it was 'so cool'. We never made it to the show they perform outside but that's on our list for next time.

Cele on the rocks at the side of TI

Cele and the Pirates ship

A quick peak at the Mirage and its dolphin statues and fountains

Which we all know she loved.

Since right now is Chinese New Year, the Pallazio hotel's decor was dedicated to the holiday and the Year of the Rabbit.

We really enjoyed their New Year display and, obviously, had to take lots of pictures!

Next we stopped at Caesar's Palace because when you have a hotel dedicated to Greco/Roman mythology and a child obsessed with such things, you have to go there and see the statue shows!

Cele in front of the pegasus statue at the front of the Forum shops

Not to be outdone in favorite legends and myths for Cele comes the Egyptian set so of course we had to stop at the Luxor. Cele had to make sure I knew exactly which gods were being represented and she loved the pyramid design of the hotel.

Of course, with Cele as your daughter and her love of fantasy and horses we had to go to the Excalibur! Of course we couldn't leave there without seeing the Tournament of Kings. Let me tell you, Cele absolutely loved this show. She got so into it she was standing up hooting and hollering for our king (Norway).

Cele before the tournament of kings

Cele outside Excalibur after the show

Now when the hotel your staying in is Circus Circus and you have an adventure junkie with you, you have no choice but to visit the Adventuredome. Cele spent about 5 hours here making sure she rode every single ride, some multiple times. She loved it!

Cele waiting to go on one of the rides

Getting her face painted

The results

Cele on one of her two favorite amusement park rides

(the other is roller coasters)

After two days of fun and relaxation, it was time to head home but we couldn't leave without a stop in Mesquite to visit Mom/Amma's grave and leave some of her favorite flowers behind. It was hard on both of us, especially Cele. We really miss Mom/Amma. But it was good to visit.

My parents headstone

Cele at Amma's grave

Me at my parents grave

All in all, it was a great weekend and a much needed getaway. Now it's time to get back to regular life.

A musical extravaganza

Once again I am behind on my blog postings so this time I did something I haven't done in a while. I made a video and you all get to watch it hehe. As a quick intro, in the last few weeks Cele and her choir have had a couple big performances. They got to sing the national anthem for the USU womens basketball team and then all 5 choirs sang as part of the USU piano conservatory's Monster concert. unfortunately I forgot my camera for the actual monster concert performance so the only pics I have for that are from the rehearsal but enjoy the pics and video anyway. Ciao.

A New 'Do

Cele has finally decided it was time for shorter hair. Especially since she never did anything with her hair when it was longer. So shorter hair here we come! Maybe now she won't have as many knots in that head of hair!

We Wish You A Merry Christmas

We Wish You A Merry Christmas,

We Wish You A Merry Christmas,

We Wish You A Merry Christmas,

And A Happy New Year!

Good Tidings We Bring

To You And Your Kin

We Wish You A Merry Christmas

And A Happy New Year

Music for the Season

The concert season has, mostly, come to an end for Celestra. She has one more item on the list and that's tomorrow then she's home free. Christmas break, no more concerts, and she's even done Christmas shopping. Lucky kid. Me on the other hand, not even close!

So for your viewing pleasure, I give you a picture tour of all the concerts from this month! Enjoy!

December 3rd held the first concert of the month, unfortunately due to location I couldn't take any pictures. Not that Cele was complaining! The concert was a joint concert with USU's women's concert and Flute choir. It was probably my favorite of the season.

So since you don't get any pictures of that concert, you get to look at a cool pic I took early in the morning just outside my work.

A beautiful winter morning

December 4th (yes the next day) was the annual Tabernacle concert. This concert always features the concert and cantate choirs and a guest. This years guests were a brand new children's choir from Salt Lake. This was literally an all day event for the kids.

First we started with practice at the Tabernacle at noon

Then it was dinner and games

with the Salt Lake choir

And then it was performance time

First up was concert choir then our friends from Salt Lake performed

(pictured below)

And now it's time for Cantate

All together now

The next performance was a mini concert in St. John's Episcopal Church. Since it was on Sunday as part of their regular church services, I decided it was better not to take any pictures.

Then on the 14th the annual Seasons Greetings concert came to be. This year the performance was held in the Morgan theater, a bit of a different venue for this particular concert since the Kent concert hall is currently under reconstruction.

Cantate choir performing during the Season's Greetings concert

All of the choirs performing 'Jingle Bells' with Sassafrass, our guest artists this year as the finale to the Seasons Greetings concert.

The next concert was Cele's band concert on the 15th. I didn't bring my camera to this performance but I did get a few pics on my phone so, while the quality isn't the best, at least it's something right?

Band Concert (If you look really closely, you might be able to find Celestra)

Friday night was the last major event of the season, the Holiday Home Tour. We had 7 homes throughout the valley that people could go through and see how they were decorated for the holidays. At the end the kids performed once again at St. John's. This was a really fun night, if a bit crazy on my end since it was a fundraiser. All went well and we got lots of positive feedback.

A home in the home show

Performing at St. John's

Heather Hopkins played the cello for 'Noel Nouvelle'

We also had a former choir member who accompanied the kids on her harp.

Cele and Grandma Eiko at St. John's

All of us at St. John's

Just mom 'nd me

Celestra and CCC's final performance for the season will be tomorrow. They have an annual tradition where they carol at the various nursing homes and assisted living centers in the valley. Then she gets to sit back and relax and enjoy her Christmas break.