Utah!

If you have never been to a 4th Grade Utah! program, you really need to make an effort.  They are really quite something.

I wasn't prepared when Henry was in 4th grade.  I just knew that they had a school program so I went.  I'm embarrassed to say that I laughed quite a bit.  I wasn't prepared for all the songs - I mean, seriously, who makes up all these songs about Utah history?  And the actions to go along with them.  I was expecting maybe a song and each kid saying a part about the state of Utah.  But what I got was something way more.

This year I was prepared.  And I got it on video.

Here is part of the main song.  It's pretty catchy and I found myself singing it quite a bit during the day, which is pretty annoying:

Here is a song about the railroad.  I had to get at least one song that had actions to go with it.  I wish I had gotten the one about the Spanish explorers but here is the railroad:

Finally, here is William's part.  It had a lot of numbers to memorize and he was pretty nervous.  Jay told him to just make up a number if he forgot them.  Who was going to question the number of chickens who entered the Salt Lake Valley with the first pioneers?  He did great, however:

It was a great program and the 4th graders at Summit Elementary did great!  I can't wait until Tessa's Utah program.

Surf's Up

The LaShar's Year End Dance Review, featuring Tessa's class doing songs from Teen Beach Movie, was last weekend.  Once again we all enjoyed the show!

As you can see, her class had an adorable costume that fit perfectly with the theme.  I'm terrible with doing cute hairstyles and normally Tessa doesn't even care but on dance recital day she really wants something more special.  We took her to Cookie Cutters and they did an adorable braid that weaved around her flower headband.

The boys were good and told her how good she danced.  Nana Bunny and Cameron came to Logan to see the show!  It was another fun year at dance.  Thanks Mrs. Jenny for being such a good teacher for the past four years.

Galileo

William is involved in a class at school called SEM.  It provides enrichment opportunities for kids in the form of special projects and activities.  In 4th grade, they participate in an activity called Images of Greatness, where they do a research project on a historically significant person who has made a positive contribution to society.  William's choice - Galileo Galilei.

I was fine with this.  He has been really into astronomy for a while so I knew he would enjoy researching Galileo.  But I forgot that part of the final project is to participate in an Evening of Excellence where they have to dress up as their person.  I'm terrible at costumes.  Really bad.  The solution - an internet search for Galileo Costume for Kids.  This brought me to a company that sold a costume billed as a Galileo/Nostradamus costume.  A few clicks and $30 later it was headed my way.  Lazy?  You bet.  But it saved both me and William a lot of grief.  We saved that for the Sunday afternoon when we spent hours putting together his display, especially since he had left a good bit of the work he had already completed at school.  Sigh.  Still, we persevered and William became Galileo for an evening in May:

He and all his SEM buddies did a great job with their projects.  There were some interesting people profiled and I thought it was a great introduction to research for William.

Still, the irony of William's costume being billed as a Galileo/Nostradamus hybrid costume doesn't escape me.  Science/Speculation?  I guess they all dressed alike, even in the 17th century.

Happy 8th Birthday, Tessa!

Today was a big day for Tessa - she turned 8!  Because her birthday was the first Saturday in May, she was able to get baptized on her birthday, which she was very excited about:

She was baptized on the same day as these cute girls from our ward - Ali and Kambree.  It was fun to share the day with her friends.

 Tessa and Jay in front of our house:

She had a really nice day.  We had all of our family from Utah as well as Grandma from Alabama here to spend her special day with us.

She was happy to get a new American Girl doll - Isabelle, the 2014 Girl of the Year.  Tessa likes her because she is a dancer and Tessa loves to dance.  She got some cute gifts from family as well.  She was able to go to a fun party for her friend Ali, where they had a blowup bounce house and water slide.  She picked Panda Express for our dinner.  All in all, she had a great day!

Happy Birthday, Tessa!  We love you!