Brookles

2019 was a big year for promotions for our girls.  Annika moved up from kindergarten, Talia moved on from elementary, and Brooklyn is now officially a high schooler.  How did this happen?

Here is a three generation photo of Brooklyn, her Mom, and her NomiAnn, taken at her ELP promotion.  So radiant.  And oh so grown-up.

Promotion from ELP (the Extended Learning Program) is actually a fairly big deal.  7th & 8th grade at West is pretty darn rigorous, with challenging coursework in nearly all of their classes.  Homework is intense, and good study habits are a must.  Despite indulging in a bit too much pleasure reading*, this gal excelled.  We are so very proud of her.  Every ELPer received an individual award that matched their interests and personality.  Brooklyn's was the "Most Likely to win a Nobel Prize."

We concur.  You are going to change the world in marvelous ways.

*Okay, a funny side note.  When I went to Brooklyn's Parent Teacher conference in third grade, her English teacher mentioned that she was doing great, but secretly read under her desk during class.  Her Spanish teacher immediately chimed in with "In my class she doesn't even try to hide it.  She just puts her book right on top."  It's funny how differently we parent each child.  For Brooklyn, the ultimate punishment is getting her book taken away.  For Eli, his chore is to sit down and read something that isn't Legos.

Back to promotion, here are the girls all getting ready for their big days be getting a pedicure with NomiAnn.  So fun! 

This was actually a first for each of them.


So what was Brooklyn up to as she wrapped up her middle school years?  Well, she had a fantastic time at Disneyland with Junior Choir.

She loved California, and is really looking forward to singing with West's A'Cappella this fall.

She also hopes to go on tour again.  Can't imagine why.  (This is her choir director, Ms. Benson, and an Assistant Principal, Ellery Jones.)

I don't have any pictures of the five-day ELPer trip she took to Southern Utah (Zion, Coral Pink Sand Dunes, Kodachrome basin, Bryce, etc.) but if I did, it would probably include a lot of bus shots.  According to Brooklyn's report, there was lots of travel time, although her perception may be skewed by the extremely lengthy trip home.  Due to an unexpected blizzard, two of the buses slid off the road in a snow storm, then one got a flat tire, adding an extra seven hours to their journey.

On the positive side, I do have a photo of the fun art project Brooklyn worked on outside of class with her teacher, Ms. Delfin. 

She also performed in the ELPer play, Hamlet.  I'll be honest, I was not all that excited about attending a middle-school student-directed post WWII Shakespearean production, but they did a great job.

Best of all, Brooklyn made some great friends.

The cast.  Hamlet was extra fun because some of Brooklyn's closest friends performed with her.

It's all worth it for the cast party.

Brooklyn also performed beautifully with the Jack Ashton Youth Chamber Orchestra again, even tackling a solo passage.

Annika definitely looks up to her big sis.

Despite a busy schedule, Brooklyn stayed involved with Girl Scouts this year.  Here she is bridging up from Cadettes to be a Senior, along with her friend Lily.

Speaking of Girl Scouts, Brooklyn is currently at a ten-day camp that includes Camp Cloud Rim, Camp Trefoil, backpacking, rafting, high ropes, climbing, and all sorts of other fun.  I'd say that I'm jealous, but mostly I just miss her.

Here's Brooklyn helping the other girls light their candles.


Troop 212 will likely disband since their primary leader, Carol Huffman, is struggling with Parkinsons.  We w.ill always feel grateful for these wonderful leaders at our Lady of Lourdes (Carol, Maggie, Debbie) and the great influence that they have had on our daughters

For all her community involvement, Brooklyn shines most brightly right at home.  She has a natural talent for nurturing and is a fantastic babysitter, not only for her siblings, but many neighborhood kids as well.

Our neighbor's girls are so sweet that it's tempting to have one more...

...but I think we'll just wait for grandbabies.  By the way Brooklyn, no rush.  We are plenty happy to wait a long, long time.  But if some day you blessed with a child, I know you will be a remarkable mother.

After all, you are already a remarkable friend, sister, and daughter.  Thanks for the joy you bring our family.  We love you!

Tally Wally Doodle

Aw gee, I might get all teary-eyed writing about our Talia.  You see, I dropped her off early this morning at Brighton Beehive camp.  My baby gal's gonna be gone all week.  I suppose she's not much of a baby any more.  I hate to admit it, but she is now taller than I am, even without heels. As far as camp goes, I'm sure she will rock it.  We ran across this photo of Talia backpacking at Girl Scout camp last year while flipping through the program booklet at the GSU annual meeting.

So what was Talia up to this spring?

Plenty of homework, but at least Spark kept her company.

She performed front and center in the Wasatch musical, Space Pirates.  So cute!

The director, Ms. Penny Caywood, does an exemplary job of supporting these kids.

We loved how Talia saved us seats.

In case you can't see, this is what the notes on our reserved chairs said.  Yes, Talia, we are, and always will be, your people.  So many thanks to Grandma Susie and Grandpa Charles for coming to support her performance.

Definitely worth the trip.

By the way, Talia has an adorable fifth grade twin.

Just for the record, Talia doesn't always look this cute.  Here is the selfie she chose for the Wasatch Arts Showcase.  Silly, scary, or constipated: I'm not sure.

Some more of Talia's art.  Can you pick out which is our front door?

Greek tragedy masks.

Jabberwocky book art.

Like a wizard portrait, Talia's drawing of J.K. Rowling seems to be watching.

Talia's artist statement made me cry.  

  "One of my favorite art projects I've ever done was probably the mandala.  The mandala is an art project where there are four circles, starting small and growing in size, like a target.  Inside the first circle, you draw something that represents you.  I drew a ball of yarn, because I'm crafty and enjoy knitting and crocheting.  In the second ring you draw something you fear.  My fear is slightly funny.  I fear getting in trouble, so I drew pointed hands, like someone is being scolded.  For the third ring, you draw your strengths or how you overcome your fear.  For this ring I drew a mountain range because being in nature helps me calm down and appreciate things in the world, which I consider a strength.  The last ring was meant for what you want to be when you grow up.  This ring was difficult for me because I'm not exactly sure of what I want to be when I'm older.  I drew an apple--part of me wants to be a teacher when I grow up.  I also drew a pile of books because this stands for a few things.  It could stand for being a librarian, author or even editor.  Part of me wants to be all these things so I chose this.  The mandalas were a huge pain to complete, but I really liked the look of the final result.  I liked this project because it wasn't just pencil on paper.  We put a lot of thought into what we drew, and it was very personal.  It was like putting a chunk of yourself on paper."

When did my daughter become so wise?

In February, Talia started taking violin lessons at the Gifted Music School. (Lame name, but outstanding instruction and extremely close to home.)  Here she is before her very first performance.

Talia with her instructor Caryn Bradley during her first studio recital.

Talia worked extremely hard and flew threw Book 1 of Suzuki.  She had her Book 1 recital in June, playing all of the pieces by memory.  Brooklyn wrote a fantastic script to introduce the pieces. I am so proud of my girls and the amazing young women they are.

Speaking of proud, Talia auditioned to give an Endgame-themed speech at her sixth grade promotion and did a tremendous job.  I guess I was so busy taking a video that I forgot to take a picture, but here's her class singing a farewell song.

Talia's teacher, Ms. Parker, was the perfect match this year.  We felt so blessed that all of our children were surrounded by teachers who truly care.


One proud dad.

Great friends, all headed to different schools next year.

Sisters are truly the best.

Who knew my heart could feel so much love?

'K, Talia.  We concede.  You are totally amazing, from the inside out.

Now please stop growing and be my baby a moment longer.  Love you a million stitches!

Brooklyn's Suzuki Book 1 Script

Brooklyn wrote the following script for Talia's Book 1 Suzuki Violin Recital. It was so darling that I wanted to both save and share it. My children never cease to amaze me with their sensitivity and creativity. Thank you!

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Talia. Talia loved spending time outside. One summer, her parents decided to have the family spend the night outside on the trampoline in their backyard. As she lay in her sleeping bag she searched the sky for the first sign of stars. The moon was bright, but soon she saw a little speck of light in the midnight sky. As she watched it slowly grow brighter, she was reminded of her favorite nursery rhyme, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".

A couple weeks later, Talia drove out to New York with her family. They went to a lake upstate called Lake George. One day, Talia and her cousins took a canoe out to a little island in the middle of the lake. Soon the sun began to set and they had to "Lightly Row" back to the house.

In a flash summer vacation was almost over. During the last weekend of the break, Talia's family went to Wyoming for a family vacation. They hiked to the top of a mountain. The leaves were beginning to turn red, orange, and yellow, and when she reached the summit it seemed liked she could almost hear the "Song of the Wind" whistling through the trees.

Before she knew it, it was already Thanksgiving. Aunts, Uncles, and cousins gathered at Talia's grandparent's house in Logan. Before their big dinner, Talia's mom told her to gather everyone at the table. Talia got almost everybody to come but complained to her mom that Aunt Rhody refused to. Her mom sent her back with instructions to "Go Tell Aunt Rhody" that they were eating turkey for dinner, not goose.

Soon it was Christmas, and Talia played an angel in the traditional Nativity reenactment. She enjoyed wearing fake wings, but her favorite part was singing "O Come, Little Children" in the angel choir.

When Christmas break ended, Talia settled back into the school routine. By February, she was getting tired of gray days, slushy sidewalks, and endless homework assignments. When she thought winter would never end, she hummed "May Song" to herself in anticipation of school finally ending.

Winter dragged on, but eventually Talia began to see the first signs of spring. Sprouts started to peek up from the quickly melting snow, and trees started growing new leaves after the bare branches of winter. Talia spent her days outside. It seemed like it had been so "Long, Long Ago" that she had seen the sun.

Talia enjoyed running but was a little out of shape from the long break since the previous summer. On her first run with her dad, she was dragging her feet a bit so her dad told her to hurry up. She responded, "I'm going as 'Allegro' as I can"!

Now that spring was here, Talia was busier than she had ever been before. Between homework, practicing piano and violin, playing Ultimate Frisbee, and participating  in the school play, Talia's schedule was jam-packed and it seemed like she was in "Perpetual Motion".

While Talia usually ran at a pretty “Allegro” pace, sometimes when she was running up the hill near her house it was definitely more of an “Allegretto”. For all of us not so well versed in musical vocabulary, that’s a bit slower, more like a jog.

 Talia’s younger sister Annie loved horses, so after her first music lesson, where she learned that “Andantino” meant a little bit faster than a walk, kind of like a trot, she rode around the house on her imaginary horse chanting “Andantino! Andantino! Andantino!”.

Well, Talia practiced so much that sometimes her siblings got tired of hearing the same song over and over again. Once, Annie got so annoyed that she pulled some attitude and stole Talia’s bow so she couldn’t practice her “Etude” even one more time.

Talia had always wanted to learn how to dance, so one evening she asked her dad to teach her how to waltz. Her dad agreed, showing her how to dance in a square until she could Waltz perfectly to "Minuet number 1".

Of all things Talia disliked, cleaning her room was pretty high up on the list, so one Saturday when her mom called up the stairs and asked her to complete the dreaded task, Talia called down, "In a 'Minuet' or 2" and went to practice violin instead.

Talia looks about as tired of playing Minuets as I am of coming up with things to say about them, so I think we'll go right ahead with "Minuet number 3".

One weekend during the summer, Talia went to stay with her grandma and grandpa. She spent a few days in the garden with her grandma, weeding and caring for her plants. One sunny afternoon, Talia told her grandma that the garden was like a little farm. Her grandma laughed, saying, "That would make me 'The Happy Farmer'!"

Well, we've been here for a while and Talia's looking a little tired. We've "Gavotte" to finish up so Talia can do a little happy dance.

***
The End.