Video of Elizabeth's Steel Band Concert

I love this picture! It just shows how much fun Elizabeth has playing the steel pan! Her concert tonight was so much fun. Bravo Elizabeth!

Thanksgiving at Todd and Lindsay's

We all traveled to Las Vegas to spend Thanksgiving with Todd (my brother) and Lindsay. My Mom and Dad and Daniel came down from Salt Lake to be there too. I took a ton of pictures....so you will just have to muddle through. I tried to narrow it down to my favorites, but there are still a lot!
Todd took all the kids to the park Thanksgiving afternoon, while Lindsay and Mom cooked, baked etc. We joined him a little later.

This is one of my favorites. Keller looks so excited to be at the park!

Anne and MacKay

Izzie decided she wanted to go back to the park for her birthday. (It was the day after Thanksgiving.)

Izzie turned 8!

She made her own chocolate cream pie for her birthday. Aunt Lindsay didn't help at all! :)

Keller had to have a turn blowing out the candles. He and Izzie developed quite a friendship while we were there. He would walk around the house saying, "Where is my friend?" They built forts together, played games, rode bikes, and watched movies.

I just love Mac-A-Do! (MacKay)

MacKay was so sad we were leaving! It broke my heart.

When Keller heard we were leaving he hurried to get dressed, so he could, "Go live with us." It was so sad to drive away without him.

Glow Sticks + Crazy Kids = .....

Who says Family Home Evenings are boring?!

Pancakes!

Daddy made some scrumptious pancakes this morning! He made Pumpkin and Honey Oat. There was just a little bit of pumpkin batter left so I decided I would make a Mickey Mouse pancake. Whenever I make a Mickey Mouse pancake I always have one problem. The Ears! They always break of when I try to flip it. Luckly, this time they didn't. They stayed on! I was so excited. So then I decided to go a little crazy and put a face on it. So I took some of the other batter and with a spoon I made a face! It was had to do and his face ended up lopsided but I did it. It might be kinda hard to see but:







Here is the stack of Pumpkin:



Here is the stack of Honey Oat:

My daddy feeds me well!

-Janet

College Hunting in California

Last week Elizabeth and I took a short jaunt to California to check out a couple of colleges. We started out at California Institute of Technology, and then went on to Harvey Mudd. Both of these are excellent schools. We enjoyed comparing each on: types of classes, dorm rooms, types of internships available, Institutes, campus atmosphere, fatness of squirrels (LOL), and of course the food! (We ate at both college cafeterias. Sorry Caltech, Harvey Mudd beat you there fair and square!)

Before this trip, I had been to Caltech, and Elizabeth had been to Harvey Mudd. I think we both enjoyed showing each other our discoveries.

As a Mom, it is so hard to be objective. You just want the best for your child. I don't want to influence her too much. I kept bugging Elizabeth to tell me which way she was leaning, but she wouldn't give me an answer. So I try to keep my opinions out of the equation. But I have to say, I was honestly excited about both of these schools. I told Elizabeth she would have to make the decision. Hopefully we can get her to Boston to see MIT before she has to make a decision next spring. These are her top three choices.

She has some excellent opportunities. It will be interesting to see what the next year brings!

Fall Break!

As many of you know, Vail School District gives kids a three week break during fall. We are in the middle of the second week right now. Unfortunately, the high schoolers only get two weeks this time around. They will go back next week, while Charlie, Isabelle, and I stay home. During this three week break, we have done many thing so far. We have had cousins come, saw new movies, and gone swimming.
Cousins came down on the September 30th but sadly had to leave the 4th. While cousins were here we went swimming, went to the zoo, and watched conference. It was very exciting to have them come here and spend time with us. While Liz and Mom were gone at California looking at colleges, the rest of us saw Monsters vs. Aliens. It was very funny. My dad really liked the part were Bob says, "Suuusaann! Wow that is scary! I just scared myself!" It was just very funny! My Mom and Liz got back from California on Tuesday.
Yesterday we went to the mall to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. I was also a very funny movie. It had all the science stuff in it that just made Charlie laugh. He also told us a science joke on the way there: Atom 1 said to the other, "I think I am missing some electrons!" Atom 2 said, "Are you sure?" Atom 1 said, "Yes! I am positive! Hahaha! It made me laugh so hard. Izzie was just staring at us cause she has not learned this yet. Anyway, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is a great movie that is appropriate for both kids and adults.
I am not sure what we are doing today, but we are going to have fun!
~Janet

Computer Tabs

After a long day, I decided to have a little down time....check my facebook, catch up on some blogs, and return some email. Charlie has just gone to bed leaving me an open computer. As I sit down at the computer, Charlie yells to me, "Don't close my computer tabs!" Out of curiosity, I check up on these web pages to see what he has been up to. Hmmm.... Here is the list:

1. Invisibility-Cloak Materials
2. Making a wormhole just got easier
3. Google Image Result for time machines
4. Gamestop.com --Travel games for dummies

So any idea what Charlie's plans are? Should I be worried?

Piccolo Solo

Have you ever seen the end of the musical "Music Man"? All the boys show up with their instruments, and play a horrible rendition of Minuet in G. But the parents get so excited about their boys. One parent yells, "That's my Johnny!" Their pride drowns out the squeaks and bad notes coming from the band.

Well tonight, I felt like yelling,"That's my Annie!" This evening the Cienega band played their fall concert. During the first number, The Invincible Eagle by John Phillip Sousa, Anne played the most awesome piccolo solo. I had not heard her practice this solo at all, and was amazed at the difficulty of the passage, and at how well Anne played it. I was bursting with pride.

Now, I hope I'm not like those mothers from "Music Man". I thought the band sounded excellent. But, maybe I'm prejudice. But then maybe, I might just know a little about how music should sound. :)

Copper Thunder Marching Band + Old Vail Middle School Band!

Anne's first official home game this year. She was lucky enough to try out for piccolo and made it! Doesn't she look cute in her uniform?
Anne and Lydia. (Both flute players.)

Anne plays the national anthem.

That night the high school band invited the middle school band to join them on the field. So both Janet and Anne were out there! Janet really had fun.

Here is the whole group together.

Here is Janet waiting to enter the field at half time.

The middle school kids also got to sit in the bleachers and play stand tunes with the high school kids. (Does Janet look like she is happy? I wonder why?) The advantages of a girl playing the trumpet!

Playing Band Yell!

Anne and Lydia were playing stand tunes too! Here they are cheering C ! H! S!

Isabelle sat in the stands with me and helped cheer everyone on. It was a great game. Unfortunately, we lost by one point!
We will get them next time!

Fun, fun, video! Who has more rhythm? Janet or those high school boys?

Sisters in Balmy California

Every couple of years, the girls from the Baggaley family go out together on a little get away. This year we all went to visit Laura while she spent the summer in LA. We had so much fun. I love hanging out with my sisters, and just doing sister stuff! We crammed as much sight seeing in as we could. But probably the funnest times were just spent laughing and teasing each other late into the night while we all camped out in Laura's living room. (Notice the license plate of our rental car. "6 Hot". We thought it was very fitting.)
The first day we spent at Sea World. (Look at the shark swimming above us.) It was a hot day, and several of us got sunburned. But not Laura. She had been spending every day this summer at the pool or the beach, developing her tan. We got a kick out of her sun tanned leg compared to Ellen's (below).

Fantastic acrobats at Sea World!

We all went to Medieval Times. (A dinner theater with knights fighting!) Look at this silly picture. I'm the only normal sister!

Here is the second go around after I told my sisters to get it together!

Venice Beach! Okay since we were staying with Laura, we let her husband Dan come to the beach, even though this was a girls trip. Venice beach is a hoot! There all all sorts of interesting shops along the shore. We also went to Newport Beach the next day, which was a little more quiet. Laura and MaryAlice went boogie boarding.

Melissa was a real trooper. With only four weeks left of her pregnancy, she went everywhere we did, and kept up with us all. (No boogie boarding for her!) We kept hoping she would come home and have the baby after all that excitement. But she is still waiting!

My sister-in-law Ellen.

The whole clan. From left to right: Melissa (sister), MaryAlice (sister-in-law), Ellen (Mom), Ellen the younger (sister-in-law), Janelle, Laura (sister).
We had a great time! Lets do it again soon!

Happy Birthday Elizabeth!

Elizabeth turned seventeen yesterday! She spent most of the day at school and then with her friends. She showed up at about 8:30 at night to have cake and ice cream with her family. I guess that proves she is really a teenager!
Elizabeth is sooooo special to our family. She is a bright light in our life! We love being involved in all her academic adventures. But more than that, she is just fun to be around. Have you ever heard her laugh. It is very contagious. As a mom, I love to have her near in the kitchen (cooking pasta, her favorite) or helping me do laundry, or just laying on my bed chatting to me about her "horrible day." As a family, we are very proud of her, and all her accomplishments.

Elizabeth received 47 candy bars from her friends! Ridiculous!

Happy Birthday Elizabeth!

Okay! Sorry about the sideways video. I always forget you can't turn the camera when filming a movie! This is Erin and Kelsey. They are Elizabeth's fun and crazy friends.

Super Elizabeth!

It's Spirit Week at Empire High School. Today was Super Hero Day. So Elizabeth dressed up as ???? (She wants everyone to know: She knows she looked like a dork!)


Here are a few of Elizabeth's friends:

Tal as "Jessica"

Michael as "Chemistry Super Safety Man"

Kyle as ?

Athena as "Robin"

Makes you wonder what tomorrow will bring.