Bubble Boys

Ryan and Joseph were playing in the bubble bath one night and were making funny beards and hats out of the bubbles. They started laying down in the bubbles with just their faces showing. It was really cute.

Can you tell which on is which? They are really fun boys who like to play with each other. Joseph thinks he is four years old like his big brother.

Sumpter's visit

Derek's sister Karen, her husband Steve and cute Miranda passed through here on their way to California from Michigan. It was so great to see them again and especially to see their new baby Miranda.

Lauren loved seeing her Aunt Karen again!

Joe enjoys his story time with Steve and Karen.

Spiderman bike

Check out Ryan's new Spiderman bike, complete with a Spiderman helmet. He loves riding it when it's nice (of course we've had only 3 nice days since he got the bike...). Go Ryan!!

Happy Easter!

Easter was so early and cold this year, but that didn't seem to dampen any egg hunter's spirits. The kids had a great time dying eggs with their Ogborn cousins and visiting with Grandma Sorenson.

Ryan waits patiently for his green egg...

French Doors

Well, they've been in the works for some time now, but we have finally finished installing our French doors in the living room. We love the fact that Mark loves the piano and plays great songs on it. We were having a problem having conversations in the kitchen without yelling, though. We decided to put some French doors into the living room.

The first picture below is what the entry into the living room looked like before. We liked the arch, but it was hard (and expensive) to get a transom built for the arch.


We ended up squaring off the arch and putting in a square transom. The next picture shows the unfinished doors installed.



The last picture shows the finished doors - painted with the protective cover removed from the door lights (windows).

We love the doors and the muffling effect they provide. We can still hear the music, but we can still hear ourselves think as well.

Piano Pieces
The kids had piano festival in February. For those that are wondering, piano festival is where the kids go to a performance hall and play two piano pieces for a panel of judges (piano teachers from the county.) They are judged on several categories and given an overall rating (Superior, Excellent or Good.) They wouldn't let us film or record the live performance because apparently someone sued them because they thought their kid should have gotten a better rating.

Mark played "Maple Leaf Rag" and "Sonatina." The following clip is an abreviated version of "Maple Leaf Rag." There are several repeats that he didn't play while I was recording it. One of these will probably play really fast. If it plays too fast, just select the other one.

Lauren played "With a Yo-ho-ho" and "Aardvark Boogie". She didn't want to play either to be recorded, but she did consent to play a song called "Ramblin' Rails." Enjoy

Let It Snow

It has snowed a ton this winter. December and January have been about the snowiest I can remember.

The kids have had a great time building snowmen...

Sledding...

Playing in the snow...

... And Ryan's favorite - Shoveling snow!

Christmas Piano Recital

Lauren and Mark had their Christmas Piano recital at Piano Gallery in Orem on December 17. (OK, it is a little late, but better late than never)

About 20 kids played songs for the recital. Lauren played about in the middle of the recital. She played "Up on the Housetop." She did great and is really starting to get smooth at playing. Notice the shy smile at the end. I love it.

Mark played last and brought down the house with his rendition of Jon Schmidt's arrangement of I Saw Three Ships. (Sorry about the shakey cam on this one.)

I am having some problems embedding the video. If you can't see it on the site, you can follow the link by clicking on "Mark I Saw Three Ships" link below the video. You can see the video on that site.


Mark I Saw Three Ships from Derek Lindsey on Vimeo.