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Saturday, October 26, 2013

Apple Hill

Once again, we headed to Apple Hill, CA. Every year on "Nevada Day" our friends and my family make the 2 1/2 hour caravan ride down there and we look forward to it every year!
 
We always hit the O'Halloran's Ranch first. This is where we get our apples. They are already picked because we come late in the season, but we have to get our Arkansas Blacks and Pink Lady's here, and the kids add a few more different kinds to the box to the box. 
 
This is also where we play and look in the patch for the perfect pumpkin. This year there wasn't a whole lot to choose from, so we didn't get any. We did take a ton of pictures and apples though.
 








I made friends with the cat.


As I said, A LOT of pictures!

 Look closely, three photo bombers...


Kylee couldn't resist.


This is our "little" group, but it seems the majority of North West Reno hits Apple Hill so we see a LOT more of our friends.







 Poor 3 yr old Eli was not a fan of the picture taking.





 Now off to Grandpa's cellar for lunch and Apple Ridge Farms to play with the animals.




Not a fan of the name, but of course it's non-alcoholic and it tastes yummy!


Watching a pottery demonstration









 Between the two farms, there is a little "Haunted Forest". The kids LOVE it.






Someone has a very clever sense of humor.



After lunch and playing with the animals (as well as looking at all of the different booths) we headed to High Hill Ranch and The Fudge Factory. This is a pretty big set of farms and probably the most famous.












While waiting in line to get our apple doughnuts,  the kids started attacking Sean. He's such a good sport... although he eggs it on as much as the kids do. LOL




We then headed to Boa Vista and Kids Inc. (My camera died) but I loved how cool this pumpkin was. 


 We had a great time and can't wait until next year!





















































































































 

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

HIGHER!

This year I was able to be more involved in Time Out For Women in our area. The theme was "Higher". TOFW goes back and forth between Sacramento and Reno each year. 

At the beginning of the year I was asked to be a representative for our ward and while nervous about finding the extra time needed for me to be involved, I accepted and found it was one of the best decisions ever!

I got to meet and become close with the other volunteers (I think there were about 50 from all of the different Stakes/Wards.) So I became the representative for our ward. I also got to meet the presenters, which was also wonderful!

After many meetings, gatherings, hundreds of emails sent from one to another, the day was finally here. Friday I left work early so I would be there on time for our big briefing. Off we went to our various assignments.

Our speakers for the night were Barbara Thompson, Jenny Oaks Baker (spoke as well as showing us her amazing violin skills) and Heidi Swinton. Of course they were wonderful and inspiring. 

Heidi Swinton


 Jenny Oaks Baker

After clean-up, I headed home and attempted to get a little
sleep. Back to the convention center where it was held, (with about four hours of sleep) bright and early at 7:15, we were ready to have an even busier day, but we were SO excited!

We had some seriously amazing speakers. Mercy River sang/spoke, Dean Hughs, Jill Manning, Michael Wilcox, Richie Norton and Kris Belcher.

Dean Hughs

Jill Manning


Michael Wilcox


Kris Belcher


Richie Norton


Mercy River








What a great event! My cup has been filled!


Saturday, October 12, 2013

Jared's First Junior High Concert

For five years now Jared has been singing in the school choir. Three years before that he would sit with Michael as he practiced three times a week before school. This was Jared's first year all by himself in  concert. (He's either sang with Michael or sang with Cai Lynn.) Even if it was a class performance, the honor choir would always perform first. 

7th grade


There are quite a few links to YouTube videos thanks to a good friend Jacey Hill. I got several from my little camera, but couldn't do hers justice.
This was the choir he performed with for the last four years. (And the one Cai Lynn would have been with for her thrid year if she hadn't decided to switch schools this year.)

The Jazz Choir (Jared's meets early every morning before school.)






Jared's solo


One more angle from his solo



Concert Choir


 Magic Works

Deep In the Meadow

 Girl On Fire

6th Grade Choir


Oompa Loompa

Green Eggs and Ham


All Billinghurst Choirs

The Wizard and I from Wicked

Somewhere over the Rainbow

 The Jabberwocky






Double Trouble

The Lonely Mountain from The Hobbit


This is hands down one of my favorite songs EVER! This is done with all of the choirs together. Billinghurst (Jazz, Concert, Women's, 6th Grade
The Rainbow Connection


This is cute "little" Riley. She is a good friend of ours and we've known the family since we moved here eight years ago.

Great job kids!!!!!!