I finished up the
semester finally on Tuesday and believe me, it wasn't a moment too soon! Still waiting on the final grades but so relieved to be done for a month. The kids didn't get out of school for their break until yesterday so I had a few days completely to myself and will have another full week of
bliss in January after they go back and before I start up again. I put my free time to good use finishing up Christmas shopping and running
errands....not exactly the vision of bliss I had imagined
(read: sleeping in, laying around and watching movies, etc) but it was nice being able to
shop alone! In the middle of this the boys both had school performances for me to attend. First was
Evan:
He and a partner worked on a report about the endangered
Monk Seal and then their assignment was to use this fun program on the computer to create a documentary which they narrated, inserted pictures, and chose background music for. It was a fun project for them and I was excited to see it. Here is a picture of Evan with his
teacher Mrs. Norton.
She is super nice and Evan really likes her. Now if only I could get him to do his homework, 3rd grade would surely be a big
success!Next was Ian's
piano recital. His school is the only one in the district that has piano lessons once a week and now that he is in the 4th grade, he also has a
violin lesson once a week! I
love love love this music program and the fact that he is learning and I don't have to force him to practice. Here he is waiting for his turn....sitting next to
Josie, who I am not allowed to tell you about;
wink wink. At the very end of this post is the video of Ian's performance.....
So, now they are out of school until January 3rd and there is a lot of excitement with
Christmas coming up and Denver coming to town....in fact it's all they talk about!
Unfortunately we received some really
sad news this week. My mechanic, who also happens to be a pretty good acquaintance of ours passed away. It's a long story but basically we met him and his family when they moved into the first house we rented in Sugarhouse when Addison was just a few months old. We only moved around the corner so we still saw them on occasion and would take our cars to him for cheaper repair. Eventually they were
baptized into the LDS church and were attending our ward as well. Jeremy had his struggles but he was always so kind to us and very fair with our car repair. We trusted him and he charged us so little compared to what we would have to spend at a regular shop. Even when he was out of work and needed the money so badly he didn't charge us much. In recent months he has
fixed my poor van at least 3 times or more and was scheduled to fix one last thing next week after Christmas. He was going through some really personal
trials lately including being out of a job for nearly 9 months and it was clear that he was struggling emotionally. Sadly, it got the best of him and he took his own life on Sunday. I attended his
funeral on Friday. It was heartbreaking to look at his 3
children and see what they are going through. I cannot even begin to comprehend that level of sadness both on his part where the hopelessness was so intense or on his children who now have to come to terms with how their dad left them, not to mention just the fact that he is gone. It was a
horrible experience. I hope I never have to experience it again. My heart is full of love for his family and I pray that they will be able to reconcile this and move forward. It has hit me much harder than I thought it would....I'm still just struggling to understand
why.
But, now it's on to
Christmas and a brand new year full of possibilities. I am sure thankful for whatever comes my way, good and bad, because it is a
reminder that I am alive and experiencing all that God intends for me....what could be better?
The floor and even some of the walls are trampolines. How fun! They were red faced and sweaty by the time we left and slept like angels once we got home...thats always a bonus!
Karolyn fed us dinner as well and I stepped outside of my food comfort zone and ate Elk and Venison. I about died inside when she told me what we were having but I have to say it was very tasty! Even Ian ate it knowing that he was eating the poor Elk that was hanging on the wall above the fireplace. Yes, they killed it! The whole way home Ian discussed the possibility of him taking up hunting....oh boy. We had such a fun time and I realized that I need to get out more. I really enjoy socializing with friends. 
But, like I said...didnt pull out the camera once! So, I have resorted to photo theft....this picture above is of Karolyn and one of her daughters, Bryn (sorry Karolyn) which I took off of her Facebook... I really wish I would have taken a picture of the Elk that we ate, haha. I did snap the first 2 pictures above on my phone though so they will have to suffice: Addison jumping on one of the trampolines, and Ian's red face as we were leaving.
He and a partner worked on a report about the endangered Monk Seal and then their assignment was to use this fun program on the computer to create a documentary which they narrated, inserted pictures, and chose background music for. It was a fun project for them and I was excited to see it. Here is a picture of Evan with his teacher Mrs. Norton.
She is super nice and Evan really likes her. Now if only I could get him to do his homework, 3rd grade would surely be a big success!
So, now they are out of school until January 3rd and there is a lot of excitement with Christmas coming up and Denver coming to town....in fact it's all they talk about!
I decided ahead of time that she would go to classes but not participate in the recitals. It was just too traumatic for her and for me! Fast forward to this month and it's all Addison has talked about: my dance recital, my dance recital! I asked her if she was going to be able to do it and she announced that she would be going up on stage with her friend Abby....pictured with her below
Ok...well, I guess we will try it again I said. I am happy to report that this time, Addie did it!!! I am so proud of her for overcoming her fear of being on stage. The first number was the tap dance and she started to get watery eyed and was just staring at me the whole time. She really didnt dance a step of the whole dance but she managed to stay on stage and not have a meltdown. I was ecstatic for that. Toward the end we even managed to get some smiles out of her and a little toe tapping. Next was the ballet number and by this time she was ready to go. She danced the entire number from start to finish!!! Yay!!! It was a big day in the Shannon house today. Her brothers were some of her biggest supporters and could be heard yelling for her when she finished....she was so excited to hug them when she got off stage.
It was a great morning. Ballet West here she comes! Here is the video of her ballet number..be sure to turn off music player at bottom of blog so you can hear the video:
We don't have a lot planned for this month. I think for once it will feel nice to just stick around here and not have to be running from one place to another. Denver will be back in town on Christmas Eve day through the 5th of January and the kids are beyond excited to see him as I am sure he is just as excited to them.
I'm not sure why but I just didn't have the energy to take any. Oh well...we had a wonderful time and the dinner was awesome, as usual. My mom, Jeff, Nicola, and myself all went to see Harry Potter one night while Grandpa watched the kids. Another night just my mom and I went to see the late night showing of Inception, which I LOVED. Never mind that it took me about 20 minutes after the movie ended to be able to actually say that. Its a mind blowing kind of movie. It was just a nice escape from school and life and none of us really wanted to go home, but alas... reality was waiting for us and we had to leave. I'm so Thankful for my family....I never get enough of them when we visit and feel so fortunate that we have such a great relationship with each other.