Embarrassing Moment #437

 This picture reminded me of my Dad playing the piano.  He played the piano beautifully and always practiced for church on Sunday.  He played the organ for church services for 37 years and then played for the Primary children until he passed away.  He also played the piano every night after we went to bed so we could fall asleep to his sweet music.

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Sunday we went to Miss Amberly's very first piano recital.  She's only been playing for a month and a half but is loving every minute of it.  The recital was something special her teacher thought up called "A Night of Hymns"  It was in her home and it was amazing.  We started out singing a beautiful song and when the song was over Cassidy leaned over to me and whispered...."Mom that was a-m-a-z-i-n-g!"  And it was. 

Amberly was first on the program and before she went up she said to me, "Mom my tummy hurts and I don't feel good."  "Ah baby, that's just nerves" I told her.  When she went up to play this is what she told the audience:

"My name is Amberly.  I will play "I Often Go Walking" This song is about gathering flowers for mother, and that is special for me because my mom especially loves flowers.  She grows many kinds of flowers at our house, Gardenview Cottage."

What a beautiful thing to say!  I melted my heart because I had no idea she was going to say that.  Then she sat down and froze.  Poor thing.  Her teacher had to come help her get started and she did pretty well for having to play in front of 50+ people.  When she was done she came over to me and cried because it wasn't perfect. (she does that - little miss perfectionist)  After a few other students went up and she saw that they made mistakes as well she felt a little better.  We were so proud of her and thought she did beautifully!

Now for my embarrassing moment. Half way through the recital this boy sits down to play a two song arrangement that he did himself.  It was amazing!  Simply put, it took my breath away.  As I was listening to his beautiful music (he's quite gifted) I couldn't help but start to feel sorry for myself that my parents weren't around to play their beautiful music in our home anymore.  Then I started to really feeling sorry for myself that my kids will never hear my dad practice the piano every night for Sunday or learn fun songs from my mom.  We wont have choir practice or voice lessons or singing around the piano on holidays.  All the things I grew up doing.  Then the tears started and wouldn't stop.  I was crying uncontrollably during this boys beautiful song.  I'm talking...the ugly grief cry people with heaving and snuffing and my body was shaking and I couldn't stop.  This coming from a girl who doesn't cry...ever!  To make matters worse I was in the front row and everyone was sitting to the right of me in a different part of the room and they all had a perfect view of my breakdown.  Embarrassing.  My girls were holding my hand, rubbing my arm and just looking at me in wonder because like I said...I-don't-cry. 

Thankfully I was able to compose myself after two songs and apologized to the boy and left as soon as possible when it was over.  I'm sure everyone thought I was nuts.  I am a little nutty but mostly I'm just a girl who misses her parents and wishes she had them back.

Dad's Birthday

On Monday the 20th we celebrated my Dad's birthday in grand NieNie style! We tied little love notes on balloons each person writing something near and dear to their heart. Then we let them GO GO GO all the way up to Heaven so Dad/Grandpa could feel the ♥♥♥LOVE♥♥♥.
And let me tell you there was a lot of love to be shared!

Cassidy with her love note to Grandpa in his favorite color - GREEN.

Some of the cousins getting ready to send their balloons.

Jo and Jo showing their true fun selves!

We all held the balloons then made a special wish just for Dad/Grandpa then let the balloons go. The kids loved it! This was the 1st year we have done the balloons and I think it is now going to be a forever tradition. We usually meet for ice cream since that was Dad's favorite. This year we had Family Home Evening, dinner, balloons and then apple pie and ice cream (his other favorite). It was a perfect night and we all felt so lucky to be together and a part of this family!

Cara and the Boys - Matt, Joey and Kurt

We choose to celebrate and remember my parents
on their birthdays instead of on the day they died.
It just seems happier dontcha think?

Memory Lane Monday

Tonight for FHE we all sat down to watch Dancing with the Stars. I am loving this season for two reasons, most of the dancers are dressed modestly and we are voting for 4 different stars!!

As always my girls had to go get their "dancing dresses" on so they can dance while the dancers dance. They are so cute. It's almost more fun to watch the girls than the stars! Go figure...isn't that what a parent is supposed to say??

Anyway, tonight as I was watching both sets of dancers it brought back a flood of memories of when I was young and my family used to sit on Sunday nights and watch this:

My brothers and I would dance the night away to the music on this show. We had tons of, "watch this Mom," or "look at us!" My brother Matt was very good at leading me around the living room floor doing the waltz or the cha-cha. We sure had a lot of fun and I'm sure my parents had as much fun watching us as I do my girls. Too bad less clothing is "in" now days and each week we have to have the modesty talk. However the music is a lot more jazzy and I am sure liking that!!
We did grow up in a house full of music. My Dad was an amazing piano player and my Mom was a music major and a very famous singer when I was young. She was always rehearsing for some performance or another and there were always practices going on at the house. I grew up in the 70's and my Mom thought all 70's music was evil and had no soul. So we listened to a lot of classical music, show tunes and of course 50's music. There was ALWAYS music playing of some sort ALL THE TIME!! I remember we were listening to My Turn on Earth and of course dancing around the house and the doorbell rings. We answer it and it's the missionary's. They said, "Oh you must be LDS we can hear your music down the street!" Um, yep that would be us!
I wish I could say I inherited the music gene from my parents like my brothers did. I did not. I did inherit a love of all kinds of music especially piano music. I love to hear someone play the piano. It reminds me of my Dad. I could always tell who was playing the piano even though I wasn't in the room. My Dad would never make a mistake and my Mom would mess up a little here or there. That was my clue. I'm so thankful that my parents taught us their love of music. I hope I can pass it on to my kids even if it is in the form of "Dancing with the Stars!"