Elliot and Clark both performed duets with their teacher, Dan Chamberland. They worked super hard and played super well! Enjoy watching videos of their performances…it takes a few seconds to download.
Clark playing Trains with Dan Chamberland
Elliot playing Effugonetrom with Dan Chamberland
![Elliot performing \"Effugonetrom\" with Dan.](https://www.brown8.org/blog/wp-content/gallery/percussion-recital/img_9715.jpg "Elliot performing \\"Effugonetrom\\" with Dan.")
Every Halloween, while most kids are trying to decide what to “be” for Halloween, the big question at our house is, “What am I going to carve on my pumpkin?” This question has to be considered usually a good week or so in advance of the pumpkin purchase, because after all, how do you know what size and shape pumpkin to get unless you have your plan, right? We are starting to get a reputation as the house with the cool pumpkins!
Almost as an afterthought, about an hour before going out with their friends, my kids start thinking seriously about their costumes. My job is to take the kids pumpkin shopping, make hot dog mummies for dinner and take the pictures. Oh, and trick or treat all the little kids and the not so little kids that come to the door.
![Clark, his pumpkin \"pi\" and his Zelda pumpkin.](https://www.brown8.org/blog/wp-content/gallery/halloween-2011/dscf1341.jpg "Clark, his pumpkin \\"pi\\" and his Zelda pumpkin.")
After much hard work and diligence, Clark was awarded his Eagle Scout Award at a Court of Honor, Sunday October 29th. He spoke about his Eagle project, his leaders gave great comments and we had a fun slide show “Scouting Through the Years!” It was great to have support from family and friends.
![Clark is now invited to sit in \"The Eagle\'s Nest.\"](https://www.brown8.org/blog/wp-content/gallery/clarks-eagle-court-of-honor/dscf1406.jpg "Clark is now invited to sit in \\"The Eagle\'s Nest.\\"")
Many of you didn’t even know that our son Loren and his wife Anne were expecting a baby. We were waiting to tell everyone until she was a little further along. They went for their first prenatal visit thinking the pregnancy was about 12 weeks along and being concerned about signs of a miscarriage. They discovered that the pregnancy was really 19 weeks along and that due to complications, the pregnancy wouldn’t be able to continue and their baby boy would be born that night.
At 9:10 pm August 18th, their first child and our first grandchild Toby was born. He lived 1 hour and 53 minutes. He weighed 9 oz and was 9″ long — he was a teeny, tiny perfect little boy. Alan and I were able to be there to help name him, hold him, sing to him and love him. It was a surprise, disappointment and gift that none of us were expecting. Loren and Anne were amazingly at peace with everything and while disappointed that they couldn’t have more time with their son, were thrilled to have him to be a part of their eternal family.
A wonderful “bereavement specialist” came to the hospital to provide very loving service. She took prints and made molds of his darling little hands and feet. She cleaned and dressed him, wrapping him in the blue blanket that I had crocheted for him. Then she took some precious photos for Loren and Anne to treasure.
As family and friends have found out about our unexpected loss, everyone has been so kind and sympathetic. We feel so blessed.
Loren and Anne have created a blog for Toby, to give people a chance to express condolences and offer service in Toby’s behalf. If you would like to submit an entry, you can fill in the submission form.
Madeleine, who is majoring in Print Journalism at BYU, is now a writer for their school newspaper, The Daily Universe. Her article is featured on the front page of this semester’s first edition.
http://newsnet.byu.edu/pdf/du20110901.pdf
She also has an article about Idle Free Awareness Month on the front page of this week’s edition. The name on the byline is her editor’s (even though she wrote the article) and she wants everyone to know that she didn’t write the headline (“Inanimate objects can’t urge drivers to do something”). Her story is at the bottom of the front page:
The school year has started for us with Clark in the 9th Grade and Elliot as a senior. This year also marks the beginning of early morning Seminary for Clark, so now they drive off together at 6:40 every morning. I absolutely cannot believe this is the last year we will have 2 students at Waterford….I know, a “sunrise, sunset” moment – just indulge me.
A good friend of Phillip’s, Ashley Mae Christensen, a BYU grad student, came up with the idea while driving down the freeway a year ago, looking at billboards.
“My heart felt heavy and manipulated as we whizzed past billboards flaunting liposuction, plastic surgery, chain restaurants that offer little by way of local culture and talent. I am lucky to be surrounded by artists, writers, poets, thinkers, but on that drive, I saw no notion of their words or ideas. Instead, hollow advertisements telling me I need to be thinner, prettier, richer, more hungry, loomed down at me for as far as I could see.”
She resolved to put poetry on a billboard. And she asked Phillip if he would design the set of 3 billboards.
With the help of a professor and friends, she applied for and won a Laycock Grant from Brigham Young University. She solicited poetry entries from around the state, and on Wednesday announced the winner: Derek Henderson’s poem, “Small Prayer.” Henderson is completing his Ph.D. in poetry at the University of Utah.
Read more:
Phillip also entered a poem and was a finalist in the contest. Of course, I think his would have been awesome on the billboards!
After struggling for over a year with constant congestion, Madeleine decided to have the things that were too small enlarged, and the things that were enlarged, reduced. Hopefully now when she gets a cold, she will just get better like everyone else and not have to take antibiotics for 3 weeks and choose between breathing and eating 🙂
Our school has a tradition of taking all the upcoming 9th graders on a backpacking trip together. The idea being that following the summer, they should all get reacquainted and become best friends before school starts. This year they backpacked into our very own Wasatch Mountains. It is actually an awesome trip with teachers hiking in everyday to bring supplies, teach and bond with the kids. Clark had a great time! He only got a little bit sunburned and was able to get a head start on his bug collection!
New tradition in our family…get up early on a beautiful summer morning in August, head down to the nearby park and watch 15 hot air balloons inflate and take off! Oh, and then head a little further down the street for some Hagerman’s Bakery french toast. Fun and yummy.
