November 2008

As stated in our October post, Saturday morning, November 1st, Cathy & Joe made a trip back to Sedona from Flagstaff through the Oak Creek Canyon. What a BEAUTIFUL drive! The leaves were perfect and the weather was great. The picture of the GPS shows some of the cutbacks through the mountains and the following pictures show that road from an overlook above.

Here is the real reason we made the trip out to AZ this time of year. We went to see Northern Arizona University's Band Day. High School Bands from around the area compete in a marching competition. Sara's school, Mountain Ridge, took every award that was available to them. Chris marched with the NAU band. It was incredible

Click on the links below to see the Desert Ridge Marching Band perform.

Mountain Ridge First

Mountain Ridge Second

Click on the links below to see the NAU Marching Band perform.
California Dreaming
Every Little Thing She Does is Magic
Live and Let Die

While in Flagstaff, we checked out some of Cathy's old stomping grounds.

The NIU Community School of the Arts had their students perform at the local Barnes & Noble this month. Dani played her latest violin piece.
Click twice to see full screen

The Middle School Orchestra had their fall concert this month. The students collected money and presented a nice baby shower gift to their teacher. And what fun would the concert be if they didn't go to Culver's after?

Danielle performed in the Illinois Music Educators Association concert at NIU this month as well. IMEA is a competetive event requiring an audition, so you can imagine how good the music was!

The last performance of the month for Dani was at church. She and Erica played a duet on the piano and she sang in the Jr. Choir.

With all of the public music performances over (for a while) we headed out on our annual journey to Wisconsin. We had Thanksgiving Eve dinner in Port Washington at Dave and Barbara's house. A great time was had by all. Brit and Dani entertained us with a little private entertainment.

Then it was off to Kelly and Brian's place for Thanksgiving. They recently moved into Racine, close to Lake Michigan, so we took a walk to check it out. We all had our shot at the puzzle, even the cat. Brittany used her cooking skills to make the Mac & Cheese, from scratch! The girls followed dinner with a little entertainment. The next day it was off to the malls and Fuddrucker's for lunch.

When we arrived home, it was time to decorate the tree.