Melissa sings in the Winter Choir Concert

Another wonderful concert!    There are 5 choirs at Westview High School.  Melissa is a member of Westview High school's Les Chanteuses which is an audition women's choir.  The concerts have grown  in attendance so has now been broken into two concerts so everyone can come watch.  The Concert Choir and Cantores sing for both concerts back to back, and the other three groups sing at one of them.  We attended the 8:15pm concert and as we entered those exciting were raving at the wonderful concert.  Well, they were right- it was a wonderful holiday concert!  It was a full house and we again enjoyed the great talent of Westview High School.

Here are recordings of Melissa singing with Les Chanteuses (she is in the front row, :

Mary Speaks

by L'Engle/Gawthrop

Noel des enfants qui n'ont plus de maisons

by Claude Debussy

A Present Fur Elise

by Beethoven/Brownsey/Lantz

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

Sang from the balcony in between groups- sorry the lighting was dark

Melissa leans over the balcony to talk with us before the concert began.

Fall Choir Concert

On Oct 28th was the Choir Concert at Westview High School. Brian asked me, "Am I imagining it, or are the choirs getting better each year?" I thought that maybe he was just getting used to and appreciating choir concerts, since we have now been attending them for the last 9 or so years. Then at the band competition a mom commented to me, "Boy wasn't that a great choir concert the other night? They were so good for the first concert of the year!" That made me stop and think about it. You know it was a very good concert! The groups were bigger and better this year.

Kevin sang in the Cantores group. He looked very handsome in his tuxedo. They sang 3 madrigal type songs : All Ye Who Music Love, My Love, I'll suffer Gladly, and Il Zabazione Musicale. The harmony and blending was wonderful.

Kevin and Jessica both sang in the Concert Choir. They sang Ah, el novio no quere dinero! (Kevin played the drum)

They also sand Danny Boy, and John the Revelator. Kevin stood next to Jessica- he said that he traded with the guy next to him to give us "better photo ops"! Too bad Nathan, standing in front of her, blocked my view of her! It was a great concert. So fun to have such musical kids!

Summer has Come and Gone

Wow, I can't believe that I haven't blogged since May!

The School year ended with lots of concerts and recitals, the Rose Parade, and Lizzy Graduating. Summer jumped right in with Young Women's Camp for Jessica, Melissa, and Rachel; 11 yr Scout camp for Brian; Jessica getting her drivers licence; Kevin going to High Adventure; Jessica going on High Adventure; and Jennifer finishing up her spring semester at BYU Idaho and joining us at the Greenall Family Reunion! That all happened in June and July. August we breathed, laid around, Kevin worked on his Eagle Project, then Band Camp Started and we are now Back to School! 3 kids in High School and Marching Band. Rachel at Meadow Park Middle School in 7th grade, and Jennifer is home and enrolled in a few art classes at PCC, house sitting/pet sitting here and there and looking for a job. I was released as the RS Secretary a few weeks ago, and am now the 1st Counselor in the YW working with the Mia Maids. Life goes on. Here is some snap shots of some of our activities:

Symphonic Band plays for last concert of the season. Kevin on the Horn, and Jessica on the Saxophone.

Kevin sings in Concert Choir
Jessica sings Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy. She also played a piano solo for "A little Night Music" the concert that took place right after the Choir Awards Concert.

Rachel Plays cello with her teacher

Lizzy graduated from High School carrying her daughter Eve. Congratulations Elizabeth! We are so proud of you for sticking with it and graduating.

Cedar Mill Stake YW Camp: Fit For His Kingdom - Boot Camp 2009

Jessica was 1st yr Counselor. Her cabin group was the Boogie Woogie Bugle Babes of company B.
Melissa was in the 3rd year cabin: Candy Stripers.Rachel was a 1st year. Her cabin was the GI JanesSisters on Bishopric Day in Oak Hills Ward OrangeRachel and her buddies Kevin High AdventureA Day at the Beach. We went to meet some friends for a bonfire to burn homework- we couldn't find them- the tide had come up and they had to leave. By the time we got there the tide had gone down. We weren't able to build a fire because we didn't bring any matches, but Rachel, Melissa, Brian and I enjoyed the scenery. Rachel and Melissa even drove the suburban!4th of July- Look we had Cousins move into town!!!! We are so happy to have Wendy, Ben, Xander, and Eliza Webster so close by!Kevin and buddies march in the 4th parade to help raise awareness for his Eagle Project: Raising money and building a percussion rack for the Westveiw Marching band.Melissa and Keturah wait in line for the opening of the latest Harry Potter Movie.We enjoyed Shakespeare in the Park two times this summer- King Lear and A Midsummer's Night Dream.The Greenall Family Reunion was a BLAST! It was at Coram Ranch by the Shasta Dam. We tie died t-shirts, had a talent show, scrapbooked, played Foosball , pool, & ping-pong, did water games in the pool, road motorcycles, built boats for a challenge, went thru Shasta Caves, floated down the Sacramento River, toured the dam, relaxed, ate great food, and enjoyed being together. The cousins had a blast together. We were even all here together for about 10 minutes so we could take this group picture (Julia was leaving for work, and Jennifer had just arrived from BYU I!)Melissa played the national anthem for one of her swim meets.Melissa and Rachel swam with the swim team this year. Melissa helped out with a younger group for one of her Personal Progress Projects. Here they are at the team tie breaker meet.Kevin made a couple of trips to the beach with his friends. He also had band buddies over to sand the rust off of the van and paint it!Time for Band Camp to start- lugging Melissa's Sousaphone down the stairs to the van.Rachel and her friends go ice skating for one last fun summer activity. So that was our Summer!

Spring Concerts

We had some nice

Spring Concerts

last week.

The Westview Choir Concert was on Wednesday night- March 18, 2009.

Jessica sang in Les Chanteuses :

Tutto ii Di Piango by Vijay Singh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54chYX-1oYs

Take a Step by Stephen Hatfield.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLh09dYRrCI

Kevin sang in the Concert Choir :

Hodie Christus natus Est by Jan Peiters Sweelinck

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqxfY-4ff6I&feature=channel

Blow the Candles Out by Gwyneth Walker

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQidSfQSKY0&feature=channel_page

Praise His Holy Name! by Keith Hampton.

The Combined Choirs sang:

Wondrous cool, thou wooldland quiet by Johannes Brahms.

The Westview Band Concert was on Thursday, March 19, 2009. It was a long concert with 3 bands and 2 Percussion Groups. (Rachel was cute as she curled up in her seat and took a nap.)


Jessica and Kevin performed in the Symphonic Band. They played:

Ride by Samual R. Hazo




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srLsnX4BKnI&feature=channel_page


Be Thou My Vision by David Gillingham




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc7m644JwFw&feature=channel



Blue Shades by Frank Ticheli.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfxLXjA8YAs



This concert ended at 9:30pm - then the students in the Winter Percussion group ran to change outfits and haul thier instruments and equiptment to the gym to join the color guard and dance teams for a performance there. The Winter Percussion performed The Way Up. Instead of sitting up high in the bleachers, I sat low this time for a change by the pit so that I could watch Jessica. It was quite a different show from this angle. You could see all the expressions on their faces. I watched Jessica run from one instrument to the other. Not a good place to watch the marching drummers becuase you couldn't see the formations.



Saturday, March 21, 2009 Rachel had her Cello Recital. She played The William Tell Overture, and Simple Gifts and did a wonderful job!







After the recital we had lunch at New York, New York. Rachel loves pasta, and each Tuesday as we are going to her lessons we pass this restaurant. Tuesdays are all you can eat spaghetti, and she begs to go there. So we did after the recital. It was a nice afternoon with the family. We were lucky to have Jessica and Kevin with us- they were scheduled to be in drum line rehearsal all day, but there was a mix up and the school was locked- so they got to come. It was a nice leisurely afternoon with the family. Sooooo leisurely that they gave us two free pieces of Cheesecake, for making us wait. The food was good!

A big thankyou for Kevin posting these on youtube! It was taking hours to upload them here. So make sure you click on the links so you can hear each number performed.

Christmas Season is Now Officially Over

Well, the snow really mixed things up around here! School was closed for a week, concerts canceled, church cancelled for 2 weeks, and schedules where almost non existent.


Now with the snow melted, and school back in session, things are getting back to normal.

I got all the Christmas stuff packed away and in the attic- all except the nativity set from outside, and the snowman my folks brought up. Unfortunately after the snow thawed the ground was extra wet and mushy. A section of the fence just tipped over - cement on the post included! This was the fence section that the Nativity was set up in front of and the fence fell right on top of it! It was covered! It is now a little squished and bent up and in the garage sitting in a mess waiting for my attention.

January 7th was the Westview High School Winter Concert. It was a great concert, always my favorite of the year. Jessica and Kevin sang beautifully (I know this because I'm their mother and can pick out their voices from the group.)

Enjoy these songs from the concert:

Now that the concert has been performed, and the decorations are put away, I feel that the holiday is complete and officially over.

Westview High School Fall Choral Concert

We enjoyed a wonderful concert Wednesday, October 29th, at Westview High School. Jessica sang in three songs with Les Chanteuses (French for Female Singers): Reuben, Reuben arranged by Vijay Singh, Tatkovina (Macedonian folk song) arranged by Greg Jasperse, and Niska Banja (Serbian Gypsy dance) arranged by Nick Page. Jessica stood in the front row.

Kevin sang four numbers in the Concert Choir: The Little White Hen by Antonio Scandello (which he was glad to be done with), Soon-ah Will Be Done by William Dawson (his favorite), Sing Me to Heaven by Daniel Gawthrop (my favorite), and Things That Never Die by Dickens/Lee Dengler. Kevin is 5th from the right on the back row (he is the one with the hair covering his eyes).

I was surprised when Jessica walked up to the piano for one of the Men's Choir numbers and sat at the piano- I thought she was going to play as a surprise to us, but was joined by the conductor on the bench. Jessica proceeded to do an excellent job at page turning! Hope you enjoy these clips - even though Kevin's are just taken with my little pocket camera. Don't the black dress hems look the perfect length!