Some New Stuff

Taylor's first pez dispenser, Mickey Mouse. (of course)
The man loves the mouse. What can I say?

This is my sweet friend, Emily Tucker. She has been gracious enough to have me play the piano for her private voice lessons on campus. She just landed the role as Gretel in our next opera workshop performance. Dec. 4 & 5. She is amazing and has been a very wonderful, kind friend. That's one of the things I completely love about my job. I get to associate with some of the most talented people on campus. She has an amazing voice. You should all come hear her sing. I am playing for the scene from Hansel & Gretel. It's going to be great. She can sing extremely high even without breaking glass! Amazing!! You've probably seen her coming up the stairs to our apartment often. Part of my services is my washer and dryer. My vocalists are welcome to come and do laundry. We usually have breakfast of dinner together, too. It was all Steve's idea.

All right. So here are a few new ones of Liv. She is growing so fast and has her 4 months appointment next Wed. It's crazy that she will be 4 months old. A lot of women in our ward just had their first. Taylor will be 3 in Dec. It's amazing to see what differences there are between Taylor and Livie. It's be a blast. She is so happy and always wanting to play. She looks almost exactly like me. I will have to post a photo. I only have my newborn photo and a 9 month photo I can find. We look almost exactly the same. I am so thankful to have these two hooligans in my home! (how to you spell 'hooligans' anyway?) She's at that stage where she cannot keep her fingers out of her mouth!

Taylor also absolutely adores her. He is so helpful. He hears her wake up and says, "Bia! She waked up!" It's dang cute. He loves to give her toys and hugs and kisses. He has to be holding her hand. He will be such an awesome older brother just like mine is.

This is the awesome bouncer/exo-saucer that my in-laws got us. Everyone was trying to use their really bouncy one so they bought us each one to solve the problem. Baby Einstein, of course, being my most favorite toy/product due to the influence of the arts on small children. She loves the orange and yellow flower. She growls at it and can't stop smiling.

It's also a great chew toy since Livie can't stop eating pretty much everything.

For conference weekend we went to Steve's parent's house. Aunt Amanda and Uncle Nate were here with their family for her birthday, too. We had a lot of fun with all the cousins. They actually play pretty well for all 10ish kids all under the age of 7. Liv was just being cute so I took some photos.

This is my facebook photo. I am starting to realize facebook is really over-rated.

Steve took this photo for 'the blog'. It's all of Taylor's favorite animated people. Speed, Rocket, Woody, and Buzz.

We went to our niece's blessing in Salt Lake but Steve caught bronchitis and didn't want to get everyone sick so we ended up not going to the blessing. (which we still feel horrible about missing!) Steve wanted a picture 'for the blog' with Taylor. Our room had a hide-a-bed that Taylor slept (through the night, too). So here is Steve snugglin' with his little boy.

My friend was wondering why I haven't posted pics of me lately. Do not worry they will come. I am succumb to dishes and laundry and do most of the 'behind-the-camera' work. So we will do some non-behind-the-scenes, too.

Work is going well. I have a few people preparing for recitals and grad school applications so I've been kind of a nervous wreck. I have never played for anyone's recital before, but I have turned pages. So being in the setting is familiar but being in the spotlight is different. It will be great though. It's definitely helped me to improve as a musician and specifically as an accompanist. One of my vocalists is taking conducting lessons from the department chair, Brother Brower. He is amazing first off, then getting the chance to learn how to follow a conductor from someone amazing is a pure delight. I hope that I can do a great job for those who I am working for this semester. I am excited!!!