Some Jib Jab Fun

Rock and roll video featuring Ella, Grant, and Grandpa and Grandma Lybarger....

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Elf Yourself....

Ella's First Solo Recital

Ella did her first solo at her class recital tonight. I told her that she didn't ever need to be nervous; that Mom and Dad would do that for her and she could just play. Well play she did. She wasn't nervous at all which makes me think I won't be so nervous for her next time. She was all smiles and did a great job - lots of confidence! Great job kiddo...

The Big Gig

Earlier this year we started having some conversations with Ella about what she thought about playing a musical instrument. It wasn't too much later that she said she wanted to try to learn to play the violin. This quickly became a passion for Ella (and Denise too which is good since I have absolutely no musical ability). Ella started taking lessons at the Omaha Conservatory of Music in April and it wasn't long after, that I really came to appreciate the process of learning to play an instrument. Densie attends weekly 1/2 hour lessons with Ella which continued until the end of the school year in the spring, then took some lessons throughout the summer before resuming regular weekly lessons again this fall. She has really caught on quickly. They practice together every night and it's been fun seeing the progress and how proud Ella is when she learns how to play a new series of notes. Last Friday, Ella played in her first "concert". It was held at the Joslyn Art Museum and the kids (of all ages) played in different galleries throughout the museum. It was quite a sight! It was amazing to see the different levels of expertise. It is also exciting to think about what Ella could accomplish in just a few short years if she keeps it up. We're so proud of her for her dedication and what she's learned already. Enjoy the photos and videos below of Ella's First Violin Concert - Appropriately named the "Big Gig".


Check out that smile from her at the end! She's pretty proud of herself too and that's what makes it so special.









Download version here:
View big-gig-october-15-2010-2-wmv

Waking Up In Nature...

...well, sort of. We actually woke up in an awsome 3 bedroom condo this morning, but it's on the side of a mountain in Jackson Hole Wyoming, and nature and all it's wonder is right outside.

Denise has a conference here for the next 4 days for work and we decided that I would tag along. Her conference is done at 1 pm every day, so there will be plenty of time to enjoy this wonderful slice of nature. Theresa, a friend of hers, is also at the confernece and her husband Ryan also tagged along. So he and I will be scoping out the days events and doing some things in the mornings before catching up with the girls at lunch time. Really looking forwad to spending some time here.

Here's a few pictures of the condo and the views from it....

My Mom and Dad are with Ella and Grant in Omaha and we're already missing seeing there smiling faces. But we know that they are in good hands with Nana and Papa and having a great time. Some alone time for Mommy and Daddy has been a long time coming and we're looking forward to enjoying every minute of it.

I'll post some more photos of the days travels tomorrow morning.

It's been a while...

Who knew how fast the months would go by... I was aware that I hadn't been doing very well at keeping this blog updated, but I had no idea that it had been a year since my last post. No time for feeling bad though or I won't have time to get this post completed!!

First, a couple of stories from tonight...

Denise works a little late on Monday nights, so it was just the 3 of us at the dinner table. I had all of our plates dished up and I thought I had Grant's plate just out of his reach. But as soon as I sat down, he reached over an started digging in. It had already been a long day, so I just let him go. At least he was eating, right? I then said to Ella, "lets say grace" and as soon as she started with her usual prayer, Grant looked up, put his food down and folded his hands and let out a little babble. It was great! You really can't understand how big of an accomplishment this was. We've been trying to get him to wait to eat and "say grace" with us for a long time and once in a while (with a lot of coaxing) we might get some folded hands for a few seconds. But we usually just get his "Are you serious?" look. So tonight, without any prompting at all, to see him do it perfectly, was a real delight. Ella said the whole grace with raised eyebrows and a proud big sister smile on her face. She's great at encouraging him to "make good choices" and is just as proud as we are when he does.

Part way through dinner as Grant was eating everything in sight, Ella said, “It sure seems like Grant eats better on Monday's when M-o-m isn't here because he's not so concerned about getting her m-i-l-k. It took me a few seconds to realize what she was doing. It cracked me up that the just turned 6 year old was spelling key words out so as to not trigger her little brothers cravings for momma’s milk. Such a good big sister…

Denise called after dinner and reminded me that Ella needed to practice a certain part of her violin lesson. Grant “talked” with her on the phone in our bedroom for a bit until we said goodbye. Then Grant and I met Ella as we were heading down the hallway and I told her, “Mom said you need to practice lesson 12 in your violin book”. Grant took off toward Ella’s room and I didn’t think much of it because he always wants to get into her room. Ella and I continued down the hallway to her room where we met Grant coming out of her room holding her violin book out to her and bobbing his head (like he does when she's playing it). Once again Ella just look on with raised eyebrows (as did I). I think he turned a corner tonight. It’s been fun watching this little guy grown up. Tomorrow will surely be more typical.

So, what else to post? I did get a really nice Father’s Day video a couple weeks back. Let’s start with that for now and I'll see what else I can get posted soon (Ella's birthday party pictures or her playing the violin, or maybe Grant going through the list of words he can say now). Check back again soon!!