Fun with Sarah: Chorale and Swimming

In March we were very lucky to have my sister, Sarah, come and visit us! We only had a few nights, so we made sure to pack it full of fun!

She arrived on a Wednesday afternoon. The first order of business was to get her settled and to eat dinner. Afterwards, I drug her to choir rehearsal. Actually, I don't think she took any convincing. She's a choir geek like me!

Now that it comes to mind, I don't think I've ever mentioned the choir I'm in. Let me back up a bit.

Back in January, I auditioned for the Colorado Mormon Chorale. The chorale is a choir here in the Denver area that operates under the direction of church officers. They sing at all sorts of cool events. As soon as I heard about it, I was just dying to audition.

I had a terrible cold on audition day and could barely even talk, let alone sing. The audition was challenging- especially the sight reading, and I was really nervous that my cold prevented me from getting in. But, by some divine intervention, I'm sure, I was accepted and I've been loving it ever since.

The schedule can be rigorous at times. We rehearse for 2 hours every Wednesday night and we have lots of performances. But, it's SO worth it!

Anyway, Sarah came to rehearsals that night and we had a great time.


One of my favorite parts of choir is the carpool. There are 5 ladies in our ward that are members, so we have a lot of fun on the drives. Here is me and my darling friend, Anne...


The morning after Sarah arrived, we decided to head to the Southridge Pool. Have I ever mentioned that Highlands Ranch has 4 rec centers and the are all free to residents?

Southridge Pool is one of my favorites. It has a lazy river, a log walk, fountains, a waterslide, and other fun water features. They also keep the hot tub a little cooler so the kids can get in too. The girls love it!

Stay tuned for more fun with Sarah!

The Aquarium

When living in Seattle, we loved visiting the aquarium. I've now realized that an aquarium built right on a harbor is much different than one in a landlocked state. But, we still had fun!

Do you know who this lady is? Me neither! The only thing I know about her is that she is a volunteer at the aquarium and Fiona was obessed with her. She kept wanting her to hold her. This was very strange for my stranger-wary Fiona.

The creepiest thing was the mermaid show, although Gwen loved it.

Gwen got to meet the mermaids before we left. A great ending to a fun day!

Doing Downtown

We enjoyed our annual trip to downtown Seattle to take in the Christmas sights. We started off with the Christmas village & miniature trains at the Seattle Centerhouse.

Next we rode the monorail down to the Sheraton to see the gingerbread house display.

Next we dined on delicious Japanese food at Benihana. Even the girls loved it!

Of course, some of the kids got restless. More than one of us spent time wandering around with wiggly ones...

The favorite part of lunch was ice cream.

Fiona really, really wanted some. Can you tell?

Gwen was sweet and happily shared with her.

It wouldn't be Christmas without a visit to the Four Seasons Olympic Hotel for some festive photos.

Our last stop was at the carousel for a quick ride.

Tired, but happy, we took the monorail back to where our cars were parked.

Feeding Reindeer

One of my favorite new Christmas Traditions is to go to Swanson's Nursery to enjoy their Christmas festivities. The girls love feeding the reindeer, visiting the koi pond, and seeing if they can drop and penny on the electric train.

Another great thing about Swanson's Nursery is that it is very close to Larsen's Bakery. Larsen's is a Danish bakery and it is absolutely delicious. Every good outing needs to involve food. Am I right, or am I right?