Whew! I Made It!

Good evening! How are you all tonight? I am doing fine.

I have had a couple of busy, crazy days, but I made it! I did a bunch of baking getting ready for the reception after my students' recital. I baked one loaf of banana bread, two loaves of zucchini bread, two batches of brownies and one batch of oatmeal kitchen sink cookies.

We got to the church building for the recital a few minutes after 5pm. I started practicing some music with several of the students and helped them warm-up their voices. I was really surprised at how many people showed up. What was really cool was that my Sensei and two of his children came!

The recital started off with my student, Lydia Willis, playing one of her original compositions. She entered into a competition and won first place in the state of New Mexico. They have since sent her composition on to be judged at national level! She did a fantastic job!

Next was my nephew, Avery Cogburn. He played three songs and did very well. So proud of him!

Haven Cogburn performed on his guitar and he did a fabulous job! Aaron has started teaching classical guitar and Haven is his first student. He looked so cute with his little guitar!

My niece, Savanah Cogburn, went next. I couldn't have been any prouder of her! She got up there and sang her little heart out! What a cutie! After the concert, one of my older students went to Savanah and told her that she thought she did wonderful and guess what Savanah said, "I was so nervous, my breath ran away!!!!!" She really stole everyone's heart.

The Jungling girls and Levi did fabulous. They all worked so very hard and it paid off.

The Willis girls and Mrs. Willis all performed together. They did beautifully. Mrs. Willis was as nervous as ever, but she made it through! She sounded beautiful and she didn't even pass out! Maybe next time, she might relax enough to enjoy herself! She has made great progress and I am so proud of her!

My son, Aaron, did a fabulous job. He sang "The Least I Could Do." Then he did a duet with Lydia Willis. They sang "The Prayer." It was absolutely stunning.

Lydia Willis and her friend, Kelsey Hoppman, wrote a song together called "The Triumph of the Cross." It was a very moving song. This was the first time they ever performed it. They wrote it specifically for this concert!

I played a song on the piano called "Rustle of Spring." Then I sang a solo while I played on the piano and Aaron played his guitar. I sang "Via Dolarosa."

All of my voice students formed a choir for the last recital and decided to keep it going. They call themselves, For His Glory. The women sang a song called "Trust In The Lord." It has some pretty harmonies and they did very well. Then the entire group sang "Christ The Lord Is Risen Today!" and "Lamb of God!" I think "Lamb of God" was my favorite! The harmonies were unbelievable! They did a super job! Before the night was over, they were already planning for the next recital!

People stayed afterwards and visited for quite a while. Most of them thanked me for my hard work, but I felt pretty funny. Teaching these great group of kids was not hard work for me. I truly enjoy working with them. Well, I don't really see it as work. I have WAY too much fun! THEY do all the hard work!!! All of them have a desire to serve God and honor Him with their lives. I honestly believe God was glorified through their actions.

I was so tired. I guess I still am! Nathan and Aaron left this morning to sell chickens at the poultry swap meet. I actually went back to bed after they left and I fed Jordan and Gabe some breakfast burritos! I got up and did some cooking and prepping for tomorrow's supper. We are brining a duck and we plan on smoking it tomorrow. I hope it turns out alright.

My back has been kind of out of sorts. Please pray it gets straightened out on itself soon. Nathan and I are trying to de-clutter around the house. Today I started in my piano room. I cleaned out the front closet and organized everything and started a pile of things to get rid of. I did hang a bunch of pictures around the house. The next room I plan on tackling is either the living room or the school room.

I am sitting in bed typing this. Nathan is already asleep. Oh, I almost forgot to mention, Natalie and little Aleah flew in this afternoon! We are very excited to see them. We had dinner tonight here at our house. Anita (my mother-in-law) marinated some steaks. We grilled them. We cooked some pork ribs in the crockpot, then grilled them right before they were done. Anita and I had a joint effort making bread. It's called Wild Rice Pecan Cranberry Sourdough Bread! Yummy! Tonya fixed salad and made some brownies for dessert. Natalie cooked a bunch of vegetables. It was a very good supper! I felt kid of bad not doing a whole lot to contribute, but they wanted me to take it easy since I worked so hard getting ready for the recital!

Well, good night my dear friends. I hope you have a good night's rest. May you have a blessed Easter Day!