Gilbert High School Orchestra Retreat

What an adventure! As many of you know, I have been teaching orchestra at Gilbert High School for over 4 years now. This year, I decided it was time to take my Symphony on a retreat. So, we went to Prescott, AZ and stayed in these big cabins, and had a great time. We rehearsed a lot, and I think my kids had a positive experience. Here are a few pictures of them in sectionals, rehearsals, etc. They played their instruments for probaby 5 hours each day, and I definitely wore them out, but they sure are sounding good! We also had other kinds of fun... I took them outside and we played human fuzball. It was hilarious! They loved that, as well, even though it was pretty hot, and we ended up stopping early. We will have to modify it a little, but I would like to do it again next year.

Overall, we had a great time. I am also adding some pictures of our talent show. These kids are hilarious! I love every one of them!

You can't see the one on the left very well, but it is four girls, the two in the back "invisible" and "helping" the girls in the front with their makeup.

CAMPING TIME!

Richard and I were able to go camping over Labor Day weekend with my brother, Tim, and his family. We had so much fun! We went up to Canyon Creek and sat around a campfire, made s'mores, ate A LOT, and made boats out of whatever we could find in nature.

This is all of the entries in this year's race. The boat race is an Allen family tradition that we started about 5 years ago up at Black River (another family tradition- that's where we always go). Our entry is the one on the very left. It came in second! Not too shabby!

On Sunday, it was raining for most of the day, so rather than sitting around, Richard and I decided to go into Heber and check out this cabin that he stayed at a few years ago. Can you say gorgeous? It's huge! It has a lake on the property, as well as a very cute red barn. I have always loved barns, even thought I don't know what I would do with one if I had it. I still want one!

So, we enjoyed our first camping trip together. It was fun to spend time with my family, and see how my little nieces and nephews responded to the different things that happen unexpectedly. The whole area had a bunch of these little purple beetles. My niece Lacey just couldn't get enough of them. She was searching everywhere for them!

One day while we were there, we saw two elk just off the side of the road. They both had huge sets of antlers, and they were butting heads. They were only about 20 yards away, so it was neat to watch them. They stuck around for a long time, and gathered quite a crowd. I'd only really ever seen an elk from the car before, so it was pretty cool to be so close. What a fun trip!