SISTERS

Around last Thanksgiving Jason was asking me what I would like to have for Christmas.  I had been really missing my family, so I told him that all I wanted was for him to fly my siter down from Wisconsin where she lives with her husband and three boys.

 

By the time Christmas came around I had already forgotten our conversation, so Jason was able to surprise me with his gift.  He was flying my sister out on our shared birthday, March 6th, and my brother-in-law had agreed to take time off to watch his three boys.

 

I had a wonderful visit this past weekend with Petronella.  It has been almost two years since I have seen any of my family.  We talked, walked around in Historic Distric of Boulder City, watched some of my kids' sports event, watched movies, baked...and just hang around.  To top her visit, our contractor worked extra hard to get our sauna done so Petronella was able to enjoy sauna on Saturday night, before returning home on Sunday.  It was a perfect weekend!

 

 

Petronella had come here from the snow in Wisconsin, so she absolutely wanted a picture by a palm tree.

 

I and Petronella on our way to church...

 

SAUNA...IT IS GETTING THERE...

Work in progress photos...

 

 

The sauna control box

 

 

Yay...we have doors!

 

 

Sauna flooring.  It is 2 by 2 tile.

 

 

Shower flooring, cultured crushed granite.

 

 

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the flooring we chose for the bathroom!

 

 

MAIJA'S POWER POINT

Maija is in third grade this year.  As part of her schooling, she is learning how to make a power point presentation and present it to her class mates.

Their assignment was to reserach an African American who has made a difference, somebody who has made history.

 

Maija worked hard on her presentation, and once it was done, I went to listen and watch her.

 

This particular morning there were four presentations given.

Maija was the fourth one. 

The first presentation was about Condoleezza Rice, who served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush.

The second presentation was about Barack Obama, the 44th and current President of the United States.

The third presentation was about Robert Lee Griffin III, an American football quarterback for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League.

 

And then it was Maija's turn. 

Her presentation was about Nicki Minaj, rapper, singer-songwriter and television personality. Yikes! 

 

I tried to persuade her to choose somebody else, but this is what she chose.  Oh well! 

If anything, she did do a great job with her presentation...even though the topic was less than desirable...

EVERYTHING MUSIC

Last week was all about music for our family.

 

This was Kai's third year in a row when he made the CCSD (Clark County School District) Honor Band.  Around 700 kids tried out, and 100 or so made it.

 

Last few weeks Kai has had practises in Las Vegas Academy as well as in UNLV.  Last Tuesday the Middle School Honor Band performed at the Ham Hall at UNLV. 

It always amazes me how great they sound...most of kids, like Kai have only played few years of thier instrument. 

We were very proud of him.

 

 

 

The following night we attended a concert at Foothill High School, where both Markus and Kai performed.  Kai played with Middle School Wind Symphonic Band, and Markus played with High School Wind Symphonic Band.  During the concert Kai was also recognized as the only one who made all three years in CCSD Honors Band in his middle school band.

 

I was able to record one of their songs, before my battery on the camera ran out.

 

 

 

 

Saturday was another busy day involving music.

Maija participated to the annual Jr. Festival at the UNLV.

She had to memorize two piano pieces and play them to the judges.  She did great job and earned a Superior Rating.

 

 

Here is Maija before playing her song...a little nerveous.

 

 

Here she is after receiving her Superior Rating. 

She was so excited!

 

To top our week of music, The Foothill Wind Symphony (with Markus) performed in the CCSD Advanced Band Festival at UNLV.  They received "Superior" Ratings from all 4 judges.

 

So, we called our Saturday a Superior Saturday!

 

 

 

 

AND THEN THERE IS OUR SAUNA CONSTRUCTON

This past week we had some bumps on the road with the construction inspectors...

they really don't know too much about saunas here in this part of the world, so some of the inspectors coming by did not want to approve our sauna construction. 

They had concerns with the stove, water , and electricity being all in the same room...or like one of them said: "I just don't like it". 

 

Fortunately we have a great general contractor, who got it all cleared, so now the construction can move along.

 

Toilet area transformation this past week

 

Sauna control box is in...

 

Sauna vapor barrier...

 

...and the concrete flooring with a drain...

 

...sauna will have two wents. 

One will be by the stove and this other one is opposite from the stove, venting to the shower area.  Hopefully that will keep the air moving...

 

 

 

Shower area...

...the floor of the shower is cultured granite.  Easy to clean and maintain.

AND YOU THOUGHT THAT WE DO NOT ICE SKATE IN VEGAS

...well...actually...

we really don't...

that often...

but once in a while..

maybe once in a three years or so...

we will head to the indoor  ice skating arena for little bit of winter fun.

This Saturday we wanted to do something different and went ice skating.  The boys were done after an hour, but Maija did not want to waste any of our two hour skating time.  She kept going until she had worn us all out.

I, myself was a little nerveous, wondering if I still knew how to ice skate.  It has been AT LEAST 15 years since my last ice skating experience. 

But appereantly it is like riding a bicycle. 

Once you learn it...you will always know how to do it.

And I truly enjoyed myself!

And where there is ice skating there is also hot chocolate!

MARKUS TRYING TO SURVIVE HIS SOPHOMORE YEAR

Markus is having a quite a heavy load this year at school. The most challenging and hands down time consuming class is the World History AP class. 

It seems like he has hours of home work EACH day for this class...including weekends.

 

 

When he starts to be in despair....

 

 

 

there is just that much I can do to help...but I can make cookies for him...and I would like to think that sometimes a good chocolate chop cookie can make all the difference when it comes to getting your homework done.