The Suisse Family Robinson

I didn't know how good of a songwriter Shania Twain was until tonight. I like her music but I never knew that good songs could be sung any style and still sound good.

My personal favorite and I think the best- Casey James. Lara will be so happy when she watches it tomorrow.
I missed- Siobhan. Too bad, I look forward to her performances and it sounded like it was a good one tonight.
Boring- Michael. *snore*
Didn't agree with the judges- Crystal. I especially liked the mandolin :)
Still thinks he should go home tomorrow- Aaron Kelly. Really, it's time.

I was recently reminded of this video that was put together a few years ago for Helping Hands Center's annual fundraiser (the first one). I'm mostly posting it here on my blog so that I can always remember it :) But hey, it's also a great way for all of you to see at what a great place I work! A new video is being put together for this year's fundraiser and I hope to post that too. Look for me leading our children's choir while playing the guitar.

Best: Most would say Crystal but I actually liked Lee's better.
Most Disappointing: Casey. I didn't like that song at all and, it is true, he needs to do something without the guitar even though he is great at it.
Worst Song Choice: This is a toss-up between Siobhan and Aaron. Aaron has an awesome voice, he just lacks training and experience. He will be a great artist in a few years.

I think Aaron's time has come to an end.

Lara received a Little People's Princess Castle from Grandma Piano for her birthday. She loves playing with the prince and princess and making them dance together, etc. Recently we got it out to play with and she promptly placed the prince on top of the castle and said "This is Samuel. Repent! Jesus is coming!" You can tell where we have been reading in the Book of Mormon.

I think it's ironic that our children's choir at Helping Hands start rehearsal tomorrow for our Elvis-themed concert. And I'm in charge of it. I've been listening to a lot of Elvis lately because he was not an artist I grew up with.

There were a lot of ties in my book tonight.
Best- Crystal or Lee
Weakest- Aaron or Andrew. I really liked Andrew's arrangement but he was a little out-of-tune in places and just not energetic enough.
Needs to not play guitar- Michael. I loved the vocals but his guitar playing was distracting because it was so boring and I was wondering if he was truly playing.

I think Aaron and Andrew will be going home tomorrow. I'm disappointed about Andrew, I had high hopes from the auditions. But he just hasn't grown as an artist, probably no thanks to the judges, and he has started looking really awkward and uncomfortable onstage.

Adam Lambert was the best mentor to date. Why can't other celebrity mentors be so honest? It obviously helped the contestants this week. I'm sure my sister, Lindey, can't wait for his performance tomorrow night. :)

I debated whether or not to do baskets for the girls this year. I hadn't had time to make one for Vivi and neither of them really knew what was going on. But while shopping at Meijer's I saw some cute little knick-knacks so I gave in. :) When I was a teenager my parents decided that they wanted Easter Sunday to emphasize Christ rather than the Easter Bunny. So the Easter Bunny took a permanent vacation and became the Spring Bunny who comes and visits the Saturday before Easter. We've decided to keep that tradition in our family therefore the girls are not in their Easter dresses, they are in new spring outfits for their basket (which they shared).

I was really excited for the girls to wear their Easter dresses this year. Mostly because I bought them for a steal from Strasburg Children and I love having the girls wear dresses that I pay almost nothing for. :) They were soooooo cute in them! To top it off, flower bows that I found through a friend's blog and bought them on Etsy. I love Etsy. I ordered them the Monday before Easter so I'm glad they got here in time! I just read that the BOWdacious bows is doing a giveaway. Go here for details! We had an Easter egg hunt at Grandma Piano and Grandpa Wally's house before conference. Both the girls had a lot of fun! We had a purple-themed Easter- the girls had new purple dresses, I bought Reed a new lavender shirt, and I also had a purple shirt. Not new, but I had it.


Speaking of conference, I love conference. We've been singing Follow the Prophet a lot lately because it was March's primary song and we had been talking to Lara a lot about our prophet, Thomas S. Monson. She was so excited to see him speak during conference and for days afterward she would ask where Thomas S. Monson was and how much she wanted to see him. She even made up her own verse of follow the prophet- Thomas S. Monson was a prophet... and the rest sounds exactly like the original Adam verse. :) I am so grateful for a little girl who reminds us how important the prophet is and displays such a love for the gospel.

Before I talk about my thoughts here's a story about Lara. She loves Casey James and was excited to watch American Idol tonight so that she could see him. She was sooooo tired after a long day hiking and playing and Casey was one of the later singers. But she stayed up to watch him and was beside herself when he finally sang. And then, when the judges were giving Casey feedback, she fell asleep. :)

Best- Casey James. Looooved it just like Lara.
My personal favorite- Tim Urban. I like that song anyways and he did a really good job with the guitar. By the way, what's up with all the guitar players this year? It's getting kind of old to see guitars every week but Tim did a good job anyways.
Biggest WHAT????? moment- Lee Dewyze. I love bagpipes but that was kind of weird. Still I like him.
Still not a fan- Katie Stevens.
Worst- Aaron Kelly. Either of them could leave tomorrow and I would be fine.

I picked West Virginia to win the tournament this year. It was actually a mistake, I think that I actually had wanted to pick Kansas but when I entered my bracket I accidentally picked West Virginia. So when Kansas lost I was pretty happy! I was sooooo close to winning which would have made my spring break even better. Sadly, West Virginia lost in the Final Four. :( Ah well, there's always next year. I love March Madness!