In this week's Praise From Home, Jen finally joins the band for Way Maker. Pay close attention to Jen's shirt (though Molly's shirt and my shirt are also appropriate for today).
Yesterday, my step-grandmother, Betty, died. She was a lovely lady and a joy to have around. I have lots of great memories of her and Grandaddy. I thought maybe a trip down memory lane was in order, so here are a few of my favorite memories of her.
Grandaddy and Betty got married in 2004, a couple years after Jen and I did.
Betty and Grandaddy came up to Maryland for Molly’s baptism. This was likely the first time she sang to one of my children, but certainly not the last. She loved to sing, especially to little babies. (Apologies to Caroline for including this picture :) )
And here’s a similar picture from 3 years later. Betty sang to Leah for quite a while, and Leah stared at her the entire time.
Probably my favorite memory of her was from our family trip to Savannah in 2009. We were there for the 4th of July (as usual), which meant we celebrated my dad’s birthday there (July 2). We actually drove down that day, and Betty was great and made her highly regarded pound cake to celebrate.
Unfortunately, she accidentally grabbed the green food coloring instead of the vanilla when making it, so it had an interesting color. Tasted great, though. We still talk about that green pound cake in our family to this day.
Betty brought a lot of joy to Grandaddy's life, and for that I will forever be grateful.
In this week's installment of Praise From Home, Leah takes the lead with a song of her choice - Unstoppable God. And this is as close as we’re going to get to having 3 kids.
And now the second in our series of praise songs. This time, Molly takes the lead in a song chosen by her.
This will hopefully be the first in a set of praise songs from home by our family. The girls are now able to really contribute to praise songs, and it is awesome! This is the first praise song Leah has played on piano (and the first song she's played from a chord sheet), and she did great! I hope it warms your heart as we're all stuck at home.
Molly continues to sing in the youth choir at church. Jen and I don’t often get to see her sing as we have other commitments on Sunday morning around church, but I got to see her this time. They sounded great!
Molly's orchestra director at school organized octets for those interested in smaller ensembles this year (as you may have seen at Barnes and Noble). Molly's octet performed at the Howard County Solo and Ensemble Festival in February. They were fantastic, and earned a superior rating and an invitation to the state festival later this year.
In addition to her Chamber Orchestra, her GT Sinfonia, and her octet, Molly joined the Symphony Orchestra at school again this year. This group includes 6th-8th graders, and combines strings with winds, brass, and percussion. They meet at 6:50am before school every Tuesday and Thursday, so these are some dedicated kids. They had their first concert in January.
Leah had a very busy concert evening in January. The evening began with Leah singing with the school Chorus.
After singing with the chorus, Leah transitioned to the stage to play her cello in the Advanced Orchestra made up of fourth and fifth graders.
Leah still wasn’t done, though. Next, she played her cello in the Symphony Orchestra as well.
Nice job, Leah!
Molly had her winter Chamber Orchestra concert in January. This is her main, during-school group that meets every day. They were great!
