He Shoots...He scores!

 At youth group a few weeks ago, Z bet one of the leaders that he couldn't make a shot from a certain point.  Then the youth group leader bet Z back.  Here are the videos, captured on the church's security camera:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bJc8uZLoRknyuhfWAiEun1uZeCoGj-mZ/view

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bLxYCKYRw35VZsoHeK1Kdc9zGhCw5hn3/view

High School Graduation

 Z graduated from high school.  Wow.  I have nothing to say about this that won't sound like a cliche.  We are super proud of him.  He passed all his AP tests, he was awarded the gold star in biliteracy, and he won a full tuition scholarship and a big music scholarship to Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA.  Good job, Z!  We can't wait to see what's next!

  

Orchestra

 Eden has been in the orchestra at Sioux Falls Lutheran this year.  Here is a little snippet from their spring concert.

Jazz Collective

 Z was in the Jazz Collective this past year, which is Lincoln's top jazz band.  They are absolutely incredible, and I think Z had a wonderful time being part of it this year!

California

 We had a little trip to California this month.  We flew into LA and then drove up to Santa Barbara in order to visit Westmont.  We stayed at a cute little hotel only a block from the beach and had a great time exploring the beach, the town, and the college.  Then we drove back to LA and spent a day at Disney, which was a first for all of us except Nathan.  

We spent the first night in LA and walked around an outdoor mall, featuring this dragon.

And then we had the most amazing dumplings for dinner!  

We walked around Goleta first, and found this store with an strange collection of dolls in the window.

Eden at the Goleta beach.

At the back of Westmont's campus are amazing trails going up into the hills.

We found a stream.

Z is way back in the distance.  He's very small.

Unfortunately, those are all the pictures I got at Westmont.  We had a tour of the campus, which is absolutely gorgeous.  The temperature was about 70 degrees the whole day, and sunny.  They have kumquat trees which had ripe fruit, so we picked the kumquats and ate them.  Z ended up having an audition for the orchestra.  As we were having the tour, he mentioned to his admission counselor that he plays the euphonium and trombone, and his admissions counselor was interested right away.  He said there's a competition for a fairly big scholarship that Z could try out for.  Fortunately, Z had brought his All-State music with him, as well as one of his mouthpieces, and had them in the car, so while his admissions counselor arranged an audition, he went and got his stuff.  We met the orchestra director, and Z had his audition, which went great.  He was invited to the final round of competition, which happens in March.

Beach in Santa Barbara a block from our hotel.

I found lots of sand dollars!

The beach at night.

Waiting in line at Disney for a Star Wars ride.  The lines were almost as fun as the actual rides, at least in the Star Wars area.

On the Millenium Falcon.  I think Nathan is being Chewbacca.

I don't know which ride this was.

Waiting in line.

Ready for the water ride.  Some very nice people getting off the ride gave Eden and me their plastic coverings.

On the water ride!  Eden and I were glad to have the plastic coverings!  We gave them to someone else when we got off.

Christmas Cookies

 

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

 Lincoln Marching Band marched in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade this year.  They got to spend an entire week in New York City and then march in the parade.  Even though it rained during the parade, they did a fantastic job and it sounds like the whole week was just a ton of fun.  What a great way to end Z's marching band career!

They drove all the way to New York in buses.  Z obviously enjoyed taking pictures of people while they were asleep.

Stopping for supper.

First glimpse of the New York skyline.

Skyline again as they go to visit the Statue of Liberty

Times Square, which Z said he didn't like.

Inside a Broadway theater to see Back to the Future, which Z said was fantastic.

They had a concert in Central Park.

The view from their hotel.

Supper.  I think this was at Bubba Gump Shrimp.

Z is on the right side of this photo, holding his euphonium.

Right in the middle, on the end of the row.

There's Z, right on the end with his euphonium, marching in the parade!

This is what we saw on TV at home.  We were so upset because they cut to a commercial just as the euphoniums were about to come on the screen!

The band had Thanksgiving dinner and a party on a boat that evening.

Z is right in the middle, wearing a light blue shirt.

Euphs

And lots of sight-seeing!

They saw a Christmas show here.