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Winter 2003
Piano Recital, December
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I played two pieces of music for my Christmas recital. First I played
"Holly Jolly Christmas," which was really hard, but I got it ready in time.
Next I played "Carol of the Bells." I
played it at last year's recital, but this year I tried to play it with
better interpretation. Lots of parents complimented me
afterwards. For the potluck afterward, I made my favorite cranberry salad
(with Mom's help).
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Arizona Trip, December 13-16
In December, Mom, Jan and I traveled to Arizona (see more
here). We stayed in Phoenix
for a couple days, then Williams. We did lots of really fun stuff, but our
biggest day was viewing the Grand Canyon [right]. It was a little hazy,
and sort of cold, but we could still see pretty well. I liked stopping at
the Hermit's Rest, sitting by the big fireplace. They gave us free hot apple
cider. |
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One of the fun things we did in Phoenix was to eat dinner at
the Pinnacle Peak Patio Steakhouse. If you wear a tie there, the server cuts it
off with big scissors [left]. Then they hang all the ties—thousands of them—from the ceiling. Mom didn't warn
me, so it was a surprise. During our trip we also went to the Mesa
Southwest Museum, to Zoo Lights at the Phoenix Zoo, and to a nighttime
Christmas parade in Flagstaff. On the drive home (along Route 66), we
stopped at the Hoover Dam, and in Las Vegas we had a French buffet in Paris,
rode a roller coaster in New York, and walked the canals of
Venice, all before catching our plane! |
Christmas
I had a really nice Christmas with all my family, and I got a lot of
really great presents. One of the best was a remote control
hovercraft that Dad and Suzy gave me. Another was the Nintendo GameCube that
Mom and Jan gave me. After we were all done opening presents and eating
lunch, I spent most of the day trying out the GameCube games that Mom and Grandma
Joanie gave me [right]. |
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New
Year's Trip, Netherlands and Belgium
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The day after Christmas, Mom, Jan and I flew to Holland to
spend a week. It was really cold and wet (a lot like Seattle), and
lots of times the grownups just sat around and talked, and that was
pretty boring. But I got to do some fun things.
Sometimes I played basketball or games with Jan's nephews, Menno,
Jasper, Sjoerd and Stijn. We couldn't talk to each other, since they don't
speak English and I don't speak Dutch, but we figured it out, and they
were nice to me. We also went shopping in different places for fireworks
for New Year's Eve, and I had lots of fun planning our fireworks display
with Jan.
One day we drove to Brussels. Unfortunately, it rained pretty
hard all day, so it was hard to see stuff, but we made the best of it. We
saw the Mannekin Pis, a tiny naked statue (I'm not sure why it's so famous
'cause it's only 2 feet tall) that pees water and sometimes beer, and I
had my picture taken next door as a 5-foot-tall Mannekin Pis [left].
New Year's Eve was the best. We had "gourmet" with Monique's
family (you cook your own food, like meat and eggs and pancakes, on an
electric grill that sits on the table). And at midnight, we spent about an
hour lighting off all our fireworks! All the rest of the
neighborhood was setting off fireworks, too—it was really great!! |
Skiing
at Big Mountain, Montana, February
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On my February winter break, Mom, Jan, and I had lots of
fun in Montana (see more here). I took two
mornings of ski lessons, and they were fun and I learned how to parallel
turn. Then I was able to ski down from the top of the mountain, and I
could even get down faster than Mom! By the end of the week, I even skied
down a black diamond run twice! It was really good skiing, with nice snow
and mostly clear weather. The Big Mountain resort was cool, too. Above,
I'm in one of the cafeterias taking a lunch break. At right, I'm
standing in front of "snow ghosts" at the top of the mountain. |
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Basketball, January-March
This winter I played basketball with a team called The Intimidators.
All the kids were from my elementary school, although no one else was from
my class. Our coach was Beau Baker, who was a good coach. He drilled us a
lot, but he also gave us lots of encouragement. And we won seven games and
only lost one (because we weren't paying attention). |
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The position I like best is forward. This year my shooting improved
[right], but Mom says I'm still best at running down the court faster than
anyone else [above]. It was a fun season.
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