!!!!!!!!!!!

School is finally out!!!!! Today was the last day of school! I'm half glad that school is over and I'm half sad. One of my good friends is moving to Ohio. His name is Jacob and we're going to miss him! :( After school me and my friend Mikenna went to go see Indiana Jones in theaters. It was really good! But it bothered me that Harrison Ford is so OLD! :) There were some parts that had lame acting but it was really good! After the movie we went to Claire's. We tried on lots of sunglasses and I bought some "chopsticks" for my hair. They're really cute and I can do my hair really cute with them. After that, we babysat David Allred who lives across the street. We had a good time! It was fun! We had an Indiana Jones marathon and we sent goofy text messages to the boy she likes. She is not allowed to have sleepovers at other people's houses once she turns 12, so she couldn't sleep over. But we both wished she could cuz we had a good time! After she left I scrap booked with my mom and Aimee [Merrell] until midnight. Even though I did that for about 4 hours, I only got on object on one page finished! :) I kept getting distracted and I was REALLY hyper! I had a lot of fun today!!!!

♥♥Kennedy♥♥

Singing Recital

Hello hello. This week has been quite eventful. It is the last week of school!!!! YIPEE!!!!!!! I'm excited for summer! Last night I had my singing recital for singing lessons. We all sang a solo song along with 2 group songs, "On my Own" from Les Miserables and "Caro Mio Ben" which is an Italian song. I sang "Love Song" by Sarah Bareilles. It's a totally awesome song. I was pretty nervous at first but when I got up there, I wasn't so nervous. Which is weird, I know! :) Katie is in my singing "class" and she did a fantastic job singing "Someone's Watching Over Me" by Hilary Duff. We all sucked on the last song On My Own, though. We forgot most of the lyrics so it sounded completely horrible! But that's okay since we all did a good job on our songs. My mom took a few pictures of the performance and she even got my whole song on video! If your interested, here they are.




PICTURES:

top left--Mikenna Hillman singing "Bubbly" by Colbie Caillat.
top middle--Katie Duffin singing "Realize" by Colbie Caillat.
top right--Megan Duffin singing "When I Close My Eyes" by UNKNOWN :)
bottom left--Katie Russell singing "Someone's Watching Over Me" by Hilary Duff.
missing picture--Jessica Hart singing "Only Hope" by Mandy Moore.

(I can't get the video to show up, so just watch it on my mom's blog: www.riccidesertmama.blogspot.com SORRY!)

♥♥Kennedy♥♥

update . . . .

Just an update. . . . I forgot to post on this, but on Mother's day, I gave a talk in sacrament on Mothers. If you're interested I copied my talk on here so you can read it. It's short and simple.

Happy mother’s day! My name is Kennedy Nightingale and I was asked to speak on the topic of mothers.

What is a mother, first of all? A mother gives you life! She takes care of you and loves you. My mom is always there for me to comfort me when I am unhappy or scared, or if I just need a shoulder to cry on. She has always been there for me when I have needed her most. I think the most important characteristics of a mom are:

© She must always have faith in herself.

© She must love Heavenly Father, the gospel, and the scriptures with all her heart.

© She should be dedicated and loyal.

© As a mother, she has to make sacrifices.

© Patience is necessary!

One of my lifelong goals is to become a mother when I am older. My mom has always taught me things that I look forward to teaching my future children. I want to be a mom just like her! I have learned from babysitting that taking care of kids is hard work. But, unfortunately, you don’t get paid to be a mom.

In the Book of Mormon, Helaman and his army fought bravely with the inspiration of their mothers. Alma chapter fifty-six verse forty-seven through forty-eight says:

Now they never had fought yet they did not fear death, and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives, yeah, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them. And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers saying, we do not doubt our mothers knew it.

So that’s basically saying to trust your mothers because they do know what’s going on!

There is a quote from the First Presidency that says:

Motherhood is near to divinity. It is the highest, holiest service to be assumed by mankind. It places her, who honors it’s holy calling and service, next to the angels.

So being a mom is really one of the holiest services in all mankind! That’s a really high authority and it definitely makes me respect the work of my own mom more. I know that even though I am a big pain some times that she still loves me. I love my mom so much and I am truly grateful for all that she does for me. Without her guidance, I don’t know where I’d be. Even though I probably have a strange way of showing it, I am thankful for her. I try my best to help her out a lot, and it’s hard sometimes, but she really deserves it. I’m going to close with a poem I wrote called “What is a Mother?”.

What is a Mother?

A mother is thoughtful caring and true

Who is there to support you in all that you do.

No matter the cost, she’s willing to pay

So she can hold you in her arms and wipe those tears away.

When giving support, she’s your number one fan;

Loving you lots is her game plan.

She’s there to comfort all your fright.

She’s there to tuck you in at night.

She loves when it’s quiet and away from the loud.

When you are accomplished, it makes her feel proud.

She must have a degree in teaching right from wrong,

Because you know right here is where you belong.

She loves watching her kids laugh and play

Even though sometimes they make her hair gray!

She loves to just sit and talk with you,

To be involved in the things that you do.

What mother could be so divine?

What better example is there than mine?!
I love you mom!

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

So there you have it. That talk went pretty good in sacrament.

Last night there was a baptism for my mom's friend Aimee's son, Reid, and I sang at that. I'd say it went pretty good, though my mom said I wasn't loud enough. But that's okay.

So yep, there's a little update on my life.

♥S♥U♥M♥M♥E♥R♥

Katie is so sweet! She is so great! She is my bestest best friend and I really love her a lot. She is so talented and I absolutely love being around her!

Only 8 more days of school!!! Then I'm going to be in 8th grade! I am so excited for summer. This summer is going to be awesome. I'll make a little outline of things that I'm going to do/go.

-I think my mom was talking about going up to Utah on the weekend of the 24th of June. I did not know about this little visit until this morning. I don't know when she was planning on telling us, but yeah.
-My birthday. I don't know what I'm going to do yet, but it will probably just be a little party for me and a few of my good friends. Nothing extravagant like last year! ;)
-Family reunion. This summer we are having a family reunion in Sedona with my dad's side of the family. We rented a reeeeeeeeeeeeeeally nice house, it's really big and it has a swimming pool and all that stuff. We're going to ride a train--I think that' still in the plan--and we're going to the Grand Canyon.
-Just hang out. Go swimming, read, write, sing, more swimming . . . . you know, normal summer stuff!
-Babysitting! I'm planning on making some extra cash, to pay for things that I really want, like a phone. I want to prove to my mom that I AM capable of paying for a phone!!!

So that's pretty much it. School was pretty fun. I'm just getting my grades where I want em for report cards. . . . . .

♥♥Kennedy♥♥

PS: I give all the credit and glory of making my fabulous layout. Isn't it so cute??? Not to mention it is my favorite colors: purple and green. She's amazing!

KATIE IS HERE!

This is Katie!! Seriously it is!

Kennedy does not know that I am posting on her blog =]. This is a suprise. I am just here to say how AMAZING SHE IS! She is so talented and everyone LOVES her! You would be crazy not to like her. She is so much fun to be with. I can do anything with her and we have fun! She is so smart and an amazing writer and singer. =] so much better than me... no matter what she says. Everyone wants to be around her because when you are it just makes you feel soooo good. She may be shy but she's not obnoxious like me and she is so wonderful once you get to know her. She is my best friend forever!

Today was pretty boring. Katie and most my friends were in the Math Fair and I wasn't so I was lonely. I babysat today for 2 little boys: Grant, 6, and David, 2. They are the cutest little boys. I absolutely love babysitting for them. David has red hair (that was recently shaved off, so he doesn't have hair right now, :( ) and blue eyes. He laughs at the silliest things and at any sign of music he shakes his little body and dances! It's adorable! But he's learned how to crawl out of his crib, so getting him to stay in bed was frustrating. But, when he falls and gets hurt, he usually learns not to do it again. At least until the next night! Grant is Morgan's age and I think he has a crush on her! He's really smart for his age and he's a joy!

I AM SO MAD THAT BROOKE GOT VOTED OFF OF AMERICAN IDOL!!!!! She is SOOOOO much better then Jason and Syesha and EVERYONE knows that!! She did not deserve to go home and it's not fair! I'm upset over this. But I realize it's kind of a silly thing to get mad at . . . but it's still upsetting!! :(

♥♥Kennedy♥♥

My Favorite Things...

I decided to make a little collage post about all the little things that I love. . . so here it is!








There's lots more stuff, but I don't have time to post them! Do you like the things I love? :)

♥♥Kennedy♥♥

PS: Yes, Katie, the Dachshund is in your honor! :)

American Idol

First of all I'd like to say that on top of being an amazing singer, David Archuleta is so CUTE!! He has so much talent and he is one of the best best on American Idol. His latest performance "Think of Me" from The Phantom of the Opera was just so great! You'd be tone deaf if you didn't think that he had some talent! And on top of all the great things about him, he's LDS too! What could be better?!






Also another of my favorite American Idol contestants is Brooke White. She is also really talented. But I really think that she needs to really find a good song that is best for her voice. I mean she's sung great songs and all, it's just that she needs to really top everything with a song that puts her voice over the edge (the good edge). Don't you agree? I think she'd be a great celebrity to look up to; she'd be a positive influence upon others, being LDS as well. . .



Although he's not one of my favorites, David Cook is also a great contestant on American Idol. There's not many rock singers from American Idol (besides Chris Daughtry) and he is someone could pursue a career in singing. He's very talented. He knows how to pick songs that are good for his voice and this week's song that he picked from The Phantom of the Opera, "Music of the Night", was genius! :)


♥♥Kennedy♥♥
P.S. I had a decent week. Yesterday I spent the day with Katie and by the end of the day I was really sick. I just felt sick to my stomach and ended up throwing up before I went to bed. I did not go to church today because I still feel sick. But I was able to eat lunch and dinner without throwing it up, so that's good. Whether I go to school tomorrow or not depends on how I'm feeling. . . . .

HI HI

Hello Hello. I know, I know, It's been a while since I've posted. I'm sorry. Weeellll, here's a little update on my life:

-Singing Lessons are going great. I've been taking them for about a year and I totally ♥ them soooo much! My BFF Katie joined with me, so that's fun. Our recital is coming up quick and I have a solo. It's called Love Song and it should be playing right now. :) (By the way, do you like my playlist? Check out some of my other songs.)
-Schools going pretty good. Still boring. Nothing new. We had AIMS, which is a big test that tests our knowledge of things we've learned all year. That was eventful (boring is more like it!). I currently do not like any boys at school (I know, a first! :) ). I guess I've liked all the like-able guys already! I can't believe school is almost out! Only 4 more weeks and it will be summer! I can't wait. I love summer!!! Remember how I told you all that I started playing Trombone for the school band? Well that's progressing, although progress is VERY slow! It's been about a month and so far I can play about 3 songs: Mary Had a Little Lamb, Hot Cross Buns, and Let's Go Band. It's getting frustrating because I basically have to teach myself; my friends are always busy, the TEACHER is always busy and has no time to teach me. So that's a big reason of why I'm frustrated. Last night was the Spring Band Concert but I decided not to play in it because I can't play any of the songs and it wouldn't be fair to just pretend and move my slide.

Well that's about all I can think that's going on in my life. Love you all!!

♥♥Kennedy♥♥

DRESSES

These are my two new dresses. Sorry a) that I'm not wearing them and b) that they're kind of crooked. By the way, I took these pictures with my new camera. Grandma got me a new digital camera for my early (by early I mean 4 months) birthday present. I love it! It takes really good pictures!

Kennedy

This week has been pretty good. My grandma came to visit from Utah and it was so good to see her. She bought me two new dresses and I heart them!! she must like cleaning a lot, because she spent the whole time organizing and cleaning our house. Not that I'm complaining! My mom went in for surgery yesterday; that was the main reason for my grandma coming. Tonight was Katie's Honor band concert and they did really good. My grandma is leaving tomorrow, and that will be sad. That's about all going on in my life right now.


Kennedy

Hello, Hello. Today was kind of a boring and uneventful day ... other than it was Early Release, for Parent Teacher Conferences. We had a breakfast day in Mrs. Miller's class so we ate cookies and donuts and stuff. It was good. My best friend is mad at me for something I didn't really do so that really made the rest of my day suck. After school, I just came home, worked on my story. At 4:00 I had to babysit. When I got home we went to Ironwood--Morgan and Connor's school--for the book fair/parent teacher conference for Morgan. I got 2 books (it was the highest reading level book there and yet it still has only 100 pages). I am currently reading "Move Forward with Faith"--the biography on Gordon B. Hinckley. It's really quite interesting. I'm learning a lot more stuff about him that people in my family (who haven't read the book, that is) don't know. Wasn't he such an amazing man?

What's going on in your lives? How's everything?

Kennedy

P.S. I got an A in every class except Pre-Algebra. :( I was bummed. I got a B- in that class. That is my first B on my report card (in middle school).