Backlog of Events !

Just to tell you right up front - this may be the biggest post I have ever done! There were a couple events that had happened in the month of April that were very interesting but I was finding it hard to find the time to sit down and download all the pictures! Well, that time has come! I hope you enjoy.
Side note: I did not attend these events personally. I will share what was shared with me and all of the pictures were either taken by Tanya (Rob's wife and one of the partners of Committed Caseworks and Events) or by Hailey with Tanya's camera.
Thanks again Tanya for the use of your camera and the disks of pictures that you share!

Jane Goodall - April 9Th, 2009

Grandma had bought some tickets to see Jane for herself, Hailey and Hayden. Hayden was also to have his Middle School Orientation the same night so Hailey invited her friend Mallory who plans on being a Zoologist. What is kind of funny about this, is that the company that Kurt works with ended up getting the job of putting up the stage and sound system!
This was a great lecture Hailey said.

Happy to be there!

Hailey showing Mallory the ins and outs of running sound!

Kurt and Rob hanging the speakers on the truss. After they put the speakers on, the trusses will be raised up to the ceiling.

Hailey explained that this was a bunch of stuffed elephants arranged in the shape of an elephant! They sold these after the lecture. Hailey refused to pay $10 for a stuffed elephant. (You go girl, already thrifty but if I was there and buying it she probably would have wanted one)! I thought it was a cute idea. All the proceeds, I believe, went to the Boise Zoo!

From what I hear, Jane was a great speaker and shared a lot about her childhood and how she became who she is. Hailey said she was a great imitator too- she imitated monkeys - their actions and sounds. Kurt's Mom said that she has followed Jane's works from the beginning and really enjoyed the lecture also!

Grandma is never at a loss for interesting things for the kids!

This picture is rather blurry but was just showing that even though Grandma, Hailey and Mallory left after the lecture, Kurt (or it may have been Tanya) stood in line to get Jane's autograph on the girl's tickets.

From my sources, I was told that Jane did not leave until she had given an autograph to everybody that wanted one and that she was there until around midnight! Pretty impressive. Wonderful character.

Earthfest - April 18Th, 2009

This was an all day event on a Saturday. The Business was hired to do the stage, sound and lighting and it was in a very interesting site. The Botanical Gardens which happens to be on the grounds of the old Penitentiary! I didn't put all the pictures up but I hope I get across to you how interesting this place is!

You can see some of the old buildings in the background.

Kurt and Rob. I want to say "setting up the board" , but honestly I am not sure what they are doing. But, they are near the mixing board and it looks like they are doing something!

Zach and Gloria (Rob and Tanya's kids) with Hailey - don't they look hard at work?

These is the word "Recycle" made out of metal cages and are full of crushed cans!

This is the picture of the stage after set up! I think it looks pretty nice. The black objects hanging from the top of the stage are speakers! I think they are called Line Arrays. Wow, writing this makes me realize that I don't really know a lot of detail about what Kurt does for a living but I am pretty sure the kids could tell you!

Hailey is helping with things. Both Hailey and Hayden have often gone with their Dad and helped him with setting up and tearing down at shows. They spent a good deal of their summer last year helping and are looking forward to doing it again this year.

I think this was the first group to play at the Earthfest.

Not sure what the dragon was all about.

Check out the lady in the red dress . . . I am not sure what she is doing but I was thinking about maybe getting me some of those stilt-like things for myself. I would probably at least hit 5'6"!

The kids just hanging out! I like this picture.

Seems like a pretty good turnout! It was a beautiful day!

I wonder if all those knobs really work or if they are just for looks???? If I turned one, could I order pizza from it?

No, Hailey is not trying to do the Spock mind meld here (it's what I thought at first) she is using the span of her hands to show you how big the face on the statue was. At this point the kids were going on a little hike to explore the area.

Hailey and Zack enjoyed these rocks.

As a paranoid parent I could really get caught up into what would happen to my precious baby if an earthquake hit right about now . . . must . . . think . . . . other . . . . thoughts . . .

Hailey LOVES to take pictures of flowers. I only put this one on the post but she had taken several and they were all quite pretty.

Getting late! But for the crew - not quite late for them yet.

I think this picture is pretty neat. They did not finish tearing down everything until sometime around 2 a.m.!!!! Kurt is still going but in the foreground Gloria has obviously given up. From what I am told she is sleeping on some very cold pipes! Aren't kids amazing - they can fall asleep anywhere.

Working by spotlight!

A better picture of Gloria out for the night!

The sad thing about this whole event . . . it was all about reusing and recycling, taking care of the earth - all that kind of stuff, Kurt said it was unbelievable how much garbage was all over the ground! Plastic water bottles were everywhere. He should have taken a picture of that too. Hmmmm, so important to practice what we preach!

Well, I hope that you enjoyed this post.

Irish Dancers . . .

While Grandma was in town visiting there was plenty for her to do! Friday night she went with Hailey and Hayden to the Nampa Civic Center where Kurt was working and watched a bluegrass band by the name of Bearfoot. I heard it was quite good. Forgot to send the camera with Hailey.
Saturday, after a day of doing some shopping and such they went to another venue at the Civic Center. Irish dancing. I believe it was a local dance team. This time I sent the camera with Hailey and here are a few shots.

They must have been dancing with lights in this picture. I think this is Hailey's favorite.

It is sad that a lot of these shots came out blurry but Hailey said the camera wasn't behaving. I heard there was an episode that was funny that I know Tanya will be sorry she wasn't around for, to capture on film. While Kurt was removing something from the stage he tripped over a cord and stumbled, while the spotlight was on him. Being somewhat of a silent ham he then finished the trip with a little jig to the joy of the audience. I also heard there was someone up in the sound box that was taping the whole show. I want that tape! I have got to see the jig. I need to know if I am going to have to walk around in public with a paper bag over my head!!!!

Boise State University . . .

All I can say is that this has been a l -o-n-g week! After Hailey's snowboarding/skiing adventure she ended up quite ill! She reached fevers of 102.+ and I believe ended up with laryngitis. I have been home with her through all this so I don't have much to share (and she refused to let me take pictures so I could blog on it- go figure!) but I thought it would be fun to share something Hayden got to go do with his Dad.
If there is anything that attracts a young boys' attention, it is usually football and with Hayden, that is definitely the case!!! If Kurt happens to be flipping through t.v. channels and even a hint of football is seen Hayden is begging to watch it. He loves the NFL but has a special place in his heart for the Boise State Broncos! I have to admit, I find the games exciting too. I think it is because they are really quite excellent and also that they always seem to be considered the underdogs even when they are undefeated. It is like, no place wants to recognize them for the force they really are - so, it makes it intense.

Hayden had the wonderful opportunity to go help out his Dad set up sound equipment for a party that was being held in the new Skybox they built at the BSU stadium! What a perfect day for a boy. Time with Dad at work AND football stuff! Could it get any better than this?

According to Tanya (co-owner of the business Kurt works for) Hayden had used her camera to take this shot from the Skybox! I really think that turf is very pretty! (Thanks for letting him use your camera Tanya!)

Here is Hayden standing with Zack! Zack is Rob and Tanya's (the owners of the business Kurt works for, Committed Events) sixteen year old son. Hayden and Zack get along fantastically. Zack is a great kid! What a great view of the city! But, I can't help thinking that there should be some kind of guard rail along the bottom half of that glass just in case a kid might trip and fall into the window shattering the glass and falling out??? Doesn't that sound logical to you? Where's OSHA when you need them?

Here is another picture from the Skybox of the Boise foothills! I have never been in the skybox but from the look of these pictures, the view looks quite beautiful!



Here is one last shot of the beautiful blue turf and Bronco emblem! The season is over for this year but I am sure next year will bring much more excitement and more destruction to the knees of all of Hayden's jeans from playing football at lunch at school!

GO BRONCOS!