The past five or six moths...

We have had a pretty awesome year so far, I wish I would have been better about writing about it.

Since I last wrote, we had two new nephews join us!  One on each side of the family.

Scott finished up his schooling in May, graduation was a wonderful day!  I am so proud of him.

He got the wave when they called his name!

Just a few days after graduation, Scott started an internship at an awesome ad agency.  He has loved it and has done really well!

Over Memorial Day weekend, Scott and I got to make the beautiful drive to the Oregon coast!  It was an impromptu trip (to go pick something up for his dad), and we were so excited to get to go!  It was over Scott's birthday weekend, what a fun way to spend a birthday! We LOVE road trips. 

 This quaint little restaurant in Hood River Oregon had the best fish tacos!

I have always wanted to see "that beach with the big rock"...this was a dream come true! 

In June, my siblings Luke, Ash and I played in a concert together, we had a great time. It is always a privilege to perform together! My dad even joined us for a song on the guitar! 

In June I got to go to California with my parents, sister, and little brother.  We went to Disneyland and had a blast! 

By the look of it, I was the MOST terrified person on the Tower of Terror...

Cars Land had just opened and we loved it!

After getting home from Disneyland, I started to get sad because I knew that being back home meant that my little brother would be leaving on his mission in a few weeks. 

He is very close to Scott and I- he was only about ten years old when I brought Scott home for the first time.  He's pretty much grown up hanging out with the two of us. We see him a lot, so I was pretty darn sad about the prospect of him leaving. 

It was very tough, but the day came and we all said goodbye to him.  I have written him more times than I'll admit so far, and every time I hear any sort of news from him it makes my day!  He is going to Montreal, where he'll speak French. 

 It's been a busy couple of months, and we don't plan to slow down any time soon!  I'm so happy to have Scott by my side during the happy times, sad times, and everything in between.  So blessed.

All four

It was that time of year again, my brother, sister, and I were excited to be invited back to perform at the Free Sunday Concert Series.  Scott took some awesome pics that I'm so excited to have, like the above one of my mom and dad watching us play.

The reason for the blog title (all four), is because my older brother joined us for the first time!  He made an awesome arrangement of a Coldplay song and we all got to perform together.

It was a very memorable night, thanks for the pictures (and support) Scott!

Recently:

We're still here, let's just say the first two weeks of December could be summed up in one word...FINALS.  Gross!  I'm glad to have some quality time with Scott now that doesn't include words like "quantitative research" and "AP Style".

My little brother snapped some backyard shots of us all geared up for winter (for Christmas cards). I like this one (and we like our X mugs from Pier 1).

Other non-homework happenings:
We have been updating a journal we keep- it was a Christmas gift from Scott last year:

We write down quick one-liners about what went on during the month.  It is fun to go back and remember funny inside jokes and things.  We fell behind so we have been working to get it up to date.

My view for the last five nights:

My fingers are tender but it has been good.


We have also been able to see a lot of family recently- can't beat that.  Merry Christmas to all of you! Hope you have a wonderful week!

Fun Fall

We sure have been having fun around here!

Scott went hunting with his dad and brothers.  They got 80 birds!  Jeff, the 2nd from the right, is leaving on a mission in a few weeks so they wanted to get in one more trip together.

We are expecting our first nephew soon, we're all excited! Last week, we had a 'man shower' for the little guy. After eight nieces, we had fun getting to shop for a boy! Scott's mom made this adorable blanket for him.

Scott's sister Lisa made these cupcakes, they were awesome! And those are bread bowls (for soup) in the background...one of my favorite things to eat in the fall.

Speaking of food, we were excited that an In N' Out opened just a few minutes from us.  We paid them a visit.

I had a fun symphony concert this weekend, we all dressed up and played Halloween music.  Can you tell who I was trying to be?

My brother Luke looked awesome.  The symphony members had candy for kids after the performance, and some little girls were too scared to go near him.  My parents took us all out to dinner after, and it was funny to walk in there dressed up!  Luke hoped they wouldn't think he was trying to rob them or something. 

Good times.  Oh, and if you would like to see what Luke looks like sans joker makeup...look here at his senior pics!  The baby of our family is 18??? I can't believe it.

FYI...this post says it is by Scott, but it's just me, Heather.  I guess I was logged on under our other email address.

4th of July clip

My sister and brother and I were excited to be part of a 4th of July concert last week.  Well, excited until we peeked at the audience before going out and saw how many people were there!  The little amphitheater was packed, there were at least 1,400 people (which is 2,800 eyes watching).  I got really nervous, but we made it through it!  It was really neat to look out at the crowd and see so many people wearing red, white, and blue!

A few people asked if we taped the performance.  Here is a clip from it!  We mixed two fiddle songs (Orange Blossom Special and Devil Went down to Georgia) into one.  We had fun coming up with three part harmonies for parts of it. Luke's version of Devil was created 'in his head'...so Ash and I learned it by ear (no music) which was pretty difficult to do in a week.  That is probably what made me so nervous, knowing that I didn't feel prepared enough.  But we were pretty happy with the outcome, we always have such a good time playing together.

Free Music in the Park

It's busy summertime now and I just might have to post a few times a week to keep up!

I want to give a quick plug for this fun group: the Davis County Symphony.

The group was "born" in January of this year, and I joined right when it started.  It has been so fun to be part of something that is just starting out; I have a soft spot for non-profit organizations (what with my job and all...).  We have a lot of fun at rehearsals each week, everyone is there because they like to play- there is no competition between the members.  Those of you who have played in groups before know that's a rare find!

We are playing a pops concert this Sunday as part of my work's Free Sunday Night Concert Series.  I am lucky enough to be part of three of those this summer! I feel blessed to be able to mix my job with my hobby.

Anyways, the Davis County Symphony is playing this Sunday at 7pm at the Ed Kenley Amphitheater (right across from Layton High School.  A pops concert basically means we won't be playing any old classical music.  It's all movie themes and patriotic stuff.

Come by if you are wanting a fun thing to do on a (hopefully) nice warm evening :)

I'll be tired

Lot's of surprises this weekend- we got to go to Park City for a night at the beautiful Marriot right on Main street. Our Aunt Elaine and Uncle Mont have a time share there and were staying with family for a few days, but left before their week was up. They let us go use the rest of their stay (thanks!). The night we went the snow was falling quietly- it looked like cotton balls. It was really stunning.

We had lots of fun seeing Scott's sister Kari and two of her girls. We love having visitors, and we were excited to have them stay in our newly decorated guest bedroom! (Scott's interior design class is paying off.)

Saturday Scott had planned a surprise date for us. We went to Tepanyaki and then to see the Utah Symphony! I was in heaven! The new Conductor was great- so entertaining to watch.

Speaking of music...it is that time again, remember this post last year? I am about to play more violin in a week than I do the whole year (hence the title of this post...I'll be tired). I'm excited though! I love the Nutcracker. Some of the music is challenging (got to love Tchaikovsky) so it keeps me sharp. I've played the ballet enough now that I have realized that I definitely have two favorites (out of the 90 minutes worth of songs). Here is a clip of one. It gives me chills!

The Grand Pas De Deux with the sugar plum fairy and her cavalier. BTW I looked on youtube a long time to find a cavalier with pants on (instead of tights). The last 2 1/2 minutes of this song make my heart sing!

Violins, Wedding, and Friends

So this is one of the new microphones for our violins...it's a band that somehow picks up the sound. I have no clue how it works but it is incredible! (Nice photography Scott!)

On Thursday, the Presiding Bishopric of our church had a luncheon on the roof of the conference center. There were people there from all over the country that had come for training. Bishop Burton wanted it to be western themed, so they needed fiddlers to entertain! Our name came up, and we were asked to play during the lunch.

It was a big honor for us, and we had so much fun! Everyone was so nice and the venue was beautiful.

Scott was our roadie! It is always neat to have him at performances, it is a great feeling to look over at him and see him smiling.



This is us talking to Bishop Burton. I have to admit I paid extra close attention to his talk in General Conference a few weeks ago...I knew I would be meeting him soon and wanted to be ready in case he gave me a pop quiz or something! Ha ha.



On Thursday night, we went to Scott's hometown for a wedding! We are so happy for Carly and Kyle, they are two great people. It was so so fun to spend time with friends all weekend! We also got to go to lunch with Grandpa and Grandma Hendrix.

This picture must be on a hill or something. There is no way I am THAT much shorter than everyone right?


This is Jason and Terrin, Gracie, Sean, and cute baby Gavin. And us. We wish we got to see everyone more often, because we have so much fun when we're together!

Picture-less post

Winter is our slow season at work, so we are closing the office on Fridays to save money. That means I have a three day weekend every week!!!! It has been going on for about three weeks now and I am loving it!

I thought it might be fun to attempt a fun craft project on these days off (I am amazed at the cute things you all make!) but I usually just end up cleaning or something. Our house and my car have been much neater this past month. It's a good feeling.

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We are looking forward to several things this week, so I'll probably have some more interesting things to post about next week. On Thursday my sibs Ashley, Luke, and I are the entertainment for a gathering in Salt Lake. We are very excited about it. My dad even went out and got us our Christmas present early- a SWEET sound system so we can all amp our violins. It's amazing!!! THANKS DAD!

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On Friday Scott and I are going to Reno/Fallon Nevada for a close friend's wedding! Love those! It will be great to see lots of friends and family. We were hoping to fly but unfortunately it would cost $600 for the two of us to fly to Reno!!! That is so crazy, it's usually a third that much. Darn.

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So...to wrap this up if anyone has any simple craft ideas, let me know!

OR...if you have a sweet name for Ashley, Luke and I's 'band' put it out there! Right now we are called Cutler Family Fiddlers, but we do more than just fiddling so we want to change that.

Here is the video

Luke Fiddling

It's here! We figured it out.

what a handsome 'devil'

My oh-so-talented brother Luke competed in a contest put on by my work last Friday. We had 80 people audition for 'Show Layton your Talent'. A group of judges chose 16 of them to perform at our season opener. The concert was a blast, there were so many talented groups!

Luke was of course the highlight for me- he can fiddle faster than anyone I know. He played "The Devil Went Down to Georgia".

a few happenings

Last weekend we babysat two of our nieces for a couple days, a 3 year old and a 14 month old. They were VERY well behaved, but it was still pretty exhausting. We tried taking them to church with us and I ended up jumping ship about an hour in. After this experience I am so impressed at how clean their house is, and how cute my sister in law Bri always looks. The house was a disaster after us being there one evening, and I could never find time to even comb my hair.
The picture is in honor of Livi, who is the biggest princess fan I've ever met. Aurora is my favorite.

Luke and I got to perform together this week at a Sons of the Utah Pioneers banquet. It is always fun to play with my brother- he becomes an instant favorite everywhere he goes. We mostly did fiddling mixed with some songs from the early 1900's. It was an older crowd :) Scott turned pages for us and did a terrific job. We got a nice dinner and met some great people!

Tonight we're taking Luke (wow we've seen each other a lot this week) to the Draper Temple open house. I'm sure it will be beautiful.

And finally, I love our credit union since you can personalize your debit card. Don't worry these aren't the real thing. No shopping sprees on us!

A girly week

Well I made it through a marathon week of nutcracker. This is my 4th year playing for it. I fall in love with ballet all over again every year. The music is so beautiful, I love getting to play it.

It was extra fun this year too because my brother Luke was in the orchestra with me! At 16, I think he is one of the youngest to ever play with them- he did great and was excited to actually get PAID for playing :)

I was so tired by the end of the run. My days consisted of SITTING at work for 8 hours, SITTING in the car to drive a 1/2 hour, SITTING while playing for 2 hours, and SITTING in the car again to drive home. How can sitting be so exhausting???

Scott came to see the show on Friday night, what a good supporter! Ballet isn't his favorite thing on earth. He doesn't understand why the men dance in tights. But he didn't fall asleep, he claims he watched the whole show.

So after a lovely ballet on Friday, he came with me to see Twilight in between my performances on Saturday! Ha ha, poor guy didn't have a choice. I bought him the movie ticket while he was hunting in South Dakota. I'm good :) We saw it with Marilyn and Jeremy, and yes...even Luke came too. He didn't have much choice either.

We saw it at the Junction in Ogden- can you say RESERVED SEATING?! That made it so nice. We didn't have to go early at all. The boys were ok with the movie. They thought the cars were cool and liked the baseball scene.

Before you think I'm completely mean...let me mention that I DID watch the 2 hour premiere of 24 on Sunday with Scott. Child soldiers in Africa- it was pretty intense.

RECAP

Hi there,
Looks like I'm about as consistent at blogging as I am writing in my journal. I'll work on frequenting both more... here's the top five highlights of the last six weeks for me:

10 Cutler Family Fiddlers debut concert- Doing the community concert was so so fun. About 500 people showed up (including our whole dentist office!). It was one of the coolest things I've ever done. It was a lot of work but so worth it! Such a great opportunity!

9 First Solo Plane Ride- I had a blast flying to Reno for a weekend with the Fallon crew. I flew standby which was crazy. I fell in love with lake Tahoe, ate at in 'n out, went to an antique car show, drove on the loneliest highway in America, and had a run in with a mongoose...It was a great time with Scott!

8 My Best Friend is Pregnant- I am so excited for Jenna to have a baby. Don't tell Greg, but I'm crossing my fingers for a little girl! I'm getting ready to become auntie heather. I almost ran the car off the freeway when she told me..it was quite a surprise!

7 Josh Groban: part two - I attended my second Josh Groban concert of the year. It was awesome! This guy is the absolute best singer and performer. My dream is to be the barefoot violinist to go on tour with him. I don't think I'll ever get sick of listening to him.

6 Weber State: part four- School started and I'm quickly getting back into the swing of things. For the first symphony concert I get to be the assistant concertmaster...I've always wanted this opportunity! My favorite class of the semester??? Accounting. I was dreading having to take the class, but I LOVE it.

5 Scott & Heather- September 1st marks four years since Scott and I met. We sat together on the bus that day and went on our first date two days later. He's the best- he makes me laugh everyday and I still get butterflies in my stomach when I see him.