Star Wars turns 30!

I'm sure you all heard the hype this weekend? It's been 30 years since Star Wars Episode 4 hit the big screen. Boy, that's so difficult to find true but I know it is. Aahhh, the memories of sitting in line with my Mom and Brother and friends (Rob was there too as we were dating when episode 5 & 6 came out) eating pizza and playing Uno. I also remember when Star Wars returned to the theater for the 20th anniversary and I took my kids so they could see it in the theater and just not on video at home. You have to EXPERIENCE Star Wars in the theater. Here's a bit of Anderson Family trivia - David's 1st movie in the theater was Star Wars Episode 4. He was 6 weeks old and literally slept through the entire movie!

So here is a Disneyland experience that ties into Star Wars. There is a new show called Jedi Training Academy. About 20 kids are picked from the audience and are trained by 2 Jedi Master's with some pretty cool moves. (We watched the movie this weekend and they really do use this sequence of moves they taught the kids).

On our first time watching the show, David was picked! And on a day we had the video camera. (Robert now wants to work at Disneyland ONLY if he can work on this show). The pace is fast and lots of fun. The final test?

You have to fight Darth Vader or Darth Maul.

David had to fight Darth Maul. He was pretty intense and really fought the older boys.

I just love David's "Bring it on" look. An "eye to eye moment" as David put it.

BTW - Girl Jedi's ROCK!! "Very strong and powerful in the force"!

This was one of the highlights of David's trip. In a matter of 30 minutes David went from "Youngling" to "Padawn David".

Are you a Pirates fan?

Well, GO see the new movie! Tabitha went to the midnight showing with a group of friends. Rob & I are too old for that anymore. Actually I never even went to midnight shows (my mom wouldn't let me). We went last night and saw it. If you liked the first 2 Pirate movies, this is a must see. We really enjoyed it ~ especially the parts that are taken from the ride. Rob & I felt like we were the only people in the entire theater that "got it". But things are a bit different when you go see you're movies in Canada and are so far removed from Disneyland, eh? This movie is NOT for little kids. It is rated PG-13 for a reason. David will not see this for a few years.

While we were at Disneyland, they were preparing for the world premiere party to happen 3 days after we left. The set up was incredible, along with the cost of the ticket ~ $1,500 a person! To Disneyland's defense it was a fundraiser for Make a Wish Foundation but that's just a bit steep for my pocketbook even if all the stars from the movie were going to be in attendance. Tabitha put the cost of the ticket into perspective. She said "That would pay for 1 quarter of classes at Western!" Don't cha just love reality checks?!

PS - Picture taken at Disneyland. Unfortunately NOT the real Johnny Depp.

A Victory for LMS Music

Let me give you some background. Back in February we learned that the 7th & 8th grade band schedule was being proposed to be changed. And not a good change either. The change? Move band to M/W & every other Friday! Hello?!?!?! How on earth can we have a quality band under those circumstances? As music boosters we wanted to meet with the MS principal. She blew us off! So since she didn't think it was necessary to talk with us we went to the school board to bring up our concerns. Us showing up at the meeting was the first that they even heard about this change. The school superintendant then arranged 2 meetings where we could "dialog" (I hate that term!) with the MS Principal. They wanted to find a common ground that the music boosters could support. I didn't realize our organization was having such an impact with administration. To make an extremely long story short, the final desicion was made last night. It was a close one, but the school board voted to keep 7th & 8th grade band as is ~ everyday & all year round! Wooohoo! Happy dance time!

Take note Lynden voters: There were 2 school board members that voted for every other day band. Those members were ~ Steve Hortegas & Larry Korthuis. Those that voted to keep band the same were Teresa Camfield & Todd Lingbloom. John Kreig the board President was not at the meeting but we were assured that he supported the music program everyday. So as you can tell there was a tie. According to the superintendant, since this was the case, the school schedule will not be changed & the motion was carried.

Yeeesssss! It was a narrow vote & victory. But a victory nonetheless. It's at least saved LMS band for 1 more year on the everyday schedule. We know this battle will raise it's ugly head again. But for now ~ we're happy!

A Newbie Blogger

Okay, here we go! I've been thinking about starting a blog and thanks for Jenni S. giving me that extra incentive. Be patient with me as I learn how to do all this and post pictures. I look forward to keeping in contact with everyone more often through this blog.