Veruca Salt

With some changes in policies at the private school, Charlotte is now participating in drama at the public high school. This fall, they performed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Charlotte played Veruca Salt and enjoyed being a character with lots of personality.

Northwest Festival: year 2

Charlotte was selected to participate in the Northwest Festival for choir again this year. But since she is participating in the choir at the public high school now, she was able to go with them instead of just with me. She had a great time and is actually starting to enjoy choir.

She also participated in the Northern Plains Music Festival, but I did not get any pictures.

Dido and Aeneas

Charlotte and Jill participated in the opera Dido and Aeneas. Charlotte was the Spirit and in the chorus, and Jill was in the chorus. The show was performed in a small, theater-in-the-round style. It went really well, and Charlotte sang her solo beautifully. She really likes opera now.

Alice in Wonderland

Charlotte was Tall Alice in Alice in Wonderland this summer. Although Charlotte believes Alice is a  boring character, she still enjoyed playing her in the show. We also enjoyed having the two actors/directors of the show stay with us for the week.

Westley's Mission

Westley began his mission in July. We had many family members come to support him as he went to the temple and gave his farewell talk. (Sadly, I did not get a picture with everyone.) 

Raise Your Voice

Instead of doing a full show for summer camp this year, we did a musical review. It ended up being a much more intensive camp since all the kids had to learn so many songs and dances. Charlotte played Eve from Children of Eden and sang the song "Spark of Creation." She was also in a bunch of other songs with a few special dance parts and solos. Overall, it was a great camp.

Westley Graduation

Westley had a graduation party as part of his high school graduation. He also graduated from seminary.

Last HS Track Season

Westley recently completed his final year of track. He ran well and was able to complete at the region meet.

State Speech

Charlotte's speech team won State! She was so excited! Individually, she placed 2nd in EPR (Extemperaneous Programmed Reading).

Leadership Dickinson

Westley completed Leadership Dickinson, a local program for seniors in high school. He was the first homeschool student to participate.

Valley City Math Comp

Westley's math club attended the VCSU Math Competition again this year. The team placed 2nd, and Westley won 1st in the individual competition!

Little Women

Charlotte played Meg in Little Women! It was a play instead of a musical, so there were a ton of lines to memorize! She did a very good job and enjoyed playing a different kind of character than she had played before.

State Chess

Westley started playing chess competitively when we moved to ND. Last year, he worked really hard to earn third place at the state scholastic meet. This year, he wanted to win, and he did! State Scholastic Champion!

Skiing Trip

The kids went with our church youth group to South Dakota to go skiing! They had a great time.

UND Honor Choir

In October, Charlotte auditioned for the University of North Dakota Honor Choir Festival. The audition included singing a song and sight reading. It is one of the hardest festivals to get into here. She was very excited to make it into the Treble choir. So in the dead of winter, we drove to the other end of the state for the festival. She had a great time and really enjoyed working with the UND faculty.