In Like a Lion.....

March

Patti attended the Tribal Massive bellydance event at the Boulder Station. She was inspired to try new styles of her favorite form of dance and even discovered some new performers to check out. This led right into her troupe's show at the Boulder City Renaissance Festival. It ended up being much colder than expected for that evening's performance, but even with frozen toes, the Desert Stars went on. By the middle of March, Whitney Ranch Rec Center hosted a spring recital in which Patti and her troupe danced.

Rob's sister Kim came to visit for a few days early in the month. She stayed with Rob's mom, Kay. They were able to catch up on things and spend lots of quality time together. The whole family enjoyed Kim's visit and looks forward to her return.

Mimi, the family beagle, celebrated her 5th birthday this month. While she is still feisty, she has matured somewhat. One thing owning Mimi has taught the Weidenfelds: Beagles are just plain CRAZY!

March was quite a month for Hannah. For starters, her symphonic band performed in a big city-wide band festival. She was elated when they received "superior" ratings. To add to her momentum, she was chosen as a Student of the Month by her math teacher. Once again, Rob & Patti went to the celebration breakfast to watch Hannah receive her award. Towards the end of the month, Hannah joined her 7th grade class for a special trip to Knott's Berry Farm.

Eva made a big decision this month to switch guitar teachers. She had been with Miss Pam since last June, going to weekly half-hour lessons. While she and Pam had a great relationship, Eva felt she was ready to be challenged and to learn new techniques. She had also officially reached her one year anniversay since she started taking lessons. Rob searched high and low before settling on a teacher from Australia. Eva and Adam hit it off right away and after only two weeks, she switched to weekly hour-long lessons.


April

Bellydance season was now here and Patti had several performances this month. Her troupe is also in the process of developing their website (thanks, Rob!) and preparing for their big trip to CA in June for the Cairo Carnival.

Over Spring Break, the Weidenfelds took advantage of the time off and completed some projects around the house. It was a good feeling to get things done and checked off of their "to do" lists. They also spent lots of time with family and friends. They had a crazy night out with Kim & Jay, spent fun times with Sean, Becky, and family, went dancing, watched movies with the girls, and introduced as many people as possible to their new favorite movie, Repo! The Genetic Opera. Before the break was over, Sasha, the family's chow mix, turned 10.

A select group of beginning band students were invited to perform for the incoming 6th graders night at Bob Miller Middle School. Eva was among that group. It was hard for everyone to believe that it had already been a year since they were last there, watching Hannah play as Eva sat in the stands.

The Weidenfelds discovered a posible new Earth Day tradition as they were suckered in to seeing Disney's new environmental animal movie, Earth. The movie was amazing on the big screen and definitely will be one that they add to their dvd collection. But while trailers played, they saw that for Earth Day 2010, Disney will release another environmental animal movie, Ocean. Looks like you can count them in for that one, too. Oh well, at least some trees were planted for each ticket they bought......right?

Winter with the Weidenfelds

December 2008

As the month began, the family celebrated Murphy's 15th birthday. This was something no one was sure they would see. Murphy is a bichon frise and the eldest of the Weidenfeld's dogs. He has had some rough times in recent years and currently has cancer, arthritis, and glaucoma. But his big day was definitely a special event that the whole family rejoiced in.

The Christmas season brought a record-breaking snowfall to the entire Las Vegas and Henderson area. There was so much snow on the ground, that the Clark County School District actually shut down for one day. The last time that happened was in the 1970s. School concerts were postponed and the whole city felt like a ghost town as people stayed close to home to enjoy the winter wonderland. The girls made snowmen and had the traditional snowball fight, while Rob & Patti cozied up by the roaring fire. It didn't last long, but it was quite an unforgettable night!

New Year's Eve, the Weidenfelds once again held their "Up All Night" party. The Joneses and Allens helped to ring in 2009. Patti's cousin JM and Uncle Phil even stopped by for a spell. The usual karaoke and Rock Band festivities took place in addition to some other games, while champagne and sparkling cider were chilled for the big countdown.

The next morning, everyone who had spent the night gathered in the living room in their pj's and watched random TV shows from "Let's Make a Deal" to "Best Year Ever" to "The Video Game Awards." As no one was in a hurry to get home, a leisurely breakfast melted into a very late lunch. Gradually, their friends began to pack up their belongings, but not before Rob said, "This feels like a commune!"


January 2009

Just as everyone was beginning to get used to sleeping in, school was back in session. January started off with Eva receiving an award from her computer sciences teacher. She and her parents were invited to join the other Students of the Month for a breakfast celebration one morning before school.

Patti also officially began her master's program this month. She will have a total of 12 classes between now and Dec. 2010. It is an on-line program through Touro University. Each class is approximately 5 to 6 weeks in length, with 1 to 2 weeks off in between. She was excited to finally begin, but also slightly anxious about the committment required. You can do it, Patti!

Murphy faced a slight setback in the middle of January. He had to endure another surgery to remove a tumor. Thankfully, he recovered quickly and to everyone's surprise, was running circles around the downstairs within a few days (and once all of the drugs had worn off!).

The 31st saw the long-awaited and much anticipated return of Movie Nights at the Weidenfelds. A friend of Rob's had made a documentary about his quest for enlightment and the spiritual journey it took him on. Several months before, Rob and Patti had been invited to a private screening of the film's first cut. As it was edited, more feedback was needed for the film maker. So with a room full of friends in tow, Metaphysia was viewed followed by a lively discussion. Hopefully, it should soon be coming to a theater near you.


February 2009

The Joneses hosted this year's Superbowl party. Seeing as how everyone was rooting for the Steelers, Rob decided to go with the obvious underdog and cheered the Cardinals on to an "almost" victory. There were many close calls, but in the end, the commercials were definitely the winner. The girls seemed less interested in Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl than in past years, (a sure sign that they aren't little anymore), but did go crazy for Kathryn's new pet guinea pig, Lola. While the Springsteen half-time show didn't do much for the Weidenfelds, Sean certainly enjoyed the performance. Yes Sean, you were born in the USA.

After all of the excitement with the Golden Globes and SAG Awards, this year's Oscar race was not to be missed. Once more, the Weidenfelds rolled out their red carpet and Hollywood bling for the big show. Ballots were cast and dollars were collected, but in the end, Patti once again walked away as the clear-cut winner. (Anyone else think this is fishy?)

Patti also saw the end of her very first class before the month was out. When asked how she thought it went, she said, "That wasn't so bad...only 11 more to go." Now that's positivity!