Primary

Jane & Grey are ready to go to church. Jane is now in CTR. Grey has been in nursery--where he will be for the next two years! I love my photoshopping with these pictures--do their eyes look creepy or what? This is what we get when I put off posting something for two months and decide to post it anyway. But I digress.

Jane was a sunbeam in Primary last year. She loved it. She loved her teacher, her class, going to "big class" (sharing time), and her little class. She had the most amazing teacher, Sister Opstead. Sister Opstad has taught sunbeams for something like fifteen years--she taught my Sunday School class when they were Sunbeams (they are now juniors and seniors in high school). She loves it, and her enthusiasm is so great for the kids. Jane came home every week with detailed handouts and games and coloring pages. She sleeps with her sunny teddy bear. She loves primary.
We were so thrilled to finally see Jane up there with the kids this past year, singing her heart out. Her debut was Easter, then Mother's Day and Father's Day. Finally, in November, the Primary Program rolled around.
We anticipated the program for weeks, and then anticipated it more when Jane was asked to do a solo. We weren't sure if she would want to, but when they asked her she said, "Can I do it right now?" so we went along with it. We asked her if she was scared to sing in front of people. She said, "I get a little nervous, but I do it anyway and it's fine."

Jane the morning of her first primary program.

Jane's class and solo were in the first ten minutes of the program, so we knew we wouldn't have to wait long. Jane was antsy sitting with us for the sacrament. I leaned over to her and said, "It's almost time to go up!"
"Are all these people going to stay and listen to me sing?" She asked.
I nodded. She clenched her fists in excitement and let out a quiet, gleeful squeal. Good sign number three.
Her moment came. Her classmates said their lines, adorably (there are six girls in sunbeams this year, and no boys), then Jane got up. And she started to sing. "I am a child of God...." the pianist quickly started playing. The primary presidency member at the stand pulled Jane down and reminded her to say her line. At this point, I lost it. Brad and I were so nervous. But the interruption didn't even faze her. She said her line, which she'd memorized, the piano playing softly as she spoke. She took a breath after talking and immediately started singing--a little early, but they smoothed it out quickly. She sang clearly, with power, and on key. Grey was standing next to me on the bench and kept looking over to say, "Janie, song! Janie song!" He was proud too.
Then she sat down and played with her hair clips and didn't do much the rest of the program. But we are still impressed that when she started singing without the piano, she started on the right note.
We are so proud of Jane and so glad it went well--the whole program was really wonderful. We loved seeing the families participate and listening to talks about families. Primary is the best.