SPHS Talent Show

We were glad that Rachel Munoa managed to get Blake to sing a duet of “Lean on Me” at San Pasqual High Schools talent show. They are in the show time choir together in an octet group and always sing great numbers together, but to go and sing to your peers....a whole different story. The multi purpose room was packed and Blake dedicated the song to his Chemistry teacher, Mr. Brosophski. It was really fun being there to hear him sing and have the courage to do it!!! Way to go Blake.

Traditional Valentine's Dinner

Every year I think...oh we don't need to have our fansy Valentine's Dinner.....but it would just crush the family. Funny how traditions become so important for a family to hold on to. Some years we have placed a heart trail from where our daddy normally comes home, so that he can fallow them home for dinner. One year we had a heart on each plate, and before dinner we wrote one thing that we love about each member of the family. Then everyone kept that heart posted in their rooms. Well...as you can see this tradition will be around for a while.

This year was special. We have had our dad home more than normal, because he is recooperating from a rotators cuff/bicep surgery. There has been love in the air....because we have all had to have extra love and compassion. He is doing really well. Some days we have to hide the car keys and him to stop doing what he is doing, but other than that we want him to gain a full recovery.

The color red just spells love. We love to get all festive and decorate the table all in red linens and candles. We splurged and had king crab legs. Once dinner is served....you know it is a good one if all of sudden it gets really quiet. Everyone is so in to dissecting their dinner. Then all you hear is "OH...look at this piece"! We all got so full and had to keep telling how yummy it was. It was good to have our grandparents with us. We would be so lonely without family near us.

Hope everyone know how much love the Farrow's have to give. We love you!!!!

Mormon Battalion Center....Old Towne San Diego

It was a beautiful Presidents Day, school off kind of day. The weather was gorgeous with slight Santa Ana's......can you believe it was almost in the 80's!!! We decided to go to Old Towne in San Diego. The Mormon Battalion Center has just recently been reopened after months of renovation. We just did not know what to expect. We were pleasantly surprised.

The tour started out with an introduction by an older woman dressed up in pioneer clothing. The lady mentioned something about Mormon's, and with no hesitation Brinley belts out...."I am a Mormon". There were about 25 other people in the group with us. It was very precious....so this is why it is going in to the blog. The rest of the day we kept on saying, "well, I'm a Mormon"! Blake was selected to be a soldier in the battalion, and we have to post those pics...as we get them downloaded.

It was a great experience learning about the blessings that came about from these 500 or so men, women and children that decided to take the prophets call to move west. We learned that they did not take the army uniforms, but instead gave the money that the uniforms were worth, and sent this back to their families. Also, those that were sick along the way, were sent to Pueblo. The folks that were able to recover from their illnesses learned how to do irrigation, which was a huge asset to Utah farms and establishing crops in the Utah desserts. Just a few fun facts that we learned.

Everyone needs to go enjoy the experience!!!

Our Celebrity.....Bailey on San Diego NBC news!

http://www.eusd4kids.org/Schools/bear_valley/NBC.ChannelBstory.mov

Our little little newscaster/anchor/producer....was once again featured on the local NBC news the other night. Funny story....is that the teacher had already selected students he wanted interviewed for the segment, and the actual news reports grabbed Bailey and asked her questions.

Bailey may see in a future in the industry. We tell he she has the looks, the brains and voice.

Check out this link to see the broadcast! You have to copy and paste the above link into your address line to see our celebrity:)

Three's a Charm!!!! Allie

It was a lot of fun putting on a baby shower for Allie Chapman a few days ago. Crystal Pearce and Jenny Speers helped pull it all together. The Chapman's are expecting baby number three, thus the theme 3's a charm!!! We are anxious for baby Elle to join the San Pasqual Ward family. There is no one more ready than Allie. We had a fun hot chocolate bar with all sorts of fun add in’s and yummy fruit and quiche. We did fun games and of course the best was gabbing away with good friends. Baby Elle will be the cutest dressed baby girl in Escondido for sure!!!

Bishop Butler turns "50"

It was pretty difficult keeping this b-day party a secret. Primary leaders were telling fibs about how and where the children would be performing....the bishop thought he was attending a ward talent show. To his surprise...family and friends were here to greet him with a big 50th party. All the auxillaries....with Sister Ottley at the head of the project...all prepared skits. The priest did an underwater ballet skit. Way funny. Blake had awesome expressions and took it pretty serious. We are wondering if he wants to join the olympic team??? Brinley and her buddies performed a cute pinata song, and Bailey and the beehives were fanning the bishop as he sat in his fansy chair and was fanned by the princesses. The mia maids performed a great dance. Brooke and few others were pertending that the bishop and his counselors were going to chaperone the next stake dance and show their dance moves. They had the bishopbrics faces attatched to theirs as they did the high kicks and modern dance moves. We were amazed and President Mc Beth. He was the mc dressed up as a clown. Everyone did a great job, and the bishop was really surprised.

Bailey in the North County Times

With Bryan Hendrick on the camera, producer Bailey Farrow, right, holds a marker as Noelle Graves, left, and Brittany Logan stand by to shoot a segment in the television studio at Bear Valley Middle School in Escondido on Monday. (Photo by Bill Wechter - Staff Photographer)

While some schools still rely on bulletin boards for campus announcements, Bear Valley Middle School students tune in each morning to Channel B on their classroom television sets to learn what clubs are seeking members, when try-outs will be held for sports teams and if the weather will be nice over the weekend.

But the show is more than just a series of announcements read out loud. Each announcement features music culled from a library of 4,000 songs and a picture selected by a team of students. Pieces sometimes are delivered by guests and regular contributors often do skits. There's also a weekly lesson in sign language.

It's all done by two classes of students who make producing, video editing and acting look easy, despite a daily deadline.

"OK, ready on the set," producer Maddy Mangione said as fellow eighth-grader Luke Nazaroff manned the camera. "Roll tape."

The students were in a small room barely large enough for the desk, camera and four stage lights Monday morning to tape the opening and closing segments of the next day's show. Teacher Dale Barney said Channel B, which stands for Bear Valley, may be the county's only daily show produced by students in middle and junior high school.

While one team filmed in a studio, students back in Barney's classroom were busy searching for photos, music and even film clips to integrate into their broadcast. Other students were busy over-dubbing vocals and using Final Cut Pro to edit their digital production in a small back room.

"These kids are very creative and very intelligent," said Barney, who took over Channel B three years ago when it was a live broadcast.

Rather than having students simply read announcements behind a desk, Barney created a delayed show that features cutaways to images, music, remote shots and special features.

He introduced the weekly "What's Your Sign" segment to teach sign language so students could learn to communicate with the nine hearing-impaired children on campus. A "shout out" segment highlights talents of specific students, including one who is a whiz with a Rubik's Cube, Barney said.

In his first year with the program, Channel B won an Innovative Video in Education award from the County Office of Education for a document students made about how their news program is created.

Students must apply for the 20 open spaces available only for seventh- and eighth-graders. Last year 70 students applied for the class.

Jonathan Hitzhusen, 14, learned to edit video when he was 10 while assisting his father, a missionary who filmed his trips abroad.

"I took classes from the Apple store and learned a lot by messing around with it," he said.

"Jon and Taylor (Uva) are scary smart," Barney said about two students who handle editing. "They'll teach us. Digital is their second language. Jon's constantly downloading different apps to the computer that we didn't even know existed."

Eighth-grader Catelyn Goodwin said she applied for the program because she always liked entertaining, but now enjoys being behind the camera more.

"I've always been bossy," she said. "I've always liked getting things done."

Catelyn said she was very nervous when she first was behind the camera, but now cannot remember how many shows she has done.

The class produces 185 shows a year, Barney said.