~ FAMILY BIO ~
MIKE is a Sr. Engineer at an aircraft company in Wichita. He plays the cello, usually during the Christmas holiday, & even played a fiddle tune with Joshua in '08 at Chitwood's Music Barn. As of 2006, he now plays our gospel songs on the upright bass. There's a lot of work behind-the-scenes he does such as helping with the tuning, hauling, arranging of instruments, taking care of children, etc. Too numerous to list everything!
RONNETTA plays the clarinet but took on the task of learning to play the guitar about 3 yrs ago to help bring the family's music together. The upright bass became another instrument to learn & really enjoys that but for now the guitar is her main one to play. She loves God, her family and music!
BRANDON is our violin guy & in Suzuki book 9 (they go to 10). He also plays clarinet, bass & contrabass clarinet, mandolin, viola, cello & upright bass. He's been a member of the Wichita Youth Symphony for 5 yrs & loves it! '07 he won a $3,350 music grant which paid for a new violin, a Coda bow, plus a week at Ottawa Suzuki Camp/KS! '08 he won a $300 music grant from OK Intnl Bluegrass Festival (OIBF)!
Brandon took 1st place in 2 contests for "most practice time"; 2nd place duet with Travis in the school talent show; 'AP' (highest rating possible!) Pioneer League (PL) Contest 2006 (violin), '1' regional '07 & '08, '2' state '08; selected to play in the KMEA Honor Orchestra '07, '08, '09, '10 as well as State KMEA. He also enjoys drawing architectural home designs in his spare time & even won 1st PLACE in the KS State Fair! Much more...
(Photo of our windmill taken by
Brandon ~ 2006)
(Farmers
Market '07)
TRAVIS decided to switch to the banjo from the violin & became very fast! He still plays the violin & does great on Orange Blossom Special! He also plays the trumpet. The upright bass was added in '08. In '06 he won a $3,000 music grant which paid for a new Deering banjo & a week in CO with Pete Wernick. '08 he won a $300 grant in from the OK Intn'l Bluegrass Festival (OIBF).
Travis is a hard worker, straight 'A' student, 1st chair trumpet player (2 yrs in a row), won 1st place in the school talent show 5/07 AND 5/08, 2nd place in the KS State Fair 9/08 for a wooden bowl (complex design) plus a pencil drawing etched of his grandpa. A real joy in his life is working with Dad & Grandpa on John Deere tractors & driving them! Can't tell from his photo, huh?
(2007 1st chair trumpet player 2 yrs in a row)
(1/07 with
Pete Wernick;
CO Banjo Camp)
(2 favorite things combined in 1 photo!)
JOSHUA switched back to the violin after temporarily taking cello lessons at the academy. He plays "9" instruments & is so multi-talented that I'm not even going to list all of them (see photos to the right)! Clogging, juggling, & riding a unicylce are some other things he enjoys.
He won a $300 grant in '08 plus 1st place school talent show - $50! Joshua is a great kid with a big heart & wants to be a pilot some day. As fast as he is in everything, he'll be a good one!
(Joshua with his instruments!)
RACHEL started out on the violin and switched to the mountain dulcimer in '07. She enjoys sign-language, clogging, passing out our home-made bookmarks to the audience & playing the upright bass. She does a great job, too!
'09 she started playing the clarinet in band plus received $50 from a bank for having all A's! Way to go!
KRISTINA plays the violin and can clog at the same time! The audience love to watch her. She also plays the upright bass on a song or two. She now is playing the saxophone in school and is doing very well.
Kristina is a great asset to our family and is a dependable person. She'll go far in life!
ANNA chose the mandolin and found 'her' instrument. She's beginning to play the violin, has an interest in learning the banjo, and helps out with the maracas. Our family makes homemade bookmarks to pass out at each show so that's where you'll find her - carrying a basket & a smile. She's our little clogger & a treat to the audience!
Halstead, KS '08
Fine Arts & Crafts Festival
MELISSA got a new violin for her 5th birthday & started taking lessons from our teacher in September. She also started playing the washboard in '08 using a kitchen wire wisk (thimbles are too big!) & does a fabulous job! You should have seen her & little Laura as they immitated their siblings on Boil 'Em Cabbage where they played each others violin. They were quite the pair, let me tell you!
(Playing washboard in Winfield, Acoustic Kids Showcase 9/08)
(Our little princess
cowgirl!
Spavinaw, OK - '07)
IN LOVING MEMORY OF LITTLE LAURA
MAY 26, 2005 - JUNE 14, 2010
LAURA was the youngest of 8 so you can only imagine how spoiled she was.....and such a joy of our life! She LOVED her little violin & toted it around everywhere. We let her start lessons in 9/08 & she did good! She hummed almost every song she heard & was very musically oriented. She tried to clog like her siblings, played maracas (on beat), blew the little train whistle, switched hats between kids songs, carried a fishing pole & literally took over the show. In '08 she started playing the spoons & literally hiked her knee up to play them! What a hoot to watch.
The audience loved her & we wonder if they even noticed anyone else!
(Photo above: playing in Acoustic Kids - Winfield 9/08)
Laura (right) with best friend/sister Melissa
(Spavinaw Lake, OK - '07)
*having fun*
"Take time for all things; great haste makes great waste."
Benjamin Franklin
