Well HELLOOOOOOOOOOO there!

Well, hey everybody!  This has been a good week.  I (Kurt) was extremely busy, I played a concert for the Jazz Combos on campus on Tuesday, then accompanied the Jazz portion of a recital on wednesday, as well as playing a choral festival for the high school I accompany that morning, then Thursday had rehearsals in the morning and a concert in the evening with the Katella High School choirs.  For little to no preparation, those kids did marvelously!  And Candy turned pages for me at the concert.  She's such a good sport.  Candy and I had our third ward choir rehearsal today, as well as a hymnbook choir for sacrament meeting.  We sang "All Creatures of Our God and King," and we and the choir received MANY compliments from the congregation.  I always feel so unprepared going into rehearsals, but today a sister told us how well she thought we were doing, and it made me feel much much better.

BABY NEWS:

don't worry, nothing too exciting, just that Candy is more than ready for the baby to come out!  At her appointment on Friday the midwife informed Candy that all looked good and that everything that has happened up to now is lining up perfectly to give birth.  He's head down and ready to go!  We just want it to happen soon, so everybody pray that this is the week!  We appreciate all of your prayers on our behalf.

Speaking of baby, and our ward:  our ward ROCKS!!!!!  We have great attendance at choir, the talks are always great, the sunday school classes are VERY interesting, and the ward members have been such a help to Candy and I already.  We feel obscenely blessed.

We also had Candy's cousin Kimmie and her family down for the weekend at Disneyland, and we had three of their girls (they have 6 kids) with us for two nights.  Candy made them Mickey Mouse pumpkin pancakes and such.  We were so glad to have them, and to be able to help the Jacksons out with lodging.  We also went with them to Disneyland for a few hours on Saturday!  Got them free parking and got to witness a miracle in action: keeping track of 6 kids 10 and under at a very busy Disneyland after two days of already partying at Disneyland.  We had a lot of fun!  Here is a pic of that:

We had this taken with Candy's cellphone, so we're sorry that it's not bigger.

Candy also entered a contest for Better Homes and Gardens where she had to make something "cute" for a Halloween treat.  She settled on a "Gingerbread" spook-house.  It turned out pretty well, so here are a couple pictures of that, along with Candy and her belly (here you go Rachel and Kohleen ;)  )

Well... we hope all goes well for everyone!  We love you and appreciate your prayers.

Love, 

Kurt and Candy Reeder

Howdy, folks!!!!  Who's Your Fav'rite Po-ssum??   *LESTER!!*

Anyhow... I just want you all to know that I love us!  Candy is awesome, and the way she puts up with the discomfort of the last few weeks of pregnancy is LIKE A CHAMP!!  She's doing well, but can NOT wait to get this baby out of her belly!  The due date (Halloween) is fast approaching and she's doing the weekly visits to the doctors now.  All looks well, and the baby has apparently received the command to "move to position."  (Captain Cutie, reporting for duty, says a onesie he'll wear)  But, all in all... WE'RE STOKED!

So, our lives... well, we have a calling in our ward: we are (once again) co-Ward Choir directors.  YAAAAAYYYYY!!!!  We are suuuuper excited about that.  Especially 'cuz we get to do the Christmas program!  I've worked on arranging a song written by one of the brothers in the ward.  It's a good tune with good lyrics about the Savior, and the melody is catchy, so I've put it into an arrangement with four part harmonies, and a key change and everything.  Thus far he really likes it, and I'm being really careful not to tread on his "artistic ground," per sé.

One thing I failed to mention in one of our recent posts, was that Candy's sister Holly came and stayed with us for the general conference weekend.  We had loads of fun!  We watched the fireworks at Downtown Disney, we watched "A Goofy Movie," and hung out.  Oh, and Candy made some good food.  We are really glad that Holly could hang with us, and it is a blessing for Candy to have her a close by as she is.  We LOVE her!

About Kurt: I now have two jobs!  It's not much money, but not too many hours either.  I work as the choir accompanist at Katella High School in Anaheim (about a 10 minute drive), and I have a weekly gig at a restaurant in downtown Santa Ana on Wednesday evenings.  It's a cool joint called "Chapter One: The Modern Local."  It's got good eats (kinda pricey, but a tab is included in my pay so it's free when I work), like a skirt steak chimmichuri with yucca fries and mashed potatoes.  Suuuper yummy!!!  I also had my first concert on Thursday with the Fullerton Jazz Orchestra (the big band on campus).  And posted below are some videos from the concert.  (Candy asks that you please excuse her unsteady hand, she did have to sneak the vids since they asked that no filming happen in the concert hall).  I'm glad we got the videos, and Candy DESERVES to have videos of her husband playing music.

This is me on vibes during the Steely Dan tune "Aja."

This video is of me playing piano (including the melody on the second time) on the Steely Dan tune "Do It Again."  Cool arrangement done by our director, grammy-winning arranger Bill Cunliffe.

I had a video of "'Round Midnight" with the full tune that's beautiful, and has me playing a solo, but it's too big to post here, so if you want to see it let me know.  The easiest way to go about getting to see it would be for me to put in on dropbox for you to see.  Just email me or call or text or something.

Well... we're super excited to have our baby, and to see Candy's Mom when she comes down to help out for the first bit of our lives with baby.  We're also SUUUPER excited to have both of our family's down for our baby blessing over Thanksgiving weekend.  

Love, and Hugs,  Kurt and Candy

Better Late Than Never!

So... news of the week: After much consideration, and realizing that a haircut here is freakin' EXPENSIVE, Candy and I finally invested in a hair clipper, and Candy gave her first haircut EVER!  So, The Kurt and Candy Reeder family proudly present ...................... >>Drum Roll<<..................................

THE HAIRCUT!!!!!!

Now... understand that this is at the end of the day, and Kurt is greasy and nasty, and tends to play with his hair a lot.  But I'd say that Candy did a WONDERFUL job!!!  I love her SO much, and am grateful that she's willing to experiment in order to help us scrimp and save... especially since President Monson says there's no shame in that! :D

Well... ta tat for now!

Kurt 'n Candy

I forgot...

Yesterday Candy and I went to an all-day birthing class.  It was fun!  Seriously... we enjoyed it.  The teacher was a certified doula from L.A. and was very good and unbiased in her presentation.  Candy and I also got some good one on one time during the lunch break and had some questions receive some very good answers.  We're feeling more and more confident with the Baby's arrival.  We are more excited than we can express.  Oh, and James is hiccuping again.

much love
us

FHE at the Big 'D', and learning the "HEE HEE HOO"

Well folks... I've decided that this should be a weekly Sunday night ritual.  Hopefully I can keep up with that.  I'm gonna go kind of picture crazy with this post, so I hope you'll all bear with me.  So on Monday, we went to Disneyland for FHE, and it was FUN!!  We went on the rocket ride at Tomorrowland, and went on the Buzz Lightyear Blaster ride... I wasn't terribly good at it.  But here are a few pics of the parade, and of some Halloween decorations.

 Where's Rapunzel???

 Princess Tiana and her magical floating... bayou!

 We just liked the ginormous trombone.

 Mickey and his best friend Pluto

Mickey with the Goofster and Donald

We also went to Disneyland later in the week just to hang around and get some better pics, so here they are.

 THERE she is!!!

 Kurt looooooves firetrucks!!

 Be careful!  It rides in excess of 4 miles per hour (actually 5)!!!

 "Hey... look at that Mickey!  Ice cream!!"

 Okay, charades:  Who am I?

 Candy's summer home

 We decided to leave SoCal and hike the Swiss Alps.

Candy and her little pumpkin, hangin' with Pumpkin Mickey.

And now, by popular request... we are posting pictures of Candy's enlarging belly!  SHOUT FOR JOY!!!!!  She is, by the way, the CUTEST pregnant lady in the universe!

 "I had to lean way over to see my toes." -Candy

 Strike a pose, preggers!!

He's in there... kicking.... and stuff.

We also figured we would share our pics from our lovely labor day trip to Newport Beach, so here you go!!!

 I know SHE'S cute, but who's that dude?  He needs to do his hair.

 At the wedge.

 Sandpipers are just SO cute.

 Oh, Newport.

 Again with that dude!  Why?

 Aren't sailboats fascinating?

 It's got TWO surfboards on top!

 And there was even a ukulele in the car!!  Isn't it beautiful?

And our last bit of news... we have california plates!!!! :(  I miss delicate arch.  But at least we have a "TIE" on our new plates.

Hope you all have a splendid week!

Much love,

Candy and Kurt

Our Apartment

********IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER:  I (like the fool I am sometimes) decided that it would be cool to flip the camera sideways so as to get a better view of things.  So the video goes sideways sometimes, and you'll need to tilt your neck like a cute, begging puppy dog in order to view it correctly.  Happy viewing!!!

So we're FINALLY updating our blog... only a month later!!!  We moved in and it took us about a week to get all of the boxes unpacked and all the furniture set up where we like it.  And after some purchases of some organizing gear and other such things, Candy feels like the place is pretty much in order.

Kurt Is taking 9 credits in graduate school this semester (6 is full-time), and those include: Intro to Graduate Studies in Music; Jazz Ensemble; Jazz Combo; Private Jazz Piano Lessons; and Independent Research/T.A. and Curriculum Development.  It's a pretty full schedule, but man... a breath of fresh air to be able to take only the classes I WANT to take.  The ensembles here are pretty good, and I'm getting a lot of opportunity to lead in the ensembles: Bill Cunliffe (the director) had me direct rehearsal last tuesday because he was late getting into town, and I direct combo rehearsals on Mondays.  I also will be contributing arrangements and compositions to the groups.  I have four on campus performances this semester and four next semester, plus a performance at the Long Beach Center for the Arts.  We have guest artists at every show!  Hooray for living in SoCal!!

Candy is moving along in the pregnancy.  There are only about 6 weeks left until baby comes.  The midwife put the official due date back at October 31st, so we're hopeful that we'll have a Halloween baby!  We're suuuuuper excited for it to all go down!  Candy has had a basic tour of the facilities where she'll be giving birth, but will have a more comprehensive tour of the facilities after her appointment on Tuesday.  Next Saturday, we'll have a condensed birthing class that is 7 hours long!!  We're excited!

We have also enrolled in institute here in Fullerton, and are loving it.  We have a wonderful teacher for the Old Testament Class we're taking, and we are also taking a once-a-month Marriage Class that includes dinner and a wonderful lesson on how to improve our marriages and improve ourselves.  Our ward is also AMAZING!!!!!

We love it here, but we reeeeeeaaaallllly miss and love everyone in Utah!  We can't wait for Thanksgiving when most will come to see us, and we especially can't wait for Christmas when we'll get to spend some good time with our dear ones in Utah, and let them all get to know our baby better.

Will love and respect,

Kurt and Candy (and James)

Life is MOVING!!!!!!!

CHECK IT!!!!!  Kurt just graduated from BYU today!!!!!!  So next wednesday we'll be moving to Fullerton, California so that Kurt can go to graduate school at Cal State Fullerton to get his Masters of Music in Jazz Studies!  YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Candy is officially in her third trimester at 28 weeks, and little baby James is kickin' up a STORM!  Practicing his ninja moves and such, y'know??  Just like Kurt.  But now we get to start the hunt for a new doctor in Orange County where Candy can have the baby in the best way suited for her.  She was given a baby shower last week where she received a bassinet for baby to sleep in, as well as some ADORABLE clothes!!!  We also received cash from friends and family that helped us to get the stroller and car seat that we wanted.

Anyhow... life is good, but we'll be going through a LOT of changes over the next while, and we promise we'll keep y'all updated.

much love, and music ;)