St. Andrews Presbyterian Church Dec 20th 2009

Amy was asked to perform with Michael Reason at St. Andrew's this December 20th. It was a beautiful service with musical arrangements by Michael Reason, a multimedia slideshow showcasing Phil Norton's photos arranged to an original musical arrangement again by Michael. Amy was the only vocalist of the program. She did an awesome job. There were some sound issues unfortunately, but in an old church with all hard surfaces sometimes these things can't be helped.

Video of Simon ringing in the service LOL



Here are some videos of Amy singing.

Veni Veni Emmanuel


The Water Is Wide


Grown Up Christmas List



What Child Is This?


Silent Night




And this was really funny....

Deleting videos off my computer

I have so many videos on my computer and it's really begun lagging in performance so I figured I'd upload everything to my blog and backup on cd's so that I can delete them.

Don't feel obligated to watch them, they're probably only interesting to us lol.

How's this for a blast from the past?

The kids and I were going through our old VHS collection when I happened upon an unmarked tape. So being curious, I popped it in and what to my amazement did I find?

Check out this blast from the past, 2002 to be exact. My apologies for the poor quality and sound, as I videotaped these off my tv yesterday.

This first video is of Amy and Mitchell Daley singing at a church talent night. Mitchell is so cute, he looks absolutely sick to his stomach at one point. I believe this was his singing debut eh Tricia? Oh and look there's Jay on sound lol.





This next video is of Amy singing Away In the Manger at the 2002 Christmas Service.






Remember when the Founds boys were all so little and sweet (not that they're not still sweet, but hey they ain't so little anymore) and you could just eat them up? Well, feast your eyes on this...



Bye they way "mom", I miss seeing you play!

This next vid is of Jay and Fred doing a little impromtu Amazing Grace :) I have to say that I think Jay looks hot in this especially at the end when he breaks out laughing, ah babe I love you!




I still have a few more to upload to the computer and will post them a bit later. I just needed to get these uploaded to blogger so that I can delete them off my computer. It's amazing how much these little vids can slow down ones computer :P

Would you believe this is our New Office Policy???

this was handed to me today by my office manager....

NEW OFFICE POLICY

Dress Code:

1) You are advised to come to work dressed according to your salary. If we see you wearing Prada shoes and carrying a Gucci bag, we will assume you are doing well financially and therefore do not need a raise.

2)If you dress poorly, you need to learn to manage your money better, so that you may buy nicer clothes, and therefore you do not need a raise.

3)If you dress just right, you are right where you need to be and therefore you do not need a raise.


Sick Days:

We will no longer accept a doctor's statement as proof of sickness. If you are able to go to the doctor; you are able to come to work.

Personal Days:

Each employee will receive 104 personal days a year. They are called Saturdays & Sun days.

Bereavement Leave:

This is no excuse for missing work. There is nothing you can do for dead friends, relatives or co-workers. Every effort should be made to have non-employees attend the funeral arrangements. In rare cases where employee involvement is necessary; the funeral should be scheduled in The late afternoon. We will be glad to allow you to work through your lunch hour and subsequently leave one hour early.

Bathroom Breaks:

Entirely too much time is being spent in the toilet. There is now a strict three-minute time limit in the stalls. At the end of three minutes, and alarm will sound, the toilet paper roll will retract, the stall door will open, and a picture will be taken. After your second offense, your picture will be posted on the company bulletin board under he "Chronic Offenders" category. Anyone caught smiling in the picture will be sectioned under the company's mental health policy.

Lunch Break:

Skinny people get 30 minutes for lunch, as they need to eat more, so that they can look healthy. Normal size people get 15 minutes for lunch to get a balanced meal to maintain their average figure. Chubby people get 5 minutes for lunch, because that's all the time needed to drink a Slim-Fast.

Thank you for your loyalty to our company. We are here to provide a positive employment experience. Therefore, all questions, comments, concerns, complaints, frustrations, irritations, aggravations, insinuations,allegations, accusations, contemplation's, consternation and input should be directed elsewhere.

The Management

Just thinking and blogging while bored at work

I'm sitting here at work and all is so quiet. I've done all my paper work, prepared the check ins for tomorrow, printed/cut meal coupons and answered numerous inquiries on the phone. For now the phone is quiet and I have some nice relaxing country music playing on the other computer (background noise to keep me company).

I just finished reading Michelles blog and my heart is so uplifted by her words. Here is a family that has gone through so much crap these past few years and I've watched Michelle's heart break at times and not been able to do anything about it but lift her up in prayer and just be there when she needs to vent. This is an awesome lady. When I vent, I VENT! When Michelle vents, she vents all right...but then she always remembers Who is in charge and ends up quoting scripture at me to help us both get back on the right track.

I miss my chats with Michelle. Ever since I started working there seems to be less time for im chats and what not.

I miss you Michelle. You're right we need a tea day where we can sit back drink tea and just blat and chat.

This post isn't really about anything in particular. Just thinking about these friends and the trials they are going through. I love how positive Michelle is in her last post. Talking about the valley being the best place to be, instead of trying to always climb out of it, we need to sit back and relax in it a bit and feed. Feed on God's word, pray and just listen to Him.

Go to Michelles blog and read. Be uplifted and also, say a prayer for this family while you're there. www.fiddlersfound.blogspot.com

I think I'm going to stay in my valley for a little while and just try to listen. Listening has never been my strong suit. Kinda hard for me to shut my inner voice down lol.


You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.
Isaiah 26:3

Announcing the birth of Benjamin Alexander Ross Caswell

Picton Fair & Rising Stars 2009

It was a very busy weekend for the Rutherford family at the Picton Fair.

The kids and I went to the fair to help set up the church booth in the Crystal Palace





















Then we were off to the Rising Stars competition for Amy's audition. There were 15 contestants, all vocal, with one being a band.

Amy made it along with 9 others to the semi finals after singing "The Water is Wide" an arrangement by the late Eva Cassidy.

On Saturday we were back at the fair for noon for the semi-finals. Amy did a splendid job and even received applause in the middle of her song for a particularly difficult part. She sang another Eva Cassidy arrangement, "Over the Rainbow". I love this song. Judy Garlands version was fine, but Eva really owned it!



















Jay and I were really hoping that Amy would make it to the top 5 finalists as a confidence boosting excercise you know? However...

She did even better by placing 3rd overall with Amy Sedore in 1st and Becky Elliott in 2nd. These girls were all amazing. Beautiful girls inside and out and wonderful voices. Amy Sedore even won the Peoples Choice to open for Shania Twin Saturday night AND she was the judges choice to sing the Canadian anthem (bilingually) for when the Olympic Torch comes to Picton. We are so proud of her!

So, anyways back to my Amy. She was amazing, awesome, fantastic...what other adjectives come to mind, feel free to use them (as long as they're complimentary of course) :)

Here are a few pictures of the girls at the competition and the video that was shot of Amy singing in the semi finals. The sound and colour did not turn out at all...doesn't sound anything like the performance in person, but it's all I've got.

Amy singing "Over the Rainbow"


The 3 finalists with their trophies and prizes


















Amy & Amy























































The girls with Bev & Bill, a lovely couple who are constantly offering support and encouragement to the youth and are probably the Rising Stars biggest supporters.


















I am going to take Amy to the church (hopefully) this Thursday to have her sing on our NEW sound system and record it with our camcorder. I will post that once it's done.

Now to the rest of the weekend. When we weren't in the big tent we were able to get out and enjoy some of the different activities and vendors. Sunday was family day and we just hung out and enjoyed our time together.

Below are some pics of the kids at the fair. They had such a good time this year.

Amy's friend Emily joined her for the day and they had a blast.

Simon on the roller coaster (does he look likes he's having a good time or what?)



















Two beauties

















































































































































































What a great day!

Youth Worship Service

On August 9th the youth of our church organized and participated in the Sunday morning service.

I don't have time to put in a big blog post right now, but I am uploading the skit due to several requests.

So here you go...

Up at 4am...

It's just after 5am and I've been up and wide awake since 4. Why?, you ask. Because satan has a way of sneaking up on us and taking our peace, even when we are asleep.

I've been sitting here crying and worrying over things that just arent' all that important in the grand scheme of things. Let me backtrack a bit here for you.

Jay and I haven't been doing well money wise for a long time. Things have snowballed right into an avalanche that is presently burying us alive in worry, unpaid bills, late mortgages etc. There is a light somewhere in here at the end of the tunnel and I can see it. But here I sit worrying about some things that really, when you think about it, aren't all that important.

Meanwhile, a friend and her sweet soon to be 10 year old son are presently fighting for his life. Sweet little Stephen was diagnosed on July 7th with ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia - Standard). Sweet, gentle little boy. My heart breaks for what he and his family are going through. My heart breaks as I watch my little boy break down into tears whenever he is reminded of what his friend is going through.

I receive updates everyday from his mom via a blog they started at this place. I am so grateful to be able to read daily of his progress and to be able to pray for him. I am grateful that he was able to leave the hospital this weekend to stay at Ronald McDonald house while waiting for more treatment. I am so grateful his mom is able to stay with him during this whole process.

I am so grateful that my children are healthy and sleeping upstairs. There is so much to be grateful for in my life, but mostly, I am grateful for a merciful and understanding Savior who puts up with my insecurities and mistakes.

Jesus, please watch over this little boy and bless him with your healing touch. Give him and his family your strength to get through these coming days and months. I pray God that you will heal him completely of this disease, but I know your will be done. Amen.

All things God can turn into good. Even young Stephen's illness.

Even our financial mess and the situations we are facing presently.

I just need to get down on my knees and lay it all at His feet. I need to let go of the worry and allow my God to work in my life... our lives.

I am feeling somewhat a small modicom of peace right now as I type this. Funny how God can work through our fears and worries even through the spilling of our guts on a blog.

I am going to finish this and go spend some time with my Father, but before I do, I leave you with this.

Wesley Acres Worship Camp

Amy just got home yesterday evening from a week at worship/music camp with her good friends, Emily, Claire and Angie from our church.

The girls had an awesome time honing their musical crafts, spending time in prayer, learning more about the God they serve and just being kids.

There was tubing, kayaking, canoeing, music, food, bonfires, and the requisite ghost story with lots of scared kids lol.

The final evening all the parents met at the big tent and we got to listen to our children perform and praise God. There were five groups and each group performed 3 songs. Unfortunately I didn't think to bring my video camera until yesterday afternoon, so had to rush home and get it. Turned out the battery was completely dead and there was only 2 hours available to charge it. There wasn't enough battery power to record everyone, but we did get Amy's group and some of another group. My friend Karen got some video of 2 other groups, so hopefully I will be able to upload those here as well to share.

In the meantime, here is "The Creation". Consisting of 5 students and the director of their group performing their set. These kids only just met this past week and had 5 days to put this together.

The guitarist hated one song because it 'killed' his fingers and Amy had a dry sore throat because there was no water to be found. All in all, I think they did a wonderful job.

Hope you enjoy.


First song...How Sweet It Is




Second song...Amazed



Third song...Be Praised!

Everyone is telling me to update my blog...

So I'm quickly putting up some pics of a trip the kids and I took to Wellington on May 21st. Amy had a hair appt and we went early so Simon could have some park time.

I'll do more soon (I hope)