I Got A Part!

I am so excited and happy to be a part of Mount Harrison Heritage Foundation's production of Les Mis! I have a bit of a story about it, which is probably boring, but it's my story, so I'll tell it anyway.

Before Thanksgiving, Logan came home from school, and as usual brought in the mail. Once a week we receive a locally produced paper, which I can count on one hand the number of times I have looked through it.  This particular day was one of the those days I felt the need to thumb through it quickly before throwing it out. A few pages in, I was excited to see an advertisement for the upcoming production of Les Mis, and that tryouts would be happening the next week.  My first thought was to have Logan audition for the part of Gavroche. Logan loves the music to Les Mis, and in my motherly opinion, I think he would make the perfect Gavroche. After reading more about the auditions, I quickly realized that Logan was too young. Sadness.

After overcoming my initial excitement, then disappointment, James asked me if I was going to audition. I told him that I was thinking about it, but I wasn't sure if I should, knowing that there are way more talented people in this world than me and I didn't want to put myself through something scary, just to be disappointed.

 The next night I went visiting teaching. During that 10 minute drive, I was deeply pondering whether or not I should audition. When I got to my "sister's" house, I sat down at her kitchen table, and looked down to see that right in front of me was the paper, opened up to the page advertising the auditions for Les Mis! I was so surprised to see it, that I even commented on it.  That pretty much made my mind up, that I should indeed take the leap of faith, suck it up and audition.

About a week later, James joined me at Burley high school, supporting me while I sang in front of the play and music director. There were a bunch of people there, and I was kind of nervous, but not too nervous. I had prepared myself well, and I knew the song like the back of my hand. My turn came up, and then....I bombed it. Truly, I have never sang so poorly in my life. My initial feelings were anger. I was so mad at myself for screwing up so badly on something that I wanted so much!  I can't explain why I did so poorly, but I had no doubt in my mind that I had not made the cut. Indeed, the day came and went that the director told us we would be contacted by if we had made the play.

It may seem silly, but I really stewed about this for a long time. Day after day it wouldn't leave my mind about how badly I had done and how much it FRUSTRATED me! (I realize that people have bigger problems than this, but seeing as I didn't have any other major problems in my life at the time, this was a big deal.)

Finally, a week later, I made up my mind that I was over it, and I was not willing to lend any more of my feelings towards the matter. The very next day I ran into a friend at the grocery store. She congratulated me on making the play!  Talk about salt in the wound!  I regretfully informed her that while I did audition (how did she know?) I had not actually made the cut. She quickly disagreed with me and told me that she had seen my name on the list of people who had made the play. I could hardly believe it. She told me where she had seen this list, online, so I called James and told him to look it up to confirm with me.  This story is already long, but to shorten it a bit, lets just say, I made the play!

Rehearsals began shortly after the new year.  I have loved every second of it, and it really helps that James is just as excited about me being in the play as I am. Logan is pretty excited to go watch the show too. The talent that is in this show is AMAZING, so I still don't know why I'm in it. ;)

It makes all the difference, that even though this is at the high school, they mostly cast adults. It brings the level of maturity up a lot. It was a fun surprise to go to the first rehearsal and realized that I was surrounded by people who love this story and music as much, if not more, than I do. Really, I am so impressed with how much talent is in this play and I'm excited to see it all come together. The pit orchestra is even made up of volunteer, professional musicians.

Anyway, it's going to be great. The performances are the last week of January, and tickets are $12 a piece. The budget they spent on this play is astronomical ($25,000) so if you want to support your local Idaho community, please, come and enjoy the show! If you click on the link below, you can buy your tickets and even pick where you sit, so take advantage now and get front row seats!

http://kingfineartscenter.ticketleap.com/les-miserables/dates

The Month of December

We had a great Christmas Season, but I didn't do the best job of recording all of it. :)

December 2nd, we set out for the mountains to cut down our own Christmas tree. Our friends informed us that after paying only $10 for a permit, you can cut down your own tree!  That's such a steal, that it may be a long time before our fake tree makes another appearance. 

 We made just a short walk before finding a tree that was good enough for us. We really weren't in the mood to take the kids on a long trek.

 James made short work out of cutting it down. It required some more trimming once we got home, but it was fine and it was a Christmas tree!

 Cute Siri.

A few days before Christmas, we helped the kids decorate their gingerbread cookies.

 Cousin fun.

 The Ward Christmas Party, was at some point during the month. We had Logan and Lizzy all prepped to ask Santa for the gifts that were already hiding in our closet.  Well, Santa came booming in the room, scaring the living daylights out of Elizabeth. She cried and cried and cried, and insisted that there was no way she was talking to Santa.

 Obviously Logan was not deterred by scary Santa.  Also, we were happy that it didn't discourage Logan when Santa (seriously Santa?!) told Logan that he had never heard of the toy he was asking for.

Annnnddd....Santa totally ignored Siri, but she still sneaked up to snag herself a candy cane.

Our pictures of Christmas Day itself are on James' phone, which I do not have in my possession at this time. So, hopefully this will do for fulfilling your curiosity.

Other fun things we did:
The kids each had a chocolate advent calendar, something we had last year too, and they loved it. I also collected 24 Christmas books, and individually wrapped each one. The kids took turns unwrapping one a night, before we would read it together.

We enjoyed a lovely Christmas Eve at Matt and Ramie's house, eating, singing, and laughing. Holiday's really can't get any better than when you spend them with family.

We went to Dixie's house for Christmas dinner. Again, another family filled day, and it was perfect.

Lizzy Turns 5!

Even though I've had a month to get used to the idea, I still can't believe my little Lizzy Girl is 5 years old. I am the lamest mom that ever existed, and I have very few pictures from her big day. I have even less of Christmas, so yeah, I'm lame. 

 Birthday donut tower!

 She opened her gifts first thing in the morning, like 6:45 in the morning. We wanted Logan to be part of the festivities before he had to go to school.

 To make her birthday special, we met up with family and friends, and went bowling that night. It was a first for all three of the kids, and they all loved it.

 By the time we had all finished our bowling games, it was getting late. We rushed through singing "Happy Birthday" and then cut into her Dora cake. Sorry I don't have a better picture of it! (I'm sorry for myself!)

Lizzy Girl, you are so big, in many ways. You want to be a part of everything that is going on, all while attached to my body. Happy or sad, you want to be hugging me, or hanging on to me. Most of the time it is really sweet, but I'll admit, it can be a bit much some times!  But, it's what makes you you.

 You are such a smart girl. You make up your own songs all the time, and you say the SILLIEST things!  You will go into in-depth detail telling me stories about conversations you had with Jesus, or give me lectures on why people shouldn't call dogs "crazy". I can tell your brain is working hard in those moments; however, you can be so easy going that you can't focus on anything!  I've been working with you on reading. You are extremely resistant to it, but for some reason, you learned how to read the words, "jump" and "little". At this point, you can't read any other words.  You don't want to! I can tell you are so smart though, that when you decide you want to read, you will learn fast.

I know you like to learn because we can turn your bad days upside down when we tell you that it is a preschool day!  You LOVE, LOVE, LOVE going to school.  In fact, on your birthday, you declared that you were going to kindergarten that day!  I was sad to inform you that you still had to wait another 9 months.  But, as is your nature, you took the bad news well, smiled, and enthusiastically said, "OK"!

You didn't pick up Logan's (or your Dad's) habit for cleanliness and organization, but that's ok. You are one tough cookie.  You often demonstrate your capacity to take pain, or to brush some unpleasantness off like it was nothing. I've witnessed you cut yourself and bleed, just to look at it, grimace and say, "It's OK Mom, I'm OK".

You also make friends fast. Even though you prefer to play by yourself, you warm up fast to strangers and you get silly with them very fast.

Thanks for being you Elizabeth. You are a special spirit, and I love that you are a part of our family.

Missionary Homecoming and Cake

Just before Thanksgiving, our nephew returned home from his mission to the Marshall Islands. Being so remote, his contact with family was hit and miss. It was a touching reunion with his family, and I'm happy James and I were able to go to the airport too. 

 First hug with Mom and Dad

 First Grandma hug

 Hey Uncle James!

 Yeah, so I was trying to take a picture of us together, but I dropped the camera right as I hit the "picture taking button".  This picture was the result.

 One big happy family!

Having Dalton come home was a big deal. I don't get to make many cakes anymore, so I kind of forced my services on the family, asking if I could make a cake for Dalton.  James had an idea for the cake, remembering that when Dalton had been out for 9 months, he'd had a dream that was very special to him. James suggested that I try to recreate that dream into a cake. I did my best, but it is difficult to put a dream into a cake! Just so the cake makes a little bit of sense to you, I am including an excerpt of Dalton's letter where he described his dream.

 So I have been sick and I was getting really bad

so I told my companion, "I gotta go get some rest man." So we headed

for the house for a one hour nap and then would be back on our way to

teaching lessons. I went and pulled out my Kie, lied down on the floor

and was immediately out. Then I had a dream. I was walking down this

long gravel road with rows of beats on each side of me (kind of like

Bishop Poteet's road) as far as I could see and then beyond that I

could see sparkling blue ocean water. As I continued to walk down this

road all of a sudden I came across this sidewalk in the middle of the

road. The very first block was so nice, perfectly square, and started

off perfectly. The next one following that was pretty good but the

third and fourth squares were pretty cracked and crooked as I walked

past the them. Then I came to the fifth one which wasn't as bad and

started straightening out and looking more like a sidewalk again.

Followed by the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth ones progressively

getting better as i passed by them. When I got to the ninth one there

was no more. The sidewalk stopped. All that was there was a bucket of

cement and a leveler with somewhat prepared ground in front of the

rest of this ninth square. The prepared way for it was perfectly

straight and narrow going on for what seemed to be forever. I looked

up and down the road wondering what was going on and who placed this

sidewalk here. I yelled, "Hello, is anybody here!" I looked up and

down the road once again and saw nothing. Then out of nowhere I see

this man coming towards me. As he confronts me i say, "Excuse me, what

is this cement sidewalk doing here." He looks at it and replies, "Why

do you ask me? You are the one who is building it." As he told me this

a realization came into my mind that those 9 blocks were the past 9

months that I had served out here on my mission. I quickly replied,

"If this is my mission what happened to the third and fourth blocks

sir?" Once again he said, "You are the one who has been laying this

sidewalk, you tell me." Another realization came to me stronger than

the first. That I had been laying this path and depending on how good

my works were would show in my path. I then said with a heart full of

sorrow, "I am so sorry," for I knew I could have done a much better

job than i did. He then looked at me with love in his eyes that

pierced me to the heart and said, "You are forgiven, you need not

worry about it anymore." I then felt love and happiness from him as he

put his arm around me and said, "Now it's gonna be hard here at times

okay, but if anything ever gets too hard you call for me. You call for

me." Then pointing far up ahead he said, "I'll be right up there

watching you. I've given you the tools and you know what needs to be

done with them." With love stronger than I had ever felt before I

shook my head and said, "okay." His last words were then, " I love

you, you can do this. Now you've got to get back to work. There is

still much that needs to be done." Immediately after this I woke up

and went and recorded it in my journal. I waited for my companion to

wake up and then told him of what had happened. It was a pretty

spectacular thing that happened to me right there and i don't know if

I explained it the best over e mail but it was amazing. I had never

had such a clear vivid dream and one that made so much sense to me. I

am so thankful for the mission and all of the experiences it is giving

me. Oh it is so great guys.

I liked how this cake turned out, but I keep thinking about how much better I could have made it if people wouldn't have minded TONS of cake.  I am rarely completely satisfied with how my cakes turn out, and this one is no different. *sigh*

The Many Faces

of Siri:

 Where's your tongue?

 Angry face.

 Happy face.

 Crazy face.

 Silly face.

 Mean face. (These is her favorite face to make.)

Siri is well known for the faces she pulls. She most often likes do make them while going to the bathroom, during dinner, and during prayers.

She is also a great copy cat and a mischief maker.

 She always has to be doing what Lizzy is doing. I will have two great bakers one day.

 She definitely has preferences. When going out for ice cream, she got angry when we took this licorice ice cream cone away from her and gave her cotton candy ice cream, which she definitely didn't like.

 She enjoys making giant messes for the sake of making a giant mess.

 This baby also loves, loves, loves, any kind of treats. Here she is enjoying a donut. (Lizzy enjoyed her donut faster than Siri.)

Prime example of my dare devil child.  It is also a prime example of her determination to get whatever she wants.

Clearly I need to take more pictures of my other children.

Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall

These pictures are in no particular order, but they are my favorite (OK, they are most of the) pictures I took this summer.

 This is our garden, pre-planting anything in it. We've done teeny little gardens here and there, but living on the farm gave us the opportunity to plant a garden as large as we/I wanted.  James made these rows with the tractor and I was intimidated by it's size, but we made it work!

 This is my favorite sunset picture. I love all the colors and how the sun looks like it's on fire.

 James installed a sprinkler system for our yard. He always amazes me with his willingness to work hard to benefit our family.

 Hanging out in the yard and wheat field.

 More lounging... Siri is the dot behind James' head. I often found her wandering through the wheat.

 James is my favorite. My favorite everything.

 Motorcycle and 4-wheeler rides have been a regular thing this summer. Those are always a hit with the kids.

 Of course summer means popsicles.

 Another sunset...

 Logan trying to look "farmery" with a stalk of green wheat between his teeth.

 We gave the kids a gun safety lesson or two and helped them shoot the bb gun. Of course, James and I took a few shots as well.

 Our new punishment for the kids is to run laps around the yard. One night, right before bed, Logan got in trouble and had to run his laps. Clearly he wasn't dressed, but the part that prompted us to take this picture is that Logan was just in his underwear, and for some reason had decided that he needed to run with a helmet on. Unfortunately, he took the helmet off right before we snapped this picture, but it looked hilarious.

 We enjoyed water balloon fights.

 And we harvested SO MUCH from our garden! I've loved having it and I learned a lot about what I really want to grow. More onions, and more broccoli. No green beans. I guess this family just doesn't like them. But, did you notice the difference between this picture and the first?  It is amazing what can grow in just a few short months.

 We had a beautiful rainbow one morning. We could see where it hit the earth on both ends and it was SO close to us!  I couldn't fit the whole thing in my picture. So just imagine this x2 and then you'll see what we saw.

 After the green wheat turned yellow, it was time to harvest. In this picture, the kids are showing off the combine, aka a wheat harvester.

 I planted sunflowers in my garden, and they were HUGE!  Most grew to 12 feet. And their leaves...

 Can you say, ginormous?

 Blue skies and pretty flowers make for a happy me!

 Lizzy loved picking our carrots, but she did need help pulling this giant one out.

I look a little crazy because I've spent hours preserving the fruits of our garden labors.  I've canned 14 jars of salsa, 12 quarts of applesauce, and I've harvested  the seeds from our sunflowers and turned them into, what Logan calls, "spits". Meaning, I turned them into yummy sunflower seeds, perfect for snacking on. I've got so much more to pick and process from the garden. All this work may have an influence on my joy for fall. Oh well. At least when I got hot in my kitchen, I can step outside and enjoy the crisp fall weather.

Goodbye summer, and hello fall. Let's skip winter altogether, whad'ya say?