Azucena's Final Recital

Azucena graduated from the Let's Play Music program. At the end of their third year, they compose their own piece and perform it. Azucena's is called "African Savannah."

Recital Piece

Idaho Falls Symphony: Let's Meet Mozart

The Idaho Falls Symphony holds a kids concert every year. Clark and I heard about it in time to get tickets for the family to go and check it out. They have an "instrument petting zoo" beforehand, where the children get to see, hear, and play some of the instruments used in the ensemble. We went straight for the strings and percussion, since that's what we own the least of. Adelaide loved touching all the instruments and got to play the violin, cello, and xylophone.

The concert itself was so fun! They played some of Mozart's best known music and even had a guy dressed up as Mozart, speaking with the conductor about some of the history and stories behind the pieces. They included the audience by doing things like "raise your hand when the band plays loudly and lower it when they play softly." That was Azucena's favorite part. :D

I hope we can make it next year!

 

Comic Con, part 1

Clark and I agreed that our late anniversary gift to each other would be tickets to the Salt Lake City Comic Con. We were so happy to make it even though we weren't able to finish our costumes in time for the awesome event. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the effort everyone else went to to make theirs. Here is a small sampling of the first day and a half. :)

I love that they did steam punk Jack Frost and Elsa. And I ran into Effie in the restroom. :)

This Korra was standing behind us in line. We loved that these brothers put their own names on the jumpsuits.

I love group and couple costumes! This poor Hans said that so many children told him he was mean or wouldn't let him be in pictures because of what he did in the movie. Sad, huh?

Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon. My first exposure to anime. :) And Brandon Sanderson--yay!

Clark almost got squashed by a troll. Almost. And I love Bert and Mary. :D

We found a posse of princesses and then a random Flynn Rider walked by and they made him pose with them, too!

Clark is definitely more suited to the Dark Side than I am. Oh well, that's what I get for being short.

Concerts in the Park

Salt Lake City has a thing during summer called "Concerts in the Park" which take place downtown every Tuesday and Friday night and are free. I love them because children are allowed to attend! My old roommate Rachel let us know that there was a Broadway-themed concert happening so we made our way downtown. To our surprise, Rachel was one of the performers. The entire thing was lovely and it was great to catch up with her.

Adelaide's first concert!

30th Anniversary Concert

This year is my parents' 30th anniversary! (Pearl, for anyone who is curious.) My dad has a trip to Peru planned for both of them (plus Edgar, as a sort of graduation gift) but also decided back at Christmas that he wanted to throw a concert for her. This put a lot of pressure on all of us, because we had to learn a bunch of music! Dad got a guy from his school to do all the keyboard stuff; he took care of mandolin, double bass, and bass guitar; Edgar took care of the rhythmic stuff; Clark did some guitar/bass/singing; and Nicoel and I got to do back-up vocals while also playing the violin and clarinet, respectively. WHEW! 

Some of our practice shots:

 

The concert was pretty awesome! It was pretty hard to be sneaky and leave the house to rehearse, but as soon as the concert actually started, Mom forgave all of us. :D

 

Musical Memory

Azucena walked into the room earlier and had my pocket-sized Children's Songbook in her hand. She insisted on climbing into my lap and, once there, opened the book to a song, said, "donn!" and started waving her hand around. :D I love my baby girl and the fact that she's getting older and learning new skills from us!

Two Parties

Wednesday, October 24th, Clark and I got to go out on a date! I listen to a show called "Showtunes Tonight" (formerly Showtunes Saturday Night) on 106.5 FM here in Utah. I *love* this show. For five hours on Saturday, they play showtunes! This involves everything from Rogers & Hammerstein to Sondheim to Mel Brooks' "the Producers." Anyway, a few weeks ago the dj had some free tickets to "The Scarlet Pimpernel" up at Centerpointe Legacy Theatre. I entered the giveaway but didn't win that night. 

Happily, about a week later, I received an e-mail saying she had come across some extra tickets and would I like to have two of them? OF COURSE I WOULD! Clark and I chose a Wednesday night to use our tickets so that Azucena could hang out with her grandparents and so that we could have front row balcony tickets. :D

The show was amazing, the cast was SUPER talented, the costumes were out-of-this-world, and Clark and I are seriously discussing purchasing season tickets for next year because we had such a great experience. Here's a (terrible) shot of us in front of the show poster):

We also went to a family Halloween party, which was fantastic, since it meant Azucena could spend time with cousins close to her age.

 

 

Admit it--if she showed up at your door, you'd say "awwww!" and give her candy. :)

Second Anniversary!

Clark was such a sweetheart and got tickets to the Desert Star Theater (a local parody theater) production of Wicked-er! for our second anniversary. Since it didn't start running until after our anniversary, we had to wait a couple of weeks to celebrate. But you know what? It was really fun having little things to celebrate every other week. It made September really fun. :D Anyway, I couldn't take pictures during the production (obviously) but it was a really great environment, it was dinner and a show (and they had the BEST fry sauce I've EVER eaten), and the actors were hilarious. And the playhouse includes an olio at the end where they sample a few other shows (both with real and parody lyrics) which I thought showcased their talent quite nicely. Oh! And they have a piano player accompanying them the entire time. See how cool it is? And how you should already have tickets for their next show?!

Thanks, husband, for such a fun anniversary! Love you!

FHE (August 27)

For Family Home Evening, we went to the Church History Museum to see the International Art Competition there. There were some beautiful pieces, many of which were featured in the September issue of the Ensign. In the same area of the exhibit was a "Celebracion of the Book of Mormon" which was geared toward children. Azucena LOVED the area they had set aside for learning a couple of simple dances. I thought I took a couple of videos but something must not have registered, since I only have this one and she's nowhere near as enthusiastic as she generally was.

My family owns most of the instruments that are shown here. And they had Mexican skirts and a mirror set up so you could flounce and twirl all you wanted. :D

President Monson's Birthday (August 17)

Since our two year anniversary was coming up, I was hoping that Clark and I could do something a little special by having an evening with just the two of us. Little did I know that Clark was planning a night out on our actual anniversary and that my parents would get us tickets to see Mandy Patakin in September. This meant that I had to come up with something really good--and I was able to get tickets to President Monson's 85th Birthday Celebration! It was great to drive to Temple Square and enjoy such a wonderful evening. And, unbeknownst to me, most of the evening was spent singing showtunes. Oops. Next year, I'll try to do something involving sports to make up for it. :D

Happy (early) anniversary, Clark! Love you!

 (This picture was not taken during the performance. It was just beforehand when the orchestra was tuning their instruments. I swear. :D)

 I will never, ever get tired of taking pictures of this temple. Ever. It's just so dang gorgeous!

Outdoor Concert (June 12)

 
 There's a family in Orem that hosts outdoor concerts in the summer. This time around the special guest was Dallin Vail Bayles, whom I have loved since hearing him perform at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics (and during the national tour of Les Miserables about a year and a half later). I really wanted to take Azucena so she could have a chance to hear good music in an environment that wouldn't be upset at her age. Luckily, she loved listening to the music (also, the girls next to us had coloring books, which she loved looking at).

The set list was as follows (and was shared by Dallin, his wife, and their friend, whose name I didn't record because they said it really fast):

Something's Coming (West Side Story)

Go the Distance (Hercules)

the Wizard and I (Wicked)

Her Voice (the Little Mermaid)

Simple Little Dreams (110 in the Shade)

Music of the Night (Phantom of the Opera)

Til I Hear You Sing Once More (Love Never Dies)

One Hand, One Heart (West Side Story)

I'd Give It All For You (Songs for a New World)

Children Will Listen (Into the Woods)

The Prayer

For Good (Wicked)

God Bless the Outcasts (Hunchback of Notre Dame)

Bring Him Home (Les Miserables)

It's Just Another Ordinary Miracle (Charlotte's Web)

Astonishing (Little Women)

the Impossible Dream (Man of La Mancha)

Musical Sunday

(Also a late post, but I wanted to not post twice in a day. :D )

December 12th was our ward Christmas program. Our ward choir has been working on music for the program since the end of October. I think the ward was able to hear how much time and love we put into each of the pieces. We sang:

a Sally DeFord arrangement of O Holy Night
a duet of Away In a Manger (I was the alto)
a combination of While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks (sung by the men) and Angels We Have Heard On High (sung by the women)
What Child Is This
I Believe In Christ (congregation joining for the fourth verse)
an arrangement of O Come, All Ye Faithful

Later that night, Clark and I were able to attend the Messiah Sing-In hosted by our old BYU 14th Stake. It was really fun to see so many old friends and to hear such young talent (normally those solos are sung by veterans of the opera or MoTab, it feels like). I think my favorite part, though, was hearing a good ensemble accompany the choir. :)

Remember to vote on the baby's gender!

Random Quirk

So, don't know if anyone else has read my posts about 25 random things about myself, but, as I get to know Clark and he gets to know me, I discover more and more weird quirks that I have.

Something that may frustrate Clark but that I've done for as long as I've been driving a car, is finishing songs on the radio. If there is a song on the radio when I park the car and it hasn't finished, I'll sit in the car and jam out to the song until it's over. If I don't turn the car off immediately and the next song starts, I'll wait for that one, too. (Granted, these all have to be songs I love and want to hear.) I was just reminded of this tonight when "Friday, I'm in Love" by the Cure was still playing when Clark and I got home and he turned off the car before it had finished the second verse. I must have made a sad look or something, because he turned the car back on to let it finish.

Which makes him my favorite. :)

University Band

Tuesday night was Clark's concert on campus. It was pretty interesting because the two groups participating had two different themes, A Night of British Music and A Night with Abraham Lincoln. :) Clark was part of the British Music end, which meant he could play timpani during the Robin Hood music. :) The other group had Dave Perry dressed up as Abraham Lincoln and he read the Gettysburg Address and several other things while the band played music from the era. I liked it a lot. :) And now, I'm going to listen to some Robin Hood!

Music Fast

Our ward has been challenged to participate in a musical fast. We kicked it off tonight with a fireside this evening which included both Sacrament meeting appropriate music and some that is perhaps a little more off-the-wall but still Spirit-bringing. My favorites of the evening involved our second counselor playing "Follow the Prophet" on his tenor saxophone and my roommate Becca playing a piano solo. Beautiful stuff. Anyway, back to the challenge: for the next two weeks, listen to Sunday-appropriate music (so, not necessarily just the hymns, but a variety of other music, like what we heard tonight) and, at the end of the two weeks, re-evaluate the music we listen to and perhaps make some changes in our life.

Some of the music I'll be keeping in my arsenal for the next two weeks:

• Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time orchestral recordings
• Soundtracks (like LotR, Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia, Pride & Prejudice, Fantasia 2000, etc.)
• Mormon Tabernacle Choir recordings
  
• Inside Out (great a capella group)
  
• Michael Bublé
• Josh Groban
• some of my band recordings
• Copland (oh, bless his heart)
  
• Seminary soundtracks
• a lot of classical music (like Holst, Robert W. Smith)
• Jenny Oaks Baker
• the 5 Browns
• Paul Cardall
• Michael Dowdle
• some Broadway (especially what the MoTab has recorded and Disney stuff)
  

Classical music moment

One of the reasons I love having Erin as a roommate is the fact that she's been in fancy choirs for a long time and tries to "re-live" those moments through our ward choir. I was introduced to a beautiful piece today: In Remembrance by Jeffery L. Ames. I love it. So I'm posting a link for each and every one of you to click on. It's a religious piece and it's about four minutes long. Now, go: happy music.

Karaoke: Pirate style

If you're ever wondering what you should do on a Thursday night and you live in Utah Valley, I totally have the answer for you: Pirate Island Karaoke Night. Seriously. It may sound totally cheesy but, if you think about it, karaoke is cheesy. So, get over it and show up. They have a huge selection and this crazy DJ that I loved listening to. Just remember to get there early (it starts at 7 pm) so you don't have to wait for 15 other acts to get up before you. :D

This is a shot of Brooke, Megan, Heather and me standing with our favorite pirate of the night.

And, for your listening pleasure, Brooke, taking the stage solo. Loved it!

Shake it up, baby!

Funny moment: hearing a woman with a thick, Spanish accent singing "Twist and Shout." I wish I had a recording!

Christmas Songs

So, I used to work at a store where I had almost no control over what music we listened to over the intercom system. This only became particularly frustrating when Christmas season hit. And I don't just mean December--I mean October 15thish - December 31st. You see, most of the "approved" radio stations would start Christmas music long before Halloween ever hit. This was kind of . . . annoying? I don't really want to use that word because I do love Christmas music, I just can't take the same 10 songs over and over again. And while in my heart I know there are more than ten Christmas songs out there (even my Church's hymnbook contains 14) it just felt like the stations couldn't wait 45 minutes before starting the same music again. So, I made a list. Mainly because I wanted to be annoying and prove that the stations COULD go more than three hours before repeating a song (I remember hearing Silent Night three times in less than 90 minutes time and, even though they were different arrangements, I more heartily starting thinking ). So, here is a list that I'm making off the top of my head. And I'm going for spiritual and secular here, so you'll see my train of thought sort of wander. If you see something you think is missing, feel free to leave a comment. :D

1. The First Noel
2. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
3. O Come All Ye Faithful
4. O Tenanbaum (Christmas Tree)
5. O Holy Night
6. Silent Night
7. Infant Holy, Infant Lowly
8. Mary, Did You Know?
9. Joy to the World!
10. Handel's Messiah (I'm just lumping them all together; giving the radio a sporting chance)
11. Up on the Housetop
12. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
13. the 12 Days of Christmas
14. Jingle Bells
15. Silver Bells
16. I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
17. I Wonder as I Wander
18. While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night
19. Santa Claus is Comin' to Town
20. Jingle Bell Rock
21. White Christmas
22. Blue Christmas
23. Santa Baby
24. Baby, It's Cold Outside
25. that Hippopotamus song
26. All I Want For Christmas
27. Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!
28. God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen
29. Deck the Halls
30. Fum, Fum, Fum
31. Ding, Dong, Merrily on High
32. What Child is This?
33. Feliz Navidad
34. Mary's Lullaby
35. Coventry Carol
36. Stars Were Gleaming
37. the Holly and the Ivy
38. We Three Kings
39. Far, Far Away on Judea's Plains
40. Angels We Have Heard on High
41. O Little Town of Bethlehem
42. Once in Royal David's City
43. We Wish You A Merry Christmas
44. Good King Wenceslas
45. Here We Come A-Wassailing
46. Christmas Waltz
47. My Grown-Up Christmas List (you know, by Mariah Carey, I think?)
48. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
49. Carol of the Bells
50. I Saw Three Ships
51. Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella
    

There. I have 51 songs, and I only had to pause a couple of times (mostly because I can't spell 'hippo' or 'Wenceslas', but once after 39 songs, just to take a moment to see what else I could think of). Let's say the radio station plays three songs in a row, then goes to a three minute commercial break and the average song is three minutes long. That would mean that in one hour, they play 15 songs. So, I have more than three hours worth of material. Huzzah! Now, let's call our radio stations and ask them to use a little variety, eh?

Messiah Sing-Along!

After a crazy Sunday, it was nice to head down to Payson to enjoy a Messiah Sing-Along! With me were my roommate Becks, Kralc and his brother, Ty. We had a lot of fun, especially during the Amen chorus where the girls proceeded to get lost while the boys (who were sight-reading, mind you) chugged along. And this is a horrible picture because I'd taken almost 300 in an hour's time earlier that day and was tired of aiming and making things look good, so, yeah, here we are, scrunched together right after it ended!