Happy Pioneer Day!

In celebration of Pioneer Day, Andrew and I attended a special tour of the Kirtland Temple and Historic Kirtland geared especially to the cast children of This is Kirtland. It was a great reminder of the faith and sacrifices of our pioneer ancestors long before they made the trek West to Utah.
Andrew at the Chagrin River where many of the early Saints in Kirtland were baptized. Andrew was amazed that people even got baptized in the dead of winter when the river was frozen over.

The children listen to a sister missionary at the original N. K. Whitney store.

We were reminded of the opening scene of the show when the Whitneys prayed to know the word of God. Joseph Smith then arrived at the Whitney store and uttered the famous words, "Newel K. Whitney, thou art the man. I am Joseph the Prophet. You prayed me here, now what do you want of me." It was so exciting to see "the lights come on" when the children connected the things we portrayed on stage with the actual events and places where they occurred. There were a few moments like that including an especially sweet one in the School of the Prophets when Jon and the children sang, "He Lives." We also got to sing "Coming to Kirtland" on the steps of the Store and the children sang "Education" in the old schoolhouse.

Andrew and his stage dad, brothers, and sister, "the Rigdons."

The Feast Dance

This is the dance from "The Feast" scene in This is Kirtland. Definitely my favorite part of the show! I haven't had the chance to dance much since college, so this was so fun for me. I was glad to get to dance with Chris again, who played my husband and dance partner when I was in the show two years ago. He was a great dance partner - strong, sturdy, a fast learner, good rhythm, and a sense of humor when I messed up. Plus, we were already comfortable dancing together, which made it much easier.

You can see Andrew dancing with the children on the far right wearing the blue shirt. Thanks for the video, Mom!

This Is Kirtland! 2009

Andrew and I have been pretty busy the last couple of months rehearsing for our stake musical, This Is Kirtland! This is the sixth year of the show's running, and the second time I've had the opportunity to preform in it. The show depicts the lives of early Mormon settlers in Kirtland through beautiful music, dancing, and costumes. I feel so blessed to be just a small part of this great show and feel so much love and gratitude for the early Saints who lived right here. It's been especially fun to have Andrew in the show with me this year!

Andrew with his family, the Rigdons

Jason and Summer as John and Rebecca Tanner

Heather and Rich as Thankful and Parley Pratt

Summer singing in her pregnant scene

The women - I love these ladies!

The men chasing the young women at the feast - love the expressions!

Summer and Chris dancing at The Feast Cartwheel!

Woo-Hoo! (Summer, top center and Andrew, lower right)

Andrew (front right)

Joseph and Emma singing, "Dear Emma"

Tom as Joseph Smith

Laura as Emma Smith

School of the Prophets

Singing "The Spirit of God" at the dedication of the Kirtland Temple (Andrew, front left)

This is Kirtland Idol!

Last summer, I had the opportunity to be in the Church musical, This is Kirtland. It was such an incredible experience that I was really hoping to get to do it again this summer. Unfortunately, we've got too much going on this year, so I'm not going to be able to. I'm pretty bummed about it.

Needless to say, I've been thinking about the Kirtland musical a lot lately. So, it's not very surprising that I had a dream about it. What was surprising was who was cast as the lead actor in my dream.

David Cook as Joseph Smith!

AWESOME!!! I practically woke up laughing! Now that show would get some attention! Hmmm, maybe I should suggest it to Polly!

Quality Family Time

Bryan had this whole weekend off, so on Saturday we got to spend some quality Christmas time together as a family! First, we hit the Mentor Mall to visit Santa (yes, I know there are closer places to visit Santa Claus, but this way I also got to go to the Disney Store! :) We had to wait in line 25 minutes to see The Big Guy, but it was worth it! I wondered if Logan would be shy or scared, but he was thrilled to walk right up to him and was fascinated by his suit and beard. Andrew asked for a Shake 'N Go Crash Speedway, a Power Wheels Jeep Hurricane (yes, the $400 one! - a guy's gotta dream, I guess), and a remote control car. Logan didn't know that he was supposed to ask for anything, so Andrew took the liberty of requesting Elmo and Little People toys for him! (Gosh, Andrew sounds like a walking Fisher-Price ad!)

When we'd had enough of the mall and the crowds, we headed out to the Nativity Display at the Kirtland Visitors Center. Each Christmastime, members in the area are asked to share their personal nativity sets for the display. The result is a fantastic collection of over 600 sets together in one place to enjoy! Wow! I am so glad we went! You can't imagine the huge variety of sizes and styles and materials used! They were all so beautiful! My very favorite part was the international display of nativities from all over the world! It was fascinating to see the unique ways each country portrayed the birth of our Savior! There was also a children's room with more kid-friendly nativities and costumes to dress up in! Andrew and Logan really enjoyed this part of the visit!

Our little "Angel"...


...and "Wise Guy."

Logan's favorite nativity by far was the Little People set!

What was most remarkable to me, was the incredible feeling of peace and reverence that prevailed throughout the display. It was such a huge contrast from the noise, bustle, stress, and commercialism of the mall we had just left. I would have loved to stay at least another hour and just soak it in (if only our Angel and Wise Guy would have allowed it!) I am so grateful to have had this sweet reminder of the gift and miracle of Jesus' birth.

No visit to Kirtland is complete without eating at RJ's, so we stopped in for a late lunch/early dinner - YUM! I highly recommend the Famous BBQ Pork Sandwich with a big basket of fries...and fry sauce of course! (Obviously many Utahans have eaten there! The Deseret News even featured an article about RJ's last year.) I was introduced to RJ's last summer by some friends (thanks, Miriam and Carissa!) and have craved it ever since!

Later that night, Bryan and I attendended the Holiday Party for the Anesthesia Deptartment (made possible by the Noorlanders, who so graciously agreed to watch our kiddos) which was held at the Museum of Natural History. Last year, the party was very formal, held at the Intercontinental Hotel, which was very nice. But this was a really fun and unique setting for a party! It was kind of a progressive-style dinner, beginning with drinks and appetizers, then moving to another part of the museum for the salad, and ending in the Hall of Prehistoric Life for the main course and dessert (chocolate fountains - the highlight of the night!). I'll tell you, there's nothing like fine dining and dancing under the skeleton of a 72-foot-long Haplocanthosaurus delfsi!

This is about where the dance floor was. They even had the dinos decked out in their Santa hats! Now I wish I would have taken some pictures! It was so nice just to have a night out with Bryan! We need to get out more! --Summer