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)

Finding Joy In The Journey - NOW!

I know it's a little late for a Conference report, but I wanted to record an experience I had while watching the President Thomas S. Monson give his talk, Finding Joy in the Journey during the Sunday morning Session.

Bryan was working at the hospital, so I was watching General Conference on the computer with the kids. It was the end of the session, so the kids' attention spans were really wearing thin. Hannah was cranky and fussy, Logan was impatient and crying for me to help him build his Mr. Potato Head, and Andrew was laying upside-down, spinning in the computer chair and hitting Logan every time he came around. I was loosing my patience quickly and said angrily, "Man, it would be so nice to watch Conference alone! Then maybe I'd be able to get something out of it!" I could barely hear Pres. Monson's talk, but at that very moment, I clearly heard him say,

"If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled will disappear all too soon and that you will—to your surprise—miss them profoundly."

I immediately burst into tears, realizing that I wasn't appreciating this time in my life as much as I should. My kids are growing so fast, and I know I will miss them terribly when they are gone!

I was sure to read President Monson's talk again when it was published in the Ensign. Here are a few other quotes from the same talk that really touched me:

"Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved."

And,

"I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and non-existent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now."

LDS Idol?

So Summer and I were watching American Idol a few weeks ago (which we usually don't watch much of), and something that the final contestant said sparked our interest. When asked to tell something unique about herself, she reported that she had never seen an "R" rated movie, and soon revealed the same interesting fact about her husband. She also went on to say that this was something that she was taught as a child, and that she was also taught not to smoke or drink alcohol. Summer and I both looked at each other with a curious "hmmm... I wonder?" type of look. It was also interesting to note that she dressed modestly, and that two of the judges noted (and I quote) "a purity" about her. Anyway, she had a great voice and made it through to the next round.... and the next after that. Well, finally my curiosity was peaked, so I googled her, and found a blog (http://bloggingprofessional.blogspot.com/2008/01/is-american-idol-contestand-brooke.html) asking the very same question, but at the end was a comment from one of Brooke White's friends that verified that she was indeed LDS. In the search, I also discovered that one of the other contestants still in the running, David Archuletta, is LDS. That being the case, I tuned in again tonight to see both of them squeeze on through to the next round. It's interesting to note that based on probability alone, odds of having a Mormon for the winner of American Idol is 10%.

Well, I guess if we can't have an LDS president, we'll just have to try to get one of us into the spotlight as the American Idol, eh? Needless to say, we'll probably be tuning in or TiVo'ing the next few episodes, cheering on our two favorite contestants. Go Brooke!