A Christmas Carol

We attended the winter production of "A Christmas Carol" last night (12-10-08). This play is put on each in year in Leavenworth, WA by the Leavenworth Summer Theater and this was our first year as a family to attend.

I was working with on of the executive producers of the show to have a photo for the play put in the classified banner of the paper and I expressed interest in seeing the show. She sent me tickets to take the family for the last dress rehearsal. It was great and all the kids really liked it. 

This time we took all the kids, even Jaxsen. In the summer, Jaxsen didn't want to go see the Sound of Music, but we convinced him to go to this one. I kept looking over at him to see if he was interested in the play or not. For the most part his eyes were glued to the stage. Good memories for our family.

Sound of Music

We attended an outdoor production of The Sound of Music last night (8-27-08). What a treat.

A very nice sister at church gave Alecia 4 tickets to the Leavenworth Summer Theater's production of Sound of Music the other day for helping her with some genealogy items.

These tickets were great seats up on the second row right at center stage and eye level. Also, there were a little ways off from the orchestra pit. Perfect to say the least.

Since we only had 4 tickets, I was going to let Alecia take the 3 kids, but Jaxsen was strongly apposed to going. So, I skipped my Wednesday night Stake meeting (which happened to be a bar-b-que at the Stake President's home) and went with them.

When we got there, this young man escorted us to our seats. He played Kurt, one of the VonTrap family children. He also happens to be our Bishop's nephew. We have been to his house before, so I think he recognized us. But as he was taking us to our seats, he had his canned conversation that all the ushers had from what I could tell. "Have you seen the show before?" "Is this your first time to the theater?" "So, where are you from?"

I had to laugh to myself at the last question as he knew we were from Wenatchee, but he was doing such a great job at his work that I just said "Wenatchee" and "I will tell your dad, hello."

I took his picture and emailed it to his dad and uncle, and guess who showed up right after that. His dad. So I shared the story with him.

The Nuns started off the program by coming out and singing "How Do You Solve a Problem Like a Cell Phone". Very creative way to tell people to turn off their cell phones, watch alarms and to remain seated during the production. The main Nun was a very good at her part.


I was worried that Logan wouldn't like the play, but he really did.

The play started at 8:00 p.m. and we had to arrive at 7:30 p.m. or earlier as you have to park and then walk up the hill to the theater and then get seated. It was a really neat setting as it was a little cooler and a cloudy night, but it wasn't windy and really added to the ambiance of the program.

Next year I think we might try to take the family to see "Sugar" a play based upon the classic film "Some Like It Hot." Looks very funny.

Vue Dale Drive-in

Last Thursday night we decided to take the kids to the Drive-In Theater. Now we have done this before, but have never found it very enjoyable due to the fact that watching from within the minivan. It gets hot in the car, nobody wants to sit behind somebody else because they can't see.

The theater won't let you put blankets or chairs on the ground for safety reasons, so I thought about asking someone to borrow their truck and put lawn chairs in the back of the truck along with an air mattress. We got the truck, but their stereo didn't work, so I had to get a boom box. After some work we found someone at my work to let us borrow their boom box.

Alecia made snacks to take all day long. Carmel Popcorn & Muddie Buddies & Regular Popcorn. We went to see Iron Man and I think the kids (even Alecia) had a good time.

4th of July

Today was the 4th of July. Pretty much a lazy day and that's OK. It all started off by sleeping in, not making any of the kids wake up early or rush out the door to be here or there.

Afternoon came and we met up with our friends, Jen & Scott and Brandon & Tammi and Scott's parents Pat & Chuck, at Lincoln Rock State Park on the Columbia River. Spent most of the afternoon just snacking on food, laying in the shade and riding on Jen & Scott's boat on the river.

Evening came and we all met up again at Jen & Scott's for a barbeque, lit off some small fireworks (our wives broke tradition this year by staying in the house during our personal firework show for the kids, however they were making the traditional carmel popcorn for the major firework show) and then off to Walla Walla Point Park down by the river to watch the big firework show. We arrived at Walla Walla Point Park just as they were starting the fireworks and they lasted about 20 minutes.

On the way back home, Brooklynn asked if anyone else thought the fireworks were lame this year. Deep down I know she enjoyed them, they just went by way too fast for her this year. I certainly enjoyed the firework show and always enjoy being in a smaller town to watch them as getting home is really quick and easy.

Another tradition broken this year was the fact that we didn't take any pictures at all. However, two of Brandon & Tammi's kids were videoing the show with their cell phones. I am hoping to get one of the videos to post here at a later date. The picture of the fireworks above is from the front page of today's Wenatchee World

—

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
~The Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776

Utah Trip: May 2008

Mt. Timpanogos Temple

The 2nd week in May, my brother Wade and I flew down to Utah for a special reason. Our dad. After many years of being less-active in the church, my dad had a change of heart and decided to come back into full fellowship in the church and return to the temple after many years of not going.

A date was discussed and decided upon, that bing May 10, 2008. Alecia and I wanted to be as supportive as possible and not dictate what day he should return to the temple but rather let hime decided. We discussed going down as a family to be with him whenever it was, but decided with school and finances, it would be more feasible for me to make the trip than bring the whole family. This also left the date decision more in the hands of my folks, as I would be able to work around my work schedule easy enough.

Everyone else had parts of their own family down there, except for me. Wade's son Ryan was even down there, so Wade had a member of his family. Alecia, however, DID participate in the temple trip in spirit by providing some of her family names for us to take through the temple that day. It happened to be a family of brothers and sisters that she was able to share with all my brothers and sister. It was truly great as we were all in temple together for the first time ever.

Wade & I flew down on a Friday, went to Mt. Timpanogas Temple on Saturday, May 10. Celebrated Mother's day with my family on Sunday and flew back to Seattle on Monday. I enjoyed being with my birth family, but missed my family in Wenatchee so much more. The only thing that would have made this a better trip would have been to have my wife and children by my side.

Childhood Home

On the way to the airport on Monday, I asked my Mom & Dad to take us to different stores looking for webkins stuffed animals for my kids that we couldn't find back home. We had no luck in finding one. When we were in West Valley City I said let's go look at the only home I grew up in as a youth.

As we drove through town, it looked so different yet very familiar at the same time. We got to the old home located at 3701 S. 4485 W. and we couldn't believe our eyes. What an eye sore. The new owners did not take care of it at all. Looked like a slum. My dad has always taking excellent care of his home and had a nice looking yard. Even the yard at his new home looks much nicer than many of the neighbors.

My dad couldn't believe his eyes. He had to circle the cul-de-sac twice to look at it. It was just so sad. Some of the homes on the street looked the same, but there were many that didn't look well. What happened? The above picture was taken in the summer of 2006 and believe it or not, this is a good day for the home.

I went onto Google maps and found a street view of the home and it doesn't look much better.