I never would have thought...Ryan is Mr. Greenwave!

I had to put "I never would have thought..." in the title, and those of you who knew Ryan a few years ago and before probably think the same. Ryan, who never wanted to have anything to do with the stage or being in the spotlight, allowed his sister to enter him into the Mr. Greenwave pageant. Amazing. And SO much fun. Each contestant had a "coach" and Hannah was Ryan's coach. There were 6 contestants: Ryan and his cousin Michael, their friend Travis, plus Scottie, Josh, and Brett.

First, after introducing the contestants, there was a group synchronized dance (which was only occasionally synchronized). The chosen dance was the dance from Napoleon Dynamite...which is, I believe, what Andrew did for his talent the year he and Adam tried out for the Mr. Greenwave title.

Then there was a cake decorating competition, pick up lines, a jungle wear competition, a "style your coaches hair" segment, swimwear and then evening wear, answering 2 questions from the fish bowl, and finally the talent portion of the evening.

I love this look passing between Ryan and Hannah after they were introduced.

The dance from Napoleon Dynamite--terrible photo, I know. Michael is on the left and Ryan is in the middle. One of the few times they were all in sync. Fun.

Ryan knew the dance really well. His nickname is Queso (because he loves cheese), so instead of "Vote for Pedro" (from the Napoleon Dynamite movie), his shirt, that Hannah made for him, said "Vote for Queso"

Cake decorating was where they decorated a cake with something that inspired them...Brett and Michael had a little frosting fight...Michael presents his rose/sunflower cake

Ryan explaining his cake to Sarah: "I drew a bowl of soup. Food on food is inspirational."


Ryan's pick up line: "Wow, your eyes are the color of my porsche!"

Hannah wheeled Ryan out for the Jungle themed wear

Group jungle: Michael, Travis, Scottie, Ryan, Josh, and Brett with Torrey and Sarah

The hair styling competition was a blast. Ryan looks like he's really enjoying himself.

Michael putting a flower in Robin's hair while Travis looks on (with Allie)

Hannah showing off her do. "Hannah calls it her princess hair," Ryan explained.

Swimwear...notice Ryan's "abs" courtesy of my make-up drawer.

All the participants in their swimming attire-Michael, Travis, Scottie, Ryan, Josh, and Brett

Evening attire-Ryan and Josh

Michael's evening attire-I just couldn't get a good photo of him on a moving vehicle. It was a riot.

Ryan's fishbowl question #1-What's your greatest achievement in high school and why? Answer: "I solved the Rubik's cube in 27 seconds. I got a varsity letter in swimming 2 years in a row. And then I quit. Sorry, you swim team people."

Ryan's 2nd question: What would you do if you won the lottery? Answer: "Save it." Then Hannah yells from offstage something I couldn't understand and then Ryan says, "Give it to my coach. Buy a zipline and a car."

Talent came next:

Josh had some great soccer moves

Brett came out, bowed, did a few seconds of silly kicking, bowed, and left

Ryan doing what he's really known for...the Rubik's cube

Michael cheering for Ryan--too bad we didn't time it. He was fast.

Scottie and Torrey. He did a great job playing "Mary Had a Little Lamb" (as taught to him by his coach Baylee).

Travis cracked us up by eating for his talent...apparently his lunchbox is very well known as he snacks a lot

Michael sang ("The Trouble with Girls" by Scottie McCreary)...and did a great job even when the music failed and he had to finish a capella. I was impressed.

Ryan's reaction to being announced as the winner.

getting decked out

Scottie-2nd place, Michael-3rd place, and Ryan-Mr. Greenwave

Ryan with his coach

Alex hadn't wanted to come. He was glad he had.

Congratulations to Ryan, Hannah, Scottie, Baylee, Michael, and Robin.

Really, between "The Princess Bride" and this, we are just having too much fun lately.

pictures from "The Princess Bride"

The Albino clearing his throat to say "Don't even think about trying to escape."

"So it's to be torture then, is it?" The Albino nods.

Grandson and Grandfather...played by son and father

Vezzini makes good Sicilian food. Like...hot pockets!

nephew Joseph on the left as Yellin, with Buttercup and Prince Humperdink

nephew Michael as the priest: "Twu wuv" (see Joseph up front)

Eric and Michael taking a bow

Joseph taking a te-bow

Glen and Alex (who finished his bow before I could take a picture)

Vezzini's hot pockets

Tonight was the encore performance of "The Princess Bride." Way too much fun. Still wish we could do it again. That is not like me, either. But like I said, "Way too much fun."

P.S. OK, Glen just informed me there will be one more performance...Friday April 27th 6 pm in Yerington at the Middle School gymnasium, if you wish to attend. However, I won't be able to. :(
TBA...might be on Saturday the 12th Nope. It's been totally nixed. The play is over.

Encore Performance of "The Princess Bride" on the 23rd

Hello Friends,

Next Monday evening, April 23rd, there will be an encore performance of "The Princess Bride" for family and friends of the cast. It will not be truly publicized (they don't want the crowd too big), but Glen said that my friends read my blog, so they count as those invited to the performance.

So, if you wish to see it again, or if you missed it the first time around, come on Monday the 23rd at 7 pm!

"The Princess Bride" and lesser things

I cannot put into words how much I enjoyed "The Princess Bride" and what a great job I think everyone did (but especially my family). Katie Jones did a great job in adapting the story and directing. The casting was spot-on.

As I mentioned last post, Glen and Alex were the grandfather and grandson, Eric was the Albino, and our nephew Joseph played the Gatekeeper. Turns out this week another nephew, Michael, was a guard and the priest who performs the marriage. He had been out of town last weekend, so someone else had his part. Great stuff.

And as far as Glen's beard goes...it's already gone. He grew it for the play, but then he had a choice--he could kiss his wife or he could keep his beard. Smart man opted for kissing his wife.

We arrived early and Alex climbed into his bed. Hannah went up and read to him.

Alex and Glen in their spots and ready to go.

Eric in costume.

Glen had my camera and took an action shot of Fezzik knocking down the door for Inigo.

Ryan the photo-bomber, Glen, Joseph, Eric, Michael, and Alex

Other news:

I forgot to report that Hannah was on the Academic Games Team and they finished first this year (I believe Andrew has one of these, too):

Eagle Luncheon for Ryan:

Ryan and Glen waiting for the meal to honor 2011's Eagle Scouts (135 earned the award, 15 were at the luncheon)

Ryan leading the Eagle Scout pledge (which explains why he has the script)

A sample page of Eric's college notes:

I could not study well from Eric's notes, but he seems to do well with them

New cousin:

I was contacted by Jodie this week because she found my post about my great-great grandmother Ann Catherine Shoemaker Riddlebaugh Joy Norman. Jodie is descended from Catherine's brother Joel. Jodie and I are 4th cousins once removed. My family history blog once again has proven useful. I had info she didn't, and vice versa. Love it.

BYU-I Sinfonietta:

Tuesday night the BYU-Idaho strings group, Sinfonietta, on a tour of Nevada and California gave a free performance in the auditorium. Wow, were they good. At times the 15 violins sounded like one...plus they picked beautiful pieces that really showed off their talents.

I cannot find an example of Sinfonietta playing, but here is one of my favorite pieces of the night. They did the 4 movements of Ernest Bloch's Concerto Grosso. I liked the 4th, a fugue, best. Here's a link to it being played: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQKV72k0a1c

And one piece that I didn't catch the introduction for (or they forgot to give it as I was paying pretty close attention) was what members of the LDS church recognize as "If You Could Hie to Kolob," which is based on Vaughan William's Five Variants of Dives (pronounced Deeves) and Lazarus (one of the many things I've learned by attending BYU Ed Weeks). Here is a clip to that done by the BYU Chamber Orchestra: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glEIhCP_BDY&feature=related

Andrew's finals:

Last day of class for Andrew was Wednesday. He had his first final yesterday and will finish up on Tuesday. Then spring block starts next Monday. 

Butter making:

I live on a dairy farm and have only made butter once or twice and cheese once. We (usually Glen) do make yogurt occasionally.

Anyway, I decided I need to make butter more often. So I skimmed the cream off 2 gallons of milk, set it out till it reached 60º, whirled it in the food processor for about 9 minutes until the butter coalesced, drained off the buttermilk (which was later used in pancakes), rinsed the butter in cold water, added a bit of salt, and the end result was about 6 oz. of butter. It's very simple. The worst part is cleaning up the mess I made while making it.

after whirling for a while, the butter just "comes together"

drained

rinsing

butter

Stamping:

Becky's card

Michelle's card

my card