we survived our trip to the theatre conference!

waiting for the play Falling to begin

Yes, folks, we once again survived our annual trip to Utah for the UTA (Utah Theatre Association) Conference for junior high and high school students! There are lots of workshops and some plays to see. This year Weber State hosted it in Ogden, Utah. We had a large group with us: 26 students (one being Hannah) and 3 other chaperones.

The survival part comes in the fact that we leave at 2 am on a school bus and not because of the students (we had a great group). Sleeping on the school bus is sometimes freezing and always uncomfortable. It wasn't too bad this year--it wasn't snowing, so it was warmer than usual, but I still didn't sleep well or for long.

The UTA board brings in some famous people in the show business field, but not always names that non-theatre people know. This year, though, they had 2 famous comedians do an improv session and then a question and answer period. They were Greg Proops and Jeff Davis from Whose Line Is It, Anyway? The show was really great. I didn't bring my camera, so here's a photo from the internet. Greg is the one on the left and Jeff is the one on the right.

Friday, while everyone else went on campus, I stayed in the hotel and read, watched a little tv, and did some family history--I have been to so many conferences (14?) that it lessens my interest in attending the workshops.

Anyway, that evening we were assigned to see the musical Into the Woods. It about the stories of many fairy tales intertwining (Rapunzel, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk...). They did an awesome job, but the musical is not my favorite because I don't like where the storyline goes (we saw it a few years ago).

Saturday, Glen, Hannah, and I saw 4 plays together. First up, everyone saw The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged. I love this play and have seen it maybe 4 times. It's a comedy and the 3 actors who are in it condense all of the Bard's plays into one production (the football game with a crown as the football with King Lear, King John, and other Kings from the plays is hysterical). The actors were really talented, but they added a lot of sexual innuendos, so I was not so happy with it. I expected higher standards from the conference (I found out later that Hannah actually got up and left, but I wasn't sitting with her and it didn't even occur to me to do so).

Next up, Glen, Hannah, and I went to Falling which is a play about an 18 year old autistic boy and all the accommodations his family has to make to deal with his behaviors. It was quite serious and I had debated going as I don't really like dramatic plays...I find them painful. It was realistic and painful, but not too painful as it didn't totally hit close to home as Eric is high functioning. Although we had some accommodations for him, he wasn't tearing our family apart.

Then, Hannah got to be on the stage for The Real Inspector Hound. She had made friends with Annie, who is a USU-Eastern student and was the stage manager. The play is about 2 critics watching a play, so they needed people sitting around the critics on the stage as part of their audience. Hannah got to be one of the audience members. She has, by the way, now applied to USU-Eastern and is seriously considering going there. The campus is in Price, Utah, which is about 1 1/2 hours from Provo.

Hannah as part of the on-stage audience

Our last play and event was with everyone in our group seeing the musical The Plain Princess. They did a fantastic job; and since it was based on a children's story, there was no objectionable material. The costumes are always amazing and all of their voices were gorgeous.

Then it was onto the bus and back home again. We got in at 2:30 am, which might be the earliest we've ever gotten back. It was nice to sleep in my bed for a little before I had to get up this morning.

Alex got to sleep over at Aunt Kathy's house, so he didn't seem to miss us at all.

It is transfer week for Ryan, so we'll find out if he stays in Many or moves on on Tuesday.

Eric sent a few photos this week. Here's one taken of him on Christmas day while he is talking to us. Looks comfy, doesn't he?

a little slower paced week/random photos

Well, last Sunday I realized that I haven't really had a lot of time to just be at home with no one under foot and I decided not to sub this week. I wanted to just be a housewife. I liked it as it was a nice change of pace.

I started subbing when Alex was in 1st grade. I usually sub 2-3 days a week and usually go to the temple one day a week during the school year. If I'm not subbing and am home more, it means that something is happening...company is coming, I have a church or school project I'm working on, or I'm sick.

I have summers off, of course, but since everyone else does, too, it's hard to get things done. You know the old saying: cleaning the house while the kids are still growing is like shoveling the snow while it's still snowing. Getting stuff done with people around is just more difficult.

It was a wonderful week. I cleaned (big project--the carpets), organized (my recipe binders, for one thing, though I'm not done), baked (banana bread), etc. I didn't do anything I haven't done before, but it was done at a slower pace. I wasn't trying to cram everything into one or two days because I wouldn't be home the other days.

I got to go to the temple twice this week. Once with some friends, and I went again on Saturday with Glen and his parents. A couple we know were sealed as husband and wife and their son, who was shot and killed during a poker game years ago at the age of 15, was sealed to them. Talk about a wonderful experience! It was really touching. Knowing you can be together, and not just "as long as you both shall live," is a great blessing.


I didn't take any photos this week, but I love photos with my posts, so I've pulled a few from the "vaults" to enjoy.

So, a week full of good things for me. And today I started working on my genealogy again. Fun. Glen is busy with school, work, and church, as always. He currently is working on helping his mom to scan some family photos into the computer and get them posted to familysearch.org.

me and Glen in Alaska summer 2008

Andrew says that the title of his Senior English course is "Literature of Awe." The teacher named it. I can't wait to find out exactly what they are covering. He should be graduating in April.

Andrew and Heather at BYU's MOA when they were dating and I had first met her Sept 2012

Eric just finished a big project this week--a township census project. There were 4 people "working like crazy" to get it done on time. They did.

all the other students just stood there for their photos--not Eric, of course (around June 2000)

Ryan ate some pickled pig's feet the other day. He said it tasted like vinegar and felt like he was chewing on fat. (I once was served a slab of pig fat with a few bristles still in it on my mission...gross)

I guess I could have found one where Ryan's face was showing, but this one of him sleeping on the trampoline cracks me up

Hannah was accepted to SUU (Southern Utah University) in Cedar City, Utah, but she still doesn't know exactly was her plan is. She was also accepted to Corban University in Oregon. It turns out those are the only 2 places she's applied, though she's looked at a ton of schools. She may wait till after her mission to attend college.

I do not know when or where this photo of Hannah was taken, it was just in her folder on my computer

Alex is getting taller! A few more inches and he'll be as tall as I am.

Alex, Christmas 2008. Why do my kids all seem to have their mouths open?