The Shins at Red Butte

Miles and I spent Monday night at the Red Butte Garden amphitheater.



We’ve been both been fans of The Shins for years, so we were both pretty excited when we heard they were coming to town.



There were two warm-up bands, Blind Pilot and The Head and the Heart.  They were both quite good.  Besides the standard guitar and keyboards, Blind Pilot played with a real double-bass, trumpet, mandolin, and a marimba.  You don’t see that too often.



The Shins took the stage right before dusk.  They played their older hit songs as well as tracks from their new record, Port of Morrow.




I tried taking movie clips from my iPhone, and was pleased to find they didn’t turn out too bad.

 

 

 

They were a very tight live band.  We enjoyed how they played different arrangements of some of their songs.



We were surprised how we were actually able to understand the lyrics better hearing them live. That’s not usually the case.



James Mercer, the lead singer, mentioned that he lived in Roy when he was eight and used to go eat at The Burger Bar. He said his sister from Roy met him and gave him a tour of Ogden, Roy and Salt Lake City.

The Salt Lake Tribune had a good review you can read here.




Miles and I had a great time. It was our first show since seeing Pixies in Milwaukee last year. We love listening to live music.

I Might Be a Murderer

Yes, it is true. You may have heard the rumor that I killed the red van. I cannot deny it. To all the people who say, no way, you can’t drive 70 mph in second gear:  Well, actually, yes, you can. For awhile anyway. From Heber to Jeremy Ranch at least. Your vehicle might go longer. You’ll never know unless you try, you know!

So goodbye, Vanny! This picture appeared on the fridge today.



The little girl is crying while thinking about the van. The black streaks on her face are tears. (I haven’t actually seen Saffy crying much though. I’m glad she’s able to express her emotions with pictures!)



So now we have entered the world of automatic sliding doors and power keychains. It’s very weird.



It is nice though, after 15 years of wrestling with car seats, to finally have a vehicle with those awesome car seat locks! Why did we take so long to move beyond vehicles from the 90’s?

 

And finally, here are a few pictures from the event that precipitated the van’s demise.
“Backstage” at Shakespeare Showdown at the Heber Girls Camp.







Final curtain call. Goodbye Twelfth Night! (said with some relief on my part, but sadness on Lisette’s part.)

Total Eclipse of the Heart

 

Sunday we were able to watch the eclipse.  It was not a total eclipse of the sun, but it was very impressive nonetheless.  We got to see the moon cross from one side to the other.

Marsha got us some special glasses and we were able to look right at it.  It was very cool  We also rigged up a solar projector by mounting a pair of binoculars to a tripod.

The sun shone through the lens and we were able to focus it onto a white paper.

This week has been very eventful with Lisette and Miles gone to their Shakespeare camp from Monday through Wednesday.  We also had an auto mishap and sadly had to retire our minivan.  We bought a new one on Thursday and unfortunately we again have car payments.  Sigh.

Our Year of Shakespeare

For those of you who saw our Twelfth Night performance in April, thanks for supporting us! Here is the background to the event.
Last summer my friend Charlotte decided that she wanted to go to the Shakespeare training done by LEMI. Since I’d  been to some of the Shakespeare plays done by another LEMI Shakespeare group I was interested as well. However, with Nigel reaching toddlerhood this year, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to do it. But long story short, I did go to the training last July and then, taking one step at a time, I ended up being Charlotte’s assistant and the director for our play in April. (Charlotte was the producer, costume and scenery manager plus lots of other parts. We also recruited other parents to take on other key roles.)

So here we started out the year. All the kids were supposed to do a presentation or two on Elizabethan topics.Charlotte and I gave our presentations first to show the kids what we expected of them.

Here I gave my presentation: Shakespeare’s sources or Shakespeare the plagiarist. (Notice Ian holding Nigel while I did my part. Ian was extremely helpful!)

Lisette gave two presentations.

Her first presentation included an Elizabethan funeral procession. (Show above.) Her second presentation was on the four humors, blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile. (Shown below.)

Miles did a presentation on English geography. He baked a nice gingerbread cookie of England as a visual aid.

The kids were also supposed to “experience” at least 7 of Shakespeare’s plays. All fourteen of our students got to 7, and a hard-working few got  to 17, at which point they could be crowned king or queen. Lisette and Miles both made it to 17! Here is a picture of Lisette’s coronation ceremony and Miles in his crown.

“Experiencing” the plays could be reading, listening, watching a live play or watching a movie. We did some of all of these options. Also, to encourage those who needed a little extra, we had six Shakespeare movie parties at our house.

We also had lessons on Shakespearean literature and discussed Julius Caesar together.

 
Fun with iambic pentameter

For our parent’s night in December we did a 15-minute version of Julius Caesar.

Lisette, as Casca, with Brutus and Cassius.

In January we started reading and discussing Twelfth Night, and we also started acting lessons.

Finally, at the end of February we did auditions for Twelfth Night and in March we started rehearsals
 
Lisette and friends act cool.
 

Rehearsal on Charlotte's back porch.

We rehearsed on Charlotte’s back porch and inside when it rained. Later we moved rehearsals to her driveway because it more accurately reflected the stage dimensions. Charlotte’s neighbors already thought her family was crazy, now they are sure!

Finally, we were able to move to the stage at Draper Historic Theater. Lisette, with her painted beard and mustache, was Malvolio. Here she arrives in her yellow stockings, cross-gartered!

 
Ian, looking good in his priest’s beard, arrives to marry Olivia to Sebastian. Ian wasn’t an official member of our Shakespeare group, but he attended so many of our meetings that we had to persuade him to take a part.(He was actually kind of hard to persuade.) He had two scenes and two lines.

Miles, as Fabian, flees Malvolio, who is sure possessed. His wild friend, Sir Toby leads the way.

Many thanks to our audience members! Also thanks to Eric for taking half a day off every Thursday for two month for rehearsals and to Karen for babysitting Nigel and Saffy for the other rehearsals!

Now, to finish off the Shakespeare year, Lisette and Miles are off to Shakespeare Showdown, a Shakespeare camp where about 14 other Shakespeare groups from the state perform for each other. Looking back on the year, I’m actually pretty amazed!

Called to Serve

My parents left for the MTC today.  They are going to be CES (Church Education System) Specialists in the Detroit Michigan mission.  On Sunday they spoke in sacrament meeting in their home ward in Ogden.  It was a special occasion because my niece, LaLaina (who was called to the Florida Tallahassee mission), also spoke as well.

It was a very touching experience to hear them speak and feel of their faith and testimony.  They love God and their family very much.  They have done much with what they were given.  My dad overcame very difficult family circumstances in his youth, and has given his family a legacy of faith and love.  They will share that faith and love with the people they serve.  We will miss them, but their service will bless our family.

My sister Ruth has been in town in Zach and Ben.  They are so cute and they keep her plenty busy.  We love having them around.

My cousin, Cameron, and his family came as well.  His sisters Britany and Nicole came with their families as well.  We're so glad that they make such effort to keep in touch, especially since their parents aren't with us anymore.

My uncles Leonard and Ray both made it.  Along with dad they all match with their white hair.  Having them visit brings back so many memories.

My uncles Monty and Glen brought my Grandma Elgan up from Brigham City.  Since yesterday was Mother's Day my mom gave a very stirring tribute to her.  My Grandma is great!  More and more, every time I see Monty and Glen I can't not remember my Grandpa, they look and sound so much like him.

Michel was so gracious to have such a big crowd in her house.  We enjoy her and her family so much.

Nigel looks sober in this picture, but he had a good time.  He matches with his three cute cousins, Makenna, Hope and Sara.  They are all blonde hair and blue eyed.

LaLaina gave a great talk and she has grown so much in the last two years.  She will be a very tenacious and determined missionary who will love the people.

 Here is my cousin Chris talking with Clair and Joy.  Last year at this time he was in the hospital, so it's good to see him out and about again.  He and his brother Lance do a lot of extreme biking competitions.  They also run a bike company, Canfield Brothers, where they make high-end racing bikes.

 

Here is the painful but necessary obligatory group photo.  I twas so nice to have so much family that we love together.  Clair, Joy, Ruth and I spent a couple of joyous hours playing pinochle together. Clair informed me that Sting's song "Shape of My Heart" is about pinochle.  A jack of diamonds and a queen of spades make pinochle.  We have never been much for sports in my family but we have many memories of hours and hours of playing pinochle.  Cards will keep us together.

Happy Mother's Day from Melinda

Mom on her last birthday. (She still had hair then despite the hat.)

Things I Have Learned From My Mother (in no particular order):

1.      It’s okay to say no. I remember sometimes thinking, “Really, Mom, you could do that,” but now I’m grateful she didn’t. She just said, “No, that’s too much,” and she didn’t feel guilty.

2.      It’s okay to take care of yourself. Even with eight children, Mom faithfully took naps. I don’t follow her example in taking naps, but I do think it is easier for me to take care of myself in other ways because she showed me that it was okay.

3.      It’s okay to read “other” translations of the Bible (meaning other than good old King James, which is the official scripture of the LDS church.) I remember as a teenager thinking that Mom was kind of heretical the way she read  (gasp) the New Living Translation. Now I totally follow her example, and I'm grateful for the world it's opened up to me. (To be clear, I think we both also read the King James version. And no one is necessarily endorsing the NLT. It's just what Mom had in those days.)

4.      A perfect body is not the goal. Having a perfect body does not make you a better person, nor does a perfect body necessarily make you more attractive or even more sexually desirable (though maybe she never used the words “sexually desirable”). I recognize now what a gift it was to have a mother who disbelieved  in “dieting” and who taught me that much of beauty is culturally determined and that our culture is largely dysfunctional in this regard.

5.      Church service is important. Although she doesn’t believe in running faster than she has strength, Mom has always faithfully served in the “little” callings, like visiting teaching, and the “big” callings, like nursery leader. I don't always follow her example well, but I can't deny her influence.

6.      Your feelings are your feelings. Although it does matter what you do with them, it’s okay to have negative feelings. I remember in high school sobbing because I “had to” go out on a date. (Dating was hard for me, okay.) If I remember right, Dad was a bit concerned by my extreme reaction, but I remember Mom saying to him, “It’s okay, dear. This is how she feels.” (After much family support I did go on the date and it was good for me. Bless the poor boy who took me!)

7.      Family is top priority. First spouse, then children, then extended family, but all are very important. I’ve definitely inherited this value (from both my parents actually) though I don’t think I live my life in harmony with it quite as well as Mom does.

8.      Optimism and Faith. It’s hard for me to untangle where one leads into the other. Mom has a huge faith in God and in the Gospel of Christ. She also has a huge faith that the Lord is in charge. I think that might be the root of a lot of her optimism. When my house started falling apart, when we had to move in with Mom and Dad for remodeling, when I was pregnant and sick during that same time, Mom kept saying that this would all be for good. I thought, “Sure, Mom, sure. We’ll get through, but I wish we didn’t have to.” But now I have to admit that although she was “pathologically optimistic,” she was also totally right.

I love you, Mom!

Melinda

Happy Seventh

Saffron recently turned 7!  Her aunt Ruth made her a lovely pink birthday cake.  

Her great grandma's birthday is the day before, so we had a joint party

 She was glad to have some of her cousins with her.

Marsha took her out and got her a cake the day before her birthday, and Miles made a cake for her on Sunday, the day after her birthday.  We think Saffy's seventh is worth at least 3 cakes, don't you?