Oh the Thinks you can Think...

When you think about Seuss!

In November, my stake put on a production of Seussical the Musical. I was fortunate to have a chance to participate in the show, and it was a BLAST! I had forgotten how much I enjoy doing a show and being on stage. For those who don't know what Seussical is: take Horton Hears a Who, add a whole bunch of other characters from Seuss (Cat in the Hat, Gertrude McFuzz..etc), mash them together, throw in music and lyrics, and out pops a musical!

Auditions were held in September, while I was in New York. For a while I used that as an excuse to not audition. But then the more I thought about it, and the more people at church asked if I was going to do it, the more I realized I wanted to try out. So I emailed the director and the producer, and asked if I could audition early. The worst they could say was no.

Well, Cory (Mr. Director) said we could make it work. So I auditioned a few weeks early, on a day I happened to get a sore throat..awesome for singing, right? Nevertheless, I managed. And the weeks of waiting to hear about my part were difficult. At first I wanted one of the leads, Gertrude McFuzz or Mayzie LaBird. However, I was cast as a bird girl, and I am sooo glad now. As a bird girl I had an absolute fantastic time! I got to do a lot of dancing and singing, and I spent a lot more time on stage. Plus I got to work with the other bird girls, including my friend Jessica, and they are all fantastic women. I really scored on my part. (Honestly, we were on stage for at least half the show...we were always busy!)

Now, normally to do a musical you have like 50 rehearsals--every night for several weeks. We had a little over 20 rehearsals to pull this show together, and it turned out so well! I was so pleased with our performance. I just can't express how much fun I had, the wonderful people I got to meet and work with and the friends I made. It was such an amazing experience, and I am so glad I decided to try for it!

Here are some fun photos of our show!

 We did a black light number! It was so cool!

Whole Cast and Orchestra!

Storybook Lane

Alpenrose Dairy is a fully functioning dairy really close to our complex. And they have built up a little Western looking town with store fronts you can go in and see, like a school, post office, cobbler shop, piano shop and Opera House. (The Opera House is legit, with 600 theatre seats and a 4,000 pipe organ). They also have a bakery (for real food) and model trains set up. It is so cute and we enjoyed seeing the dairyville all set up for Christmas.

This is the second year they have been open, and they have Santa in his own building/house set up at a photo booth We took Eli to get his picture taken with Santa. He wasn't too pleased with the sitting on a strange man's lap thing, but we got come cute photos.

 I can't help it, I love the little scowl

They also have an area called Storybook Lane with 4-H raised animals in little houses, among 100s of Christmas trees and little story clips along the way. So Cute!

Here are some other pictures from around Dairyville.

 Eli loved watching the model trains!

Inside the Western Town style Candy Shop

Inside the Post Office.

Visiting Dairyville made for a wonderful Saturday morning outing, and the perfect start to David's Christmas break. Yay!

Christmas is Coming!

Christmas arrived at our home! Here are some of the ways we have shown it:

 Over Thanksgiving, Mom showed me how to make my own wreath! It was so much fin to do it with her, and now I know how to do it, I can make more! Thanks Mom!

 Our little tree. I have been looking and looking for a decent tree topper, and found this one at Fred Meyer. I wasn't sure about it at first. (I knew the one I wanted, but it didn't come in silver.. only in gold! So annoying!). But the more I see this topper, the more I like it!

We have also been hunting for the perfect nativity set, and again, couldn't find it. But then my sister-in-law Shonda suggested getting a Fontanini nativity set because they are pretty much indestructible, a huge plus for little kids. So we went and looked, and I actually fell in love with them. So we started our nativity, and we will add to do every year. Shonda also gave me a Shepherd for the nativity, for the birthday, but I didn't get a picture of it. I'm very pleased with our little started nativity. It is just the right amount of traditional for me, and Eli has already put the unbreakable claim to the test...the nativity has passed with flying colors. Whew! He loves to play with the little figurines and it gives us a chance to talk to him about Christ's birth. Win win!

We also have a garland across our sliding glass door with lights and ornaments on it, but again, no picture. I love this time of year. Merry Christmas!