Fifteen

Sean turns fifteen tomorrow but we had our family celebration of his birthday yesterday!  The birthday boy chose to stay at home for dinner and he picked burgers and french fries which tasted delicious!  Afterwards we had the traditional ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins.  We all laughed because he had the exact same cake last year!

He was pretty spoiled for his birthday!

Tashena gave him a gift card to Amazon (she flew back to school in Washington after his party and I already miss her).  Sean was so thrilled he almost gave her a hug...almost!

Marilyn gave him a video game and a book series.

Grandma and Grandpa gave him Motion Controllers for his PlayStation.  I don't know what they do (it has something to do with what he wants for Christmas) but Sean was absolutely thrilled to get them!

I got him this video game.  He was very specific when told me that he wanted Assassin's Creed Odyssey (the Gold Edition) and he told me that there was only one left on Amazon so I had to get it quickly!  When I told him that I would get it, he got mad because he wanted to be surprised!  He cracks me up!

His Mom and Dad got him a sofa for his room (he has the coolest teen hangout room ever) but they also got him his own Megatub that he doesn't have to share with anyone else at a movie!  Sean won't let anyone eat popcorn from the shared Megatub until the movie starts so this is really just a gift for all of us!  I can't believe that he is fifteen!  I sure do love him and I hope he had a great birthday!

Messiah Sing-In 2019

Attending a Utah Symphony performance of Handel's Messiah was once a really lovely tradition for me over the Thanksgiving break but for the past several years I have been out of town and not able to go.  I was really happy to revive the tradition last night!  I found my copy of the score and practiced my hallelujahs so I was ready to sing along with the audience during the choral sections!  The orchestra was joined by soloists Grace Kahl, Quinn Middleman, Addison Marlor, and Brandon Bell (Resident Artists with the Utah Opera) and the Westminster College Choir.  The Messiah is not only the perfect way to ring in the holiday season but it is also so much fun to sing!  It reminded me of when I was a member of the Westminster College Choir!  My favorite sections to sing are "For Unto us a Child is Born," "Glory to God in the Highest," and "Hallelujah!"  I fear that my hallelujahs may have been a bit too boisterous!  The orchestra performed this majestic piece beautifully and I especially loved the timpani in "Hallelujah!" because it was so stirring.  All of the soloists were fantastic but I was particularly impressed with Bell's rendition of "The trumpet shall sound" because it gave me goosebumps (the trumpet solo was also incredible)!  I thoroughly enjoyed this concert because listening to Christmas music performed live is my favorite part of the holiday season and I would definitely recommend getting a ticket to tonight's performance (go here for tickets).

Note:  Now that the holiday season is upon us it is always a good idea to allow plenty of time when driving and parking downtown.

Seussical at HCT

It is no secret that I do not like the musical Seussical.  In fact, when I saw the Broadway touring production a few years ago I thought it was the most ridiculous thing I had ever seen and, if I hadn't been with a friend who drove, I would have left at intermission.  I wasn't very happy when HCT announced this show as part of the 2019 season because I vowed to never see it again.  The only reason I decided to see it last night is because I really loved what Dave Tinney, the director, was able to do with Matilda and Cinderella, two other shows that are not my favorite.  He turned the dark and dreary Matilda into something fun and whimsical and he made me giggle out loud at the magic of Cinderella so I had high hopes for his version of Seussical.  Jojo (Parker Burnham) is a young and imaginative boy who sometimes gets in trouble for the thinks that he thinks so the Cat in the Hat (Ryan Simmons), acting as a Master of Ceremonies, takes him on an adventure where he meets Horton the Elephant (Travis Anderson), Gertrude McFuzz (Kelly Coombs), the Amayzing Mayzie (Bailee Morris) and her Bird Girls (Kennedy Johnson, April Kerr, and Tianna Maxwell), the Sour Kangaroo (Mack) and the Wickersham Brothers (Abrin Tinney, Jason Buonforte, Ben Butters, Sam Cooper, Patch Wendel, and Josh Lee), the Mayor of Who-ville (Cameron Garner) and his wife (Morgan Western), and General Genghis Khan Schmitz (Zac Zumbrunnen).  Jojo ultimately learns that anything is possible and that he can go anywhere he wants just by thinking his thinks.  I don't think I will ever really like this show because the story is nonsensical, convoluted, and loses focus in the second half but I was really impressed with what Tinney was able to do with it.  The staging and choreography are incredibly imaginative and visually spectacular, particularly the aerialists (Jessica Bird, Olivia Lee, Jessica Kehl, and Jane Jackson) in "It's Possible" and "Alone in the Universe" because there was always something to draw my eye everywhere I looked (I loved the fish).  I also really enjoyed the Wickersham Brothers in "Monkey Around," the circus performers in "Circus McGurkus," and the cadets in "A Message From the Front."  The costumes are bold, colorful, and fun and I especially loved the fanciful feathered costumes worn by Mayzie, Gertrude, and the Bird Girls and I thought it was really clever that the Wickersham Brothers were dressed like an adolescent street gang.  The puppets used by the Whos are absolutely ingenious and I really enjoyed them in "Here on Who."  The sets come straight out of a Dr. Seuss book and are incredibly whimsical.  The entire cast is very strong but I was most impressed with Coombs as Gertrude because she is so endearing and Anderson as Horton because he is quite sympathetic.  Simmons is absolutely hilarious as the Cat in the Hat, particularly when he spontaneously interacts with the audience (I loved the Les Miserables reference).  I didn't love this show but I enjoyed it and I definitely recommend it for families this holiday season (the children in my audience were riveted).  It runs on the HCT Main Stage until January 18 (go here for tickets).

Thanksgiving 2019

Yesterday my family celebrated Thanksgiving and it was such a fun day!  My Mom, Marilyn, Tashena (she is home from college for the weekend and it is so good to see her), and I went out in the snow to see Frozen II in the afternoon and I loved it even more the second time!  They really liked it, too!

After the movie we had the traditional Thanksgiving dinner including both turkey and ham, cheesy potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, pomegranate salad, rolls, and a relish tray.  Everything tasted so good!  Here are the usual awkward photos that I get every year because my family won't cooperate.  You're welcome!

After dinner we all took a little nap and then played our favorite card game, Shanghai rummy!  Tashena won (but I came in second place).  After cards we had pie and then Marilyn, Tashena, and I went to see Frozen II yet again (because we are crazy).  It is so much fun going to movies late at night and we were quite giddy by the time we got home!  I really enjoyed spending time with my family yesterday and I am so glad that they are all as crazy as I am!  I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends doing the things you love!

Frozen II

I have taken my nephew Sean to a movie over the Thanksgiving break every year since he joined our family so it was fun to continue the tradition by seeing Frozen II together yesterday.  Both Sean and I really enjoyed it!  Several years after Elsa (Idina Menzel) is crowned as Queen of Arendelle, she is trying to enjoy a normal life with Anna (Kristen Bell), Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), Olaf (Josh Gad), and the reindeer Sven.  However, she hears a mysterious voice calling to her and decides that it is coming from the Enchanted Forest where her grandfather, King Runeard, signed a treaty with the Northuldra people to create a dam.  This resulted in a war which angered the elemental spirits of air, water, fire, and Earth, causing them to surrounded the Enchanted Forest in a mist trapping everyone inside.  Elsa and the others travel to the Enchanted Forest where she searches for answers about Arendelle’s past, what happened to her parents, and where her powers come from.  She and Anna must ultimately work together to right the wrongs between the people of Arendelle and the Northuldra.  There are two other amusing subplots involving Olaf, who is confused about growing up, and Krisfoff, who struggles to find a way to propose to Anna.  I found the story to be quite compelling with sophisticated themes about colonization, the treatment of indigenous peoples, and respect for the environment interspersed with the same themes of female empowerment and freedom to be who you are that I loved in the original.  The animation is absolutely stunning and I especially loved the Enchanted Forest with its autumn leaves shrouded in mist and the use of ice sculptures to represent past events.  I also really liked the giant Earth spirits.  Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez return with some fantastic songs including "Into the Unknown," "The Next Right Thing," and "Show Yourself."  These songs are very powerful but I have to admit that my favorite is "Lost in the Woods" sung by Kristoff in a sequence that looks like the greatest 80s music video ever!  I pretty much giggled throughout the whole thing which caused Sean to lean over and give me the "look."  I loved this movie and I would recommend it for the whole family this holiday season.