Johnson Family Pictures 2016

My parents have a big anniversary coming up and, in honor of the occasion, my Mom really wanted some new family pictures taken.  A couple of weeks ago we had our family friend, Lesa, take some and we love how they turned out!

2009

2008

Note:  Lesa took all of these photos and her first comment was how much Sean and Tashena have grown!  How did this happen?

Miss Basketball Star

This week Tashena tried out for the Bountiful High basketball team and, of course, she made it!  Even though she is a sophomore she will be playing varsity.  The coach told my brother-in-law that college scouts are already interested in her!  What?  She is amazing and we are so incredibly proud of her!

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Last night I went to a late night screening of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and I am just a little bit disappointed because it wasn't as, well, magical as I had hoped it would be.  I have long been anticipating the continuation of the Wizarding World because I am such a fan of the Harry Potter books and movies and, while I didn't hate this movie, I didn't love it, either.  Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) visits New York in the 1920s on his way to release a magical creature back into the wilds of Arizona and inadvertently releases several other creatures into the city when he collides with Jacob Kowalski (Dan Folger), who has a similar case.  Tensions are high because a dark wizard named Gellert Grindewald (an interesting casting reveal at the end of the film) is trying to provoke a war between the wizards and No-Majs (American Muggles) in the U.S.  The MACUSA (Magical Congress of the United States of America) is trying to suppress the exposure of wizards so Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston), a former Auror trying regain her status, arrests him but ends up helping him along with her sister Queenie (Alison Sudol).  Meanwhile, Percival Graves (Colin Farrell), the Director of Magical Security, is trying to track down a child possessed by an Obscurus, a dark force that is created when a wizard is forced to hide his or her magical powers, and enlists the help of the troubled son (a creepy Ezra Miller) of a woman (Samantha Morton) who leads a group against witchcraft.  There is also a sub-plot involving a U.S. Senator (Josh Cowdery) who is killed by an Obscurus, and his wealthy and powerful father (Jon Voight).  It is very obvious that this film is the beginning of a series (I've heard that five films are planned) because there is so much going on to set up future plots.  Many of the characters are very one-dimensional and I suspect that they will be more fully-developed in future films.  What I enjoyed most about this film are the scenes where Scamander and Kowalski traipse around New York trying to collect the escaped beasts, especially when Scamander must perform a mating dance to get an Erumpet back into the case.  I also enjoyed the scene where Scamander shows all of the beasts to Kowaski (the case is like Harry's tent because it is normal on the outside but large enough on the inside to contain all of Scamader's beasts and their habitats).  Redmayne is a lot of fun as the eccentric and permanently ruffled Scamander and Folger is endearing as the No-Maj caught up in the world of wizards but I did not like Waterston's portrayal of Tina Goldstein because it is so bland.  I suspect that I will enjoy the future films a lot more than this one; Gellert Grindewald has great potential as a villain!  In the meantime, however, this installment is definitely a must-see for fans of the Harry Potter franchise.

Beautiful at the Eccles

I finally got to see a show at the new Eccles Theater!  I've been looking forward to Beautiful for quite a while because several people who went on the New York City theatre trip with me saw this show and absolutely raved about it (I chose not to see it in NYC because I knew I would be seeing it in SLC).  Beautiful is a jukebox musical, a stage show which uses previously released pop songs that are either conceptualized to tell a story like Mamma Mia or used to tell the biographical story about the performer whose music is featured like Jersey Boys, describing how Carole King rose to stardom in the 1970s using the songs she wrote such as "So Far Away," "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," "Up on the Roof," "It's Too Late," "You've Got a Friend," "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," and "I Feel The Earth Move" among others.  I had forgotten how many great songs she wrote (I saw King in concert with James Taylor several years ago and I was surprised then as well).  Act I begins with a sixteen year old King (Julia Knitel) deciding to go Manhattan to sell one of her songs to music producer Don Kirshner (Curt Bouril) and continues with her development as a hit songwriter with her husband Gerry Goffin (Liam Tobin) and the rivalry with the songwriting team of Cynthia Weil (covered by DeLaney Westfall last night) and Barry Mann (Ben Fankhauser).  Act II includes the disintegration of King's marriage to Goffin and the writing and recording of her seminal album Tapestry.  King's legendary concert at Carnegie Hall in 1971 is used as a framing device.  I think this musical is staged brilliantly.  King and Goffin or Weil and Mann would begin singing a song as they wrote it and then the artist who made it famous would continue it in a big production number including "Some Kind of Wonderful" with the Drifters, "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" with the Shirelles, "Up on the Roof" with the Drifters, "The Locomotion" with Little Eva, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" with the Everly Brothers (my favorite), and "One Fine Day" with Janelle Wood.  Knitel does great job with the role and I especially enjoyed her rendition of "Natural Woman" and I also loved the comic relief provided by Fankhauser.  This is a fun show to watch and many people around me automatically started singing the songs.  It runs at the Eccles Theater until Nov. 20.

Note:  Jessie Mueller originated the role of Carole King on Broadway (and won a Tony).  I got to see her perform in the original cast of Waitress on Broadway and she was amazing.

Auckland

Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand and I had less than a day to explore it!

On our drive into the city, we stopped at the Michael Joseph Savage monument.  Savage was the first Labour Prime Minister of New Zealand and he is known as one of the best and most revered Prime Ministers in the country.  It was a lovely park.  Then we headed to our hotel, which was in a prime location.  The locals say that if you want to play, you turn right and head to the Sky Tower and the casino, and if you want to pray, you turn left and head to St. Patrick's Cathedral.  I did both during my short time in Auckland.

I decided to play first and headed to the Sky Tower.  I went up to the observation deck for some spectacular views of the city and the harbour and to watch people base jumping from the top!

After playing, I decided that I had better pray so I made a stop at St. Patrick's Cathedral and got there just in time to hear mass.  I hadn't been to a mass since I was in Lithuania a few years ago and it was lovely.  The priest thanked God for allowing Wellington to beat South Africa in rugby the night before!

Cathedral Square was a great place for people watching.  You can see the Sky Tower behind the cathedral.

I decided to spend the rest of the afternoon down by the waterfront and imagine my delight when I found the iconic "Red Fence" along Captain Cook Wharf on Quay Street!  Look at those amazing lamp posts!

I found this lovely lamp post near the Ferry Building.

I decided to walk up Queen Street, the main shopping area of Auckland, to look at the beautiful Victorian buildings and found some more amazing lamp posts!

After wandering around Queen Street, I went back to the hotel for our farewell dinner and just like that my adventure Down Under was over! I got on a plane to come back to the United States (and start school shortly thereafter) the next morning!  You can read all about my adventures:  Melbourne, Alice Springs, The Kangaroo Sanctuary, Sunrise Ballooning in the Outback, Uluru, The Great Barrier Reef, Kuranda Rainforest, Sydney Harbour Cruise, Sydney, Whale Watching, The Beautiful South Island of New Zealand, Milford Sound,  and Hobbiton.