Music and the Spoken Word

On Sunday, Brent and I lined up outside the Conference Center at 7am so that we (I) could get good seats to see The Osmonds perform in Music and the Spoken Word. After an hour chatting with friends, being "watched" through the doors by the staff and Brent, who hates waiting in lines, grumbling "this is ridiculous", we were finally let in and managed to get right to the front center in a perfect position to watch everything.
The MTC were already in their seats and not long after, out came the Osmonds and a full 30 minute rehearsal began. I was bummed that I didn't have my camera with me as they hadn't been allowed the previous two nights, but thankfully, a good friend of mine had hers with her, so I am anxiously awaiting her e-mail.
After the rehearsal, we had some "rules" from Lloyd Newell, the presenter, as the show was to be recorded. The hardest one to keep was not to clap at all. Clap? I wanted to SCREAM!!!! Just before the recording started, President Monson came out and sat in the front. Guess he must have enjoyed Friday's performance.
The Osmonds sang Are You Up There?, I Believe and He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother. Fantastic, wonderful and extremely emotional. The Spirit was very strong and their singing was perfect.
After the recording was over, President Monson got up on the stage and gave a speech to say how thankful he was to all of them for the years of dedication to their singing and that each of them was a missionary according to their own personality. He presented each one of the nine Osmonds and Jerry Williams, their music director, with a large frame which I later found out contained their favorite scripture. When President Monson got to Marie, he cupped her chin in his hand and said "You're lovely". Well that did it. Not to be outdone, Donny lifted his chin up to the prophet and got the same treatment. They gave each other a big bear hug after that.
The Osmonds were asked to turn to the choir who proceeded to sing God Be With You Til We Meet Again. Oh my word. We were all blubbering as we all know that the chances of all the Osmonds getting together again are remote to non-existent.
My friend Terri said she wanted a spiritual experience and boy, did we get one. I felt t he whole experience in my heart.

Pioneer Commerarative Concert

The whole reason for being in Utah was to attend these two concerts. I applied in the ticket lottery with about half a million other people (including my son and some dear friends who applied on my behalf) to get tickets for either show in the Conference Center which seats 21,000 people. Imagine my elation when I discovered that I had won four tickets for BOTH nights!
It was very touch and go whether I would be able to make it, but I am so glad that I did. I gave a ticket for both nights to my friend Donna and Brent sacrificed his ticket (hhmmm, not so sure it was a sacrifice!?!) so that I could give two to Mike and Lesley who we were staying with and also two to her parents.
On Friday night I thought the sound was a little off, but by Saturday, it was just perfect. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra were superb, but the show was, for me, purely about the Osmonds. It was so weird to see them singing hits like Down By The Lazy River, Yo-Yo, Puppy Love, etc in the Conference Center. HELLO, this was the Conference Center!!! The Prophet was in attendance on Friday night. I wonder what he thought about all that?
Both nights, but particularly Saturday, were very emotional. All of the fans knew that this was the culmination of their world tour celebrating their 50 years in show business and that the likelihood of seeing all seven of them (actually nine) again was going to be pretty much non existant. The Osmonds themselves seemed to reflect this emotion and all of them were seen with tears in their eyes at different points in the program. They recieved several standing ovations and I've never clapped so much in my entire life.

This is the Place

On Saturday morning, Brent, Donna and I headed to the This is the Place Heritage Park. Brent and I had been there before a couple of times, once about 25 years ago when there was just the monument there and then a few years ago when the park and village had been established.
We toured around the buildings a little, rode the "Pacific Railroad" train (note: remember NEVER to ride in the front seat again; COUGH, COUGH!!), rode in a "pioneer" wagon pulled by Fred and Ethel and saw lots of other cute things.
Donna and I agreed that we would not have made good pioneers except for if we lived in a house like Brigham Young or Heber C. Kimball, now they knew how to live!

Salt Lake City

At noon on Friday, Brent and I went to Salt Lake City airport and picked up my friend Donna. One of the things she had always wanted to do was to view Salt Lake City from the top of the Church Administration building, so that's what we did. Here are a couple of shots that I took from the 26th floor. Boy, was it hot up there!

Fireworks in Bountiful

After the parade we headed back to the Brinkerhoff's for a bite to eat before heading up to the bench just past the temple to watch the firework display being held down in the valley.
These few photos do NOT do justice at all. The fireworks were spectacular.

Handcart Days Parade, Bountiful UT

Last Wednesday, July 23, Brent and I drove up to Utah to stay with our friends, the Brinkerhoffs, in Bountiful. We got there in time for the Handcart Days Parade and here are a few photos that I took from our shady spot under a tree on the cooler side of the street.

Donny and Marie at the MGM

Last Saturday, July 19th, my friend Donna and I drove to Las Vegas to see Donny and Marie perform at the MGM Grand. We stayed at New York, New York across the street as we like the rooms better and they were cheaper. Throughout the weekend we met up with our friends Molly, Terri, Kathy, Melissa, Rose, Andrea, Gayle and Bob and had a wonderful time with them all. I was able to go to both the Saturday and Sunday night shows but photos were only allowed on the Saturday night, so here they are!
The show was AWESOME!!!

Sheer ecstasy

Last night I tried out my new bathtub. The picture here isn't actually mine, but it's not far off it. I filled it with nice hot bubbly water, lit a scented candle, turned off the lights, climbed in and soaked in luxurious ecstasy.
I can honestly say, it's the best bath I've had in 8 years.

Thought of the Day

Today was better than Yesterday.

The Monsoon's Here

Last night at about 8pm, I let the dogs outside and noticed that it had been raining. The ground was wet and it felt so fresh outside. I called Brent to come and sit outside with me then went into the garage to get an old rug to put on over a stone seat that we have. I sat down and felt one, two, three drops of rain on my face then WHOOSH!!!! The heavens opened. It happened just like that. Water began pouring everywhere. I especially noticed the water coming down a drain from the top of my covered patio onto three cactus pots I have that were positioned beneath it. Now the whole reason I bought them in the first place was because they DON'T need water!!!
Tonight when I got home from work, the lawn was soggy, the soil was muddy and Max and Sophie had obviously loved the whole experience.

Max and Sophie

I think Max and Sophie like their new back yard. It faces east and so is a lot cooler and they LOVE the grass because its always wet due to the sprinklers and therefore their favorite place to sit and cool down.
Can Sophie's tail get any curlier?
Max is such a handsome boy!

Pretty in Pink

Don't I look pretty in pink?
I can walk a little now. One, two, three, four, five, six, oops...all fall down!
I know Grandma needs all the help she can in unpacking her boxes.

Smiling

Christopher's smiling! What a clever boy!

What's Been Happening

Well, a lot's been happening. First and foremost I wasn't able to post about Katelynn's 2nd birthday on July 1st as I was without internet for a couple of days due to us moving house. I can hardly believe that she's 2 already; how time flies. I love her and miss her so much and wish she was living here in Arizona. Here's a picture of Katelynn, aka "Drowned Rat" on her birthday after she'd been playing in the rain.
As I said, we have been moving house all week. We've moved to a bigger house about a mile away from our old one. It's been a tough week moving in 110F heat, but we're almost done. I can hardly fathom how much we've accumulated in 6 years. I hope to post pictures in a couple of weeks when we have less boxes on view!