Introcuding my niece Eddy May Hale Forgett

Check one off of the Bucket List

Thats right, I got to check off one of the items off of my "Things to Do Before I Die" list. I met my favorite singer/songwriters, the amazingly talented

Michael McLean

His show "The Forgotten Carols"came to the Morrison Center this past week. We have been waiting for it for what seems like forever! (a few years anyway) The set was gorgeous, he was fabulous and super nice as was his wife.

My aunt and uncle have been friends with Michael and his wife since college and I just about died when I was playing her piano one day and she casually tells me that Mr. McLean has played it too. So needless to say I was so excited to listen to him sing live, and watch him play songs that I have listened to over and over and over. I hadn't seen his show in about 15 years and Matt had never seen it so I was excited to have an up close front row-ish :) seat (I stage managed the show)....

I was in heaven!!

Matt was VERY moved by his show. Him being a new member it is awesome to watch how things that are "old" to me but new to him excite him. It gives me a new found appreciation for things I think I had taken for granted.

All of these pictures are pretty horrible... they were taken from behind glass in the light booth but they are what we have.

Festival of Trees '08

It has always been a tradition in my family to go to St. Als
FESTIVAL of TREES
each year over Thanksgiving Weekend

A couple of years ago they needed a new Santa set so the Morrison Center was called. We built it, painted it, put a fireplace in it and have put it together every year for them for the past three years. I posted pictures of the set last year.

(Decorating the Fork Lift)

This year is a special year. It is the
25th anniversary
for both the Festival and the Morrison Center. We, the Center, have a glorious 14 foot tree that we have for our lobby.
(We love De... she is very "focused")

We lent it to the Festival and our friend and fabulous designer De decorated it with our help. We built an amazing base covered with mirrors.



It is dripping with silver (silver anniversary) and is

GORGEOUS


With all of Matts health issues last year we feel incredibly indebted to St. Alphonsus for everything they have done for us. Volunteering every year for this fundraiser is the least we can do and we still get free passes to the events and awesome t-shirts.

We started that morning at 6am after finishing out at Caldwell High the night before after midnight so we were all a bit loopy!

(Matt's new earings)

(Getting up close and personal with Rick)

(Me and my bling bling!)

Adventures at Caldwell HIgh

We received a call for help from the Caldwell High Drama teacher a few weeks ago. The man in charge of all the lights was a glorified janitor who didn't know what he was doing and completely blew the system. They had no power to them whatsoever. We couldn't let those kids perform with flash lights so we and a few of our co workers volunteered 3 days of our time to help give these kids a good experience. When kids have a good experience in high school, it leads them to enjoy stagecraft in college. That keeps arts in the schools and a wider appreciation of stagecraft and theatre in general for the rest of their lives.


Our experience was one of a kind. This janitor tried to tell us we didn't know what we were doing and he knew better than the 3 men in the room with Masters degrees in Lighting and Technical Theatre. His lights haven't been cleaned in at least ten years and one of the lights that sat above the audiences heads had a bulb that was shattered.
SCARY!!

This is the same man who had the schools follow spots (spot lights) bagged up with a sign that said out of order, so the kids wouldn't touch them. How do they learn that way??

To make the story even more humorous he had the various parts of the theatre named after different areas of the ship in
Star Trek.

This was the door leading to the loading dock... I mean
Shuttle Bay

This was on the wall leading to the dimmer room which is essentially a control room of sorts. It is where all the power is for all the lights. But weapons control...
really?

This one made me sad. The "Bridge" was where the light and sound boards as well as the follow spots were. The drama teacher honestly thought that was its official name. It wasn't until we told her differently the other day that she knew better.

It was a good experience all around. They are doing a musical in the spring and were so appreciative that we fully intend on helping with that one as well.

Memorable Monday

This is a picture of my Great-great Grandmother Flora Waterman Whiting, and some of her children. The man up the rope is my great grandfather Forres, father to Robert, my granddad.

Flora was born in the England July 10th, 1862. After becoming interested in the church, her mother and three brothers left for America while she and her father worked for six months to save for their journey. In November of 1879 she made the journey with her father to the United States on the ship named Arizona. From New York they took a train to Salt Lake City. From Salt Lake City they took another train to Springville, Utah.

In Springville they were met at the train station by Floras mother, three brothers and their neighbor, Lorenzo Snow Whiting. He said she was prettier than her picture. She was baptized July 1st 1880, and on August 5th of the same year she was married to Lorenzo "Ren" in the Endowment House in Salt Lake.


She was a tough woman who wasn't afraid of hard work. They did everything from cutting ties for railroads to farming and ranching. They finally settled in Robin ID where they raised 11 children, harvested grain other endeavors until Lorenzos death in 1920. She stayed in that area holding school in her home, growing fabulous gardens and taking care of family until 1942 when she moved to Salmon ID where most of her children had moved.
Flora reading out of the family bible to some of her grandchildren

She loved her family, friends, all types of animals and her testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. She could often be found taking care of new mothers, or sick children in the area for up to a week or two. She had a huge heart, and being raised English she was supersitious, which caused her to sleep with a loaded .22 rifle next to her bed, and she knew how to use it. She was striven to help all of her children gain a testimony like unto hers. She died on February 15th 1949, finally joining her eternal companion after 29 years.

One Word...

AMAZING

Twilight Tonight

After my last post I feel completley shallow for being SO EXCITED about seeing Twilight tonight. A friend of mine got us tickets to the midnight showing, which I like because we have to work all weekend, but also dislike because I know how many teeny boppers who probably didn't even read the books will be there.

Hmm... Hopefully its worth it!

I am humbled...

We had Greg Mortenson, the author of Three Cups of Tea, at the center the other night. Honestly, I think I was more star struck and humbled by meeting this guy than I have been with anyone else. He has accomplished SO much for being such an ordinary guy. He has sacrificed his life to improve the lives of others. He even had death threats from Americans after 9/11 because he was helping Muslim children. While he was an incredible speaker, I think he is more comfortable out doing what he does best... what every person strives to do with their life by being an
ordinary man accomplishing extraordinary things.

I challenge all of you to read Three Cups of Tea: One Mans Mission to Promote Peace One School at a Time

Memorable Monday... On Tuesday

Okay, I am really mad at myself. I have wanted to try something new called Memorable Monday and was looking forward to it all weekend, Monday comes and I forgot. Needless to say, you are getting it on Tuesday this week. I think it is somewhat self explanatory so here we go.

This is a picture of
Laura Maxwell Slade,
my great grandmother on my mothers side, for whom I am named. She was born April 4th 1913 in a little town in Arizona. This picture was taken when she was 15 or 16. This picture has sat in my grandmas home for as long as I can remember. It also now sits on my mantle.

This was taken a few years later with her brother. My great grandmother was an
AMAZING
woman. When I am asked if I could pick one person dead or alive to chat with, she is who I would want.

She and her husband had a love for each other that one only reads about in fairy tales. When her husband would come home after a long day, he would come and get her and they would ride their horses together as long and as often as they could. Whenever I hear the song "Cowboy Take Me Away", I think of them. They were the epitomy of love,
a love with
NO END

He was never the same without her.

In traveling to Arizona several times in the past 5 years I have come to know many of her nieces and nephews, friends and acquaintances. Never has there been a negative word said about her. She was kind, accepting of everyone even when she was the only one (for example living so close to both the Navajo and Apache Indian reservation and the Mexican border brought a lot of people through town and associating with them was frowned upon) and she taught her children to love one another for who they are, not the color of their skin.

Laura in front of the Nutrioso post office

She knew everyone (she was the post mistress), she took people in when they had no where else to go, and always had a house full of people for dinner whether it be cowboys, ward members, some Navajos passing through or a family stranded in town until morning. I am told I am very much like her in that sense... we never have an empty house and I take in everyone that needs a place to stay for the night.

She died at the age of 42 of breast cancer that eventually spread all over her body. They say that every person within at least a 100 mile radius was at her funeral... white, black, hispanic or indian, and there wasn't a person she had ever met who didn't hold a special place in their heart for
Laura

If I can be half the woman she was, I consider myself lucky.

Her name will not end with me as there are several women in our family who carry her name, but I do know that my daughter will be a
Laura
and her legacy will continue to
live and thrive

Updated Show Pictures

Here are some pictures from a couple recent shows.
As always they are courtesy of Dave Jensen.
First up was the Chinese Acrobats. They are insane... enough said.

This chair trick makes me so nervous I just about pee myself thinking about it.
He has NEVER fallen though.
*Knock on wood*

There is one poor fellow pedaling this bike and they all pile on one by one.

This is a sequence picture. This guy runs and jumps through the first set of rings, bounces of the bench and hurls himself through the second set. He went through ring number two. After this trick they add a third ring on top of the second making the jumping height 72 inches.
Did I mention they are a bit crazy?
They, much like Chinese Gymnasts, start training at 5 or 6. The contortionists are usually done with their performing career by 23 or 24.
Here is a tid bit to add a bit of fuel to the fire about the whole crazy thing... they met Tom Cruise last year and said he was the most normal (WHAT!!!) down to earth guy.
HA... I knew they were crazy.

These next two are from the Opera I previously blogged about.

Lucia pre break down... I made that collar out of a belt... you can say it, I am talented. :)

Lucia post break down. She just murdered her new husband and thinks her brother is her lover... the one she was distraught about leaving to marry Inego Montoya... okay not really... but his costume totally made him look like it.

Next on the agenda

Greg Mortenson... Google him or read his book, Three Cups of Tea: One mans mission to promote peace on school at a time

Michael McLean's The Forgotten Carols
WAY excited about it!!

Extreme Cry Session

I have never been a weekly follower of this show, but if I happen to catch it
Let me tell you what...
I am out for the count for the entire hour.
Why?
Because I devote that hour to
CONSTANT
BAWLING

I literally cry for almost an entire hour...

Veterans Day

I went with my mom and grandma to the cemetary today. They decorate the entire
Veterans cemetary with several huge
AMERICAN FLAGS.



While I was there to honor my grandfather, I was overwhelmed and humbled by



RESPECT

for each and every person buried there.
In one way, shape or form... they made our country
what it is today.

FREE




To all of the United States Veterans, I am, we as a nation all are

INDEBTED

to your service and offer a resounding

THANK YOU

Happy Birthday Grandma

Dear Grandma,
Happy 76th birthday. Even though you wish you were 20 years younger
We Love You
JUST AS YOU ARE

For your birthday,
because there isn't anything you WANT
and because I was feeling creavite...
I made you

A book cover...
I must have deleted the picture I had of the front but you get the idea

And a lovely little bag.
I really liked this one... I almost kept it for myself.

We lit the decorative candle holders before we
enjoyed a fabulous meal...

and had cake with coconut frosting.
I was quite proud of this one... I made it too.

May there be many more birthdays we share with you.
You have given us more than we deserve...
and taught me more than you know.
I love you!

The Piper Video

So here is the Piper video. She is terrified of bridges. From what we can tell its only foot bridges like the Friendship Bridge from Campus to Julia Davis Park. She didn't do it here... but several times she will weave from side to side trying to escape either edge.

Anyway... if you are up for a little laugh, here ya go.

Today was a perfect, crisp fall day for a walk. Since there was a

BSU
game in progress on campus, beside the roar of the crowd and the echo of the loudspeaker against the mountains, the rest of campus was eerily quiet. We drove down to the Morrison Center... where we work and took advantage of the empty employee parking lot, walked around the building and hopped on the greenbelt.



This year is the Centers 25th anniversary. To celebrate, we built a new patio out front and extended a deck across the greenbelt and overlooking the river.

















View from the Patio
click on this picture to enlarge... I was playing with the panoramic setting on my new camera

I do have to say that I love fall in Boise. It is gorgeous. The city of trees becomes a mixture or reds, greens, yellows, oranges and purples.


We feel very blessed to live in a place where we really get to experience the beauty of each of the 4 seasons.





As we were walking down the greenbelt we hopped on the Friendship Bridge... much to Miss Pipers Dismay (she is TERRIFIED of bridges, I have a video that I will post later) and walked over to Julia Davis Park.



From what we could hear... BSU won. Sorry Utah State... maybe next time.

Now if it had been BYU...


THAT would be an entirely different blog post. (go cougs!)

A Night In

Thursday nights, if we aren't working, go like this...

1. Come home.
2. Pick up the house a bit.
3. Make something fabulous for dinner.
4. If time allows, make something as equally fab for dessert.
5. Have friends over to enjoy the fabulously made food with us.
6. Watch CSI: Las Vegas.
7. Do dishes.
8. Go to bed.

This evening however, our roomates have scattered to various places away from home, and our friends who join us weekly weren't able to come, so we had the house

ALL TO OURSELVES

At first we weren't sure what to do... this never happens... so we made dinner, ate leftover halloween candy for dessert, didn't do the dishes, played a little rock band, and are going to watch CSI: Las Vegas....

(in bed)


And there has been and will be lots and lots of

THIS

While SHE snuggles in (what used to be) our clean laundry.