...continuation of our nauvoo/reunion trip

...we have a great time in Nauvoo---there are about 40 of us for the reunion---seein the sights---we go to Sunset on the Mississippi (a musical show that the missionaries, senior and young, put on every night at dusk)...President Ueckdorf is there with his family, doing a cross the country church history tour---cool. oh BTW---I am totally serving a mission in Nauvoo---you get to perform and sing all day and night---sign me up!

We then head up to Freeport---land of my inheritance----for the remainder of the reunion. Freeport is in the northwest corner of Illinois---farm country---about 25,000 people in this little city. We take up about 15 rooms in the old Stephenson Hotel---which is now a Hampton Inn--in busy downtown Freeport---okay, its not busy---but it is downtown. Freeport is famous for being one of the sites of the Lincoln-Douglas debates...yeah---back in the mid 1800's.Home of the Freeport Pretzels (my high school mascot---really). We picked up Joe & Leah (get to see her baby bump!)(yes---i bought them matching maternity tops!) at the bus station (they flew in for the Freeport part of the reunion).

Friday night was our traditional lip sync performance. Our family did a mix (thank you MC DJ Hall)---Lyric started out with Brandi Carlile "The story" (great song!)---Ace literally jumped in with "Kung-fu Fighting"---Leah & Joe did Phil Vassar's "Just Another Day in Paradise"---Jas & David were the "Pirates Who Dont Do Anything" (are you seeing how eclectic our tastes are?)---then Dave & I boogeyed in with Flo-Rida's "Low"---yeah---those are apple-bottom jeans and Dave has Reeboks with the straps....

Lest you think it is only our family---ah--contraire!---My sister Eden & her hubby, Bill---with my mom---did their tribute to Weird Al Yankovich's "My Bologna", Matt and his family did their traditional veggie-tales tune, this year it was "I Love My Lips" (does it get better than Veggie-tales to entertain adults and kids!?), My brother Ace did "I'm a Lonely Little Petunia in an Onion Patch" (a song we all learned as kids---thanks, Mom) ---, Pyper and her fam did the whole rock band set-up of Aerosmith's Walk This Way.......and Marc and his whole gang (he's got 8 grandkids!) danced to the Cha-Cha Shuffle----who knew Kyle could move like that! Marc's granddaughters, Kaylee and Taylor sang "Loathing" from Wicked---so cute.

We then went and watched the guys do arguably (my BIL is a lawyer) legal fireworks up at the church parking lot---and totally legal fireworks at my brother's house....and this was all just on Friday!

1. As a comment on my blog, leave a memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember! If we're only blogging friends, write about a post that is most memorable.
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll be sure to write one about you... either on your blog, in my comment box, or I will email you back!
3. If you can't say something nice, don't say nothin' at all ☺....thats not true---go ahead and say it---see if it changes anything!

Reunion---our trip TO the reunion

Ace, David & I hop in the car (the van----yes, a big car for 3 of us---but you'll understand later)---on Tuesday July 1st and drive to Springfield, Missouri....it was a lovely drive---Oklahoma is beautiful rolling land and Missouri was just as nice---and had the cheapest gas! We chatted a bit, David slept, Ace played nintendo or Game Cube (set up on the tv in the car)...we arrived at our hotel and walked a couple blocks to Cracker Barrel...---David's favorite restaurant....I even took off my shoes and walked on REAL grass---midwest kinda grass---not Texas grass...it was heaven. The next morning we got in the car and drove a couple hours to the St Louis Airport to pick up Lyric, David Hall & Jasmine (hence the need for the van)---we then drove the 3 hours to Carthage, Il----and toured Carthage Jail. This is my favorite Mormon History spot in this area of the country----I've been there many times---and it always touches me that Joseph Smith knew he was probably going to his death ...and he had such devoted friends that went with him....
we then drove up to Nauvoo and arrived to see 40 members of my family---the party was on! there were grandchildren spouses to be introduced---we already loved them---just hadnt met them---there were grandnieces & nephews to hug....we got settled----then at about 10 p.m. we played Murder----maybe you know it as Mafia----great game to see personalities come out....stayed up everynight way too late playing this----til nearly 1 a.m.----but its fun....
will add pics for this when I get home....and more posts about the reunion to come.

Hello Dolly

I'm sitting on the patio of the 23rd floor of the Holiday Inn Riverwalk in San Antonio--watching Hurricane Dolly roll in...very cool...sky on the left is cloudy---on the right is gray to the ground---pouring rain so hard you cant even see it we did a show in Corpus Christi---just as the rain preceding the hurricane started---had about 25 people come---not bad for driving thru the storm---after the show we drove to San Antonio with clear skies....3 hours later Dolly arrives. this is the night before the hurricane hit---in Corpus Christi---the big ships were going out to sea to beat the storm
My feet---in the Gulf of Mexico...well...on the concrete wall that the Gulf comes up to in Corpus.this is the blue sky before the storm---but in the far distance you could see the hurricane a-comin...yes, I said a-comin.

This is our first "roadtrip" as DancingMoose goes fuller time----read my other blog....i'm doing laundry in the sink---eating ahi tuna with wasabi sauce...or burger king jr whopper...
missing the family---but thanks to technology get to talk to all of them all the time---

livin the dream!

high adventure

David could see the mountains by his mom's house (about 3-4 hours away) from the top of the mountains they were on! very cool.

Ace & David went to Colorado with a group from our stake for a scouting high adventure----mountain biking, white-water rafting and fishing. David went as a support for Ace---they both had a great time. Ace fell out of the raft and gave everyone a scare---they were in the harshest part of the rapids at the time---but two of the men grabbed him and brought him back up..he was pretty banged up but fine....then later, David was floating in the water and got caught up in the water flow---he was in trouble---they sent a boat to get him---so yeah----my boys make it eventful---and before they left i said specifically 'I DONT WANT TO READ ABOUT YOU IN THE CHURCH NEWS'---other than that---they got some beautiful pictures and had a great time.

Ace at Clayton's Lake---my guys like to fish....Dave loves the memories of fishing with his Dad and likes the peace and calm.david's going to have to help me with some of these pictures---but this was at the top of one of the mountains they climbed---technology is everywhere!Snow at the end of June---fun times for a Texas boy!

an onslaught of new posts---to catch up!

where to start where to start

----i'm going to post some relatively-speaking shorter posts to try to catch up with our world travels over the last month---so we'll start with Music Man! The month of June was all performances----there were two casts---so it was probably 3 performances a week.

Ace & I had a great time performing at Artisan Center Theater---there was a great camaraderie with the cast---there was a power outage that postponed the opening for 2 weeks----so we got to perform with a lot of different versions of the cast--- the cast (or one of them--there were lots of inversions of the cast) I'm on the far right on the 2nd row---yeah--in the toga.
This is Chris (one of the quartet) messing with Ace---I think he was goofing around!
Amy & Lori Jones---these beautiful sisters were my daughters in my stage family!
Susan White, Diane Wells, Andrea Thompson, Laura Smalley-Prascher, Chelsea Duncan & Joni Ellis---the PALLs and Marian (Marian was 3 months pregnant thru all this!) we had the best time of all---we got the best costumes and got to goof around backstage and onstage.
David Otteson--my husband in the show! He is also in my ward at church!
Every scene I had to re-curl my hair---not something it does well----this is why i wear my hair short and straight!

..Ace was one of the townspeople/teenagers and I was Maud Dunlop---a Pick-a-little-lady (PALL)...if you havent seen the movie or play, WHAT THE HECK!? ----but rent it---its a classic musical....76 trombones, Gary Indiana, Lida Rose----the thing i love about performing---other than the interaction with the audience (Artisan does theater in the round---so you are knee-to-knee with the audience)---hmmm--thats why i enjoy my ethics performances too---knee to knee with the audience---real eye contact----i love the interaction with the cast---ensembles---I never desire to be the lead/star---too much pressure---we PALLs had a great time onstage and backstage...---we had wonderful camaraderie and i made some wonderful friends.Joni Ellis and I had done Fiddler on the Roof a few years ago together (we were doubles)---add in Susan White for this show---these two made the show and were great backstage to hang with.

this was the barbershop quartet---they were really good---and continued to improve thru the whole show---by far the hardest part of the show was to learn those harmonies---i got to work with them a bit---love barbershop!

there is a whole different world backstage during the show---we sing with whatever is going on onstage---people are chatting (sometimes way too loud!), preparing for the next scene, flirting (always funny to watch the teens)---a general bonding.

This show was made up of lots of family groups (such as Ace & I)--Artisan is a wonderful place to perform---they encourage friendship and working together as a team---the process influences the result!before every show i would go thru each scene and mark it out---just to refresh my mind---i'm a bit of a worry-wart. Performing gives me a lot of confidence and keeps me on my toes---i'm always surprised at how much i enjoy the process as well as the performing.