December 19, 2010: "I Am Goliath"

I have a friend by the name of Candace Bergquist. She substitute taught at Westmore quite a bit and became a friend to Griffin. She contacted me to let me know that she was part of an interfaith choir and they would be performing on Sunday the 19th, with Thurl Bailey (former Jazz basketball player and star of the Living Scriptures' David DVD) and that she would love the have the family come--along with the Williams and Elliotts. Griffin, Mags, Carma and Cherise and I set up quite early: 5:00 for a 7:00 performance. And it's a good thing! We got so lost that it took us nearly that whole time to get there. It was just in Alpine, but we kept ending up everywhere BUT where we were supposed to go. Finally, after Griffin mentioned to us once again that we were lost, Cherise called Blaine who was able to get us there five minutes before it was to start.

Because we were so late, we were in the very back row. BUT, because we were so late, they had brought in the chairs from the Relief Society room, so we had comfy chairs--and were right next to the refreshments!

The performance was lovely. It as a bit difficult to see Thurl, but he is rather tall, so we were able to see his head. They performed probably ten songs, and I learned that "Far, Far Away in Judea's Plains" is an LDS Christmas song. I had NEVER known that before!

Afterwards, Candace invited us to her house for cookies and hot chocolate. Griffin enjoyed meeting her cats and we enjoyed the company and hospitality.

I am most grateful that I had good company with me. After last night's shenanigans, I couldn't have made it through without my friends. And we'll never forget it!

September 24, 2010: The Lords and Ladies Masquerade Ball

This is something I WISH I had pictures from, but we were SO busy working that there was NO time for pictures. A friend of mine, Candace Bergquist, hosts two big fundraisers each year. First is the Princess Festival in the summer, where young girls can participate in fairy tale activities. The second is for adults: the Lords and Ladies Masquerade Ball. Both of these events benefit charities, so I told Candace my girls and I (and Cherise) would be willing to volunteer. She, in turn, said that after our "shift" of 2 hours, we could participate in the activities. We were really looking forward to it, but we were so slammed that we weren't able to stop working until there was about 45 minutes left in the night and all the food was gone. Still, it was worth it to be there and help out. We quickly switched into our outfits (we finally got to wear our masks!) and the girls had a good time walking around and dancing for a short time. I think we'll be back next year!

Birthdays

Since Griffin's birthday is mid-week and John's is while we are in PA, I decided that today was the day to celebrate them both. Griffin had his party between conference sessions. It was a "Bakugan vs. Star Wars" party with my friend, Cherise, once again decorating the cake. She truly is gifted! Although she will say it was a team effort, I only baked the cake and filled and frosted it. She handpainted it with the characters and molded the fondant on top into Darth Vader.(Okay, Blogger and I are having a tug-of-war uploading pictures, so they are all in the wrong order.)

John was taking pictures of the cake with my camera and I just couldn't resist the opportunity to give him his first present: a Canon Rebel. He started snapping his own pictures around the house while I coralled the kids in and outside and then prepped the cake for candles.

He'll get his second present tonight after I pick it up from Salt Lake. Here's hoping he likes his second one as much as the first!

Another Wedding Cake

I had the opportunity to work with my friends Cherise and Carma on another wedding cake. Here it is!