Awesome Night at the Theater

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Rich took me to see a musical of Jane Austen's Emma last night. We were amazed! It was so fun and well performed. This was our first time to see a Rep performance-The Reperatory Theater of Saint Louis. They have a great venue and it is only about 15 minutes for us to get there. We love the Fox theater here in STL (very grand and rather ornate), but the Loretto-Hilton, where the Rep performs, is a much more intimate space. We had great seats, but it looked like pretty much any seat would be good there. The actors were awesome, but the staging and the lyrics made the show. The songs were done in a really clever way--they had us smiling and laughing a lot. We really didn't want it to end because it was so good. And we have been reflecting on the show all day and speculating about whether we should try to go again and get another couple to go with us. Last night was their opening night. If you ever hear of this coming to a theater near you, you MUST go--even if you are not a sworn fan of all things Jane Austen.We also went to another amazing concert by the Saint Louis Symohony Orchestra last weekend. Rich was even in tears as our friend Heidi Harris played an amazing solo, backed the the rest of the orchestra; The Lark Ascending. They are so talented. I love the acessibility of such great events here in Saint Louis. This city is really a great fit for us in terms of culture

We also went to another amazing concert by the Saint Louis Symohony Orchestra last weekend. Rich was even in tears as our friend Heidi Harris played an amazing solo, backed the the rest of the orchestra; The Lark Ascending. They are so talented. I love the acessibility of such great events here in Saint Louis. This city is really a great fit for us in terms of culture.

Oh, last weekend, after the symphony, we were driving down Grand to check out the South City restaurants and we ran into a friend from our Stake. Greg mentioned that they were rehabbing a house a few blocks away. So, nosey me, I asked if he would show us. It was really fun to see what they've done with the place. It's an old brick home, 2 story with an old unfinished basement. The front porch had terrific black and white tiles that reminded me of 422 Kentucky. It had been made into 2 apartments previously-one upstairs and one down. They've turned it back into a single family dwelling, refinished floors, remodeled the kitchen, bathroom, created a Master Suite, etc. Greg said his wife Lisa has done all of designing and been the general contractor. Oh, and she is about to have a baby--probably this week. Their third. We were shocked at the deal they got because the place had been foreclosed on and the market has gone down so much. It had originally listed at about $185,000 and they got it from the bank for about $75,000. What a fun coincidence to run into Greg that night. They moved their stuff into the house the next day. After our personalized tour we headed back to South Grand and had awesome Thai food:)

Harry Parker's 9th Birthday Party

Lisa Wrote: We had fun planning Parker's Harry Potter-themed party. Our home was the St. Louis Extension of Hogwarts for Parker and 11 friends from school, Scott and Thomas, and even Grandma and Grandpa McDermott who came for the weekend. We wore costumes, had mixers in the common room (basement), dinner in the great hall (living room), opened gifts, played muggle quidditch in the backyard, had cake and butterbeer, ate weird flavored jelly beans, gave gift bags with all sorts of stuff including "wands" that were Parker's brain child, and had a great time. The wands were large tootsie rolls and we made our own label to wrap around them. It said, "Your Wand, by the Gingerbread Wizard Specializing in all things edible. This wand was specially designed for Hogwart's St. Louis Extension, September 2008" and included a copyright, of course.

I was very sore and exhausted after the party. I figured out that I had only sat down long enough to eat my breakfast that day and write one list. But Parker and all the kids had a great time. We will have to get some pictures posted. Since Carol was here we have plenty of pictures. We couldn't believe the decible level of the kids--and it was continuously loud! I have to say I was glad to see that it's not just my kids who get so crazy and loud. It was definately the norm for this group. We only had a couple of quiet ones.

Rich Wrote: I was short-haired Snape (thus the mean looking picture of me when I was directing a game), and Lisa was Professor McGonagal. I gave different names to Parker's friends during the games, giving a particularly Snape-like hard time to 'Harry Parker'.

The 'Muggle Quiddich' was played using dodge balls as bludgers, soccer balls as quaffels, and a human snitch. To catch the snitch, one had to pull the sock out of the back of the snitch's pants. The inspiration for the game came from Muggle Quidditch on YouTube, which has really 'taken off' at colleges. I am currently just finishing up the series for the first time myself, and was relieved last night that Harry escaped from the Malfoy's. Parker has started the series again, but is also reading Candy Shop, by the same author as the Fablehaven books that we've been reading to the kids. Happy Birthday Parker!!

Glays Knight Concert

Well, last weekend was great having a group of us to go to Time Out for Women and the Saints Unified Voices Choir directed by Gladys Knight. Leslie brought a van load up from Joplin with Mom, Emily, and friends; Melanie and Jennifer. It was so fun to have them come.

The speakers and musicians at TOFW were great. I really loved hearing from Michael Wilcox. His way of speaking so fluidly without notes was amazing, but mostly I appreciated his message-"tell me in accents of wonder." He made me feel MORE glad to be a woman and a mother. He painted a humorous and joyful picture of what life has to offer if we take the opportunities to teach our children of the Savior, and be patient, and cherish them.

The choir concert was overwhelming--in a great way. I think we need more things of this kind. We need more diversity of culture displayed in meetings like this. The performance was awesome. What a powerful choir. I was glad that on Saturday evening we had a lot of black visitors who were more accustomed to a gospel choir and the familiarity of speech that Sister Knight used in her testimony--and responding verbally (ie. calling out amen and raising a hand or standing up to show concurrence). The truthfulness of what she spoke regarding the restored gospel really resonated with them and it was inspiring to witness. The members of the choir who we spoke with, said they appreciated the reponse of our crowd and said they really feed off of that. We were especially blessed to have Sylvia and Angela Baker sit in front of us. They had come on their own--without the member who had invited them. They had an amazing spirit about them and were so excited about what they heard that night. We loved seeing the way they received the choir and teachings and felt that they made our experience richer and more uplifting.

Well, after a couple nights of only 5 hours sleep and too much drama this week with kids and RS, I have got a cold. Plus I had two warts treated; one on my heel and one on my finger--so I feel gimpy. My finger has partial numbness since the treatment with liquid nitrogen. I thought it would get better, but so far it has not. Guess I'll call the doctor tomorrow.

It's always a comfort to know the Lord is aware of me. When things seemed overwhelming this week I prayed to know how to keep up with everything and to know what I can do to be more productive. Then I read my scriptures and what I found at the end of the chapter was just the right message for me. In summary it said, "leave the rest in my hands." I felt so relieved and realized that it is not always possible to do more and I cannot create any more hours in the day. I can only do my best and trust in Him to take care of the rest.

Lisa Busting Up

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While we were watching the kids play in the park on Lower Bass Island, a parade of scouts, high school bands, vintage cars, and then...a candy shop float drove by, launching candy in every direction!!! Well I decided that this was something to get excited about, and screamed out to the kids "Look! It's a Candy Float! They're throwing candy everywhere!!!" at the top of my lungs. Lisa was a good sport (or a cautious mother), and went running after the kids, while I reviewed my most recent digital photos. Lisa came back 5 minutes later to say, "do you know what you started?" The boys evidently did not just run over to the curb and get a piece or two of candy. But with Scott in the lead, they continued on--following the candy truck clear down the street. Parker and Thomas were less zealous than their brother in the pursuit of the tempting sweets. But Scott continued ahead at a rapid pace, (forcing Lisa to run trying to catch up) dashing repeatedly into the street in front of the police car that was following the candy shop truck in the procession. It was not good. I wanted to listen intently, but as she was describing the details, I noticed how cute her facial expressions had become, and started taking photos as quickly as I could. Lisa tried to ignore the camera, however, in spite of her best efforts, she was soon bent over with laughter. You can understand why I love being married to Lisa. You can also somewhat understand what she experiences as my wife. I love you Lisa!