SPEAKERS

There are many things I love about being in the Easter Pageant. One of the things I love are the devotionals. We have a devotional every night before a performance. With cast notes from the directors, a speaker & a special musical number. The musical numbers are my favorite. They always find the best in town! Especially these guys: three2u - they're amazing! I may not be a huge fan of this type of music, but these men are all in the pageant. When they stand up to sing in their costumes there's usually not a dry eye in the house. They really are wonderful!

As far as speakers go, we've had our share of special visitors. Last year we were priviledged to hear from Elder Hinckley. (President Hinckley's son) I have other stories in my Easter Pageant label of other speakers through the years as well. This year, however, it seems like we've had more than normal already.


THURSDAY night we heard from Elder David Ellsworth LeSueur.
He's a member of the Seventy & from Gilbert. He told a great story that Elder Oaks told him. It went something like this (I don't remember it word for word, so this is the gist of it)...


Elder Oaks had a conversation with one of his young sons....


SON: Dad, do you remember the profound question I asked you the other night?


ELDER OAKS: No, what was it?


SON: I don't remember either. I was hoping you would. All I remember was your answer.


ELDER OAKS: What was my answer?


SON: That you KNOW that Jesus lived & that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God.


WOW!!! What greater lesson could he have taught his son? I love how the question was not remembered by him. Just the all important answer! I hope I am able to have the same impact with my own kids some day.



THURSDAY night also brought some political visitors to the Pageant. They weren't part of the devotional, just part of the audience. There were some legislative members, or so I was told, as well as the Governor - Jan Brewer.

What I thought was interesting about this was that after the Pageant was over the director, Nanci Wudel, asked her what she thought. She told Nanci that everyone in the state of Arizona needs to see this Pageant. That's kind of cool!


FRIDAY night brought another area Seventy. Elder Spencer V. Jones.
A good ol' Safford boy. He mentioned how he was just a common man. Just like everyone else. Only he had a very uncommon calling. He told all of us that we were also common people with an uncommon calling at this time. As a cast member, most may not know this, we are actually set apart as such. This is a calling we each have for a month. This is something new that they do & I think it's great. It really does help.


Again, I LOVE being in the Pageant. It is a huge time commitment, but I can't fathom not being involved. When we lived in Vegas & weren't able to participate Easter was really strange for me. Looking back I realize how my focus was so different about the holiday not being around the Pageant. I feel so blessed to be able to continue this tradition that started with my Grandparents long ago with my girls & have these experiences. It helps keep things in perspective!

JAY

Jadyn is priviledged enough to be able to play the "Dead Girl" this year. She's loving it!! She does such a good job. She asks Kylie for advice on what to do. The first time she did it at rehearsal that everyone got to see she immediately asked Kylie how she did once she saw her. It was so cute! Jadyn really loves the fact that she now gets to go to make-up. If you know Jay then you know that this is Heaven for her!!

I absolutely LOVE this picture....

It melts my heart & let me tell you why. If you look closely you'll see she has a dot on her chin. We love her dot! It's become our tradition that as soon as Erik picks her up to prepare to carry her up the ramp we each kiss her dot before going on stage. Again, we LOVE her dot & feel so blessed to be able to have this experience with her this year!!

SATURDAYS

Pageant is in full swing again. As always, I can't believe it's been a year already. We absolutely LOVE Pageant time. Sure, it's a big commitment & a lot of work, but what better way to spend time with your family then spending every night on the temple grounds portraying the life of the Savior?!

Here's a couple of pics from our Super Saturday rehearsals...

I usually find some little coloring activities to bring for the girls to do during our down time. Here they are showing they're spoils...

E relaxing with his Pringles close at hand. It's become a tradition to have Pringles at these rehearsals. It's just what we do. Along with having Cadbury Mini Eggs at our night rehearsals. (We can thank Allison for that tradition! ;))

Here's the girls with some of their Pageant friends (Gabriella & Ivy). These cute girls are sisters, too & the same age as our girls. The older girl asked Kylie all of the time last year some tricks on being the "Dead Girl". She wanted that part so badly. I'm sure she was heartbroken when she didn't get it this year. Sad for her, but Jadyn's loving it!!

As always, click on the Easter Pageant label if you want more stories. I'll try not to bore you all this year with my stories.

REALLY?!?!

The past 2 months have been RIDICULOUS!!! I'm just now starting to come out of a major stupor. I have been locked in my own little world of stress & I'm ready to let it go. Here's a little catch up of what's been happening in my life.....

(Believe me, it's better to shorten it this way, otherwise this would be a mile long post & who wants to read that!!)

1 - I received a new calling after Christmas that has taken some of my time. In fact, it feels like a full time job. I was called to be the RS Pres & I'm still in some shock over it. I have learned quickly the importance of great counselors!! I am beyond blessed with the counselors I have! I'm not sure I'd still be standing without them.

2 - I have been working for Erik quite a bit the past month. Which is GREAT since the extra $$ is always needed, but just hard with everything else going on.

3 - I am in charge of the girls' school yearbook. I'm on their FPAC (equivelant of a PTO) & my committee was the yearbook. I thought - Erik does these that would be fun. He warned me that it was a lot of work, but I thought I could handle it, of course. I'm sure Erik's enjoying the thought of "I told you so!" He's smart enough, however, not to say it! Needless to say, it was A LOT of work & has been a full time job for over 2 months. Not to mention all of the other hours spent taking pics at the school, etc. I am proud to say that it is done & shipped out!!!! That's a huge relief for me. I'm sure there will be many that will not be happy with it - geez, I'm not 100% happy with it. But, if someone doesn't like it they are more than happy to take on this task next year if they so please!! ;)

4 - Erik's mom is in the hospital. She was taken to the emergency room a couple of weeks ago for an infection. At first, it looked like an allergic reaction to a bug bit was on her face. As her face was swelling quite badly. Apparently, it was much more than that. That first weekend we spent in utter limbo as the doctor's explained she probably won't make it. She has a very week immune system due to a kidney transplant & her body was not fighting the infection at all. Finally, they figured out exactly what the infection was, switched her antibiotics accordingly & she started to respond. It has effected her whole body, but has pulled through. She is now in a rehab home to regain her strength & it's a day to day process. We're not sure how long she'll be in their. She had a lot of pressure from the infection on her left eye & has more than likely lost the sight out of that eye, so I'm sure that will take some getting used to as well. We're beyond happy that's she's ok & hope she has a speedy recovery!!

Needless to say it has been crazy busy - which is life. Now Pageant has started which adds another element of busy to our lives. At least that one is an enjoyable busy! So, I'm sure I'll post stories of that because it's been a whole year since you've had to listen to my Pageant stories & I know you're all dying for some more! ;)

CELEBS

Growing up in the households I have I've learned a few things about sports. Not much, but some. My Dad was a sports fanatic! He even worked for Kerr Sporting Goods while putting himself through college. That love for sports was passed down to my brothers. And when my Dad married Mignon & we inherited 4 more boys in our family - they fit right in. They were already big sports gurus themselves. Ahh - bliss!

My husband is also a big sports nut! He lives for basketball season!! Oh & for baseball season & football season now as well. Basically, everything! He even loves UFC fighting - which I don't understand AT ALL!! It literally makes me sick to watch!

Anyway, back to my story. When my dad worked for Kerr's back in the day, he had the chance to meet some athletes. One of them was a basketball player named Walter Davis. He was in the 1976 Olympics & helped his team win the gold medal. He was also a key player for the Suns in the late 70's & early 80's. Al McCoy called him "Sweet D". I have inherited an autographed photo of him that my Dad got for my Mom awhile ago while working at Kerr's.

Well, I have a friend named Melissa (Who is awesome by the way! ;)) who happens to have a couple of connections. Her brother-in-law is in politics. He follows his Dad who was also in politics. Well, her bro-in-law is up for re-election this year & had a little fundraiser last night. Because of his Dad he is close to Walter Davis & a few others. At his fundraiser he had a couple of old Suns players their signing autographs. Lucky for me Melissa's husband Don was feeling ill & she wanted someone to go with her. It was a fun little adventure driving to downtown Phoenix.

Not to mention pulling up to the Country Club & seeing a few fancy cars & men in suits. Melissa & I were in jeans thinking it was not a dress up occasion. We were a little nervous walking in that we were under dressed. I started joking about how I at least had my Vans on & my hair in a pony tail. (The Mary Jane style Vans. Not the old school style.) No one else was really dressed up, so we were good.

This is Melissa & I with Alvan Adams....

(Nice that my eyes are closed.) Apparently Mr. Adams won the 1976 Rookie of the Year Award & helped the Suns to the finals that same year. Now, here we are with Walt Davis...

CHRISTMAS 2009

**WARNING - LONG POST**

Christmas truly just came & went this year. Time seems to go by faster & faster every year. This Christmas was truly magical. I usually end up being a grump & kind of bahumbuggish as Christmas draws close, but not this year! It was wonderful. I think maybe because we kept things simple this year. As we all know, I don't do well with chaos or any kind of stress, so simple is good for me. We didn't travel anywhere this year & that was nice. As nice as it would have been to go visit my mom & see her - it was nice to be put. (Love & miss you mom!!)

We had so many activities that were just a blast! We had our annual "Mortensen Christmas Party" to attend, with members from our ward, that we look forward to every year. We always do a white elephant exchange & I truly lucked out this year. I won the Snuggie!

(Hopefully, my friend Melissa doesn't mind that I stole this pic from her blog! ;)) It has not left Kylie's body, while she's home, for weeks now. Thanks again Don & Melissa for another smashing party! I love laughing with this group until my stomache hurts.

We also attended...

**Our ward Christmas party.

**A yummy dinner with the Linford's for our own make-shift Bell party. (Since company parties were not allowed this year.) Thanks Chad for some amazing ribs - he smokes them himself!
**An amazing cookie exchange at my friend Bonnie's house. Some women amaze me with their baking abilities. Maybe because I have zero talent. I just made tiger bark. Surprise, surprise.

**The girls school Christmas program. I love that their school can sing songs about Jesus & his birth & not get creamed for it! Even the program cover had a nativity picture on it. It's awesome!!

**The annual Organ family Christmas party. The one time a year I see most of my aunts, uncles, & cousins on my mom's side of the family. We always do an elephant exchange here, too.

Sunday the 20th was the Smith-Hallows Gang par-tay! That's always loads of fun. I was in charge of the gift giving idea this year & in true Melanie style - I kept it simple & easy. I just didn't want the focus to be on the presents. I wanted to focus on just being together. So, we exchanged pictures & did a white elephant type exchange of gifts of service. We received a dinner night from Sam & Ruth. Who better to cook than Ruth? No one! She's amazing!! Every year the kids act out the nativity & we videotape it. We always watch the previous years tape & then watch what we taped that night. It's always good for a laugh somewhere with our band of kids. The sweetest, however, was C-money!! Little Carter was Joseph while Jadyn was Mary.

He was so dang sweet to her that it just killed me! Rennie was taping & at one point Carter looked so lovingly at Jadyn that I "Oh'd" & Ren looked up at me with a tear in her eye. It was so dang precious!! The picture above has Max as Baby Jesus. Memphis was the baby at one point, but he was getting restless. Jadyn kept yelling,"Carter, help me!" Carter simply said,"Can we get the good baby now?" It was pretty hilarious! Aunt Ruby had to kiss all the kids & leave her mark with her bright red lips...

This picture just makes me laugh. Jadyn went up to Luke & asked if she could sit on his lap. He was kind enough to let her.

And what family event is complete without a picture of the girls? (I stole this one from my sister Robin's blog. Thanks sis!! ;))

On Tuesday the 22nd we finally made our way down to the temple lights. It's just not Christmas until you see the lights. This year was the best. We showed up at 5:30pm & had no problems finding a parking spot. We showed up right when the lights were being turned on. We went straight to the manger & got to enjoy it without feeling rushed as we were the only ones around!

We even were able to enjoy the nativity scene exhibit in the Visitor's Center in relative peace. We'll definitely be remembering that trick next year since we're all about getting away from crowds!!

Christmas Eve was peaceful & we read Luke 2 before going to bed. We awoke to this at 4:30 in the morning...

Yep, 4:30 AM! The girls actually woke up at 3:30 Am, but I tried to ignore them. Erik woke up at 4:30 & said, "Well, I'm not going to be able to go back to sleep now. We might as well go down." UGH!! That was too early for me, but whatever!!

After opening presents & playing with them for a bit it was time for a little nap. Just a little one though as Mimi & Papa were coming at 11:00. They came for a bit & then were off to their next stop & we were off to spend time with the Parkinson's!

The Parkinson gatheirng was great!! My sweet sister-in-law Nikki cooked for everyone. She's an unbelievable woman! She always does this & usually doesn't let anyone help. I did bring a veggie tray this year though. We love gathering with Erik's family. It's always low-key. Just the way we like things. I, unfortunately, did not take any photos this year. I don't know what I was thinking!!

After the Parkinson's party Erik & I ventured down to Phoenix for the Suns game! Thanks to my Dad who was given tickets from a vendor of his & gave them to us. And to Ron & Nikki for keeping our girls! Erik was so dang excited for this game for days!! The tickets were pretty nice. They were in the Lexus club section & we were the 25th row. This was the view from our seat...

They played the Clippers & killed them by 30 points. It was so fun! Thanks again Dad!!! Here we are waiting for the game to start...

These pictures always turn out weird. Oh well! All in all, Christmas was wonderful! I hope you all had a great Christmas as well!

CATCH UP

I have so many posts running through my head & just no time to keep up. So, here's a catch up post of what happened during one weekend...

The 11th of December my Kylie turned 10!! My how we love that girl. Even when she's crazy - which is pretty much all of the time! How did I get so old to have a 10 year old? She told me a few times throughout the day, "I'm 10 now mom. Double digits. Do you feel old now?" Why yes, yes I do. Here she is with her Phineas & Ferb pin she got... (She loves that show.)

We love that she's not shy. Sometimes it can be much, but for the most part it's wonderful! We have no idea where it comes from as Erik & I are not very outgoing. She loves life & loves to be in charge. If you've been around her at all you know she can keep you busy all day long with activities made up on the fly. We're so happy she's part of our family!!

The next day the girls participated in a movie. A couple in our ward has a daughter in film school. She was making a short film for her class & needed girls for one of the scenes. They had to be crazed girls at a birthday party. (Not very hard for my girls.) They had a blast!! They actually filmed stuff a couple of weeks ago, but the camera broke towards the end. They had to come back to refilm & my girls were quite happy with that idea.
They loved being "on set" for a day. I came for a little bit to take some pictures & I'm so glad I did! Check out what they did to my girls....

I was laughing so hard! I loved it! (Do you love Kylie's dress EmmaLee?) They had some dresses for the girls to wear, but asked them to bring some more just in case. Kylie was the oldest & they didn't have anything that fit her. All we have is old dance costumes & she chose the lovely pink & white number to wear.

I asked a guy at one point what was going on in the story & he mentioned something about zombies. But, they did not tell the girls that. They just told them to act crazy. At one point they had to dig in & destroy a birthday cake making grumbling noises. Again, I was just laughing! Then, a guy stole a bike from the party & the girls had to chase him. I can't wait to see the finished product. We'll be getting a copy of the film once it's all edited. And I'll probably need to watch it before I let my girls see it just to be sure! ;)