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! ;)