Please forgive my mother for her lack of updating. I know that you have all been checking constantly to see when this blog will be updated. I know that I have. I'll make sure to bother her even more about writing a new post. Hopefully she'll actually do it.

She Loves Me!

Katie is a senior at Orem High and she is in the advanced Drama class.  This year, the Drama 4 class did 3 plays in repertoire during the first week of December.  She was so excited to get the lead in She Loves Me.  Well, sort of the lead.  It was a rocky start, long story, but basically they triple cast each character.  So, she was the lead but so were 2 other girls.  We were worried it would be so confusing and all but it turned out well, they did a great job with a very difficult challenge. 

 Here's Katie with one of the other male leads, Nathan Hubert.  These guys have known each other since birth, literally.  It was fun for us to watch them up there together.

 Katie did such a great job.  It's so fun to watch her become someone else up there.

 Just FYI, this play is the stage play You've Got Mail is based on.  It's a very cute, sweet little love story.

 Here's Katie with Adam Leavitt, another of the male leads.

 Great scene...screaming at the top of your lungs in the middle of a romantic restaurant.  Gotta love it.

 Where is my shoe???

 Playing the crowd of carolers...

and the 3 leading ladies!  Well done everyone.

Seminary Centennial - starring Katie!

Katie submitted her information and headshot to LDS Motion Pictures earlier this year in the hopes of being  chosen to be in the new version of the Testaments film that is in the process of being filmed.  She gets emails almost weekly with new opportunities.  A lot of them are volunteer work for projects such as mormon messages for youtube or other things.  That is until the middle of November.  She got an email saying she had been chosen to be in a film for the Seminary Centennial broadcast which will be shown worldwide on January 22nd.  She was familiar with this because she was already going to be singing as part of the choir for that broadcast.  She was SO excited!  They wanted a commitment and her measurements for costuming.  This was also paid work in addition to being such a wonderful opportunity.  However, the day of filming was scheduled for 2 days before opening night of the play she had the lead role in and it would be into the final dress rehearsal days.  What would she do?  You can hardly pass up something like this but what to do about previous responsibilities?  It was an agonizing couple of days waiting until they finalized the filming schedule so she would know if she could be part of it.  Filming started at 7AM and they didn't know how long it would go but we decided that it would work.  Rehearsal was after school and if it went long she would just have to be a little late!  

 The day before filming she reported to fill out paperwork and to costuming.  Here she is with another girl as they are fitted for costumes.

 Her boots were so awesome!  Katie has been performing in stage productions for 7 years now and it was really amazing to see a professional organization in action.  They were so organized and had everything all figured out before she even got there.  There were a couple of buttons missing, things like that and the next day when we showed up all of it was repaired, ironed and looking its best.

 Tuesday morning we showed up early and got her in costume.  Then it was off to hair and make-up.  They had about 6 stations with big chairs and brights lights with ladies waiting to do their stuff.  They were to only wear foundation and cover up, no mascara, lip stuff or blush.  Here's a close-up of her hair.  It was so fun to watch it all happen.

 Katie loved her hair ribbon!

 Across the parking lot from the film stages and costume and props shop was where they would film.  They have a bunch of old looking buildings there to film things.  Among them, a Haun's Mill replica...

 ...from the other side.

 And an old Nauvoo hotel.  There were a bunch of other buildings and a horse in a corral, too.  They filmed  in the replica of the Whitney store.  Not that the first seminary class was held in the Whitney store but that's where they built the set.  I cannot express to you how cool it all was.  You walked in and it, well, looked just like a movie.  There were 14 kids in the class and a teacher.  The ceiling was gone and there was fabric draped over them with lighting coming from above.  The cameras, lights, dust blower, everything was crammed into the space next to the classroom set.  I bet there were 20 people there making it all happen.  What a treat that their director was Bruce Newbold.  If you don't know who he is, look him up on IMDB.  He is an actor whose most recent role was the traveler in 17 Miracles.  He is the nicest guy and it was cool to sit and listen to his voice all day.  

 During a little break I jumped in and took some pictures.  Here is the class.  It's hard to see out the window  since it's so bright but they had a scrim with different scenery, lighting, etc. 

 Katie is on the left, you can see her shoulder.  She's in the 2nd seat back.

 The teacher is a real seminary teacher from Springville who is also an actor/singer.  His name is Dallyn Bayles and he has a concert at the Scera in February.

 Their first real break.  It was a very cold day.  In the morning they had portable heaters all around so the kids didn't freeze too badly.  You could see your breath.  They had a big spread of hot chocolate, breads and cheese, fruit, candy bars, soda, crackers and more.

 When they got back inside, they had rearranged all of the cameras and were going to now shoot it from a different angle.  Katie said she was surprised that after every take the hair and make-up people came in and fixed and primped until the director was set to go again.  She thought that was fun since that's what happens when you see movies being made.  For one shot, they had the camera roll along the kids feet.  They had to have their feet just so and move this specific way at this specific time.  They rubbed some "dirt" on her shoes so they would look more realistic.

 The blond girl standing up with the shawl is really the star of the show although as Katie's mom I can still see her as the star.  She is playing President Eyring's mother who was a member of the first seminary class.  He didn't even know this until the 1990's sometime when he was the president of the seminary for the whole church when he was shown the roll from the first class.  This is significant because she came from a home that wasn't too active at church.  She was invited to go to seminary with a friend and that choice led to her life being forever changed.  We were told that this film would be shown when President Eyring tells this story at the broadcast.

 Here's all of the equipment outside the window.

 The motion picture studios is along the Provo river and here were a few deer also!

 Chatting outside during their second break.

Here they are, the first seminary class, January 1912.

They finished at 1PM and had lunch set up and waiting for us on one of the sound stages.  It was a super nice lunch, just a nice touch to finish the day.  Now let's hope every shot she was in doesn't end up on the cutting room floor.

Thanksgiving in St. George

This year for Thanksgiving we went to St. George with Nelson's family. It was decided that we would eat out, as in a restaurant, as in not cooking all of our traditional favorites, as in no leftovers.   Well, I wasn't so sure about this but it is difficult to cook the meal of all meals in a new kitchen that might not have everything you need/want, etc. so I was willing to give it a try.  We drove down Wednesday night and found a very comfortable and welcoming room with an adjoining bathroom.  Each family had a room but the kids just wanted to sleep on the recliners in the theater.  Katie had bronchitis so she got her own air mattress in the library, no one to bother her or visa versa.  The kids had an absolutely fabulous time.  They played xbox, risk, pool, watched movies, swam in the pool, hot tubbed, and ate a lot of treats they don't usually get at home.  Everything had been prepared before we got there.  Groceries were all bought and meals planned.  Thanks so much Oranee (and Lisa)!! 

 Thursday morning we went for a hike since, well, there was no food to prepare.  Already I was liking this.  

 This is the hike to Johnson's arch.  The trailhead is just before the entrance booth to Snow Canyon.  It was a new hike for us and very beautiful.

 We went back to the house and got dressed for dinner.  So weird to not be cooking, have I mentioned that?  We ate at the Entrada buffet, that's where Chuck and Oranee's house is.  Here we are in the buffet line with a couple of extra strangers posing in the back.  The food was great!  And a buffet!? I think I went back for shrimp a few times.  There was the traditional foods and a few other not so traditional ones.

 They put us in our own room which was nice.  It made it seem more like Thanksgiving since we weren't sitting with strangers.  

 The view from our room was spectacular!  It's hard to do it justice without a super wide angle to see it all.

 Trying to get a picture with my girls...

 ...ok, tickling maybe isn't working...

 ...love it!

The next day we tried another new hike.  Don't ask me where this one was... 

 The petroglyphs were really cool.

 This hike wasn't as beautiful on the way there and back but you can't have it all.

 Nelson in the famous I-think-I-might-fall-backwards-off-this-cliff photo.

After hiking, the boys went golfing and the girls all went shopping.  It was SO fun!  Shopping in a huge group of girls might seem like it would be difficult but not so.  How great to try something on and have lots of people to tell you how you look.  Oranee gave each girl (including moms) $25 to shop with since that's what they were spending on the boys golfing.  Woohoo, so great!  We went to Old Navy and the outlets.  The super deal of the day was won by Tara with a pair of jeans at Old Navy for 47 cents.  Yep, you heard me right, cents.  Caroline got a super cute wrap around chambray dress from Ralph Lauren for 90% off and some sunglasses for lifeguarding.  Katie and I got sweaters at Eddie Bauer.  Every night we sat in the hot tub, watched movies and ate too much, it was great.  It's not too often as a mom that you get to go somewhere and just feel like you are taken care of and you can just relax and not have anything to do.  It was just what I needed.