I Put the "V.D." in "Ward Variety Show"

Our Ward Variety Show was last night. Kate was slated to sing "You are my Sunshine," with my mom tickling the ivories. I tried to prepare her without scaring her, by telling her that there would be lots of people, but she'd get to use a microphone, and it would be very exciting. You never know how your child will do at crunch time. I am so very happy to report that she came through like a star! Beyonce, not Britney. She stood up on stage, and sang nice and loud, and I may be a little biased, but I think she did a smashing job! The first video below is her rehearsal footage at Grandma Ellie's. Due to a little mix-up we didn't get her actual performance (don't even ask how sad I am!), but I promise she was every bit as good as she is in the video. My apologies for the rotation issue...

Bruce is the man on the bottom in the "Proposition 8 Melodrama." Okay, it was just a plain melodrama, but it totally looked like Bruce was being kissed by a guy, so I had to take a picture.

Janet, Arianne, and I sang, "Going to the Chapel." I can't say that it was my best performance ever. The fun part was that Kate had learned almost all the words, so when I looked out I could see her mouthing them right along with us. It was super cute.

After the variety show, there was a little dancing. Kate went ahead and tucked her skirt into her underwear to learn the "Boot Scootin' Boogie."



This is my mom and I playing the theme from "Exodus." We practiced and practiced so that we could play it our very best, but it's kind of a downer to go from playing it on a Yamaha Grand at home or my mom's to the upright at the church. It's never quite the same. I put the footage here anyway, and thanks to this video, I now realize that when I play, I sway like a Romanian orphan. Bummer.

Both my mom and I felt like we could have done a little better, and to tell you the truth, it was really eating at me on the way home from the church. Then I thought back to earlier in the evening, when my Grandma Judd was listening to my mom and I rehearse, and there was such a nice feeling there. When we were done, Grandma had tears in her eyes, and she told my mom that it was so rewarding for her to see the benefits of all of the music lessons my mom had. I know that my grandma and grandpa made many sacrifices so that their kids could have music lessons, and I also know that my own parents made sacrifices in turn so that Liza and I could have years of piano lessons as well (and like a week's worth of sacrifices for my brothers). My Grandma wished out loud that my grandpa could have been there to hear us play, and I think that the good feeling I felt was my Grandpa's spirit there with us as we played. As I thought about this on the ride home, I knew that the performance that REALLY mattered happened hours before at my mom's.

Grandma Go-go was so nice to travel down to see us all perform. We had so much fun with her: We went to lunch, and visited, and went to church, and had Sunday dinner. Kate loves her Grandma Go-go so much, and we are so happy we got to spend time with her!