High School Reunion - 30 years?

David and I are in Salt Lake City this weekend for my high school reunion. We flew in yesterday and it feels really strange because I was just here last weekend. They may have to start charging me state income tax. I can't believe it has been 30 years since I graduated from high school. I truly am the crypt keeper!

To prepare for this reunion I...

did not get in shape.
did not get tan.
did not lose any weight. (in fact I think I gained about 3 lbs. just thinking about losing weight)
did not buy a new outfit.
did not even get my nails done.

What was I thinking?

Basically, I am going to have to rely on my winning personality to show people how well I'm doing. Snap. Well, at least I have an attractive husband who is charming and well spoken and not at all opinionated and borderline obnoxious. Snap. Well, at least he's attractive!

I'll let you know how it goes! I actually only spent the last year and a half at Olympus High School. I moved there my Junior year so it's not the same as seeing people you grew up with your whole life. I did make quite a few good friends there, though, and I am excited to see them. A couple of them were on the reunion committee so I had to go!

Kristy has been working at a Marriott Spring Hill Suites hotel in Renton. She gets a friend and family discount rate that she can pass along. Like the airline industry, she gets the best discount and her immediate family gets the next best and then friends and family get a little something. She says for all of you to feel free to contact her and she will hook you up if she can. She can get a discount at just about any Marriott Hotel. It's worth checking. Her cell is 509-760-8809. Her email is kristyearl@gmail.com.

Kristy is bringing a boy to the family reunion in a couple of weeks! Just so there is no confusion... it is not the "agent" (Zac), it is the "geek" (Trevor). But it is not Trevor McKinnon (ler longtime friend), it is Trevor Lacey. Please refrain from calling him a "geek," that was merely a term used to distinguish her two recent beaus. Trevor is in the computer field, but he may not consider himself a geek so let's all be nice... at first! Ha Ha

So You Think You Can Dance Auditions

Last Thursday Courtney, Kylie and I drove down to Utah for SYTYCD auditions which were held in downtown Salt Lake on July 24th. Courtney was auditioning though lots of people assumed Kylie was old enough to audition but she’s not (must be 18). For those who live under a rock and haven’t heard, SYTYCD is going to be running two shows this year! That is why they were holding summer auditions which they have never done before. So…



Auditions opened at 1:00. Normally they open at 8:00 but since it was Pioneer Day the city would not let them start any earlier. We got in line about 6:30 a.m. and were probably about 150 people back. I would guess that there were over 1,000 dancers but it was hard to tell. I am a terrible guesser and am probably way low. I'll try to find out the exact number. It was very boring and quiet for the first few hours. It was a pretty calm crowd. We were in the shade and quite comfortable for most of our wait. The last hour got hot and miserable.







Horrible picture of me but the only one we have to prove I was there too!

The cameras started appearing about 10:00. There were two teams with a camera and they just came up and down the line looking for something interesting. They set up quite a few shots and told everyone what they wanted them to do. There were about 8 really obnoxious people that jumped in front of the camera every time they saw one. Most everyone else had at least some shred of dignity. At one point the camera team came by and pointed to Courtney and Kylie who were sitting back away from the main throng and said, “Come with me.” He took them and a few others and went off to film some sort of running scene. They chose Courtney quite a bit for camera time. We’ll see if any of it makes the show.

Cat Deeley didn’t come out until about 12:30. She looks exactly like she does on the show only not as tall as you would think. She looks like she is maybe 5’8”. The camera crews had already scoped out those who Cat was going to talk to. So they just took her around to those people. For example, some little dance or cheer team had come to support someone so she talked to them and danced with them. Someone else had brought two cute little nephews and she talked to them. Kacey deliberated about bringing Rhode and Scarlet. We weighed out all the pros and cons and she decided against it. Scarlet was possibly going to wear a shirt that said “I taught my Aunt Courtney everything she knows” while Rhode’s said something like, “My aunt is better than your aunt!" Obviously we had no idea what waiting in line would be like and knew that it could potentially be hot and miserable especially for little kids. Also alot depended on what kind of mood Scarlet was in. She is not too fond of strangers. It's all or nothing with Scarlet so it could go either way. I called Kacey from the line, though, and told her that the kids totally would have gotten on camera which made us both sad they weren’t there. Then Kacey told me that Scarlet had had a major two-year-old meltdown that day and Rhode had also gotten sick. So I guess she made the right choice but they would have been adorable.

These camera guys set up at the end of the alley we were waiting in and they had people do tumbling tricks headed towards the camera. There was a girl named Ashley who was an amazing tumbler! She could do just about anything. She would round off back handspring and then layout right in front of the camera on uneven pavement! They they would say, can you do it again and try to land closer to the camera? She did it 3 times in a row and landed about one foot from the camera. She was unbelievable and of course... she got cut! She was in Courtney's group the second day.



Camera setting up to tape Courtney...


Courtney dancing for the camera...


By the way, girl in the colorful shirt and boots behind Courtney in the picture above... crazy! Not crazy good, just crazy!! We got to hear a lot of her stories and she was on her meds that day (she told us) and she talked non stop and she got in front of the camera every chance she could. And I mean every chance she could! I am sure you will see her in the footage. I don't think they could possibly edit her out of everything she was in.

As we were waiting for Courtney to go in, Randy and Caitlin came out the doors who are two contestants from this season who have already gotten voted off. They were standing right by us so I asked them if we could take a quick picture (not usually like me) and they did so that was fun. They opened the doors and let dancers in about 1:30. That was where we had to part ways. No guests are allowed in. For the very first round, they take the dancers 10 at a time and put them on the stage and each one has to improv in their chosen style for about 30 seconds for the producers to music that the producers choose. Judging this round is the executive producer (who everyone says is really mean) and 3 or 4 other people along with Pasha and Anya. Courtney was not sure exactly who was making the decision though.

Kylie with Caitlin and Randy...


Courtney was clogging so she was put at the end of the group and when it was her turn she was allowed to choose music or acapella. She chose acapella and did her freestyle. I never got a picture of her whole outfit because she was always changed by the time I saw her. She was wearing the black shirt that you see her wearing in line (but without the scarf) plus a black ruffled skirt that is almost like a tutu. Then she had on blue and black striped socks which came over her knees. (Thanks Vickie and Caitlynn!) She also had blue streaks clipped in her hair that matched the socks. She looked great. She was not your average clogger and that is exactly the niche we were going for. You are supposed to try out in your specialty but there are a ton of contemporary and jazz dancers so Courtney chose to clog so that maybe she would stand out. We know quite a few amazing contemporary dancers who did not make it through the first round, so we decided to go for clogging and… she made it through the first round! That first round narrowed the field from about 1,000 (?) down to appx. 200.

Courtney heading in on the first day... so exciting!



So they gave Courtney a yellow ticket and she then proceeded to interview with other producers who try to find out if you have any great sob stories to share. Unfortunately, Courtney being the middle child of 7 is about as much of a struggle as she has come up against! Oh well. She also got to dance in front of two different cameras. One was for the crazy dancing and the other was a slow mo cam. We didn’t hear anything from her that first day until about 7:30 when she was done with all of her filming. That was a long wait for us without any news! But she had been having a great time. Those who had gotten yellow tickets were assigned to come back either Saturday or Sunday.

She had to be there at 7 a.m. on Sunday and they put them in line outside the theater calling them by name. Courtney was dead last! Hmmm…what does that mean? They had to wait in line outside for over an hour. In that time, Courtney found a dead bird that had fallen in her bag. She screamed and made a policeman get it out for her. Then 3 policemen wrestled a belligerent homeless looking guy to the ground and arrested him. It was quite exciting.

For the next round, they again went on stage in groups of 10 to do more improv but this time it was in front of the judges – Nigel, Mary and Mia Michaels! It was the same as the last time except everyone danced to the same music even the specialty dancers like clogging, ballroom, pointe, etc. The song was 9-1-1. It had a fine clogging beat so that wasn’t a problem but it sure was a problem for some specialties. I’m not really sure why they find it worthwhile to make someone dance in their specialty style to music that doesn’t suit it but they do.

Brad, Kylie and I were waiting outside because family members are allowed to come in if your dancer gets through to the solo round. We saw quite a few people come out while we were waiting to hear since Courtney was in the last group. There were lots of disappointed dancers coming through the door. A few were mad and cameras followed them. Mostly they were saying that it was ridiculous how many amazing dancers they were sending away. Finally a guy came out to tell us the results of the last group of dancers. They were putting bracelets on the families of those that got through so they could go inside. We told them Courtney Earl and he put bracelets on us and we were so excited. We went inside and were busy signing releases when Courtney came walking up and said she got cut. So the guy outside had just made a mistake but it made it even more disappointing. So close!

So out of the 100+ dancers that made it through the first round and came back on Sunday, only about 30 got to go in front of the judges to do their solo and possibly get selected for Vegas. There was probably the same amount on Saturday though we don’t know for sure. Courtney said that it was just crazy some of the amazing dancers that they didn’t keep. She said the choices were very random. Courtney said almost every time she thought for sure they would keep a certain dancer because they were amazing, it was like - nope, cut! Lots of stunned, disappointed dancers outside. Most of them were very gracious. I am guessing that Salt Lake city is not their most interesting city to film disgruntled dancers in.

See the girl in the following picture in green striped shirt? She is completely blocking my view of Cat Deeley. Cat was right there about 5 feet from us but this stupid girl stepped right in my way. When I lifted my camera higher to get a picture, the crew said no pictures. For some reason, they would not let anyone take pictures or video of Cat.




All in all it was a fun experience and we look forward to seeing the Salt Lake auditions after having been there in person. Hopefully Courtney will make it in a shot or two when they air it. We’ll see! I couldn’t have been more proud of Courtney. She was and is amazing!

Shane Sparks in da house!

The girls and I have been at drill team camp at the Bellevue Hilton this week. Kylie and Kendall are both attending the camp and Courtney is here as an intern. She was chosen to assist the teachers. It's been great!

Shane Sparks was here for a hip hop master class on Tuesday. He is very short but very nice and it was fun!

Mattie and Kylie dancing:

Kendall and Sam Calder:

Tonight was formal night. All the girls dressed up and had a nice dinner.

Kendall, Courtney and Kylie:

The whole team:

Kenzie Baker and Kylie:

The Molahiettes have dominated and have learned a lot as well. These girls are so talented! We are so proud of them. We head home tomorrow after they perform and earn more awards...

Peggy's Pearls...

I teach in Relief Society and I love it. It is the last meeting of the three hour block where the women meet together. We are able to discuss spiritual things and learn from each other. I learn so much as I study the lesson, and I try my best to present the material to my class without adding in too much false doctrine (unintentionally). Hey, when you have a lay clergy and volunteer teachers, you gotta expect some false doctrine now and again, don't ya? Ha Ha.

Today we talked about the Plan of Salvation. I love discussing the Plan of Salvation which answers the questions Where did I come from? Why am I here? and Where am I going when I die? I love discussing the things that we know and speculating about the things that we don't. I like to think of the gospel this way.... do you remember in math when we learned about finite and infinite numbers? Finite were the numbers we could actually count and infinite were the numbers existed but we couldn't actually count. Even though we all know that there are lots of grains of sand on the beach, we don't know what that number is so it's infinite. To me that means that it's real, but it is just not ours to comprehend.

I believe that the gospel has finite concepts and infinite concepts. The finite concepts we all either get or at least have a chance of comprehending if we are willing to study and search (similar to the help of a calculator!) The infinite concepts are real and true but not understandable by the human brain and no calculator can help. For example:

We lived with our Father in Heaven before we came to this earth. (Finite concept though may need a calculator.)

We were born on earth to get a body and be tested. (Totally finite concept.)

When we die our spirit and our body separate and our spirit goes on to the next life to be judged. (Finite concept.)

Eventually our bodies and our spirits will reunite to form a resurrected body similar to the Savior's and we will live eternally. (Finite concept.)

Where did it all begin? (Infinite concept.)

What does one eternal round actually mean? (Infinite concept.)

Now maybe these concepts are just infinite to me. I don't claim to be the brightest bulb in the family lamp! I love to speculate about the infinite concepts but I don't let them worry me. If we had all of the answers, it wouldn't be much of a test! I didn't coin this phrase but I ascribe to it, "I have many questions, but I have no doubts."

Now, that's not even the pearl that I wanted to share so here's more... Part of the lesson today we talked about baptism for the dead which is the practice in our church of performing baptisms vicariously for those who died without being baptized into the church. We believe that baptism is a necessary ordinance that must be performed by proper authority on earth in order to gain salvation. Since many people never even had the chance to hear the gospel, this ordinance is performed on their behalf and they can choose in the next life whether or not to accept it.

In 1 Corinthians 15:29, we read, "Else what shall they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?" While that scripture indicates that it was a practice that was performed anciently, it is not a common practice among Christian churches today. I am sure that some find it quite odd. Baptism surely sounds like an ordinance that one ought to do for oneself, right?

I came across this talk by D. Todd Christopherson that brought a new perspective to baptism for the dead that I had not thought about. He said,

"The principle of vicarious service should not seem strange to any Christian. In the baptism of a living person, the officiator acts, by proxy, in place of the Savior. And is it not the central tenet of our faith that Christ's sacrifice atones for our sins by vicariously satisfying the demands of justice for us? As President Gordon B. Hinckley has expressed, 'I think that vicarious work for the dead more nearly approaches the vicarious sacrifice of the Savior Himself than any other work of which I know. It is given with love, without hope of compensation, or repayment or anything of the kind. What a glorious principle.' "

I had really never thought about the way that baptism for the dead related to the atonement. Hmmm...interesting. Elder Christopherson went on to explain a little more about baptism for the dead:

"Some have misunderstood and suppose that deceased souls 'are being baptised into the Mormon faith without their knowledge' or that 'people who one belonged to other faiths can have the Mormon faith retroactively imposed on them.' They assume that we somehow have the power to force a soul in matters of faith. Of course, we do not. God gave man his agency from the beginning. 'The dead who repent will be redeemed, through obedience to the ordinances of the house of God,' but only if they accept those ordinances. The Church does not list them on its rolls or count them in its membership."

I have to be honest, some Sundays church seems like a burden to be endured and other days it seems like a glorious opportunity to discuss things that really matter. Today was one of those days!

MLHS Class of '09

For those of you who have been paying attention, you will be confused by this entry knowing full well that we don't have any kids graduating this year which, I'll admit, is probably only a handful of you. Or more accurately, a couple of you. Okay, let's be honest - even David can't keep track of who is coming and going around here! During family prayer he says things like, "...and bless Kylie as she goes off to college next year." and afterwards Kylie says, "Dad, I'm only a Junior."

Our gradutes this year were our two exchange students, Tricia Kuo and Belen Navarro. Coincidentally, they have both actually graduated from high school in their home countries and came to do another senior year here for the experience.



This year MLHS held their graduation at Lion's Field after a 30 year hiatus. Normally it is held in the Big Bend gym which has no air conditioning. So depending on the year, the forecast is generally sweltering with a chance of unbearable. The good part about the gym is that seats are limited and tickets are rationed. So even though we would loooove to go see our favorite nieces, nephews, neighbors and ward members graduate, there just aren't enough tickets to go around - darn it all! The weather turned out pretty good for the first outdoor graduation, but it did manage to rain for a bit with some distant lightening. Wouldn't you know it? It wasn't bad, though.





There is a long standing tradition at MLHS graduations (at least for the 17 years that I have been here) of students hiding beach balls and silly string underneath their robes so that they can bring them out and bat them around make mischief during the talks which are supposed to be inspiring and memorable. (Yes, I used the word mischief. I am that old!) I have to say that I am not a fan of the shenanigans. (There goes another word that shows how old I am getting.) I know that not everyone agrees with me and I know this because of the hooting and hollering done by the "supposed" adults in the audience when the beach balls appear.

The school does not condone this behavior and every year the staff tries to stop this by checking the students before they go in. This year they even sequestered them in the Frontier gym prior to walking on so that no paraphernalia could be smuggled to the students. Have they ever once been successful you ask? No. Not even close. One year there was even an inflatable woman that was passed around - full size - I kid you not! And the only thing worse than these things being swatted around is watching the teachers run around and try to catch them. It's a huge game of keep away and I only wish that I was describing the latest hugely inappropriate PG-13 rated movie that was out, but I'm not - this is real folks. Now some of you may be laughing - shame on you! (Probably not as hard as David laughs, but shame on you!)

Blake Roylance was giving a perfectly wonderul graduation talk (and trust me, they aren't all wonderful so this was a pretty good moment) and the beach balls came out and several adults around me started cheering (grow up already!) and the principal had to stop things and take back control. So much for that special moment.

I don't actually know what the administration threatens the kids with but it can't be much. No one seems worried about getting caught. Apparently that rule is listed right under the other rules that seem to have no apparent consequences like:

No immodest clothing
No PDA (public display of affection)
No smoking on school grounds
No inflatable women at graduation

If I were in charge, I would say that whoever dislodges an inflatable toy from under their graduation robe (perpetrator) or bats it around (accessory) gets their diplomas suspended pending a mandatory summer school sentence. Or better yet, I would reign down some discipline Singapore Style! I think a good public caining would do the trick!! Suffice it to say, even after 17 years, I am not amused.

There are certain rites of passage at graduation ceremonies that should not be messed with. One of these is marching in in heighth order and getting the luck of the drawer as to who you marched in with. Is it someone cute and popular (oh please!), someone at least normal (you'll do) or someone nerdy/freaky/drunk or in some other way embarrasing (please no!) Tall girls and boys at the end of the line knew there was always a strong chance that they would not even get to walk with the opposite sex. It's all part of graduation.



Well MLHS, in their wisdom, instituted a new tradition at graduation proceedings this year. (You'll love this.) The graduates got to choose who they marched into graduation with. Initially the students were told to choose someone of the opposite sex that was around their same heighth. Apparently, that was a little too limiting for the more popular kids. I am not sure when exactly they dispensed with the heighth match, but basically they marched in with whomever they were lucky enough to get asked by in whatever order they chose. Now whoever hears this and thinks that sounds like a good idea was obviously among the few lucky ones who were popular in high school. For the other 95% of the student body (present company included) who dealt with rejection on a daily basis, it sounds like one more chance for high school to make you feel like a loser. What a brilliant idea! I would love to know whose brain child that was!! (No offense) (... ummm... come to think of it, I guess I do mean to offend here.) Okay, I'm done venting about graduation things I don't like.



Luckily, this new marching order worked out well for Tricia and Belen because they got to walk together. We have had such a great time with these girls in our home this year. Belen went back home to Hermosillo, Mexico yesterday and Tricia goes back to Taipei, Taiwan on June 21st. They have both become just like family to us and we will really miss them. Happy Graduation girls!

Belen:


Tricia and Kylie

Spring Festival 2009

Memorial Day weekend in Moses Lake means one thing... Spring Festival! Spring Festival highlights include the carnival, fattening fair food, performing at the amphitheater in McCosh Park, Lip Sync contest, 3 on 3 basketball, and the parade.

Our dancers performed in the park on Friday at 4:00. The weather was nice which is always a plus. The dancers did a great job. We used to really stress about Spring Festival performances just because we wanted the dancers to look and do their best in front of such a big audience. After so many years of doing it, we have realized that people seem to love their performances even when they are less than perfect which is usually the case at Spring Festival. Now, when dancers come up to us saying things like, "I am missing a shoe" or "I forgot my hat" or "I can't remember where my spot is"... we just say, "No problem!" Amazingly enough, it seems to work out just fine.

Kylie was in the parade this year as part of the Junior Miss court. For years and years, it was Junior Miss that rode the city float (and built it!) but about two years ago, the Spring Festival committee decided that they would have student ambassadors apply for and earn a spot on the float. Courtney was the last Junior Miss to ride the float two years ago and that year it was Genie industries who designed and built the float. It represented outdoor life in Moses Lake and was very artsy. It was charming it its own way but not too exciting. We didn't have to build it so we were not complaining. This was the float Courtney's year...

So since then the city has just revamped it a bit and there is actually less on it than before. (Sorry I didn't take a picture. Why would I?) They put a small canoe in the middle and the theme is "Jump In" and it has been the same for two years now. Well, I'm sorry but it is clearly the lamest float in the parade. You name a tiny little city around Moses Lake and they have a better float than we do! Connell? yep. Royal? yep. Grandview? yep. If floats were homes, we would be the single wide of the parade. Are you getting the picture? It's sad.

So Kylie and Mattie and Katelynn are now riding in cars. It's just sad to see that tradition go. Luckily, the Connel girls let them have a ride on their float...

Mattie Bergeson, Kylie and Katelynn Reed working at Chalk on the Block:

Getting ready for the parade:

The girls rode in Cacchiotti's car that Dominic got all ready for them. What a guy! Here they are practicing their wave!

The drill team always marches in the parade with the Mini Molahiettes. This is an annual fundraiser that they do. Kendall had her hands full...

Kendall, Dayna Bergeson and Megan Roylance...

Poor Lori was shorthanded because many of her Molahiettes were riding in the parade. Here are the girls posing with Breanna Haddican who was Miss Moses Lake's Outstanding Teen...

Bryan had the world's worst 3 on 3 team. (No offense guys!) They lost their first 3 games and I figured they were out but David told me they weren't out, they would just be put into a different bracket. And so I said, "Good, maybe now they'll win one." to which David said, "There isn't a bracket in this tournament that this team could win in!" At least they had fun?

Noah Noble, Bryan, Chad Palmer and Reese Leavitt...

Apparently Noble and Reese do not watch America's Next Top Model. Maybe that was our down fall?

We did not have any or our family or dancers in the lip sync and it is time to get back in. We were well represented by the young men in our town, though, who took the top 3 spots. It was an 80's theme and let's just say that there were breakaway pants, flying angels, a flashdance scene and amazing choreography. You just had to be there! I have to say that Josh, Tyrel, Lewis, and Ryan's group was my favorite. Overall concept and choreography and execution was just outstanding. I like to think they have learned a thing or two from dance over the years so I think we can take partial credit for preparing them for the day that they could do it all on their own! Way to go guys!! And by the way, we will be dominating lip sync next year when you are all on your missions!

Til next year...

Happy Birthday Courtney!

Courtney is 19! Her birthday was yesterday - May 16th. Even though Courtney was the middle child, she was always seemed like the big sister because she was the oldest of this trio...

Courtney, Kylie & Kendall:

Courtney was such a wonderful child. We love to watch old videos of her singing in her very low voice. Our favorites are Where is Thumper and the Books of the Bible. "Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deutewoooonomy, Johsua, Judges, Wuf." Most of you won't get that, but her brothers and sisters are laughing at that memory right now.

Courtney was a nice big sister to Kylie especially considering how Kylie treated her. We have home movies of Kylie saying in the sweetest voice, "I don't like Courtney" and Courtney just smiled as if Kylie had said something nice. I think Courtney dished some back in the teenage years but she was pretty patient when they were younger.

Dance has always been a big part of Courtney's life. From the time she was little:

Kelsey (cousin) & Courtney:

She is a dance major now at BYU and is loving it. She just made it onto the Spring Ballroom Team and she is really loving that. She is also taking a ton of ballet and she has the nasty feet to prove it. I love to watch her dance.

I was able to spend the early part of the week with Courtney, Kristy and Brad in Provo. Courtney and Brad are going spring term and Kristy has graduated and is just finishing up a job she has in Provo. Kristy will move back to Washington in June and look for a job in the Seattle area.

I got to watch one of Courtney's ballroom rehearsals and it was so fun. She is so long and graceful and she is just amazing. I am so glad I got to watch her dance. It was totally worth getting up for her 7 am rehearsal!

We celebrated her birthday a little early while I was there. Brad, Kristy, Courtney and I at California Pizza Kitchen. I had such a great time hanging out with my college kids. I just love these guys:

Happy Birthday Courtney! We love you so much!!