It's All a Blur

It's a good thing I have a schedule to refer back to because it has been such a packed day that it's somewhat blurred together already! It's almost 11:00 and as I start to write this I have laundry in drying and the kids are still trying to go to sleep!

Music rehearsal was great this morning.  We learned that when they were writing the music for the British Pageant they were given one word - REMEMBER.  Then we started blocking rehearsal where we learned where we should be on stage and where to go throughout the last few scenes of the Nauvoo Pageant. That went well - although I hope I can remember it all later! 

We had a nice lunch break.  I'd got up early and made Roberts Chicken and Rice so that we'd have something filling.  We ate at HQ and then had enough time to have a bit of a break at the trailer.  Then came the fun of our first dance rehearsal for two hours.  We learned the last dance in the British Pageant called the 'Gallant Ship'.  Some of it goes SO fast that I had a hard time keeping up.  Thankfully, I wasn't the only one!  Lennard and I were assigned to be one of the polka couples!  It went better than I could have hoped... and it was a lot of fun too!  

Lennard was assigned to be one of the apostles (George A Smith).  We had to go to costuming again to get a coat for him.

Kids had fun making flags with Family Support!

 We had dinner at the trailer and then headed down to learn our assignment for the Country Fair. We are going to be doing the Puppet Show with the Rasmussen Family.  The kids had fun playing with the puppets but didn't really want to follow the script... and us adults were all a little awkward... oh well... it will get better - or it will be entertaining for whomever comes to watch!

As soon as everything was cleaned up from that, we headed to the stage to learn the British Pageant finale during the Yellow Cast's dress rehearsal.  We ran through it once and then went into the audience to watch the pageant until the finale where we got to join in again.  I loved seeing it again, but it definitely made me realize how much more we have to learn!  Emma said the closing prayer on stage.  She's definitely loved getting the microphone anytime it's offered.  She then got upset that we weren't getting treats tonight... and proceeded to let everyone know just how unhappy she was about it!  Lennard finally got her into the truck only to have her jump out and take off running!  I caught her just before she ran into the road.  I ended up sitting with her on my lap in the backseat and she finally calmed down. 

It's an early roll call in the morning.  Lennard has to be at the stage at 7:00 in the morning and I have to be there with the kids at 8:00.

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There are so many times that I wish I had pictures/video of us doing things but we're so busy and in the moment of trying to remember everything that it just doesn't happen.  I also wish we could record all the stories and comments people make/tell.  It's not just singing/blocking/dancing... we are learning and growing and strengthening each other as we learn about the gospel and the early Saints.  As we sing, we learn about how the music was chosen or how the recording happened.  As we learned blocking, they told us about the history of the scenes we are portraying.  Our district leader, Lauren Mace and her husband, Jonathan (choreographer) are from London.  They quit their jobs to come here and aren't sure what they'll do for jobs when they go home.  What faith!

As we sat and watched the British Pageant last night I couldn't help but think about my direct ancestors who heard the gospel in England and were baptized.  I'm so blessed because of their sacrifices of leaving their homes and coming to a new land.

It was exciting to get to join in on the finale.  Even in our street clothes, going out onto the stage with all the lights on and singing our heart out was wild!  Running up the ramps at the back and spilling out onto the stage was a rush!  A little unnerving not being able to see the audience and knowing they're all there watching you though!