Homeless for a Night

Spanish Fork High School does this cool fundraiser every year called "homeless for a night" This year the SASH was invited to play a show.  It was a Friday night plus my birthday, so it was a great way to spend the evening.  This show was with the full band.  At least the fullest it ever has been or will be.  

Summer is on the electric guitar for this song and Sierra is on the keyboard.

They are always switching instruments.  

Trev's brother, Ethan, joined the show to play the trumpet for "My Type". It was awesome.

Jonathan and Duncan also.

I usually don't get a good shot of Trev, so here is the best one of the night.

It was a really fun night.  Summer made the Spanish Fork yearbook.  With all of the pictures she was in for Homeless for a Night, she was in their yearbook more that she was in MMHS yearbook!!

Las Vegas Show

So, this one time my girls set up a show to play a gig in Las Vegas with a band named Rococo.

They met Rococo when the SASH played a show in Provo last winter with a band named Brumby.

It was a super fun show with lots of people.  One of the boys in Rococo is a brother/cousin to some the boys in Brumby (who are all students at BYU.)  It's all about making connections!

On the way to Las Vegas I posted a video of a little practice sesh while driving through the Virgin River Gorge.

I didn't think much of it, until Dolores started texting me telling me that my cousin Russ would like to come to the show.  I gave Dolores some of the deets.

Russ said he couldn't guarantee that he'd make it to the show since his wife Katie was in Nauvoo and he was playing Mr. Mom for the weekend (Memorial Day Weekend.)  

I was pleasantly surprised when Russ and his 3 kids showed up to the show.  They live just around the corner from the home where the show was playing.  His kids were little angels and just sat and played in the sand, dirt, and grass while we sat and talked for nearly an hour.  Thanks for coming Russ!!

This is what Sierra was doing while the other band members were setting up the stage and getting things ready.

Hanging out after the show.

Brady, Nick, Trey, Aaron, Trevor, Summer, Sierra

(Nick graduated from HS a few weeks ago and the SASH is currently working on recruiting him to play with them for a while when he attends BYU before he goes on a mission.)

Hanging out after the show.

Making new friends.

It was a fun weekend.  We took Trevor with us and practically starved the poor kid to death.  (I cannot believe how much food teenage boys eat).  We stayed at Kristine's condo that was nearly empty since she was selling it and moving out in just a few days.  The SASH had fun making new friends.  The boys came over and got them after church on Sunday to come back over and hangout for a while.  We drove back on Monday morning.  

THEN, a few days later I got a message from a good friend of mine from Orem 48th ward, Kendall J.  saying that he lives in Henderson and some of the priests from his ward were at the show.  They could not believe that Kendall knew the parents of the girls who played the show that they had gone to see.  It's a small, small world.  Kendall said they were much impressed and to let him know the next time we have a show in Vegas/Henderson.  Will do!!

2014 Choir Tour to Seattle

We left Maple Mountain High School at 4 pm on Wednesday.

It would have been sooner, but the buses got lost.

They used google to try to find the high school and ended up at the District offices.

It was an omen for things to come...

We made it to Boise at about midnight.

Then on to Seattle on Thursday morning.

First stop on Thursday evening:  Hard Rock Cafe

Friday, we did some sight seeing in Seattle.

Space Needle.   It was raining and cold!!

Near the Space Needle was an exhibit called the Music Experience Project.

It was fun.  We had about 90 minutes to enjoy a days worth of activities.

On to the gum wall.

I think this is disgusting and can't believe what a big deal people make of this.

Oh well, we used it to our advantage and Summer came up with a little plan to answer her date to Prom at the gum wall.  It took some planning to get everyone in the right place at the right time, but it turned out fun.

Placing the poster...

Oh surprise, look who just showed up to find his poster:  Chandler

"...I 'chews' Prom with you, love Summer..."

at the pier, where it was once again, rainy and cold

We took a ferry out to Teacum Island for a dinner and musical production.

They greeted us off the boat with some clam juice stuff.

It wasn't our favorite.

The meal was delicious, the entertainment:  lame.

The Chamber Singers sang at the Ebenezer AME Zion Church on Sunday morning.

It's a pretty lively group.  Pretty sure nobody falls asleep in that Worship Service.

They have all kinds of musical instruments as well as a Musical Worship Team.

Lots of singing, clapping, and dancing.  We fit right in.

They also served all 200 of us a fried chicken lunch after the service.

Very kind and generous people, that's for sure.

The Choir sang at a Cathedral on Saturday.  

It was a simple cathedral that is in use although it was never completely finished.

The acoustics were amazing even though I confess that I did fall asleep for a minute.  or 7.

We attended Sacrament Meeting at this Seattle North Stake Center.

It was a testimony meeting and to be honest, there is nothing better than a non-Utah testimony meeting.  You never know what you're gonna get.

And I bet they loved our 200+attendance boost at their meeting.

We came back to the Stake Center in the evening for a musical production that including gospel singers from the Ebenezer AME Zion Church (there were 3 members of that group that were LDS).

But, before the performance, we had to eat.  

They had made arrangements to pick up boxed lunches from Subway.  (otherwise, half the group would not eat because they refused to "go out to eat" on a Sunday.  yet, they were perfectly fine eating a boxed lunch that someone else purchased...yeah, I know)

So, we created A LOT of trash of this church.  One of the choir tour chaperones went to the kitchen to grab a garbage can like we always do.  Except in Seattle it's different.  The garbages are labeled according to what kind of trash:  Paper, Plastic, Other.

It didn't phase me, but this gal could not get beyond "trash is trash".

When she came rushing into the kitchen exclaiming, "we need a trash can" and the local ladies said, "what kind of trash?" Tour chaperone girl was so confused.  And she was so rushed, she couldn't slow down to understand the conversation she was having.  She ended up storming out of the kitchen without a trash.  Then, the local ladies wheeled all of the different garbage cans out to the cultural hall and instructed the kids on what trash was what.  Kinda funny.

On Sunday evening we went to Snoqualmie Falls.

Again, rainy and cold.  But we braved the weather to get out and stretch and get some fun pictures.

Choir tour friends

Choir tour chaperone friends

Choir tour mom and daughter

Choir tour chaperones entertaining themselves during ANOTHER performance.

*the part of the tour that I didn't document with photos is the part that Rick calls "Puke Fest 2014"

True.  Some dumb mom sent their kid on choir tour that had the stomach flu.  I realize that they had spent $600 to go on tour, but it turned out awful.

I don't know the exact number of kids that were affected by the bug.  Maybe 10 to 12%

But, boy oh boy.  It was bad.  None of the adults got it.

But, when the kids got it, it hit immediately.  Not one single kid made it to the bathroom and that includes on the bus, and at the Spaghetti Factory--3 times!!

oh, those poor, poor servers.  We tipped heavily, but I'm not sure it was enough compensation!

None of my 5 girls got it.  I lectured them to not share drinks, food, or air of any of the other choir kids.  And it payed off.  They were great girls and none of them got sick.  One of the girls in Summer's group was feeling sick the first night, but we're not certain that it was the same thing.  So, we were very, very lucky.

*We also saw the Lion King on Saturday night.  But, it was right after Spaghetti Factory, we were running very late, and no pictures were taken.

*We went to Comedy Sports Bar on Thursday night.  It was fun.  Maybe even a highlight.

*We arrived back at MMHS at 4 am on Tuesday morning.  Great.  The kids were NOT excused from school that day.

Recovering from choir tour takes longer than the actual tour.

Choir Christmas Performance

It's that time of year again...

Wednesday, December 18 will be the Carols & Confections.

It's a fun Christmas Choir performance that the choir does each year.

The entire auditorium is decorated for Christmas and there are tasty refreshments after the performance.

Tickets are on sale now.

If you purchase tickets from Summer by Friday, November 22, a portion of each ticket sale will go towards choir tour expenses for Summer.

Contact Summer if you are interested in purchasing a ticket.

PS.  Summer & Sierra are auditioning on Tuesday for a solo spot.

All State Choir

Most fun people I know went to St. George for fall break.  But not us.

We were lucky enough to participate in All State Choir.  Thankyouverymuch.

Summer practiced all day and all night of fall break.

(And even missed the Mindy Gledhill Concert that we went to…)

So, on Saturday, we went up to the big city for a performance on Temple Square.

Summer had ridden the bus to Salt Lake in the morning, so we met her after rehearsal for something to eat before the performance.  We brought Kelly with us.  He thinks we are crazy.

We ate at CheeseCake Factory. (which is the only time I have eaten at Cheese Cake Factory besides once in Seattle and twice in Vegas.  (we don't get out much)) 

After we ate and window shopped at Anthropology we headed over to Temple Square.

(Who knew that there would be such a huge line to get it.)

There were 659 students that participated from all over the State of Utah.

They told us that photos were only allowed BEFORE the performance, but once they started singing there would be no photography.  Can you see Summer in the photo below?  She is on the left.

During one of the practices, Summer had a girl ask her a question…it went like this:

Do you know where Scofield is?  yes

Do you have a cabin there:  yes

Do you go to Pleasant Valley Days?  yes

Do you perform?  yes

Do you always win?  yes

SO THAT'S HOW I KNOW YOU!!!!  I thought you looked familiar.

Selfie fun before the performance.

Pictures at the temple.  The weather was perfect.

We took a few minutes to just sit and stare at the temple.  We looked at all of the little details and wondered how those early Mormon settlers ever figured out how to build such a magnificent structure with such limited resources.

All State Choir.  I had no idea such a thing even existed.

3 recent shows

The girls have played a few shows recently.

the first show was at Velour in Provo the night before school started.

They opened the show for Kira Stone. And then Maddy Wilson played.

Here they are with Maddy Wilson who is very, very country.

 It was a really fun night at Velour with a evening full of beautiful female performers.

Then they were invited to play at the ESPN VIP Tent for the University of Utah football game against Utah State.

Here they are setting up.  It was 97 degrees at 4 pm.

There was a problem with the generator that they had there so we had to come up with a plan B.

We were able to run some extension cords from a power source along the building.

Here they are playing, finally.  Poor Trevor was in the sun the entire time.

We felt a little out of place among so many red shirts.

Not really the ideal stage situation.

Rick looks like a bouncer in this shot.

It seemed like a bomb of a performance.

there were a few highlights.

We got to eat.  Including unlimited fat boys for Cole.

And, someone in the audience wanted to book them (paying) for 3 more shows in Salt Lake.

On the Monday evening of Homecoming Week, they have a celebration at the MMHS.

The first band to play was the band that Summer was originally in last year before she and Trevor broke off to play with Sierra.  Alexandra & McKenna told me that they were pretty good except they couldn't sing.  (kinda important for a band)

It was fun.  They drew quite a crowd.  

Covering an Ingrid Michaelson tune.

Love to watch Sierra.  She is getting to be quite comfortable on stage. (which happened to be our long trailer that the school borrows each year to use as a stage.  I guess if they keep "borrowing" our stage, the girls will keep continuing to perform)

This little guy in the orange shirt was working the stage right along with Trevor the entire time.

And bless Trevor's heart, he didn't miss a beat.  He talked to him and ignored him and whatever it took to make the show go on.  oh, and Trevor happened to know the kid.

There was a slim chance for the SASH to open for the Blue Aces show last night at BYU.

Unfortunately we weren't able to put that together soon enough and it didn't happen.

Maybe next time.  But, still exciting to think that the opportunity was there.