A new family moved in to our ward. They have been living in London for four years, and they have three girls exactly the same age as our girls! Hooray!!!
We met up yesterday and went to the Avenues Street Fair.
Last evening Meredith joined us at our first BYU women's soccer game of the season.
A picture with an alum player, Erica Owens (Tennie's old summer camp coach). Anyone notice Adele's braces? She got them on Thursday and has been suffering since! More about that soon.
A few weeks ago we heard of an audition for a small scene of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan to be shown as part of a talk in General Conference. I felt too busy to make a video audition and deleted the email, but later I was encouraged by a friend to have Ceci audition. So with the help of my mom we made a video and submitted it. A few days later I got a call saying that Ceci's audition blew all of the others out of the water! She was so excited. Earlier this week we spent half a day at the LDS Motion Picture Studio filming her little scene.
She loved her costume, and it was so much fun getting her hair and make-up done.
We rode in a cart to the set.
Getting tips from the director.
It was four hours of filming for what will likely be a 30-second scene...a long afternoon!
She loved the actress who played Anne Sullivan. Super cute woman.
Watch closely and see if you can spot her in conference!
Last week Geoff and Ceci had a Daddy/Daughter adventure (since Geoff will be out of town for Ceci's upcoming 11th birthday). They went to Ceci's place of choice: Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah.
This kid LOVES animals. This picture shows how much those animals lover her! Can't you just picture her in 15 years sitting in a jungle holding a sloth?
They volunteered for two days, one day with dogs and the other with bunnies. They cleaned out cages and got food, and after all the hard work was the reward of just being with the animals.
When they weren't volunteering they explored the area a bit.
What a lucky dad to get to hang out with such an incredible girl for a few days!
Tennie belongs to a fan club of Studio C that was invited to the Studio C premier. It is hardly an exclusive club, since their were a bazillion people attending, but it was fun to be there, see a few episodes from their upcoming season, and see the cast up close.
It started off with some Studio C cast playing soccer in those big, inflatable balls.
After watching a few episodes the cast came by. Very exciting for young fans.
Yesterday Adele and I met my sister-in-law Joann and her boys at Liberty Park. I love the little area of vintage amusement rides. My dad used to come to this park as a boy, and he once told me these same rides were around then.
Liberty Park is so big and fun.
Mitch and Joann and boys head back to St. George after their month-long visit. We're sad to see them go!
Tennie knew exactly when that 15-minute window to buy Taylor Swift tickets was, and she promptly bought two. No, we bought two with the understanding that she would have them both paid off before a certain date or we would sell them online. She paid for hers within a month, and she asked if I would go with her. Are you kidding? Go with my 15-year-old to Taylor Swift?
Tennie isn't a typical fan. She knows every song, every story behind the song, every person in Taylor's life, every video, every life experience, every public fact out there. Taylor Swift follows Tennie on Tumblr, and last week even liked one of Tennie's comments.
I texted this picture to Tennie Friday. It was a looong day at school!
We showed up an hour and a half before the doors opened, and the doors opened an hour and a half before the concert started. Lots of waiting!
Tennie saw a fellow Tumblr fan that has met Taylor Swift several times. She ran for a selfie.
After we got in we literally ran to the Taylor Nation (her management company) booth and waited for 30+ minutes to get this picture:
And then we waited. Tennie was beside herself that Taylor was in the same building.
I was marveling at the fans. 80% of them were dressed up in Taylor paraphernalia, costumes from her videos, or holding signs (many of which were wrapped in Christmas lights). These people are loyal and adoring! While waiting for her to come out the fans started the wave, and were generally very jubilant. And boy did they all scream a lot!
And then the lights went out...
It really was an amazing show. Everyone had a bracelet that lit up (controlled by someone, somewhere). She had videos playing beyond the stage, and part of the stage lifted up and rotated around. She talked to the fans in a very real and personal way, and had dancers, costume and set changes and amazing props.
Being with Tennie, there, will be one of my favorite memories. Ever.
