The first show that we saw was "Just Plain Anna Amanda." It is a show made for children, but you better believe that I had a blast and the moral behind the story hit me hard. Fermata (Sister Paulsen) played the role of Anna Amanda's mother and she did a fantabulous job! I could listen to her sing all day long. She makes me want to write a song on my guitar. Haven't yet, but she'll be my inspiration whenever I do.
The Crazy Eight waiting for the show to start. If you turn your head and squint, you can see Justin in the back. And don't mind Tamra. She's special.
Story- we were waiting for five to ten minutes because we heard that Nauvoo time is fifteen minutes ahead, but then we had little to do. So, I grabbed my camera for the group photo. After the photo, Laura wanted to see the pictures that I had taken so far. Hours later, I was going back through them and came across this little gem:
and laughed my head off. Thanks, Laura, for being so awesome!
Back to business- Since the story is meant for children, the actors ask that all the children sit in the front. They were all bubbling with excitement and made me feel like a youngster myself. Before the show began, Sister Aramaki came out and asked if the children wanted to meet her special friends. They hollered "Yes" and suddenly there was Fermata, Sister Aramaki, and Elder Fairbourne with puppets. They started telling jokes and singing songs. We stood up to sing "Popcorn Popping." I was sitting next to Matt, who never had the pleasure of experiencing Primary. The entire time we sang, he had a look on his face that you could tell he was thinking, "What the...." Tamra leaned over and said, "Now you can say you know what Primary is like." And he just smiled. Here's a little bit that I recorded- they decided to play "Name that tune (or Disney Song)" Kids vs. Adults. See for yourself. My friend Fermata is on the far left:
Elder Fairbourne is pretty cute. I wonder..... ;)
The show was fantastic. The simple story is: Everyone calls Anna Amanda "Just Plain Anna Amanda" making her feel that she isn't special. Her mother leaves and tells her to stay in the house and take care of things. While her mother is out, neighbors stop by to visit and with each visitor, Anna Amanda tricks them into trading one of their belongings so that she can feel special. She ends up with large work boots, fancy bags, a cloak, a fancy hat, and maybe some other things. When everyone figures out that they need their belongings back, they can't find Anna Amanda because she is covered in all sorts of things. Then, through the help of her mother she realizes that it is special to be Anna Amanda because there is no one else like her. It was great! How can you ever get tired of such a sweet reminder? I feel like I need one at least once a day.
After the production, the cast was waiting for a meet and greet just outside the doors. We saw all our Elder friends that had serenaded us a few days before, and then I made straight for Fermata. That girl- One day I will be as cool as she is. Not only was the show fantastic, but Fermata has a way of making you feel important. I love her!
In the time between "Just Plain Anna Amanda" and "High Hopes and Riverboats," we wandered through some more of the sites of Historic Nauvoo. It felt like a million degrees outside plus humidity. I don't think I can ever live in the Midwest. The point of going to so many places was partly for the experience and partly for the air conditioning. We visited the Blacksmith who has always been one of my favorites. Once when I was with Tamra at a school field trip to This Is The Place, she mentioned to compare the Blacksmith to Heavenly Father and the metal to me. I haven't thought of it in the same way since.
After the Blacksmith, we walked down the same street a little ways to visit the Seventies Hall. During our wagon ride, the tour guide said that it was kinda the MTC of Nauvoo.
Upstairs, they had a lot of old "relics" from Nauvoo, like a piece of the rain gutter from both Joseph Smith's and Brigham Young's homes. That was pretty cool to see. My favorite part of this building was in a separate room on the second floor. Inside, there were records of all the members of the Seventy. I knew that my Great Great Great Grandfather William Wallace Casper lived in Nauvoo. I've heard stories about his wife Sarah Ann Bean and their trek west. William Wallace was also a member of the Mormon Battalion. But I never heard anything from my grandma about him being a Seventy. On a whim, I took a gander through the record books. And....
There He Was!
When I came home, I asked my Dad and my Grandma if they knew about it and both said no. How cool?! I'm related to a member of the Seventy! It makes me wonder how well he really knew Brother Joseph. This was a definite highlight of my trip.
We carried on through the sites, including the house of Brigham Young. I was surprised at some of the similarities of his house in Nauvoo and The Beehive House in Salt Lake. He was very smart and truly resourceful. I can't wait to meet him too.
One of the best sites we visited in our break between shows was the Family Living Center. In one room, you can learn how pioneers made everything: candles, rope, rugs, etc. There was a small area where a sister missionary showed how the pioneers would make bread in a "Bustle Oven." Then, of course, we had to try some. :) We had the most fun making rope. It took half of us to get it done, and then we were able to take the piece home. Its new home is the Tulip.
Twisting the pieces together. Matt did a really good job of turning the thing. The Elder was pretty impressed.
Laura was on a foot pedal or something.... She worked up a sweat! :)
(My job was to help cut it)
AND THEN... It was time for High Hopes and Riverboats! We had to get back in our cars and head over to the Visitor's Center. We walked the distance once on one of the first days and decided we wouldn't be doing that again. High Hopes and Riverboats is great! There's humor and romance and tragedy and music! Always music! Fermata played the role of Sarah Ann, the older sister of the lead. She and Elder Fairbourne are married and responsible for her younger siblings after their parents died. It is slightly a complicated story, which is surprising for an hour long performance. Still, it was fantastic! I loved every minute of it. The best part was watching the actors fall in love while all they could do was gaze into each other's eyes and hold hands since they are still missionaries. When the hero proposes, they hug. I understand why there isn't more to the romance and it must resemble a Disney Channel flick, but that doesn't stop me from smirking. Come on guys. Aren't you in love? Ah, well, way to be strong in the faith.
The Captain of the River boat with a little introduction. He had an awesome voice. Just sayin'
A good portion of the cast. Elder Fairbourne is sitting, Fermata is right behind him, and my friend Tyler Elwood is the guy in the straw hat. The heroine is to the right of Fermata, Sister Aramaki. Too guys fall for her. Tough life.
Sorry, the picture is rough. The hero, Chance, just won a stick pull. Later in the show, he sings a solo. I can't remember what the title of the song is, but good golly, I went to mush. The missionary's name is Elder Black. Another one of our barbershop quartet, serenading friends.
We had another break between HHARB and Sunset on the Mississippi, so we decided to head up to Main Street where we found the cute little shop earlier. The goal was to buy t-shirts that all matched. It was fun to wander through all the shops. We ran into this little find:
a shot glass with a picture of the temple on it. Really? That's a little ironic.
I bought a book about the life of Joseph Smith. It doesn't matter how well I think I know his story, there are always new pieces that add to the puzzle. The more I really learn about him, the more I want to meet him. I was reminded that he was still a man. He made mistakes. He started business ventures that didn't really work. He started down one road, only to be given the proper detours; everything happening to shape him into the man, and the prophet, the Lord wanted him to be. The fact that my life has taken detours and I'm still working to end up where I want to be is okay. I'm still moving forward and I will continue until the Lord has created the woman I am meant to be.
Temperatures were running a little high with so many chiefs and fewer Indians, but I think the walk did us all some good. We found a little awning where two men were selling a bunch of t-shirts. We saw a young boy wearing the exact one that we wanted earlier in the week, and we were elated to see the same shirt there. Not only did we find the shirt, but there were three color choices! I don't do so well with choices- I couldn't decide between blue or maroon. Turned out I picked the same color as Tamra. "We're the same person." Laura was the only one who got a bright blue, but she was okay with that. It makes the pictures fun. Three brown, three maroon, and one bright blue. Jon didn't want to be a part of the group... party pooper.
Another great find was Norbert's. We came across this little stand by chance. The man who owned it came out and started talking to us. He is Dutch! The stand was selling Pineapple Whips like those you can buy in Disneyland. These were pretty special because he threw some cherry something on the top of the whip. Oh, man, my mouth is watering just thinking of it. We all grabbed one and ate it on our way back to the show. Mmmm...mmmm...mmmm....
I think Sunset on the Mississippi was our favorite show. JPAA had a great moral to the story, and HHARB was an all-around great drama, but SOTM was just plain fun. The YPMs and the missionary couples combined for a huge party on stage. Just a few pictures and you will see:
Our marching band friends gave a little intro. They really are awesome.
She was an awesome fiddler. I don't remember the name of what she played, buy my feet couldn't hold still. They were tapping of their own accord.
Barbershop mosquitoes! They buzzed in harmony. Haha!
Battle of the Bands: drums vs. piccolo
I think this is the song about kissing a frog.... Maybe?
They honored us with an Armed Forces Medley and asked those members of each to stand up. Way to go, Matt! Elder Black also stood up for the Navy. Impressive.
Some crazy song about moustaches...hahahahahahaha
Devil Went Down To Georgia. Rock it, Fermata!
The sappy drama
Auditions for next year's YPMs (kinda) This is Kung Fu style. The whole time, Tamra, Whitney and I were thinking about when we would do this at Brighton. You have a story line, actors, and a director. You play out the story once, then the director comes in and plays around with how you do it. Slower, faster, different languages, Kung Fu, whatever. Their story was something about eggs... And that is my friend, Tyler. I've never seen him quite this animated.
Story: I walked into the auditorium after everyone else. The missionaries were lined up right outside the door in a long single file line. I tried to be polite and sneak past a few of the older Elders but there laughing and all in a clump right in my way. As gentleman, most of them moved aside with a smile, but one of them had his back to me. As I'm walking past, all the sudden he starts doing this crazy dance move and completely smacked into me. The other Elders grabbed him and pulled him over to where they were standing. I just laughed. As I passed, he said, "Sorry, just practicing..." I knew I was in for a treat right then if the missionary couples were going to dance around like that! I'm still laughing about it!
Waiting until Monday for all the shows was totally worth it. How fun!
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