Elf

This past month has been so much fun! Tom has been in Elf the Musical at Centerpoint Theater. What a fun production it has been to watch. Tom has had a lot of fun playing multiple characters, on and off the stage during the entire production, and lots of costume changes. Charlie and I went opening night, November 16th, and then again on Monday, November 21st with Fred and Ashley Scheffner. That night Becky Lingard was also there with three of her friends from her ward. Rob was home recovering from surgery, but it was so fun to see her. She loved the show! 

The night after Thanksgiving, the Winegars, Sam's family, Dan and Eden and Charlie and I went. That was a fun night! That was a night to remember! Charlie and I had stopped for a jr cheeseburger with extra pickles at Nielsens on the way to the play and had eaten the burger in the car. When we got to the the theater and Charlie had parked the car, he got out and took the garbage up to the garbage can by the door of the building. I was crossing the parking lot going north toward the building and was carefully watching a car that was heading west in the parking. It turned slowly and was heading south, coming toward me. As it got closer to me, I wondered if it was going to hit me; it looked like it was heading straight for me! Sure enough, it hit me! As it hit me, I pushed off the front corner of the car and jumped away from the car. There were two miracles that happened! One was that I was able to jump out of the way with my arthritic knee and not have any pain, and two, to be completely calm! I was not rattled in any way, scared or shaking! In fact, I was really wondering if the car actually had hit me. Charlie yelled at me and asked me if the car had hit me. He had seen it but couldn't believe it either. It was an interesting experience and made me realize that someone really was watching out for me. 

 Monday, December 5th was the next night I had tickets. Annette Shaw, Lynn Harris and I were going scheduled to go, but a few days before the show, Annette was delivering her Christmas gifts and she mentioned the fact that she was headed to Minnesota to see her kids the next day and when I asked her when they were coming back she said Tuesday! When I had bought tickets, she thought she was flying in Monday morning. So, she wasn't able to go, which was a real bummer. The three of us have gone to several of Tom's plays together and had so many fun girls' nights. I called Tracie Pendley, and she was able to go with us. Super fun, and they both loved the show, after dinner at HugHes! 

Just two days later, December 7, I took Marilyn and Mom to the show. We weren't sure that was going to happen because Mom had fallen two months before (October 12, 2022) in her house and fractured her sacrum in two places. She has had a rough go, mainly because we didn't get her a doctor for three weeks. She fell the night before I went to Texas for 10 days and she thought she was ok. She had been able to get up on her own and Marilyn couldn't get her to go to the doctor. By the time I got home, Marilyn was gone on a cruise with Scott's family for two weeks and Mom was using the cane that Dad and Nancy had both used. When Charlie and I saw her on the way home from the airport, she told me she thought she needed a walker. I ordered her a walker on Amazon that night, and the next day I made her call the dr for an appointment. She could not get in to see him for 10 more days. As that week progressed, she was noticebly worse each day, asking Bry and I to sell her house and take her to a care facility, where she would just die. To make a long story short, I took her to the emergency room on Thursday, November 3 and she was admitted to LDS hospital for three days. The plan was for her to be there three nights, which would then qualify her to enter a physical therapy facility for three weeks, paid for by her medicare. The second day she was there, the doctor downgraded her condition to "observation," which disqualified her for all rehab places except for three. She ended up back at home, with home health care coming in to shower her, do physical therapy three times a week and a nurse to come in and check her vital signs. This ended up being a blessing in disguise and after the first week her attitude changed, and she wanted to get better! She was able to go to the play with us and loved it! We came out of the show and it was a blizzard!!! But we got her in the car just fine and, despite the hour-long drive to her house, we got home safely! I'm so upset that I didn't take a picture of Tom and Grandma!

December 16th was the next night we had tickets. Charlie and I had been sick that week; Charlie with a bad cold and I with the flu, down in bed for two and a half days straight! It was miserable. Annette and Dave Shaw were going to the play with us that night, however, they ended up having to take grandkids to the airport, and Charlie was coughing terribly. My fever had finally broken that day about noon and I ended up feeling great and going to the play by myself. I couldn't let the tickets all go to waste or pass up a chance to see Tom on stage, and it was good because I had four seats all to myself!!! 

Closing night was December 21, and Charlie and I went! That night we had the best seats of all, and we sat by the mom of the kid who played Buddy's little brother, Michael. He is 11 and did such a great job! There were so many things I loved about this show, and the way Michael's voice and his mom, Emily's voice blended was amazing! Tom really liked him too, and it was fun to talk to his mom throughout the show. She reminded me so much of Sheri Mower!!!

This is the last show I will see Tom in for two years. So sad for me because I LOVE seeing him on stage! He is so happy when he's performing and does such a good job! He wore this coat out after the show the last night because I had told him I loved his pink coat that he was in the very last scene and during the curtain calls. When I saw it up close I was surprised that it wasn't just solid pink! 

This show was so much fun to watch and made the holidays this season for me!!! 

Here are the pictures Tom got from the dress rehearsal. 

This is Santa's bio in the program. Kinda fun!

Dave Hill-"I finally made it! This i my 100th show and I can't think of a better way to complete the 40+ year journey. I love the role of Santa as the two of us have been dear friends for over 80 years. Also, thanks to my wonderful wife and family for all these years of support and encouragement. 

THANK YOU, audience, for making all of this worthwhile."

Crazy, crazy week

Charlie's Surgery on Monday

Playing for Georgia's students

School, particularly math and unit conversions being really hard
Answered prayers!!!

Tom getting a call back for Hope Box play, Damn Yankees

It is now December 30, 2022 and I never have updated and published this post! I have no idea, five years later, the details of any of these, other than how excited Tom was to get a call back for his first community theater play here in Utah, Damn Yankees. That is still, after eight plays now, one of the favorites!!! 

And I do remember how hard the math was that week and getting through the quiz with a pretty good grade!!! Definitely, I continue to be so grateful that prayers are answered!

I do remember saying that year, that I would never play for Georgia's students again. It was extremely stressful, especially with school. I ended up playing for her the next year too but haven't since because of COVID.  

Teaching Primary

In December, 2021, Charlie and I were called to team teach a Primary class of four boys. We were not overly excited at first, because neither of us had ever taught Primary, however we ended up really loving our boys and having a great experience. Our boys were Aiden Riddle, Danr Johnson, Ian Smith and Zach Alvey. They were full of fun and life and pretty consistent in coming. The Old Testament was our topic this year and that was good for me, and it was also good that Charlie was there to teach the really hard lessons! We have just been released with a new year coming up and us leaving for New Zealand, headed to the MTC in a couple of weeks. Zach brought us this note and a Christmas card of his family. They are good boys and we will miss them!

2020, 2021, 2022 Family Christmas Cards

 

   

Cute Christmas card from Becky Lingard

 This is a typical Christmas card from Becky and Rob! I love her and will miss her!!!

Annette Shaw organized service project that a few sisters in the ward participated in. Kim Butler is a nurse on the maternity floor at Alta View Hospital. They were in need of bereavement items for infants who pass away. Many of their parents aren't prepared for that and have no clothing or blankets to bury the babies in. Barbara Jensen and Kelly Trounce made little on- piece white suits for little boys; Barbara Hurst and Jan Scott made little white nightgowns for girls; Annette and Heather Steffensen made little folded blankets from women's handkerchiefs and lined them with white flannel and pink rosebuds for girls and while flannel with blue leaves for boys. They were small enough for premature babies that were tiny. I made sixteen of these blankets out of while flannel, trimmed with lace. Such a neat project to be a part of.  Here is a thank you card we each got from the administration at the hospital.