Fall Break for Rick's Family

The last few years, Rick and Jodie head to St. George when the kids are out of school for Fall Break, 

or what we used to call UEA. 

Rick gets tickets to Tuacahn for a couple of performances, Rick plays golf with Roger 

and they all swim, hike and sometimes bike. 

I try to prepare food that they like, that is no fuss when they get here.

Josh couldn't get away from his classes at BYU and Sadie, of course, is on her LDS mission to Cambodia, 

and it was so fun to have Katie (a senior this year), Abby (9th grade) and Blake. 

They arrived a half hour before they left to see Prince of Egypt at Tuacahn, 

so we had a quick dinner of Mississippi Roast Beef sandwiches (a new recipe that's yummy!), 

macaroni shrimp salad and graham toffee cookies. 

We remembered to take a quick pic after everyone had cleaned their plates!

Roger and I had already seen all three Tuacahn summer productions, so we played with Blake.

He seemed happy to be at Grandma and Grandpa's in St. George! We sang song after song and we read and he read to us out of his favorite books he brought.

He's a little whizo at reading, especially when reading about Daniel Tiger!

Rog called mid-morning next day to say that he and Rick were behind the house on the 7th fairway,

so I went out on our balcony and took some pics.

Rick putting

Rog putting

Rick took us out to dinner next night to Magelby's. The food was delicious!

We took some candid pics.

Blakey loved the new red chairs! 

Friday night before they left to see Cinderella, we barbecued some salmon and had it with baked potatoes and broccoli slaw and Nielsen custard cones for a quick dessert.

We love to have these guys come visit and hope they come every Fall Break!

Musicals, A "Friend"-ly Dinner and A Fry Toast

When we moved to Dixie from Up North, I thought we would be leaving behind excellent theater, 

which abounds on the Wasatch Front.

Boy, was I wrong!

Tuacahn, nicknamed "Broadway in the Canyon," is world class. This spectacular amphitheater, set against spectacular red cliffs and often using a recycling and stage-covering water feature, 

pairs up with Dreamworks to produce many familiar Disney shows, as well as their brand-new ones. 

And many other great musicals as well.

I'm talking Screen Actor's Guild actors, professional dancers 

and impressive outdoor sets, including high-wire flying.

Because I volunteer at the St. George Area Chamber of Commerce, I receive two free tickets to all of their shows. 

Roger and I usually wait until the end of September to go, hoping for cooler weather.

We got a range of weather this year.

In spite of the temperature being in the 90's, we enjoyed this spectacle about the story of Moses.

Matilda was about a wise little girl born in a very dysfunctional family. 

It was clever, sometimes funny and a bit dark for little children and we enjoyed it, 

sitting through intermittent sprinkles.

This classic was my favorite and I liked the Rogers and Hammerstein version. 

There was dramatic lighting and staging, and I loved the humor and the beautiful music. 

It was worth sitting through it in a definite cold snap.

We have other theater venues here that showcase local talent.

I have volunteered at the Chamber for about 8 years and my fun "boss" 

who works for the Chamber is Susi Lafaele.

She hasn't ever really acted before, but The Brigham Playhouse people 

needed a Bloody Mary in their production of South Pacific.

We had to go see that!

She said they had to keep telling her to be rougher and not so nice!

The Taylors invited us and Stenerutts, who were in town, over for a yummy dinner. 

It was so fun to catch up with Pat and Clyde, who are friends of the Taylors 

from when they lived in Sacramento and they went on our Grand European River Cruise with us. 

They are now our friends, too.

And our French fry toast was to our nephew, Adam Gabrielsen. 

We remember him on his birthday every year by going out for a burger and fries, his favorite!

The lessons we learned from having him with us for a few years will not be forgotten!

So there you have it! It has been a long, hot summer and yay! 

The fresh, cooler air of fall is underway!