Carey Family

Scott and Sue Family

Idol audition

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On Tuesday, July 29, Brian auditioned for “American Idol” in Salt Lake City.  We had to be there at 5 am and it was an all-day event.  We got filmed and photographed so we’ll see if we can pick ourselves out on the TV show.  But we did make the website.  If you look at the right side of the photo, you can see the back of my head and the top half of Brian’s face.  That’s us waiting in line at the EnergySolutions Arena for Brian’s 10 seconds of fame.  They told him he had great vocals but he wasn’t what they were looking for this season.

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Tuacahn 2008

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We headed down to Tuacahn this year to see both shows and without Mark because he’s on his mission in Texas.  This year we saw “Les Miserables” and “The Sound of Music”, both of which were good.  “Les Mis” was wonderful, spectacular, and had great singing and acting.  “Sound” was also very good and gave the lead actor a real change playing calm Captain von Trapp after emotional Jean Valjean-quite a repertory performance.  We had the pre-show dinner both nights and watched the show on the plaza.  This year we went on the backstage tour before the show and that was really fun, especially for Brian.  I got a really cool shot of Brian on the stage without him knowing it and he looks pensive.  Thinking about his future in musical theater??

During the day between shows, we went to the Rosenbruch Wildlife Museum which had really interesting dioramas and lots of dead animals.  We did the audio tour and learned tons about the different habitats.

(click on a photo to see them all in a gallery)

Soaking up rays with the PTA

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One of the perks of being a volunteer child advocate is that occasionally I get to travel to exotic places.  (That means places outside of Utah.  Hee, hee)  Anyway, I spent a few days at the National PTA Convention in San Diego last month and am finally blogging about it.  I flew for the first time on JetBlue and baby, that’s the way to fly.  Know how they advertise about extra leg room?  It’s true.  We spread out and read all the way there.  Then I got off the plane and just soaked in that lovely humidity which makes my skin look great and my hair stop looking like straw.  Great! 

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I attended some interesting workshops and got to hear Dr. Sanjay Gupta from CNN as one of the keynote speakers.  He talked about the epidemic of child overweight and obesity in the United States and showed some clips from CNN Fit Nation events.  The highlight was hearing Dr. Maya Angelou as the other keynote speaker.  She allowed people to take pictures for the first four minutes she was on the stage and then everyone had to stop because it’s too distracting for her.  The camera flashes were going off all over the room-it was paparazzi to the max.  Unfortunately, my pictures were too far away and not very good.  She told some stories of her very difficult life and then talked about “rainbows in the clouds”.  She said that wherever she goes she has rainbows in the clouds with her.  The rainbows are all the people that have helped her or made a difference in her life.  She told us to be rainbows in the clouds of others and to think about and appreciate all those who have been rainbows in our own lives.  She was great and very inspirational.

We also got to spend an afternoon in Old Town San Diego and did some shopping, sightseeing, and dining.  On the last day we had a few hours before our flight, so four of us went to the Gaslamp Quarter for lunch and my friends indulged me by walking down to the harbor so that I could at least see the water.  We didn’t get to go to the beach and I was really feeling withdrawals about being that close to the beach and not getting to go.  So they took me to the water and it was beautiful.  Sigh!

 

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Filed Under: Sue

Mark in Texas

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Mark called us from the airport Wednesday as he left the MTC for Texas.  He sounded good and was so excited to be heading to San Antonio and starting his “real” mission.  He loved the MTC, but was ready to be on his way.  His mission president took a picture with him that afternoon as he arrived at the mission home and sent it to us via email that night.  Modern technology is wonderful!  We think he looks great!

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Taking the plunge

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I wrote recently that I had been introduced to reading challenges but was nervous to sign up for one so I created my own.  I’ve had so much fun working on it, that I have decided to go for it and sign on for a real challenge.  Some of the books in my own challenge will cross over, so I feel confident that I can do it.  It’s called Book Awards II and here are the rules.

 

  1. Read 10 award winners from August 1, 2008 through June 1, 2009.
  2. You must have at least FIVE different awards in your ten titles.
  3. Overlaps with other challenges are permitted.
  4. You don’t have to post your choices right away, and your list can change at any time.
  5. ‘Award winners’ is loosely defined; make the challenge fit your needs, keeping in mind Rule #2.
  6. SIGN UP using Mr. Linky below.
  7. Have fun reading!

Sue’s list (these are all books I own in my to-be-read pile)  

  • Stones for Ibarra, by Harriet Doerr, National Book Award
  • 1776, David McCullough, American Compass Best Book of 2005
  • The Eyre Affair, Jasper Fforde, Alex Award
  • My Sister’s Keeper, Jodi Picoult, Alex Award
  • The Accidental Tourist, Anne Tyler, National Book Critics’ Circle Award
  • Rifles for Watie, Harold Keith, Newbery Award
  • Out of the Dust, Karen Hesse, Newbery Award
  • The View from Saturday, E.L. Konigsburg, Newbery Award
  • Walk Two Moons, Sharon Creech, Newbery Award
  • The Giver, Lois Lowry, Newbery Award