Concerts and Musicals

This was the last week of school leading up to Christmas break, which means parties, concerts and more! On Monday night (12/16), Daniel had a cello recital. Danny has taken cello lessons since he first began. He loves his cello teacher! Renae has helped him discover a love of music and a desire to compose and arrange, not simply play. She teaches at an elementary school and invited some of her private lesson students to attend the concert to play a holiday solo. Danny chose to play O Come, O Come Emmanuel. This song sounds incredible on the cello; plus, Danny has worked hard to hone his technique to a point that the music becomes more than just notes on a page. We were so proud of him!

On Thursday (12/19), Danny had his Christmas orchestra concert. Can I just say how happy I am that he has moved past the original squeaky notes of the first year of an orchestra? He is currently first chair (meaning the top-performing cellist) in the top orchestra at the junior high (and this is after he took a term off to dabble in the choir before realizing he wanted to return to orchestra).  They played beautifully. I have always loved Christmas concerts more than any other concert (even when I played in band and symphony orchestra). I guess it's just because I love Christmas music.

Finally, on Friday (12/20), we continued our festive musical week with a trip to St. George to see Elf the Musical at the Hafen theater at Tuacahn. Originally, Danny was scheduled to wrestle at a tournament but unfortunately suffered a concussion earlier in the week that rendered him unable to compete. We had planned to go to St. George to see him wrestle but still decided to go even without him wrestling. We left Friday morning and made a quick stop in Parowan before making it to St. George. I might have mentioned this before, but I have been on a recent quest to visit the graves of some of my ancestors (up to my third great-grandparents). I have really enjoyed delving into their histories and feeling strengthened by their stories of faith and dedication. This stop was to see the gravesite of my 3rd great-grandmother, Mary Aiken Smith. She married Silas Smith, brother to Joseph Smith Sr. (so an aunt to the prophet, Joseph Smith Jr.). We quickly found her grave then drove by the house my great-great-grandfather, Jesse N. Smith, built for her in Parowan before moving on.

We reached St. George just in time to see the musical. I thought it was hilarious! It's slightly different from the movie, but the premise is still the same. Jonas fell asleep on our way there and slept through the entire first Act. He even slept on the hard floor! I swear this kid can (and will!) sleep anywhere! Luckily, he woke up during intermission and really enjoyed the last half.

While Jonas enjoyed Elf, I think he was most looking forward to swimming at the hotel. We went directly to the hotel after the musical and directly into the pool. The boys all had fun swimming and playing with a few dive toys. Fortunately, we had the pool to ourselves because it wouldn't be a Southwick swim party without a water fight.

The rest of the evening we just relaxed in the hotel. I wished I would have known sooner about some of the light displays though. I think we missed out on some Christmas fun. Oh well! Maybe next year? The next morning (Saturday, 12/21), we started our day by visiting a couple more graves...and the Cotton Mill my 4th great-grandfather worked in! Yup, it's still there. It is a nursery now, but it was cool to go inside those 4 walls and imagine what it would have been like for him to work there. Again, it gave me a sense of connection to someone I never knew.

We quickly found the headstones in the cemetery then set off to scramble up and around some of the beautiful red rock this area is known for. This red sandstone is so fun to climb on! Danny was like a little spider monkey climbing and jumping around. Jonas did his best to keep up too.

After climbing around, we went to a fun park to ride the train and play before starting our trek back home.

Finally, we grabbed some lunch and did some final Christmas shopping (yes...even with all my preparations, there were still just a couple items we needed) before heading home. It has been another fun, festive week! I can't believe that Christmas is only a few days away. I'm excited and also a little sad because once it's over...there's 365 days until the next one.