Pie Night and Thanksgiving 2014

Another year, another happy Pie Night party and Thanksgiving Day. I sure am lucky to have such dear family and friends. I love them and excuses to hang out with them!

Pie Night

I did not bake a pie this year. Fortunately, a lot of other people did, so there was plenty of food. Phew! and Yay!

(Thanks for sharing these photos with me, Aaron!)

Baby PJ keeps growing more handsome and more excited to explore.
He is the cutest.

Steph J!

Grammy and PJ

Larissa, Luci, Theresa, and Steph

Heidi and PJ

Peter and Dave

Grammy and Breezy

Old friends Heidi and Rob

Peter and Jordyn

Aaron, David, and Jordyn

Adam and Peter

Shilene, Roger, and their daughter

Larissa (haha!), Luci, Theresa, Steph, and Kristen (Scott is hiding)

Thanksgiving Day

A low-key affair, with half the kids gone to in-laws this year and our cousins off visiting St. George for a real vacation. So, I cooked green beans, Lindsey cooked sweet potatoes, and Gram made fruit salad, while Mom covered the rest. My mom is pretty much the best. 

Mom, Dad, Dave and I met up with Aaron and Heidi after dinner to see The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1. I highly recommend the movie, and the company!

Lindsey making gravy

Dad carving the turkey, obviously ;)

Adam and the G-Unit watching football

Uncle Dave with Breezy and Zonks

Cooking crew (I helped, too!)

A small, cool group

The regular -- and very tasty -- food. Hooray for leftovers!
I made the green beans this year. I'm so proud!

Most of the family worked on this puzzle at some point. I'm not a puzzle person, but my mom and I finished it at about 10pm while we listened to my dad watch O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Looking forward to more holidays and vacation time coming up!

The end of Jekyll and Hyde

Oh, Jekyll and Hyde. I may not have always enjoyed rehearsals, and I might not have spent much time onstage, but the people involved and the shenanigans backstage made the whole experience worth it. I finally got to work with a lot of people I've wanted for years to meet and work with, and be a part of a musical I've loved since I was in high school. There was no drama in my cast, thank goodness. The subject of the play was so dark that it would have been no fun at all if the cast weren't so humble and hilarious.

This was the result of a Friday after Amanda posted a bunch of photos from a dress rehearsal. The cast immediately started creating memes. I have rarely laughed out loud so much while at work!

A few of the many things I'll miss:

• Rocking out in a jam-packed vom as the ensemble harmonized in the "Alive reprise" and "Confrontation"
• Telling the same joke "Then I said: that's what she said!" every night, and Wendi, Madison, Matt, and Jackie laughing every time -- we all looked forward to it!

• Laughing at Adam and Seth's interpretive dance during "Dangerous Game" 

Adam (hugging my waist), Silas (above me), and Seth (the the right)

• Lacing up corsets (upon corsets). I'm one of few women who actually finds the things comfortable!
• Feeling like a hot girl for one minute (So long, Bo Peep Whore!)

• Talking about Gilmore Girls while pretending to flirt in the tavern

Ben

• Hearing all the girls sing "Bring on the Men" over and over for mic checks, with all of us in various states of undress
• All the girls stopping whatever they are doing to hear Jared (as Dr. Jekyll) sing the last note in "This is the Moment"...and then joking that he sucks and is unattractive

Jared (Jekyll/Hyde) and Regan (Utterson)

• Jared and Danny's bromance
• Everyone's hair transformations -- I don't think anyone ended the run with the same style they started with, including me
• Jillian Joy and I joking that Marmee would be horrified to see what Meg and Amy had been reduced to

Jackie, Jacob T (Spider), and Jillian (Nellie)

• Mary Ann and I sizing up the boys in the tavern while waiting to dance

Mary Ann

• Feeling grateful that I didn't have to move any of the staircases for the scene changes 

More than one cast member was injured on or by them

• All the steampunk details

Also my tiny, tiny corseted and belted waist

• Hyde ("Hyde is in the hair!") looking suspiciously like Sirius Black with his scraggly, curly hair and long green coat

Jillian, Jared, and Natalie

• This dress that I will happily wear in every show I do in the future, even if it is so long that I and everyone else trips over it:

• Singing "Facade Reprise 2" -- nicknamed "lurky, lurky" -- crawling across the stage in black lights, and then giggling as the audience gives us half-hearted, "what the crap was that?!" applause
• Pretty much the entire "Murder, Murder" song, and hearing the audience reactions to the murders

• Cecily's party planning, including shooting zombies with paint guns and the Red Rad Cabaret (karaoke)

"Brown paper packages"
Each of the women brought one of their favorite little things, and Cecily packed up one of each for each of us.
I'm now addicted to the Lindt Caramel Brownie Chocolate Stick

The Red Rat Cabaret

The Tuesday/Thursday women sang "The Cell Block Tango" from Chicago.
It should have been a mess, but it turned out to be really fun. We enjoyed the joke of each of us pretending to murder Jared after he murders so many people onstage as Hyde. Everyone commented later that it was enlightening and entertaining to see us all come out of our shells and act since we didn't get to do much acting in the show. I very much enjoyed screaming "You've been screwing the milkman" -- the audience pretty much died at that point. Yep, I'm funny.

Wendi, Madison, Jillian, and Adam (lurking in the back) at the Jekyllpalooza Thanksgiving party

And now for a LOT of photos (feel free to skip to the end for my parting words if you like)!

Holly Jo (Lucy)

Madison and Kyra

Choreographer Marilyn

Jake S and Tamara (Lady Beaconsfield)

Illustrated by Jake

Amazing dancers Aaron and Matt

Natalie and Kenn (Proops)

Christine, Sarah, Cynthia (Lady Beaconsfield MWF), and Lindsay

Trent

Real-life married couple Meredith and Garrett

Danny I (Hyde MWF)

Stacie, Cynthia, and Kristina

Cecily (Emma) and Christine

Megan Y (Emma) will never live this meme down!

Madison, Amanda (Nellie MWF), Jackie, and Jillian

Playing Werewolves between our one matinee and that evening's show.
Fun fact: I was terrible at it. Also, the villagers all died.

Dan C (Bishop of Basingstoke), Scott B (Stride), and Jared

Closing night treat by Mary Ann

Mary Ann, Megan Y

Wedding wardrobe bustles with Mary Ann and Megan

Closing night treats by Jackie -- different flavors and fillings, naturally!

Madison and Wendi

Jake, Marcie (our music director), and Jillian

Marilyn and Marcie on closing night

Closing night speeches

Cast gift to the production team

These were my thoughts to my cast the night after we closed:

Thank you all for making Jekyll and Hyde such a challenging and truly entertaining experience! I am thrilled that I got to work with so many people that I have long admire, and that we're all friends now. Who knew you were so nice as well as talented?! I hope I get to work with each of you again very, very soon, and that we hang out together even sooner!