Random April Happenings, Part II (Erik's MCO Performance, Ian's Band Concert, Elisa's Early Birthday)

April 24-25

Erik's parents came down to see his MCO's Spring/patriotic concert. They came down a day or two before. Before the concert, Elisa, Grandma, and I went to Goodwill, the local Farmer's Market, and then Michaels (made some free bracelets and got some balloons) and then stopped in Bath and Body Works. Erik had an earlier performance before our scheduled show (ours was the very last) so we drove down to Mesa and picked up food that Erik had ordered at Joe's Farm Grill. The food was okay except we had no drinks and no napkins. The kids were thirsty, so we went to a McDonald's drive through for some drinks. They got our order wrong, so we had to go through again. We ate some in the car, and then some just outside the Mesa Arts Center with Erik. The concert was very patriotic with almost all USA-themed songs, and even if they weren't directly USA themed, the blurb given by Brandon before the song somehow tied it to being a patriotic song.  The concert was good; I think the kids liked it. I wore my patriotic shirt and earrings. I saw a few people from our ward at the concert, I'm glad we're getting the word out about the MCO!   

April 24

Erik, his parents, and I ate at State 48 Rock House. It was pretty good--I think I really liked the fries.

April 25

Going shopping with Grandma and Elisa

Ian with his meal from Joe's Farm Grill. It was a Sonoran hotdog, I don't think Ian even finished it.

Here are a few videos that Erik took during rehearsals, they sound amazing already! 

We had a decent view of Erik when they came out on the balcony

"Call of the Champions" by John Williams. I liked when Erik was on the balcony so we could see him better.

I'm So Blessed...the kids have strong feelings against this song, but I like it. I believe it was the last song of the evening; you can hear and see the enthusiasm the choir has for this song! They sang it a few years back in their Spring concert.  

*******************************************************************************

April 28

I got back into playing with my beads. I really like bead embroidering stuff. I made a bunch of pins and magnets. I didn't take pictures of everything I made, but I did get a picture of this kitty pin. 

***************************************************

April 29

Ian had his last band concert of the school year. I really wish the school had an auditorium/stage (or at least used the high school's) because it is always so hard to see Ian, let alone get pictures of him, but Erik got a few. And a bonus picture just after the concert of me and Ian. Ian plays the trombone and seems to enjoy it!

******************************************************

April 30

The glass on the dryer door got busted. I'm not sure exactly what happened or how this happened, but I'm pretty sure it was from metal things clanging around that were attached to Elisa's jeans. I can't think of anything else, other than maybe someone slammed the door too hard. My thought was to run to Lowe's and buy some heat-resistant tape and tape up the glass. Erik poo-pooed my idea and then closed the door and reopened the door, and that was when the glass just all fell out. When I first saw the door, the glass was shattered, but still intact.  If we had gone with my idea, we might have at least had a useable dryer while we waited for a new dryer door that Erik found on eBay. Erik switched out the glass and threw the new door away. It was dirty when we bought it, but we cleaned it up and you'd never know that it was glass from another dryer door.

***************************************************************

April 30

Princess Elisa had a birthday coming up!  Elisa didn't want a big friend party, so we just had a small family party. Grandma and Grandpa left just in time to not be in attendance ha. She decided on pizza for dinner. Then she opened up a few gifts (her main gift was going up to Utah). Elisa really liked the little Nothing Bundt Cakes that I got for Erik and Gabe's birthday, so I got her some of those instead of a full cake. I can't believe my gwilly is already 15! I know I'll be saying that every year! This was just part of her birthday celebration...there is more fun to come! We really liked going up to Utah for her birthday last year, so I decided to take her up there again. 

Pizza for dinner

Silly gwilly opening her gifts. I don't remember what was in this box, it could have been her Hades Melanie Martinez CD I got her, or it could have been something else entirely.

The kids put their money together and bought Tomodachi Life; they were the most excited about this game!

Singing Happy Birthday to the family princess--Happy 15th Birthday, Elisa!

Lamb of God

Last year, Erik and I were involved in the multi-stake production of Rob Gardner's Lamb of God. Erik auditioned for Judas but landed the role of one of the accusers. I agreed to accompany for parts 1-5 on the piano. It was a bit stressful for me since I had a lot going on at that time and I was new to the music. During Erik's performance, the microphones pooped out so that was disappointing for him.

 
This year, since I already had the music learned, my piano contribution (playing for the bass sectionals and once for the entire choir) required not nearly as much effort and stress as last year. Erik tried out for Judas again but got the False Accuser role. I can't pinpoint the reason why, but I decided to offer my clarinet playing to the orchestra. I said only if I'm needed, I'm not committing to anything. So, I went to the first orchestra practice, and it turned out that I was most definitely needed! The girl that played clarinet 1 last year was there, and another younger girl (who was only there for the first rehearsal and then I never saw her again) and then just me, given the clarinet 2 part by default. I had to practice a lot to get to somewhere decent. I didn't realize that clarinet 2 has some very exposed parts. Though all of this, I somehow managed to get a crack on the barrel of nice wooden Yamaha clarinet. Probably because I didn't swab after and I let it stay together with the reed on. Stupid. The crack wasn't just cosmetic, it prevented my mouthpiece from separating and worst of all, notes in the lower register weren't sounding. I was thankfully able to fix the issue with some kneaded eraser that I spread out over the crack. I called one music store in hopes that they could fix it, but they wouldn't touch cracked instruments. I will have to do something about it later. Anyway, practices were held on Sundays. I felt like we could have used twice the number of practices! I was barely ready myself, but the horn section--there were 5--just could not pull it together. Even with all 5 of them, they were clearly the weakest section. After a couple months of rehearsals, we finally performed on Friday and Saturday night. We were obviously just an amateur group, so the performance wasn't nearly as professional as it could have been. Lisa was able to attend on Saturday, and she said that it was a good show. I'll probably do it again next year if I needed, but if there's too many clarinets, I don't mind sitting it out either.

Erik took this of me during a rehearsal

On our way out the door to the performance!

Some pictures I took of Erik singing

All of the soloists get a printed bio

I was there!

AZFMC Festival 2026

 This year, I had a few more students than last year sign up for the AZFMC Festival. From January to mid-February, I was super busy getting my students ready for it. The kids need to play two pieces, and they both need to be memorized. Ian and Lydia also chose to perform in the organ category again as well. Thankfully, the organ repertoire doesn't need to be memorized. Not only was I busy getting students ready, but I also agreed to be a judge for Saturday (Feb. 21) down in Mesa. I liked being a judge better than being a room monitor (which I did last year). My cut finger was annoying and slowed my writing down but didn't deter me other than that. I sat and listened to lots of other students play. Most of them were pretty good. I gave out all superiors. Afterwards, we had a Cafe Rio lunch. I thankfully only had the morning shift and then got to go home; some teachers were there all day.

All of my students played on Sunday, since that is also the organ day. I had to skip out on church, not that I minded. Ian got a ride there and back with my other students that also go to our ward, since I had to be there early. I didn't judge for this night (for obvious reasons), but I did help out with getting the papers and handouts in order. I enjoyed hearing the students play, they all did a wonderful job. Ian did great too. I was worried about his memorization on the Bach prelude...I think I should have picked an easier piece, but he pulled it off alright. Some flubs here and there, but thankfully they didn't completely throw him off (that happens with some students). The other piece he played flawlessly. His organ playing was excellent, too. I am very proud of all my students--they all received superiors! The judges' comments were...interesting, some were helpful and some were not. I am looking forward to next year, even though it keeps me so busy!

My most advanced student, Lydia, playing both organ and piano

I snapped a pic of my students being engaged in a performance--there were a fair amount of performances this night, but not nearly as many as the Saturday (piano) event.

https://youtube.com/shorts/sxiyvE65RUY

Prelude by Timothy Brown

https://youtube.com/shorts/IQjJN_sIDrI

Bach's Prelude in C Major

Ian Playing "O Wally Wally" on the organ

Ian playing "Redeemer of Isreal". He played it a few weeks later for the opening hymn at church!

 

These are the trophies that the kids can earn (especially if they start super young). They are great incentives to participate in the AZFMC festival! Most students only earn the smallest trophy. Each trophy takes 3 years to earn. I'm hoping Ian can earn the 3rd one by the time he graduates high school.

Christmas Music Performances

Christmas isn't about the presents...it's about the music! Here are some musical events we participated in during the month of December:

First, Erik's Millennial Choir Christmas concert had been underway since August. He drove to Gilbert every Thursday night with Dan for practice. We all finally got to see and hear what they had been working on at the beginning of December. The sang some Spanish Christmas Carols (En el Portal de Belen, Fum Fum Fum, and Riu Riu Chiu), some gospel songs (Go Tell It On the Mountain, Jesus What a Wonderful Child, and Handel's Hallelujah), and a new arrangement of Silent Night.

Erik's friend Trevor rejoined Millennial Choir this year after performing as Thomas with Erik in the Stake's production of the Lamb of God.

Dan and Erik save some gas money by carpooling to choir.

Killing time before the show by taking selfies.

Erik's friend Ryan brought his family (Christina, April, and Don) to see the show.

Here is the beginning of Brandon Stewart's arrangement of Silent Night. The church organ was broken when the hymn debuted, so they used a guitar instead. Brandon chose to start the song with a Guitar and Cello soloist to set the tone.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18aPnBXVF8/

On December 13th, we had our ward Christmas party. Gabe and Elisa both performed in the shadow play, and Erik sang in the choir. We had dinner and lots of desserts. Elisa sat with her new friend, Trinity. It was alright. Not much else to say about it.

More of the shadow play, click here.

Erik sang a small solo in the choir. 

***************************************************************

Erik and I took Elisa to see Gentri Dec. 19. We ended up sitting right next to some people in our ward. The concert was really good, except for too much talking between numbers. They also brought out a children's choir for some numbers.

*************************************************************

I was asked by the Stake music coordinator to find some musical numbers to fill up an hour on Saturday morning, December 20th for the giving machine. I said sure. I've got lots of piano students to help out with that, so I made it my December recital. I'll tell you that it was the easiest piano recital that I've ever had! I hardly had to do anything for it. It was out in the open at Desert Ridge marketplace. There were chairs set up for family to sit, but mostly people just strolled by. It went pretty well. The pedal on the piano did come unplugged at some point, but I fixed it. There were a couple of vocal performances that I accompanied, but 85% of our hour was my piano students.

Some pics of a few of my students that performed

Ian played 3 songs!

First, he played Handel's Hallelujah chorus, click here to hear it.

Then, he played God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman 

Last but not least, he played Silent Night, which he also played for the Christmas program at church the next day. Click here to hear (some) of it. 

A short video of the audience and Ian playing Silent Night

After the recital, we walked over to the giving machines and donated to Fresh Start to Survivors

***************************************************************

Later that same day, the ward choir had a Christmas party. It was mostly put on because the choir sang so poorly at the ward Christmas Party. I think this was supposed to (somehow) make up for that. Snacks, desserts, appetizers, and apple cider and hot chocolate were served. The choir sang a few numbers, and there were a few other performances as well--including Erik singing a parody of God Rest Ye with Ian accompanying. I had originally said we were going to perform Sleigh Ride. However, I wasn't feeling any of it, so I "forgot" my music. Whoops. Erik's cousin Lindsay and her family were in town for the Cardinals football game, so Erik invited them along too! It was fun to chat and eat yummy food. 

Here is Erik's performance.

****************************************************

Weird Al Concert

Saturday, June 14, 2025

We left St. George a little early because we wanted to eat dinner at Tacos El Gordo. We went to the location on the northern part of the strip, which we had never been to before. It was a very crowded hole in the wall. The area wasn't too nice either. The tacos were still really, really good.

On the way to Las Vagas, I played a Blippi train song for the boys. I managed to get both boys irritated and embarrassed with one song! You can see them covering their ears in this photo. 

Amazing tacos. The kids did actually eat them.

After dinner, we parked at the Venetian. There was a good amount of time before the show, so we walked around the shops in the hotel. The Venetian is huge; there is a gondola all along the path of the walkway. 

A fancy, expensive chess set at a shop inside the Venetian.

We finally went to the theater and sat down in the balcony. The opening act was Puddles Pity Party. He is a very tall clown with an almost operatic voice. He sings really well, but he tries to make everyone laugh while he sings. He played a video of himself running behind a man in a rainbow skin suit for "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows." He held up a "cry cam" to the audience to get them to fake cry during "Come Cry with Me." During "Crazy Train," he showed a video of simple tasks done incorrectly that would upset anyone with OCD. He dressed up a volunteer as a bottle of tequila for "Estoy Sentado Aqui." He even danced semi-provocatively to Brittany Spears's "Toxic."

"I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" from Vaudeville

"Come Cry with Me" by Glyn Styler in the style of James Bond

That Puddles "OCD video" Crazy Train! June 14, 2025 at the Venetian Las Vegas

"Crazy Train" by Ozzy Ozbourne

"Estoy Sentado Aqui" by Los Lobos

There was a brief intermission before Weird Al started his show. He wasn't even on stage when he started singing; he walked through the backstage area singing "Tacky" as he made his way to the stage. He performed lots of medleys consisting of only a verse or two of many songs to fit them all in.

"Tacky" a parody of "Happy" by Pharrell Williams

"Mission Statement" a style parody of Crosby, Stills, and Nash

"Polkamania!" a medley of "Bad Guy," "Hello," "Flowers," "We Don't Talk about Bruno," and others

"Everything You Know is Wrong" a style parody of They Might Be Giants

"One More Minute" a style parody of doo-wop and Elvis

"Smells Like Nirvana" a parody of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana

"Dare to Be Stupid" a style parody of Divo

"Party in the CIA" a parody of "Party in the USA" by Miley Cyrus

"My Bologna" a parody of "My Sharona" by The Knack

"Ricky" a parody of "Mickey" by Toni Basil

"Ode to a Superhero" a parody of "Piano Man" by Billy Joel

"I Love Rocky Road" a parody of "I Love Rock and Roll" by Joan Jett

"Eat It" a parody of "Beat It" by Michael Jackson

"Like a Surgeon" a parody of "Like a Virgin" by Madonna

"Word Crimes" a parody of "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke

"Canadian Idiot" a parody of "American Idiot" by Green Day

"Fat" a parody of "Bad" by Michael Jackson

"Captain Underpants Theme Song"

"Now You Know" from the movie "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story"

Al said it was time for requests, but too many people wanted to pick a song. Finally, he looked at his guitarist and said, "what do you want to play?" "How about some Doobie Brothers?" The guitarist started to play, so then Al sang "China Grove."

"Skipper Dan" a style parody of Weezer

"Ebay" a parody of "I Want It That Way" by Backstreet Boys

"Stop Forwarding That Crap to Me" a style parody of Jim Steinman

"White and Nerdy" a parody of "Ridin'" by Chamillionaire

"Amish Paradise" a parody of "Gangsta's Paradise" by Coolio

In between costume changes, Al would show video clips of things he has done over the years: movies, cameo appearances, tv shows, and fake interviews. In one fake interview, he asked Michael Stipe from REM to come up with some lyrics and Al would put it to music. He said, "We all have cell phones, so, come on, let's get real." Al said, "that's brilliant!" He then sang it. As a prank on the audience, Al dressed up in Star Wars clothes and sang "We All Have Cellphones" to start the encore.

"The Saga Begins" a parody of "American Pie" by Don McLean

"Yoda" a parody of "Lola" by The Kinks

The show ended at 11pm. We ran to the van and drove back to St. George. Needless to say, we got home pretty late and went straight to bed.