The Variety Show

It went so well! Beth was very nervous, even sitting in the car she pulled out an ornament that had a sticker with the verse from Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

I had printed up some song sheets for two reasons actually. First so people could follow along but also so they could see how her 'costume' sort of matched Colm Wilkinson's when he played Jean Valjean on Broadway. 

She walked onto the stage with her fists clenched and everyone began shouting out her name and encouraging her. By the time she walked across the floor and got to the microphone, everyone was clapping and cheering for her.

 (I didn't get any photographs during the song so I took a screen shot of the video.)

Right before she started singing she looked over at our table and took a deep breath, she was so brave! This week she held onto the microphone and sang loud enough at times that you could hear her over the music! Such a big difference from last week!

There were songs and skits and magicians, lots of laughter and fun! Then at the end, everyone came on stage and danced to We Got The Beat!

 

 

 

This is Cheryl, Beth's Bestie

 

Sharaya and Allie

 

Me and Beth

It was such a fun night!

A Little More Prepared

Tonight's the night! It's the second performance of the Way Off Broadway Vaudeville Show.

I really hadn't heard too much about it. A few months ago Beth brought home a paper saying they were going to have show and if you wanted to perform, let the leaders know what you wanted to do and they would have a auditions.

So Beth said she wanted to sing Bring Him Home from Les Miserables. I filled out all the appropriate boxes on the form and she took it back the following week. After the auditions we found out she had made it and so she began practicing her song.

A few weeks later she brought home a flyer with all the information on it so we made some copies and she handed them out to people at church. 

It's a low-budget show, everyone in the show has special needs and those that choose to sing really can't sing and those who are doing skits can't really act.

But that's not the point. 

The reason they do it is because the kids absolutely love performing! They have smiles as wide as the grand canyon, everyone cheers and every act results in massive applause!! It's fun and happy and a great way to spend an evening!

As last weeks show begins, I'm realizing each act has props or small sets that they've painted or created and there's audience participation with waving American flags during a patriotic song...

And then Beth gets up to sing. She's just wearing the brown outfit she wore that day. No costume. No props. Nothing. 

Now it may be that the volunteers have asked her during the last few weeks if she wanted to make something or wear something and she said no. I'm fully aware that's probably what happened. But my heart sunk! Even in the world of special needs Beth is often the odd-man-out.

BUT!!

I asked her about getting a costume and she said yes. This week we've been to Target, The Party Store, Dollar Tree... trying to find something she could wear (even just a hat!) that would represent Jean Valjean when he sings this song. We finally found something at Goodwill, a blue shirt and red vest that will slightly resemble the costume worn in the Broadway production.

I printed up some song sheets that we'll put on each table and I asked her about waving a giant red flag as she enters but she said no to that. 😀

So this week we're a little more prepared than we were last week. I'm writing this at about 3:00 on Wednesday and the show starts in 3 hours. She's downstairs practicing right now! I'll let you know how it goes!

"And Now Here She Is, All The Way From Seattle Washington... !"

She told me she would watch the concert tonight and that I could record her! I went downstairs at one point and she said it still had a ways to go before her song came on. Then a couple hours later she sent me a text, "it is getting closer to the music"

(When I first started recording she put her hand by her face so I wouldn't be able to see her, so I stayed where I was to help her feel more comfortable and just got the side view.)

It was 3 1/2 minutes long and when I tried to email it to my computer, it said the file was too big. I'm not very tech-savvy and it didn't tell me how long it could be so I just got the last minute or so. Her big finale! You can see her plant her feet to get ready to hold that long note:

 

Please pray for her tomorrow, Monday at 2:15. They have more auditions next week so they'll post the cast list on the 24th. 

We'll keep you posted!

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Our church is having a time of prayer and fasting starting tomorrow, to prepare our hearts for Good Friday. A time to set aside all the distractions that can keep us from the Lord, that takes up so much of our time every day. It just helps us focus more on the Lord and the sacrifice He paid on the cross. So I will be off social media for a few days. 

I hope you all have a blessed week as we prepare to celebrate the resurrection of the Lord!  

Way Off Broadway

All Aboard is putting on a show in July but everyone who wants to participate has to audition.

They're calling it the Way Off Broadway Variety Show and Beth's audition time is this Monday at 2:15.

She's planning to sing Bring Him Home from Les Mis. But it's the version from the 10th Anniversary Concert at Royal Albert Hall. It's a really difficult song to sing but she's pretty good at holding that last note. We were in the car the other day and I was amazed at how long she held it! "Wow Beth that was really good!" 

She just beamed. 😊

She practices all the time and every day she'll text me, "I did hold the note mothera!" I tried to get a video of her singing it but she didn't want me to record her.

Maybe as the concert gets closer. 

Beth Tells You About Our Day and A Little About Christmas

WE  GO TWO TARGET AND THE MALL  AND WE SEE THE LES MISERABLES AND I GO TWO THE SCHOOL AND FYE WE HAVE FUN TONIGHT AUNTIE ANNE'S AND I GOT NEW STUFF LIKE NEW SHOSES AND SOCKS AND HEAD PHONES AND NEW CD IS CINDERELLA CD

BETH AND MOTHER GO TWO DOCTER FOR MY BLOOD TEST TODAY AND I GO TWO  BOWLING  AND KAROKE ON TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY

I HAVE A NEW JOB CLASS IN NEW PLASE I GO TWO NOW AND WE HAVE NEW NIECE AND NEW PUPPY FOR ALLISON HER DOG NAME IS PEPER THE DOG NAME FOR HER

I GOT A GIFT CARD IS WAL MART FROM GRNDMOTHER AND AUNT ROSE IS MY FATHER FAMLIY

I LIKE TWO SING AND RIGHT MY LETTER TWO MY SELF OF NAME AND DANCE TWO MY MUSIC TWO THANK YOU          LOVE   ELIZABETH   ANDERSON

Our Turn

Our turn to post all those Christmas pictures! :)

While the girls were growing up, Chuck's mom would buy them pajamas and a stuffed animal and that was the one gift they opened every Christmas Eve. I'm now continuing that tradition with Allie!

 

We had Christmas at Ryan and Sharaya's this year. 

It was fun to go to their house and see the way they do Christmas. 

 

 

 Cinnamon rolls for breakfast!

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

After we opened presents, Ryan and Sharaya went over to Ryan's folks and the 4 of us went to see Les Miserables. We've seen it live on stage 3 times and were so excited to see the movie! If you haven't seen it, we highly recommend it! It is such a great story about redemption and the amazing things God can do when you turn your life over to Him.

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Where Has The Time Gone?

The time has flown by. I'm sorry I haven't written.

The three days of Beth's treatment went very well. Every time I'd go down to check on her she'd be smiling, singing, watching TV... it really wasn't difficult at all. Over the weekend we washed her bedding and her clothes. I also scrubbed the bathroom she used. I don't know how much I was supposed to do so I washed the walls and the floors and everything in between. :) She sees the doctor at the first of next month for lab work so he can make sure this radioactive iodine treatment worked. Then they'll prescribe her new medicine. I'm hoping and praying it's better then what she's been taking. She's been eating healthier plus has been off this medicine for over a month and she's lost 20 pounds already!!

Diana was at the European premier of Les Miserables today. (Her reason for going to London.) I watched it live on Yahoo Movies and got to see her in the crowd. Helena Bonham Carter was walking the red carpet signing autographs and passed right in front of Diana. The cameras were there to capture it all! A short time later I got a text saying she received a free ticket and was in the theater waiting for the movie to start! I guess you could say she had a pretty good day today.

We bought our Christmas tree. It's not decorated and there are no lights on it, but it's up!

This Sunday we're going to Ryan and Sharaya's to celebrate Allison's 3rd birthday! Sharaya has been working for weeks to create a Rapunzel party theme. She even painted this:

 

I still can't believe Allie is three. Time is going way too fast.

 

I've been working on our Christmas card but it just doesn't look right. I think I need to start over. We haven't taken a family photo this year so I've been trying to get pictures from our facebook pages. It hasn't been as easy as it sounds.

There will be some changes coming at work in the new year. It's something I've expected for a few months, but we're still gonna have to make some changes here at home to accommodate. 

So that's what we've been up to this week. I hope you're doing well!

Can You Hear the People Sing?

We've been so busy lately I haven't had a chance to update. I finally got a few minutes this afternoon and realized I had never even uploaded the pictures from my camera! Yes, my phone is that old. I still take pictures with a camera! Remember those?! :)

July Fourth - we dropped Beth off at All Aboard. Did I tell you they were in the Everett parade again this year? They arrived early to decorate the truck.

Like most parades, there were nice cars, old tractors and drill teams.

 

 

 

But the best part.... was All Aboard!!

The audience clapped and cheered for those kids! Made me cry happy tears!

Beth is in the center of the picture with a red shirt around her waist.

 

Later that afternoon, Ryan and Sharaya came over so Allie could play with popits, those little white firecracker things that pop when you throw them on the ground. Do you guys have those? Anyway, Allie loves her popits!!

 

We then walked onto the Edmonds Ferry so we could see the fireworks up and down Puget Sound. It was a beautiful night, extreemly cold but beautiful! The moon rose and was so huge it seemed like it could be a super moon. People were taking pictures of that, rather than the fireworks!

The Olympic Mountains. These are west of where we live.

 

Mount Baker is about 120 miles to the north.

And then on July 5th.....

 

 

It was such a great production. And I'm proud to say, Beth didn't sing out loud this time! She did do some of the motions from the 10th Anniversary concert we have on video, but no loud singing! At least until we got into the car. Then she put on her headphones and belted out the songs at the top of her lungs!!

Beyond Excited!!

Thursday was one of those days when everything went... right.

Diana got us tickets to be in the audience of a local show called New Day Northwest. I had been a part of a studio audience many years ago when my sister and her husband took me to see a taping of The Price is Right. But this was a first for Beth and Diana.

I had to drive downtown - not my favorite thing to do but we got there early enough to get a good parking space, then we walked a couple blocks to Starbucks to wait until the studio doors opened.

Being on the set was so energizing! Seeing the process of retakes, camera operation and set design was fascinating! We loved it! The first guest was Betsy Morgan, she plays Fantine in a production of Les Miserable that's playing right now in Seattle. Our entire family loves that musical and that was one of the reasons we got tickets to be in the audience.

After Betsy finished singing I Dreamed a Dream, the host of New Day Northwest, Margaret Larsen looks into the camera and says, "Everyone in our studio audience today gets a pair of tickets to see Les Mis next week!" That place erupted!!

We got a total of 6 free tickets!! So on Thursday, Chuck, Me, Beth, Diana, Sharaya and Ryan will all be seeing Les Miserables!! We are beyond excited!!

After the show we got free gelato ice cream, plus a free copy of a book written by one of the guests. Here we are in the lobby eating our gelato and watching the show we had just taped!

 On Thursday, July 5 at 8 PM we'll be here!!