Chris' sabbatical

Chris is on sabbatical this semester.

He is finishing a second master's degree in Directing from the University of Idaho.

So he will be in Moscow, ID all semester, and we will be in Rock Springs- sad.

He loaded up his car and left Sunday afternoon. It was a sad day with lots of tears. I'm sure the time will go by quickly, but it is daunting at this point. 18 weeks, here we go......

One of the first days he was gone, we had a tea party for snack. The girls think I am a fun mom when we do things like this.

And one day we did lots of puzzles.

Singing in the Rain

The past 2 weekends were the WWCC's production of "Singing in the Rain". Chris directed it, and it was soooooo good. 

The girls and I went with Chris' parents to the matinee last Saturday. Caitlin and Ashlee also saw the first half the night before and Caitlin saw it with her class for school. I also saw it one other time. We all loved it.

Ashlee wrote about it at school a couple days before she went.

translation- I can't wait to see my dad's show, "Singing in the Rain". I think it will be the best musical that my dad has directed. I will like it.

After the matinee, Chris took us back stage to see the set. They have slats in the floor to drain the rain (yes, it rained on the stage- 3 times!)

Jazz Band Concert

The jazz band at WWCC was a little short on musicians this year, so Chris is playing trombone with them. They had their first concert last night and we were there.

They played in the atrium, and it was pretty watching the sun set behind them.

 Chris is one of 3 trombones, and he did great!

Afterward all the girls tried playing his trombone, and they all made sound!

The Fall Play

Chris directed the play at the college this year.
It makes for a very busy start to the school year.
This year he directed The Important of Being Ernest.
It ran over the past 2 weekends.

I was able to go one of the nights the first weekend and I loved it!
It has some very British humor, that is very funny to me.
Great job Chris!!

Window washing

Last Saturday it was nice weather, and not raining, so we washed a few windows.

Molly would wipe and then lick the paper towel. I guess Windex tastes good?

And then she helpfully pushed her face unto the glass to make more of the smudge marks we were trying to wipe off. No glass is safe with a toddler in the house! My bedroom mirror is always full of little hand and mouth and nose prints. And I like them, so I don't wash them off very often!

Is It Dad?!

Chris has been out of town for the past 2 weeks performing in the show "Chicago" at the University of Wyoming.

I got to see the show last night because Chris' parents were so kind and watched the girls overnight for us- thanks! Chris did great and looked a little different.

He played Mary Sunshine and dressed in drag! And he sang sooooo high- much higher than I can sing. It was fun/funny/entertaining to watch him. The audience loved him and how high he could sing.

Tonight I took the girls into a back door of the theater building so they could see Chris in costume, and then we went back to the hotel to bed. I told them that daddy would look different because he would be wearing a costume. He was walking up and down the hallway where we walked in and they walked right by him. They did not recognize him at all! Then he said, "Hi girls." Caitlin covered her hand over her mouth and took a few steps back and Ashlee just starred. They couldn't believe that was him. Then they thought it was so funny that he was dressed up in a girl costume. Ashlee loved that he was wearing high heels. But they were quick to point out that he would just look like daddy again when he came back to the hotel.

They did a great job on his make-up, but I think he makes a much better looking man than woman :)

Opening

Chris' show opens tonight!

"Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" is the name of this musical, and it is good.

I saw it last night during a special preview.

I am proud of him because he did alot of major choreography in it for the first time, and it is really good!

This show is funny, but it is even funnier because Chris is a funny guy, and he adds extra humor into the shows he directs.

I'm excited to see it again next week.

a few from our week

It seems we haven't been doing anything too exciting lately, but here are a few pictures of what has been going on.

Graduation was Friday night. We are officially on summer break now! (and yesterday Chris was already feeling bored).

I know we need to iron his robe- so embarrassing that I let him attend graduation with the fold lines still in it this year...............and last year. All faculty are required to attend graduation each year; it is a nice time for him to say goodbye to his students. The picture doesn't show the fact that his hood is actually pink and purple :)

Ashlee feel asleep on the couch beside Chris on Sunday. That never happens, but Sundays are so hard and she gets so tired. Curses to 1 o'clock church.


The girls love this game. And until recently, Ashlee was always the rider and Caitlin the pusher. Now they can both enjoy the excitement.

a retirement

One of Chris's co-worker's retired this year. Deirdre was the dance instructor and Chris learned so much from her. She was a great mentor and colleague to Chris in his first two years of teaching, especially in the dance classes he taught because he is no expert in dance. He will miss her a lot.

Spring,

We are waiting ever so patiently for you, but our patience is growing thin.

love,

Us

Today we enjoyed some snow while the sun shone so brightly. Although we can't really complain because it only lasted about a minute.

The streaky white things are the snow

And the sun shining strong during the snow.

My patience would be better if the grass was at least green, or almost green.

While we are waiting we have been doing some spring cleaning.

The girls playing nicely and reading books on the cushionless couch while I cleaned them. They were being more help then they could possibly know :)

Washing toy totes from their bedroom, which happens to be the only room which has had its full spring cleaning done.

A big kid at heart

Summer playing is up for this kid. It is back to the grind starting tomorrow with first of the year meetings- fun, fun.

(for all you dancers: he is practicing his spotting)

Chris' job is great. For one thing, he LOVES it. And we get all holidays off, a huge amount of time off at Christmas, and all summer off. We loved having him home all summer, and were able to do so many things and take so many trips. I think this is truely the life.

New Direction

Who is the handsome devil behind that beard? It is Chris, the director. "Into the Woods" is now over, and has been for over a week, I just didn't have time to post this earlier. Is there significance in the beard, hat and ball that he is holding? Chris would say no, but I have my doubts. Chris has some superstitions as a director, just as an athlete may have about a game. He wore the hat every rehearsal and every show, and was never seen without the baseball either. He says that beard had nothing to do with the show, but he started growing it a couple of weeks before the show opened and then.............

shaved it the day after it closed.

Okay, he only shaved it because I asked him to because we were going to have family pictures, so maybe the beard wasn't part of the superstition. I guess the "safety" items worked though because he was a great director and created a superb show.

Chris's Office

This is my new office. I love it. And I love my new job. The kids are GREAT to work with.

Opening Night

Chris is teaching musical theater at Western Wyoming Community College. He loves everything about it, especially being able to direct. He has so many ideas and theories about acting and putting a show together that he can finally put to use. About 6 or 7 weeks ago (I can't remember for sure, it just seems like a really long time ago) he started his rehearsals for the first show he gets to direct as an actual college teacher- Into the Woods. This is a musical about many fairy tales that all come together and meet in the woods. After all those weeks of hard work it is opening tonight! Congratulations Chris! We love you and are proud of you.

(diclaimer: that is not actually the Into the Woods picture they are using, I just found this one online because the WWCC picture wasn't available)