Tis the Season...

For Christmas parties and Christmas shows. This week was our ward Relief Society dinner/party. (Just a bit of a setback when they showed up to cook the meal and discovered they were make some serious renovations to the kitchen. It would have been a good thing for them to be warned about that, but it still all worked out great.) The program was beautiful. They had some of the sisters share their special Christmas memories, read a Christmas story, share a letter one mother had written to her newborn son, and, of course, read Luke 2. In between we got to sing Christmas hymns. I love Christmas music.

Next was the KUBL (they say k-bull) "Low Dough Christmas Show." Aimee came down and we had a good time. Her family also came to the show and were sitting across the Arena from us. So there were a few lessons learned from each act. First was Bomshell. No, I hadn't ever heard of them before this. Lesson learned: get someone else's input when doing your sound check. The Energy Solutions Arena doesn't necessarily have the best sound system, but they can tell you when your guitar is overpowering everything else. We could barely understand, well hear, anything the girls were singing. There were a few songs that we thought we might like, but we'll have to hear them again to be sure.

Next it was Bucky Covington from American Idol fame. Lesson learned (and totally not understood): this guy is obsessed with his backside. Between the jazz hands (which he did quite well), flipping his hair back (I am now paranoid about how I get my hair out of his eyes), and the shaking of his butt, always in our direction, I just don't know what to say there. He definitely has some songs I like, but I will have to get the visual out of my head. The best part was the texting that was going on between Aimee and her brother-in-law, Mike. We really had some good laughs there. Probably not the entertainment he was looking for.

And the main star of the show was Phil Vassar. Now this is going to sound completely rude, but Aimee and I just about completely lost it when the lady in front of us stood up and started dancing. Lesson reminded: certain clothes should not be sold in certain sizes - and certain sizes really need to make sure they have good support and sleeves. He really put on a good show and I really liked his band too. I loved the song "Bobbi with an I." Who else can sing about a cross-dresser and it's an entertaining song. We were having great laughs during that. I could not get over how many people actually left early. I get that it was a work/school night, but why would you pay to come to a show and not stay for the whole thing? Especially when you know the main act is always going to be last. Maybe it's just me.

Then tonight, we had our ward Christmas party. They made the cultural hall look so beautiful and again had a great meal. My favorite part was definitely when we sang Christmas carols and we had a dance show, mainly put on by Mr. Kason (I think he's two now). It was also great to get to know some of the ward members better. Of course, Santa Clause made an appearance for the little ones.

Still have a few more Christmas parties and another concert next week. I love this season - but could definitely do without the snow and cold.