Summer Bests

Best food: dinner at the Pageant, Mark's pizza, Chill & Grill, hot dogs at the National Mall
Best songs: 7 Things, Sneakernight, Apologize, Life is a Highway
Best movie: Kung Foo Panda (midnight showing!)
Best place I visited: (where didn't I visit that wasn't the best?) Palmyra, Kirtland, Indpendence, Washington DC, Hershey, Gettysburg
Best mileage in the car: 36.5 mpg, Little America WY to Cheyenne WY
Best Walmart visited: Canandaigua, NY
Best hotel: Holiday Inn, Washington DC, a block from the Air & Space Museum
Best parade: Midvale Days
Best fireworks: Midvale Days, Niagara Falls
Best laugh: in the car about a song with lyrics that might be "Who's got what it takes to make meatloaf", at the Pageant where James swears he was surrounded by polar bears while visiting Alaska

Memories...

Here are the directions:
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty cool (and funny) to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Midvale Days

I love the first full week of August - because it's time for Midvale Days! What a great tradition we've got going...

Monday was our block party. We had a good dinner and enjoyed talking with neighbors. We mostly talked about Stephenie Meyer and Breaking Dawn. What a great conversation! It could have gone on and on, but some people had to get home to finish reading it!

Thursday was Bingo. We haven't won in years! This year, however, was our lucky year (7 times a charm?) and JoAnne won the B prize! Hooray hooray! I, personally, go for the hamburgers (yum), but winning is fun too - as is sitting next to a winner! Usually for the last game, we play blackout. This year, they changed things up, and made it so the last person to cover a square was the winner. After a night of hardly any luck (really, I had a bum card), I thought that surely, this must be my game! And what happened? Oh, I had N-34 just like half the people playing! Maybe next year... or 7 years...

Saturday was the parade. Holly had to work, so JoAnne and I started walking down the street to sit at the school to watch. Mom drove up and gave us a ride, and the three of us had a great parade. I love the parade - probably because I know half the people and have heard of the other half. It's been traditional the past few years to sit in the same place, just east of Midvale Elementary, in front of the Jordan Resource Center, on the grass in the shade. It's been the habit of the Opiekens family to sit in front of us - Pam Opiekens (new last name!) and I went to junior high together, and it's been fun seeing her family grow up - once a year at the parade!

After the parade, we headed over to the park to eat lunch and look at the booths. There was a good variety of eating options, as well as shopping. Mom got me an orange necklace to wear with my Deerfield spirit shirt, and Holly got quite a few things for not even being there!

Ryan Shupe was the headliner for the evening performance! Gotta love a Ryan Shupe & the Rubber Band concert! I love how they are different every year. You can listen to the cd and know all the songs - but live, they are so much fun! I really think they need to do a live recording on their next cd of 'Devil went Down to Georgia' - the problem is that it changes every time they perform! What could be better than 20 versions of that song on one cd?

Rain threatened to come during the concert, but we went prepared, but didn't get too wet - most of the storm during the concert went south. The fireworks were great, as always. For a local show, really, they are pretty good. The rain started pouring down about half way through the show. Good thing we still had the umbrella! (also a good thing Holly and I lived half our summer being wet!) The fireworks continued on, and, too soon, the show was over, and so was Midvale Days.

What a great tradition!

Washington DC - from Scrapblog.com

Our bags are packed... Don't know when we'll be back again!

The Pageant is over! What an experience!

We're leaving in the morning for Washington, DC, so this post will be short. I'll get a few more pictures up from the Pageant after we're back, as well as some from DC.

This is one of my new favorite quotes that I think wraps up the emotion and spirit of the Hill Cumorah Pageant:

"These were days never to be forgotten - to sit under the sound of a voice dictated by the inspiration of heaven... What joy! What wonder! What amazement! While the world was racked and distracted - while millions were groping as the blind for the wall... our eyes beheld, our ears heard... and I shall ever look upon this expression of the Savior's goodness with wonder and amazement while I am permitted to tarry..." ~Oliver Cowdery, describing his experiences as a participant in the Restoration

Even More Pics from the Pageant!

My cast team all in costume

Me with my companion, Shauna
Both of us are in our Lehi Mob costumes

Me with my roommate, Holly
I'm in my Samuel Rabble costume. Holly's in her Nephite Banner Carrier outfit and headgear

Note...

Make sure to scroll down past the Pageant picture posts... I've updated a few posts with more pictures from before we got to the Pageant (BP time... :)