Annie Jr and Legally Blonde Jr Shows

Stonehaven worked with Brylliant Acting again over the whole school year to produce their annual school show. This year they decided to make it for those in grades 3-8. Mia was not originally going to be in this show because we let her participate in Little Mermaid in the fall, JTF festival in January, and Legally Blonde in the spring. However, Brynn let Mia know they needed to fill the role of Warbucks on a couple of days because the other actress wasn't able to be in all performances. We caved to Mia's begging and agreed to let her join the cast after JTF as long as she showed she could keep her grades up (she pulled straight A's both semesters!). Not a big surprise, she absolutely loved it and had such a great time. It truly is so much fun to see her on stage doing what she loves. She made an awesome Warbucks and did a fantastic job! Here are a few scenes she was in.

She and Annie did a great job with the song "I Don't Need Anything But You." I uploaded a video of this performance to YouTube. You can see it here (https://youtu.be/0nsX74l2Qds).

This was such a sweet cast!

We love watching this girl perform!

It's always fun when friend like Eliana and family come to watch too. We were so glad Bama was able to come over from Birmingham; Granna and Papa, Judy, Sid and Elaine all came too.

Just two weeks after Annie, Mia performed in Brylliant's spring production of Legally Blonde Jr. as Enid Hoops, one of Elle's classmates at Harvard Law. She had a couple of other minor roles as a shopkeeper and beauty shop lady too. Here are some pictures from that performance.

Learning how to Bend and Snap in this scene!

They had a real dog in there to play Bruiser Woods!

Mia didn't love that Enid got a perm and she had to wear this particular wig, but it was crucial to the play as Elle asks Enid to pour water on her hair; at that moment, the murderer, Chutney, explains you can't put water on a new perm or it would break down the ammonium thioglycolate and destroy it. This is all the evidence Elle needs to win the case!

This was another fun show to watch Mia perform in!

Taylor Swift Concert!!!

We couldn't believe it. Our wonderful friend, Katie Denis, dad has a suite at the Mercedes Benz Stadium. When Taylor tickets went on sale, I asked her to let me know if he happened to have any extra seats as I would be interested in purchasing them. We were shocked when she came back later and said he had four seats that he would love to give our family. He is incredibly kind and generous! He asked that we consider giving a donation of any size to their family's charitable organization called Brave Like Wyatt which was set up to honor a young family member who passed away several years ago of heart issues. This organization helps other families meet financial obligations when they need to be at CHOA. We were more than happy to support this.

We were so excited for April 30 to arrive! As soon as Mia finished her Annie drama performance, we headed home and changed clothes. The girls and I each went as a different album era; Mia dressed for Reputation, I dressed for Fearless, and Lily dressed for Lover. 

We had a parking pass in the Silver Lot which let us quickly park and walk right into the stadium; we didn't have to wait hours in line like so many did which was super nice. We enjoyed a bite to eat in the suite, watched a lot of people come inside in some pretty fascinating outfits, and waited for the show to begin.

Soon the two minute countdown clock started which got everyone to their feet and the roar of the crowd began!

This show was absolutely incredible. One of our friends described it as a 3.5 hour super bowl halftime show, and that seems pretty spot on. The lighting, the pyrotechnics, the sound...it was all amazing. They gave each individual a bracelet when you walked in. It had some kind of tracking on it because they were randomly handed out but they would light up in different colors at different times throughout the show to form patterns and such around the stadium. So super cool. Our seats were directly on the side of the stage so we had a great vantage point of the entire stadium. The Benz has amazing surround high def monitors going all around the rim which made it very easy to see what was going on up close. I can't get over how fantastic this show was. I told the girls afterwards, "Sorry but all concerts are downhill for you from here!"

I wanted to list out all of the songs (or partial songs) that she performed so we'd remember.

From Lover: Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince, Cruel Summer, The Man, You Need to Calm Down, Lover, The Archer

From Fearless: Fearless, You Belong With Me, Love Story

From Evermore: Tis the Damn Season, Willow, Marjorie, Champagne Problems, Tolerate It

From Reputation: ...Ready for It?, Delicate, Don't Blame Me, Look What You Made Me Do

From Speak Now: Enchanted

From Red: Red, 22, We Are Never Getting Back Together, I Knew You Were Trouble, All Too Well (10 Minute Version)

From Folklore: Seven, The 1, Betty, The Last Great American Dynasty, August, Illicit Affairs, My Tears Richochet, Cardigan

From 1989: Style, Blank Space, Shake It Off, Wildest Dreams, Bad Blood

At each concert, she then played two different surprise songs on her piano which is very cool and makes each concert unique. Our surprise songs were I Bet You Think About Me and How You Get the Girl

From Midnights: Lavender Haze, Anti-Hero, Midnight Rain, Vigilante Shit, Bejeweled, Mastermind, Karma

44 songs over almost 3.5 hours. Just wow.

What an experience this was. Thank you Taylor!

Major Mia News!

 

This beautiful smile has come about because Mia can hear again! After visiting an audiologist and ENT along with getting a MRI, we realized that the best coarse of action for Mia to hear better is to get a hearing aid. She got to design it (tie-dye pattern of light blue, dark blue, and purple with some glitter mixed in), and we went on April 20 to get it. Dr. Dryanski put it in and started talking. Mia's eyes widened and she asked "Is this what normal sounds like?" He responded "Yes, this is my normal speaking voice." She couldn't believe it. She had the biggest grin for the rest of the day as she was experiencing clear sounds all around. This is truly a life-changing wonderful day for Mia. We are so thankful!

A Little Bit of April Fun

 April has been a great month. We wrapped up tax season on the 18th this year, and I'm so pleased to say this has been my best season yet. It went as smoothly as I could possibly hope for, and I'm extremely grateful for that. I appreciate that Mom helps us celebrate at the office by providing lunch for us at the end. She picks up my favorite Chicken Salad Chick called Cranberry Kelly, gets croissants to put it on, provides the fabulous cheese ring and crackers, fruit, and brownies. It's such a great treat!

The girls have been making beaded bracelets because apparently it's a thing to trade these at Taylor Swift concerts. We'll see soon!

I love this picture of Mom and Dad! They were at Judy's house for Easter afternoon.

I wasn't able to make it to our small group the week before the deadline, so Ethan and Amanda Evans dropped off one of the homemade red velvet cinnamon rolls that Ethan had made that day. It was so delicious! Lily has started collecting Buccee's holiday t-shirts, so she and Ryan drove up one day to get their Easter one. It made me laugh as it says "I've got my mind on the bunny and the bunny on my mind" with Buccee dressed up as a bunny.

Our niece, Molly, had her last lacrosse game before she graduates. This season runs completely during tax season, so I've unfortunately never been to her games before. I was thrilled that Ryan and I were able to go for Senior Day where she was recognizing (walking with Wayne, Dianne, and Zac) with the other seniors before the game. She played great, and it was so fun to watch! What a fun game! After the game, Ryan and I met up with Jeff and Elizabeth Smith at the Anchor Bar for dinner; what a wonderful evening all around.

Lily and a few other varsity volleyball players helped lead a clinic for 4-6 grade girls who are interested in playing volleyball. They had a lot of fun with this, and I loved that it helped connected the younger and older girls.

Ryan and I were very excited to participate in this year's Secret Church. We broadcast at our house, and Josh and Anna Plotner joined in. It was an in-depth study of Jonah, and it was absolutely fantastic. We both agree it may be the best one yet as it focused on this book of the Bible instead of a topic. We are thankful that God has blessed David Platt to teach His word so well.

It's Braves' season again! We so appreciated the Henderson family giving us their tickets for a game one evening. Mia wasn't able to go, so we were glad that Lily's friend, Lauren Martin, was able to join us. What a fun evening, and even better...Braves win!

Ryan and I were looking forward to an evening in Nashville together. We had great seats to see the band Nickle Creek at the Ryman. We left just after lunch on a Thursday, and just after Chattanooga we saw an Insta post that Nickle Creek was cancelling their shows for the next 6 weeks! Unfortunately, their lead singer was incredibly sick and needed to go on vocal rest. We were so disappointed but understand how out of anyone's control that is. Since we were already so far up the road and we couldn't cancel the hotel room at that point, we decided to go to Nashville. We decided we would just walk on Broadway until we found something interesting. We ended up at Robert's Western World which had a pretty good band playing in it. We found a spot at the bar and both ordered their "Recession Proof" meal for $6 - a friend bologna sandwich, chips (though we paid $2 to upgrade to sweet potato fries), a can of PBR beer, and a moon pie. It was an experience for sure!

Once this band finished, we decided to head out and see what else was available. We found our way to Alan Jackson's Good Time Bar where a new band was getting ready to start a set. We'll just go with they have a little bit more work to do. Even though they weren't great, they did play all prime country that we knew, so that was fun. After awhile we decided to head on back to the hotel. Not the evening we had planned, but still pretty fun. I'll always take a date night out with Ryan!

The next morning we decided to try Biscuit Love which we'd heard so much about. There was a line waiting outside, but it moved very quickly which was nice. We both tried different specialty biscuits which was really delicious. Their cheese grits were outstanding, and their spicy thick cut bacon stole the show. Ryan had a cup of hot chocolate which is always a treat, and I tried their brown sugar lemonade which was so yummy. This was definitely a great breakfast choice before we headed back to Atlanta!

Just a few of the little things we've been having fun with recently.

Bama's Birthday and Easter Weekend

 We were so glad we could go over to Birmingham to celebrate Liz's 70th birthday and Easter together. We are very thankful for this side of our family, and it's always good to see them. Getting to celebrate Liz was just the icing on the cake.

I think it's safe to say that Liz was pretty happy to have all 9 of her grandkids around her!

I was excited to also get to meet my newest niece, Lydia. Ryan and the girls drove over to meet her soon after she was born in February but I wasn't able to go that day. I loved getting to hold this little one; she's such a sweet little bundle!

The next morning was Easter Sunday. The whole family (except Josh who had to work that morning) was able to make it to Shades for service. George Wright is now the pastor there; he's the son of our longtime pastor, Bryant Wright, so it was neat to see him teach. He did an excellent job as we were reminded of the sacrifice Jesus made and the amazing news that He rose from the grave. What a glorious morning!

After church, our family treated Liz to a birthday lunch at Perry's. We had never been there before, but it was absolutely delicious. Liz, Lily, and Mia all had wonderful filets. Ryan and I both had their special of the day which was a NY Stripe flight. It included cuts of a Texas Kobe, a Nebraska Angus, and a Japanese Wagyu. All were delicious! We had some sides of asparagus, mashed potatoes, and bruleed corn which were yummy too. For dessert, Ryan, Lily, and Liz had a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake while Mia had a chocolate confectionary of dark chocolate dipped in milk chocolate with whipped cream and chocolate bark on top. I couldn't decide so I had their sampler trio which was smaller portions of both of those plus a citrus bar. It was all so decadent and delicious. This was a great way to celebrate.

Soon it was time to head home. We were all full and worn out.

While remembering that we give gifts on Easter as a celebration of Jesus being the ultimate gift for us, the girls were excited to receive full baskets. Both girls received a card with some cash in it; they're both saving up for some things so this was definitely a hit! Mia's basket contained Haribo bunny gummies, Ghiradelli chocolate caramel bunnies, watermelon high-chews, a nail file, fingernail polish, a chick-fil-a gift card, lavender room spray for sleeping, and a ring and necklace to wear for the upcoming Taylor Swift concert. There was also a print out showing the shirt for this concert that has been ordered but isn't arrived yet. Lily's basket contained Haribo bunny gummies, nerd clusters, a candle, chick-fil-a gift card, multiple hair claw clips, a face moisturizer, a Luke's Diner shirt (which I totally didn't realize she already had - whoops!), a necklace for the Taylor Swift concert, and light up shoes which are super cool and also specifically for the concert.

It was a great time celebrating Liz, and it was a beautiful day to celebrate our Risen Savior!