Don't Forget the Lyrics Audition

Hey just wanted to do a quick post on how my audition went for Don't Forget the Lyrics. Some of you have been asking about it. Well, I went to this place in Hollywood called Barney's Beanery. I was expecting hundreds of people, especially since I got there right when the doors were going to open at 8 pm. But I was actually like the 7th person in line! I thought they were going to test our knowledge of lyrics to different songs, but all they said we had to do was pick any song and sing it karaoke. So, that made it very difficult to choose just the right song! At first I chose "Hero" by Mariah Carey, because it's my all-time favorite song to sing, but I thought it might get boring. So I went with "Any Man of Mine" by Shania Twain, another favorite. Before I went up, I watched the other people sing, and also watched how the three producers of the show reacted to each person. I noticed that with one person, they were reading through her application as she sang. But with others, they didn't really do that. So, as I sang my song, my friend said that they were reading through my application! I guess that means I did okay! It is really hard to sing over those loud karaoke machines, though! I had trouble with that in the beginning. But anyway, I have no idea when they will contact me, or if they will if I don't get to the next round, which is in Vegas. So I'll let you all know if I hear anything! No matter what happens, it was a really fun experience and I'm glad I went.

Christmas Riddle Answers/Video of Blake

As promised, here are the answers to those fun Christmas riddles. I'm sure you are all dying of anticipation!

1 . Jingle Bell Rock
2. Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire
3. All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth
4. 0 Holy Night
5. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
6. 0 Come, All Ye Faithful
7. Away in a Manger
8. Deck the Hall
9. Little Drummer Boy
10. We Three Kings
11. Silent Night
12. God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen
13. Santa Claus is Coming to Town
14. Let it Snow
15. Go, Tell It on the Mountain
16. Rudolph, the Red-nosed Reindeer
17. What Child is This?
18. Joy to the World
19. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
20. The Twelve Days of Christmas

Did you get any right? They are from http://www.new-life.net/chrtms07.htm. Kind of fun, and also kind of late, sorry! I totally forgot and haven't even looked at my blog since Christmas Day! But anyway, the video is of Blake showing off his new sport, we call it "Stairsliding." This video shows him going even faster than normal, because he's wearing slick pants. My favorite part is hearing Julianna laughing in the background! Should we send it to America's Funniest Home Videos? Anway, we are back and blogging again. Hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year!

Merry Christmas!

We want to wish all of you a MERRY CHRISTMAS! We hope you are enjoying time with family and friends and eating lots of good food and just loving this time of year. We love you all!

Our Christmas Tree

Here are some pictures of our HUGE Christmas tree, taken on our new video camera using the still image setting. Apparently most video cameras don't take great stills (no megapixels), so here's what it looks like. We were hoping to save money by getting a video camera/digital camera all in one, because we want to start video recording things of us and the kids, but it looks like we might have to get a new digital camera, too! At least you can all see our beautiful tree, somewhat! Once I have time to figure out how to upload video, I will do that, too. I plan to post my audition for "Don't Forget the Lyrics" so you can see how I did.

Along with Christmas, Joel does these Christmas riddles with his students that I think are fun. Maybe you can figure them out. They are all popular Christmas songs (secular and religious):

1. Boulder of the Tinkling Metal Spheres

2. Castaneous-colored Seed Vesicated in a Conflagration

3. Singular Yearning for the Twin Anterior Incisors

4. Righteous Darkness

5. Arrival Time: 2400 hrs - Weather: Cloudless

6. Loyal Followers Advance

7. Far Off in a Feeder

8. Array the Corridor

9. Bantam Male Percussionist

10. Monarchial Triad

11. Nocturnal Noiselessness

12. Jehovah Deactivate Blithe Chevaliers

13. Red Man En Route to Borough

14. Frozen Precipitation Commence

15. Proceed and Enlighten on the Pinnacle

16. The Quadruped with the Vermilion Proboscis

17. Query Regarding Identity of Descendant

18. Delight for this Planet

19. Give Attention to the Melodious Celestial Beings

20. The Dozen Festive 24 Hour Intervals

I will post the answers sometime next week! Have fun! You can give your answers in the comments. If I don't post something sooner, Merry Christmas, everyone!

Elder Ballard talks about power of media

Joel told me about this article found on the homepage of www.lds.org. It's a message he gave to the graduates at BYU-Hawaii this month. I read it, and wanted to share it with you. It's a great speech about how the media can be a tool to share the gospel. Here's the link if you'd like to read it:

http://www.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/using-new-media-to-support-the-work-of-the-church

And here are some of my favorite quotes from the speech:

"This is your world, the world of the future, with inventions undreamed of that will come in your lifetime as they have in mine. How will you use these marvelous inventions? More to the point, how will you use them to further the work of the Lord? "

"While some conversations have audiences in the thousands or even millions, most are much, much smaller. But all conversations have an impact on those who participate in them. Perceptions of the Church are established one conversation at a time. "

"Perhaps now, more than ever, we have a major responsibility as Latter-day Saints to define ourselves, instead of letting others define us. "

So, just some things to think about as we are all blogging and facebooking and myspacing. We really can be a positive voice for the church, and can use our blogs in a small way to share the gospel.

Julianna turned 4!

Julianna opening her present from us, the Island Princess Barbie!

Admiring her Dora present.

Enjoying her cake!

About to blow out the candles on her SpongeBob cake!

Her friend on the right, Isaac, kept blowing the candles out. I think we lit them 3 times.

Playing a game with her friends.

Julianna is now 4 years old! Wow! We had her birthday party at our house on Dec. 5th. There were nine kids, including her, that came, so it made for a crowded place! But of course the kids didn't mind, they just played and ate food and cake and had fun. This was her first big birthday party. She had a small one in Provo for her first birthday. I really can't believe she is four years old now! She had a lot of fun and got some great gifts from her friends, and of course, she loved her SpongeBob cake (thanks, Grandma!) And thanks for everyone who came and made it so special for her.

Something I've Never Done Before...

Well, tonight I am doing something bold, daring, adventurous, exciting. And I still can't believe I am doing it! AHHH! I am going to Hollywood to audition for the TV Show, "Don't Forget the Lyrics." I love the show--it's a karaoke style show on Fox, hosted by Wayne Brady, where you can win a million dollars by knowing the words to popular songs from many decades, and the best part is, I get to sing! I decided, it's time for me to do something fun, you know? I really like to sing, those that know me well know this, and especially to sing along to the radio, and my favorite video game is Karaoke Revolution. I don't have it, but whenever Karina and Adam bring it to Mom's I love to play. I have no idea what is going to happen, but I do know it's going to be fun, even if I don't make it. I'm going with a friend so I don't have to drive alone, and she can be there to support me. Wish me luck, everyone! And by the way, we just got a video camera that takes pictures...as soon as I figure it out, I will post some pictures and maybe video.