More January

The big two things we dealt with in January have been the whole situation with the Malibu and also the musical and those have kept us busy, so I didn't have pictures of much else.  Jonah hit his eye on his dresser corner and it turned into a black eye.  Eliza was trying on her prom dress that we'd ordered from Amazon.  And I took another picture to document how we talk to our missionaries in this day and age.

 

More Beauty and the Beast

This musical was just such a good show. The costumes, the theatrics, the set, the acting, the singing, the dancing. All of it was phenomenal. Travis and I went to the Sunday matinee performance as well. We just couldn't resist seeing it one more time. Besides that, I had put my name in a drawing to win Sunday tickets and actually won. The students made the set, the costumes, and the music played was done by a pit orchestra that played in another room with the music being played live into the auditorium. It was just such a fantastic experience.

 

Beauty and the Beast Character Meet and Greet

I could go on and on about the perfectly cast Beauty and the Beast performance by Wylie High. The cast members were so talented and so perfectly cast. Annmarie participated in a one-day Disney-themed theatre camp that Wylie High put on as a fundraiser in November and part of the package was that she got two tickets to a Cast Meet and Greet. We were able to purchase two extra tickets for Nathan and Autumn to come along. Autumn also came with us to the show. We met up with Corey and Jonah at the show and watched another fabulous performance. This was for the Saturday matinee. The kids had fun meeting the characters. Sadly, the Sillies were not part of the Meet and Greet so we did not get to see Eliza at the Meet and Greet.

 

Beauty and the Beast Opening Night

Eliza was cast as one Gaston's groupies in Wylie High School's musical of Beauty and the Beast. She has been rehearsing since October. I took Travis to opening night. Annmarie had gymnastics so Corey was picking her up and we were going as a family on Saturday, except Travis who was supposed to be at a wrestling tournament. So that's why we went together that night. They did such an amazing job.  The performances were selling out quickly, so they added a Sunday matinee.  They had five performances total, plus two that they did during the school day.  Even Nozomi got to see it with her second grade class.

 

Out With the Old, In With the New (Cars, that is)

Over the Christmas break, I took the Malibu in for the safety inspection and renewed its registration. A week later, Travis came in and said that it kept stalling on the way home. We promptly took it over to a car repair shop and were told that the engine was shot. It would either be a new (rebuilt) engine for around $8,000 or find a new car. So we found this car, a Kia Rio hatchback, and paid cash for it, $4500. It's sad to be done with the Malibu, it probably should have lasted longer than it did, but it was a 14 year old car that we'd had for 10 years. We're going to try and do better at taking care of the next one. We donated it to "Kars for Kids" and watched them come haul it away. It was so freezing that day too!