Introducing photographer Amy!

My mom is a photographer.  She's not licensed or anything, but she can really take a good picture.  Just take a look at all of the examples below!

This is just a picture post.  Pictures for all of you who live abroad, meaning those of you who live more than 10 minutes from us.  Which is pretty much everyone, unless you really exceed the speed limit as you go to Grandma's.  :)

I love Lizzy.  So much!

For her birthday, Melody got pictures done at a studio, so we don't have any of her.  Just know that she is alive and well.

Orchestra Part 2

So, did you know that the other post was a part 1?  That's okay if you didn't, because I didn't know it was a part 1 either.  I only just barely decided to make it so.  

Anyway, I will just describe  experiences and stories, because going through a trip day by day makes it seem less special, at least to me.  Here goes:

We had the best bus driver in the world, not even joking.  He acted like we were real people that he wanted to get to know.  He told us about his conversion, and some mission stories, and they really brought the spirit.  He sang with us, he sang to us, and he let us have multiple dance parties on the bus.  One of the kids on our bus, Josh, had the remarkable foresight to bring a bluetooth speaker.  We made good use of it.  Almost every day we would hook it up to an iPod or a phone and we would sing along.  Of course, we would eventually get up and dance in the aisles as well.  And Frenchie, our bus driver, let us.  He watched our concerts, told us that we were neat kids, and treated us like people that he wanted us to know.  He actually made an impact on our lives.

We had tons of inside jokes on this trip.  When you get 80 teenagers together for a week with only 10 adults, the kids are going to spend at least 63% of the time laughing.  We spent way more time than 63% laughing.  One of our favorite jokes was: "Bridle your passions, Alma 38:12"  because whenever someone started laughing too much or being too stupid, we would spout it off.  I'm not going to reveal the story of how we got the joke, though; that is a secret for me and my roommates.  Another favorite joke wasn't so much of a joke as a quote.  We were rehearsing at the Mesa Arts Center, and they had their own tech crew there, as they always do.  One of the tech crew asked one of the assistants to get something, and the assistant agreed.    She then turned around and yelled, "EARL!  Get me _____!"  From then on, whenever someone in the orchestra asked someone to get them something, one of my roommates would undoubtedly yell "EARL!" and start us all laughing. 

April Fools Day was on Monday of this week, and we, being teenagers, wanted to pull a prank on our conductor.  Our first thought was to have one of the tour managers call Kayson, our conductor, and tell him that our concert in Vegas had been cancelled, due to the flooding of the stage.  The managers, however, wouldn't go along with it, so we decided instead to pull a flash mob during sound check.  We convinced our tech guy to play the Harlem Shake at a key word, and then we had someone start it, and everyone else join in.  It turned out to be quite funny, and lots of fun for everyone else.  Imagine a full philharmonic orchestra, in black dresses and tuxedos, and then imagine them doing the Harlem Shake, with instruments in their hand.  Let me know what picture emerges in your mind.  

On Sunday, our conductor decided to take us to all of church.  Taking 8 kids to a 3 hour block is hard.  Trust me, I'm the oldest of 8 so I know.  Now, imagine taking eighty teenagers to church.  Actually, we were pretty good.  However, one of my roommates decided to pull a joke on the ward we were visiting.  Jessi and Sarah B decided to pretend to be foreign exchange students from London.  She talked in a fake British accent and everything.  Then, our Sunday School teacher called on her, and in order to perpetuate her deceit, she had to answer in a British accent.  One of the adults sitting in on our class was from Scotland, and he asked her what part of London she was from.  At this point, our entire orchestra was trying to keep from laughing.  Jessi was unable to answer, and the Scottish guy called her a liar.  Then, all of us busted out laughing while the kids who were actually in the ward looked very confused.  This joke made our day!

My orchestra is very unique.  On the last day of tour, we decided that we wanted to have a testimony meeting on our bus.  Now, we know each other as the positions that we sit in orchestra, because on  Wednesdays, when we rehearse, that's who we are.  However, on tour, we actually got to know the real people, and listening to every one's testimonies really sealed the deal for me.  Almost everyone on our bus took a turn bearing their testimonies, and the spirit was incredible.  Tears were definitely shed.   Then, to close the meeting, our entire bus joined in singing "The Spirit of God" right as we passed the beautiful Manti Temple.  I could see the light in the bus as we sang.  At that moment we truly had the spirit of God.

We spent a lot of time hiking last week, and on the last day, we were just hiking around Arches.  With an hour left, we started hiking up to Double Arch.  As we were starting to climb up it, we started to hear some of our orchestra members singing hymns, in a secluded place by the Arch.  My group walked over and started singing as well.  We sang a variety of hymns, from "I Stand all Amazed" to "High on the Mountain Top".  Then, a chaperone came over and read us a little excerpt from a letter from her son, serving a mission in Wyoming, I think?  Anyway, he said that he was able to help the missionaries prepare for trek at Martins Cove, and that Martins Cove was truly a holy place.  Then, the chaperone said that because of our singing, we had mad Double Arch a holy place that day.

I have a lot more stories, but I have to go clean the kitchen and finish frosting some cinnamon rolls, so I have to go now.  I just wanted to share these stories because they made an impact on me, and who knows if they will make an impact on you?  I hope so!

See you all someday,

Anne :)

Orchestra Tour

So I went on an orchestra tour last week, and I wanted to post about it.  Amazing that I'm actually on top of blogging for once, right?  It didn't take me a whole year to get to it... thank goodness for General Conference!!!  :)  

Warning: This is a picture post, with a story below each picture.  You will need some time in order to read the whole post.

Also, if you would like to enjoy this post a little bit more, I would suggest that you get some good music going in the background( Youtube, anyone?  :).  Ed Sheeran, The Script, or Arcade Fire would all be good choices.  Music makes everything better, yes?

Anyway, enough about the preface.  Let's get to the story! :)

This is a picture of me and my roommates.  My roommates were seriously the best.  I loved getting to hang out with them.  I kind of knew them before, from orchestra, but when you actually are bed buddies with your stand partner, you kind of have to get to know them.  And I kind of liked my roommates.  :)

Most of our orchestra was wearing black and blue for Sunday clothes, so we got a picture with some of them.  Maybe some people thought that we color-coordinated, but I promise that we didn't.  

Story time:  Our packing list was the worst.  It wasn't specific at all.  It didn't say that you needed 5 shirts or whatever, it just said bring comfortable clothes.  Anyway, the packing list didn't mention Sunday clothes at all, so some kids didn't have Sunday clothes.  I, being the prepared person that I am, brought 2 dresses, and it was very lucky that I did.  I wore one, and one of my roommates wore the other, because she had forgotten her Sunday dress, and her concert black was pants.  Some of the boys also forgot to bring Sunday clothes, so they had to wear tuxes to Church and to the temple.  I love tuxedo's.  

I love the sky in this picture.  The white of the temple contrasts beautifully with the deep, clear blue of the sky.  

Lacey, myself, and Savannah.  The temple grounds were beautiful!

The St. George temple is wonderful.  It is very serene and pretty.  Nevertheless, I will get married in the Manti temple.  It is by far the prettiest.  :D

This is a picture of a Book of Mormon in a different language, in case you couldn't tell.  There were tons just sitting on a table in the Visitors Center, so I took a ton of pictures of all the different languages.

Seeing all of these Books of Mormon( The Best Two Years reference anyone?) really got me thinking about my own mission.  When President Monson announced the mission age change, I didn't really think about the repercussions.  Regardless, I started thinking about it 3 months ago.  I figured that I really needed to start asking whether or not I should serve a mission, because I need to start preparing.  Right now, I am planning on serving a mission, and I can't wait.  I know it will be hard, but I also know that it could be the best 18 months of my life.

I was trying to get a picture of the Vegas Stratosphere at night, while I was riding on a moving bus.  Not a good idea, for anyone who was thinking of trying it.  Learn from my mistake.

The Hoover Dam lake.  

The Grand Canyon.  Isn't it cool?  Seeing all of these different geological formations and then thinking about the scientists who claim that we came from evolution and little particles, it really make you realize that there has to be a God.  This Canyon couldn't have formed from a million years of erosion.  It's just not possible.  There really is a God, and he made these wonderful monuments for his children to enjoy.  When we claim that this is due to science, I wonder how much that hurts him.  I, however, know that God made this, and that makes it all the more spectacular for me.

Savannah, Jessi, Anne, and Sarah.  Sarah wasn't one of my roommates, but she was pretty awesome so we hung out with her a lot.  Every night, actually.

The Bright Angel trail, which goes down the Grand Canyon.  There is no way on earth that we could have made it all the way to the bottom in 45 minutes, which is how much time we had to hike, but we did make it a good distance before we had to go and turn around.  The hike was really fun!

Aaron, Parker, Allison, Joe, and Maren.  Hopefully you can tell who is who.  

Lacey and Savannah.  You can't see the sign, but it is telling people not to feed or pet the squirrels because the squirrels could bite your hand.  Lacey and Savannah decided to pose like the sign, which is where this strange pose comes from.  I like it.  :)

Best group of kids ever!!!  I made so many new friends on this trip, and I am so glad that I did!  Throughout orchestra this year, I've really only gotten to know the 1st violins, because that is where I sit.  On tour, however, I got to know so many different kids from so many different sections of the orchestra, and they are all amazing.  This past week, I learned lots from every single kid.  I'm so glad that I was able to meet and talk to these people.  They were such an inspiration to me.  They ARE such an inspiration.

A picture of all the guys in the orchestra.  Only a couple of girls took this picture.  I took it cause of Drew.

All the girls in the orchestra.  All of the guys took pictures of this.  It was hilarious!!!

More of all the girls.

All of our shoes were ridiculously dirty from hiking, so we got a picture.

                                     

We went to Walnut Canyon, a national park in Flagstaff, Arizona.  The reason that this park is so cool is because of all of the Indian cliff dwellings.  So, where am I right now?  In an Indian Cliff Dwelling.

At Walnut Canyon.

Another picture of me and my roommates at the temple.

Jessi, Savannah, Lacey, and Anne

Jessi and Marissa

A picture of me and my friends with Jaquelyne Jones, one of the singers on tour with us, and Frenchie, our bus driver.

Sarah, Jessi, Marissa, Savannah, Lacey, and Anne at Delicate Arch.

Jessi and Marissa.  

So this week, I found out that it truly is a small world.  I was talking to Marissa, and somehow we discovered that we both did Ballroom, and we started talking about dancing, and I  discovered that she knows my ballroom partner!  I love little coincidences.  

I will name them in line order, so hopefully you can match the name with the person.

Joe

David, Sarah B, Mike, Marissa, Josh, Nathan

Jessi, Sarah I

David, Joe, Ryan, Matt

Some of our orchestra all gathered together at Delicate Arch

Most of our orchestra gathered together at Delicate Arch

Delicate Arch is so cool.  I love it!

Sarah, Sam, Marissa, Anne, Jessi, Lacey, Savannah

Sarah, Anne, Savannah, Lacey, Marissa, Jessi

I'm not going to even bother trying to name everyone in this picture.  Too hard.

If you got this far, you deserve a medal!  Lots of pictures that you aren't even in, most likely.  I might post about each day.  I just needed to post the pictures. 

See you all someday,

Anne :)