Longfellow's Christmas

I've always loved "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day". In fact, I believe it is my mother's favorite. But I never knew the story behind it until two years ago when the talented Edward Herrmann recited Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I'll never be able to sing or listen to this Christmas hymn again without weeping.

I don't want to be the kind of person who only gets culture in her life by eating yogurt...

Last month we had an exciting opportunity to take Halle and her BFF Lauren to the Utah Symphony. I was especially looking forward to exposing Halle to the talents of Conrad Tao, who at only 16 years old performed Rachmaninoff's unforgettably romantic Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. It was breathtakingly beautiful - the compilation of his talent combined with the strings and woodwinds of the Utah Symphony actually brought tears to my eyes.
I know there were moments when it was challenging for our two little ladies to sit still, and dare I say they even got a bit bored (gasp!) towards the end (it was almost two hours of music), but in all they did a fantastic job in playing the role of refined and gracious symphony patrons, and hopefully they walked away with a better appreciation of what might go into making performances like that one so successful and entertaining!

we're off!

We're leaving this afternoon for a wonderful few days with my family in Vernal! I'm changing my playlist to the Christmas songs, because it's THANKSGIVING and to me THANKSGIVING marks the beginning of the season!

Happy Turkey Day! Be safe, have fun, and eat so much you have to pop open the top of your pants!

Hope