May Long Weekend

We have been quarantining for about 8 weeks now. Every time the weekend rolls around, someone says, "What are we going to do this weekend?" It's getting kind of monotonous because we pretty much stick to our normal routine: a movie or two and maybe a game, if we can talk Allen into it (he's not a huge fan of games).

This weekend we decided to head out to Kanaskis! It was a great day.

At a few stops, Frank had to wait inside the car. He sure keeps an eye on everyone! 

Beautiful!

At this stop, Chico didn't really want to walk up the waterfall with everyone. I didn't have the right shoes on either so I stayed in the car with Chico. We happened to be at a University of Calgary station. Imagine having that be your part of your project where you had to stay out in Kanaskis to do your studies. Not a bad life!

We saw gophers, deer, mountain goats and even a black bear!!

On the way home, Peirce did a little geocaching....his furthest geocache discovery yet!

On the way home, even the dogs were tired!

On Monday, Jill and Peirce went out to Kananaskis again and hiked with some friends. 

When they got home, Jill planted some flowers. Can't wait to see them grow! This week we are going to have lots of rain so it shouldn't take too long.

Happy Birthday? Wait. Happy New Year!!

 Not just a happy birthday, but happy new year!!

Last night my sister came over and we visited for a couple hours, then I went to bed. My family, on the other hand, attempted to stay up all night, I think. It was a rough day for them today. Good thing staying up all night is really only something once a year.

The parties weren't a big hit. Jill went to the YSA dance and she gave it a "meh". Although, she did run into a missionary friend, so that was really fun. Peirce went to a party at a friend's house which ended up not being that fun because they played drinking games and got throw-up drunk. Blech. Tony and Zoe went downtown for dinner and saw fireworks. Their report was the most positive. Allen stayed up for all the reports. Personally, I'm fine waiting until the next day for the updates.

But, the happy birthday part. What is that? Well, thanks to Dale Shoults, we learned that today Allen is 18,000 days old! Isn't that something?! Happy birthday old guy!

My favorite picture of our family

Everything is cuter with Frank!

Spring Break in Kelowna

We had a really fun week last week. We went to Kelowna - all three of us! Allen wanted to stay in a hotel instead of at Neil's so we decided to stay at the motel my parents bought when I was 12. It was so fun to be there! It isn't a super fancy place, but still nice. Allen could have plenty of resting time. There were good places to walk Frankie and Chico and there is lots to do there. I really loved just being around and seeing the maid carts and people cleaning the pool and everything else that is such a strong memory for me. I even snuck into the laundry room to snap a picture. LOL I bet not too many guests do that! There's a lot to do there: a sand volleyball court, indoor and outdoor pool, bar-b-ques you can use, shuffle board, ping pong tables, exercise room and lots and lots of grass space. There's lots to do. It would be a great place for a family reunion.

On the way home we ended up staying a night in Revelstoke. 44 km out of Revelstoke there was a truck that was on it's side perfectly covering both lanes. Allen got out and took Frankie for a little walk and saw that it was a big deal to fix so he figured we should turn around and go have dinner in Revelstoke. We asked the guy in the pizza restaurant (who was a hilarious French guy) what he thought about the situation and he said, "Friends, you are what we say, 'Revelstuck'!" LOL There's a twitter account you can get info about BC roads on and they had updates. The time it was estimated to be fixed up got pushed back and pushed back. We ended up deciding to get a hotel and get a good night's sleep, which was great. In the end, it turned out the road opened up at 11:00 pm, so we were glad we didn't try to wait it out. It's a good 4-5 hours from Revelstoke to Calgary, so that would have been a really late night.

Funny thing was when we were in Kelowna, I thought a few times that I should do a load of laundry in the laundry facilities they have for guests. I didn't though. When we were stuck in Revelstoke I wondered if that was a prompting because I sure would have been more comfortable with some clean laundry! Things that make you go hmmm....

The motel my parents bought when I was 12:

 We used to have SO much fine driving around in those golf carts. Oh boy! 

You can do some mean donuts in a golf cart.

 The sauna was locked up.

I used to do my homework in there.

 The indoor pool. They still clean it with a long stick.

 This was our house! They rent it out now.

They all reorganized the room numbers.

I had hoped we could stay in 314 (which was the room by my bedroom)

and we got put in 315!

Our house used to be 313. Now it is 301.

 The outdoor pool. Closed for a while yet.

 Resting time!

 Our house in Black Mountain. It's a weird pink color now.

 I had to sneak in and take a picture in the laundry room. 

That was my favorite place to work.

 I filled up and pushed those suckers around a lot!

 There goes the golf cart!

A map of the grounds of the motel.

 Peirce and I went to the Kangaroo Farm:

 They have a bunch of exotic birds.

 I love capybaras!

 Laid back friends

 An Abe emu

Selfies with a kangaroo 

 The second motel my parents bought in Kelowna. 

It used to be called The InnTowner. Now it's a funky place called Hotel Zed.

 The pool at Hotel Zed. I used to hang out at the pool with my friends a lot.

 The second motel my parents bought. Now it's called Hotel Zed. Funky place!

 French Cultural Center in Kelowna...aka as a stamp for Peirce's school passport!

Frankie doesn't love car travel. He is actually holding on for dear life most of the time. 

Pizza place in Revelstoke waiting for the road to clear. 

Um, apparently, I didn't notice Allen's sunglasses on the seat and sat on them. Oops! 

The beautiful morning sun in Revelstoke. Ahhhh!!! Good for the soul. 

There's the truck that was across the road. 

They must have just dumped it in the ditch to clean it up quickly.

Romeo and Juliet - the Opera!

Tonight Peirce and I went to the opera! It was a new experience for me. We got tickets from a teacher at my school that was in the production. The costumes and set were AMAZING!! It was fun that it was in French too.

This is a trailer from The Metropolitan opera. I think it was the same production though.

Timely and timeless, Jean Grand-Maitre mixes ballet and opera for Romeo & Juliette

ERIC VOLMERS

Updated: November 15, 2018

Anne-Marie MacIntosh and Adam Luther in Calgary Opera's production of Gounod's Roméo & Juliette. Photo: Trudie Lee CALWP

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Perhaps it’s just a coincidence, but every time Jean Grand-Maitre directs a version of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, the world seems to be entering a period of heightened turmoil.

Grand-Maitre is at the helm of Calgary Opera’s season opener, Charles Gounod’s Romeo & Juliette, which debuts Nov. 17 at the Jubilee Auditorium. It’s a collaboration between Calgary Opera and Alberta Ballet, for which the veteran choreographer has been the artistic director since 2002.

It’s also the fifth time he has tackled the Bard’s tragic tale of young lovers caught up in the bitter feud between their families, the Montagues and Capulets. He directed a ballet in Hartford in 2000 that was based on the story. One year later, he directed a touring stage musical of Romeo and Juliet in Montreal. In 2002, he launched the ballet again, this time with Alberta Ballet. In 2007, he staged Gounod’s work for Opera de Quebec.

“It’s a story that has been with me more than any other story that I have read or staged,” Grand-Maitre said. “Every time I’ve remounted the story, which is five times now, the world has been in a very high-tension point. It’s a story, basically how I understand it, about the sacrifice of the innocent for the education of the masses.

“When they asked the Dalai Lama what the biggest problem was with the modern world, he said, ‘The we and the they.’ It was a short answer for him. That’s exactly what Romeo & Juliette is. So it’s very timely, talking about this hatred that is taught from your parents and almost genetic.”

While some directors have updated Gounod’s work to a different time period, Grand-Maitre wanted to keep it in William Shakespeare’s original setting of the Italian Renaissance, allowing it to maintain a sense of colour and beauty fitting for the opera’s season opener.

New choreography by Grand-Maitre performed by eight students and dancers with Alberta Ballet, beautiful set design and costumes from Montreal Opera’s production and even some swashbuckling and authentic swordplay thanks to training by renowned stage-combat instructor Jean-Pierre (J.P.) Fournier helps give an epic, lavish feel. If you include the orchestra, which will be conducted by Gordon Gerrard, there will be nearly 180 performers involved.

Anne-Marie MacIntosh and Adam Luther in Calgary Opera’s production of Gounod’s Roméo & Juliette. Photo: Trudie Lee CALWP

“We are going to try to create large tableaus, like paintings,” Grand-Maitre said. “To see it like emotional paintings and movement. For me, it’s always an interesting challenge to work with grand opera or grand performance of that size because you’ve got so many elements coming together and you want to make it very organic. I look at it like I’m trying to create living paintings from the Italian Renaissance. It’ all about balance and construction and using movement a lot, because that’s my specialty.”

For tenor Adam Luther, who is tackling the role of Romeo for the first time, the demands of such a lavish production are daunting. The French language (there will be English subtitles), Romeo’s dark and doomed fate, the stage-fighting and sheer volume of music makes the role a major undertaking, both emotionally and technically. But Luther says Grand-Maitre’s focus on movement has actually been key in creating a greater understanding of his character.

“He’s very unique,” said Luther. “He’s a master of body movement. I’m very grateful that he has that expertise. He can give you subtle suggestions for your body that really make a big impact on the emotion your feeling. It really portrays it through your body and he is really an expert on how to manipulate your body in certain ways to imbue an emotion. And a lot of times it’s a very subtle thing, you tilt your shoulder or the way your move your head. It’s very inspiring.”

Soprano Anne-Marie MacIntosh, also taking her first stab at Shakespeare as Juliette, said she returned to the original play and even some of the vast volumes of academic studies surrounding it when she landed the role, but was also keen on offering her own interpretation.

“Everyone knows the story of Romeo & Juliet,” MacIntosh said. “But I think what’s exciting is that she is a 14-year-old girl who’s in love and I think we all can remember our first crush or our first love. We can bring our own ideas to it and own interpretation of that character. It’s exciting to be able to play such an idealistic and famous character. But to be able to put my own stamp on it and my opinion of her character. I think that’s really freeing.”

“It’s terrifying, but it’s freeing,” she added with a laugh.

It’s the universality and familiarity of the story that makes it such a fitting opener for an opera season. Tragedy, first-love, sword fights, suicide, ballet and fantastic time-tested music all conspire to make it a dramatic but relatively accessible opera, perfect for aficionados and newbies alike.

“It’s going to be a really grand opera in every sense with the set design and the opulence,” Grand-Maitre said. “But also the drama and the emotion and the music and the intimacy of Romeo & Juliette brings us to something really human and real.”

Romeo & Julliette will be performed Nov. 17, 21 and 23 at 7:30 p.m. at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium.

Jordan's Home!

It has been a fun week. My nephew, Jordan, came home from his mission to Guatemala this week!

Today Peirce and I drove to Sparwood for his homecoming. The drive out there is so beautiful!

I woke Peirce up at 6:30. He went to the dance last night so he was pretty tired. When I was ready to go at 7:00 I went to his room and he was still asleep!! I was tempted to just leave him - but I woke him up again. He said he just needed 15 minutes. I gave him 9. LOL He made it!

It is always so amazing to see the before and after of a mission. I have a friend who thinks missions are too much to ask. She doesn't like that they don't call often and can't come home for Christmas. If only she could see how much an impact the whole experience has.

Jordan's talk was great. The guy has really grown up. He was a great speaker and shared a few stories. He talked about the plan of salvation and said that when we lived with Heavenly Father we had to leave to progress. Some would think it would be crazy to leave living with Heavenly Father! It's Heavenly Father after all! He compared that to a mission. I thought it was a good comparison.

Jordan was funny. He talked about how his mom got prettier. Taylor got married. Sydney can drive now...and man, did his dad get old. :)

Three of his friends joined the church while he was gone! ...all girls. Two joined the church earlier in this mission. One just got baptized last Friday and he got to baptize her. He had them bear their testimonies. It was pretty neat.

It was great to see everyone.