Wicked/ Super Hero Birthday

Last Wednesday we saw an incredible performance of "Wicked"--the Broadway Tour. I had several mutual friends in the show and it was an amazing cast. I loved it more than the cast I saw in London. If you're in Nashville, please got try the ticket lottery. There's still a chance.

Thanks to me sweet mom she took us all to see Wicked. We all LOVED it! Thanks, Mom!
I'm serious....drive and see this show.

Sam had the time of his life today at Lee and Kellie Beaman's house celebrating his buddy, Jackson's birthday. It was seriously like a Disney World for Super Heroes.

This was all in their backyard....

Sam spotted Spidey before anyone...and never let him out of his site the rest of the night.

Sam and Spider Man

Sam and his buddy, Batman. I am pretty sure that throughout the duration of the party, Sam was never more than 3 feet away from either Spidey or Batman. At one point I am pretty sure he thought he was there to perform WITH them.

Sam is SO strong. Yeah...he gets that from his dad. mmm-hhmmm.

My favorite picture of Sam. SUPER SAM!!

Sam holding a water balloon. You can see the pool house in the background.

All the kids gathered at the end to wish Jackson a happy birthday. It was such a blast!!

Happy Birthday to Jackson Beaman! Thanks for such a totally fun party!

Labor Day Weekend

Why can't every weekend be a three day weekend? Sheryl found is this awesome clay on sale at Walgreens and the girls had a blast making clay creatures. I took a picture of some of them. I thought they were so cute and creative.

Maddie and Ella's desk where they work on homework and create special things for us.

Maddie's "creatures"

Ella's "creatures". I love the turtle in the middle and the owl on the end.

We had a great lunch at my mom's yesterday after church. It was a typical Judy Thomas feast. Our kids love going over there. I am so grateful that she lives here and is such a constant part of their lives.

Sunday night we went out to Arrington with some friends for the Loggins and Messina concert. I have always loved Kenny Loggins. Beth and Byron Williamson, Ryan and Sarah Williamson, Tim and Beth Mangrum and Sheryl and I all went and had a blast. Thank you to Byron and Beth for such a perfect night!

Sarah and the girls brought a delicious feast!

Sheryl (and Beth Williamson in the background)

The concert was at the foot of the hill out at Arrington. It was a gorgeous night.

Ryan and Sarah Williamson

Sheryl, Beth Mangrum and me

Sarah and Ryan Williamson and me

Today we spent some time with the Batsons who let our kids spend the night last night. Thank you, Batsons!

Back to work, back to school and all that fun stuff. These weekends are such a blessing! Thank you God for good friends and time with family.

Crazy Week!!

The last couple of weeks I have been going at break-neck speed. As I wrote in my last blog entry, I had been consumed in planning and producing the "Third Rail: Cost" health reform summit at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. The planning stage was definitely a busy time.

The week of the conference I traveled to NYC with several other Gary Musick team members to conduct auditions there for singers and dancers. It was a whirlwind trip (we did get to see Burn the Floor on Broadway though). We saw over 100 singers each day and at least 50 dancers each day.


First thing in the morning, everyone was lined up and ready to get registered.

Dancer group 1 warming up for the audition. Our head choreographer (Bruce Stegmann) led them through a challenging combination and narrowed the auditioners into a final call back group.

Jennifer Pippin, Gary's admn. assistant and all around wonder girl, made the day breeze by organizing all the auditioners. Kirk Hunkler (who has worked for us many times as a singer) assisted her in the process.

We saw some great talent and I came back ready to hit the ground running. It was a sprint to the Third Rail conference that loaded in 2 days later.

The Schermerhorn is a beautiful venue for just about anything. It made a great back drop for this conference. My job as the producer of the event was to manage all of the elements of the day (everything from parking, valet, off-site busing, catering, security, signage, stage set, production equipment, staff and interacting with all the sponsoring groups). It was made much easier by wonderful people like Danelle Cain at Vanguard Health Systems, Heather Martin from the Schermerhorn, and Tess Coody from GDC Public Relations Firm in San Antonio. Of course, our Gary Musick staff were all-stars as usual and were the real meat behind all of this--Gary, Jonathan Yeaworth, Jim Sheridan and many more. Thanks, guys!

Here are some pictures from the event...(I really loved how the screen surrounds looked in that room)

Governor Phil Bredesen was an important part of the day and a very nice man. He opened the conference and then moderated one panel and participated in another.

Julie Gerberding (Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2002-2009)

No matter what your view of health care reform may be, this was a conference for everyone. It addressed the less popular but maybe most important component--cost. It was a non-partisan discussion and very interesting to observe. You can watch the sessions online if you're interested at http://www.thirdrailcost.com/. Our guys taped it and we had a live web stream that day. It is still available in sections online at the website above. Thanks to everyone who made that day such a success!

I am into rehearsals now with the new NCL Spirit cast. This holiday weekend, however, is family time. LOVING IT!! Tonight we're hanging out with Jeff and Anna Berry and tomorrow night we're going to see Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina in concert out at the Arrington Vineyards with our friends Ryan and Sarah Williamson and Beth and Byron Williamson. We're so excited about it!

One last thing to share...this morning Ella cracked me up by saying, "Daddy, do I have to wait til I'm older to get baptized? I mean, I can already swim in deep water, and hold my nose and EVERYTHING!" Love it!

Inside Out

I've been living in "Inside Out" world for months now. It's always fun to get to point where you begin to see fruits from your labor.

I am also living , eating, breathing, sleeping this event I am producing for Vanguard Health Systems http://www.thirdrailcost.com, Each side will be represented by different views and hopefully it will be a productive day.

Just curious...while driving, is it wrong to be listening and jamming to "No Other Name" and then lay on the horn at someone and then going back to singing?

I had a defensive driver teacher in HS who was a pro at this....she would admonish us to "give a friendly tap of the horn to let them know you're there." Sometimes along the way that friendly part and the tapping intensified...but I always get cracked up in stressful traffic cause I hear her sweet little granny voice saying "Just a little tap of the horn..."

This was my Spiritual question. My other question is...WHERE have all the good drivers gone?

And...why do I now have several Eddie Rabbit songs going through my head?

Happy Anniversary

Yesterday (the 15th) Sheryl and I celebrated 11 years of marriage. We had a great date night. Our kids stayed at the Batson's and we went for an early dinner to Watermark down in the Gulch. It's such a cool little place. After dinner we went to the wedding reception of Malcolm and Martha Greenwood's daughter (Mollie) and her new husband. It was down at War Memorial and gorgeous! Sheryl has worked some for Martha and also worked this wedding. check out Martha's website http://www.bigeventswedding.com/

I love this picture of Sheryl taken by Gordon Trice. She looked so amazing! And...still does! Happy Anniversary, Sheryl.




In other news, it's back to school time. We were thrilled to fins out that Ella had Ms Stark. She is one of the best teachers in the system. Her friend Natalie is also in her class.

Maddie was also very excited to discover that her best friend Sydney and her buddy Cheslea are in her class at school. What a blast these kids are going to have. They both came home after the first day just talking non-stop about how much they loved it!

Pray for me this week. Chris Yoakum and I are working feverishly to get the ZOE project completely mixed so that I can have it ready for the mastering session on Friday and then distribution. I'm really enjoying the rough mixes though. I love hearing Sam singing "No Other Name" at the top of his lungs. I think that might be my favorite song on this new CD. Although, there are several favorites.


Have a great week!

Celebrity Summit

Today was the final run of the Summit cast's "Thoroughly Broadway". It's such a great show--sections from "The Producers", "Thoroughly Modern Millie", "Wicked", "Hairspray", "Mama Mia", and "Lion King". It's a great cast.

Jennifer and TJ

Graham McMurry (I taught his cast on the Spirit last year)

"The Producers"

"Lion King"

'Producers"

"Thoroughly Modern Millie"

"Millie"

"Lion King"

Lion King--"Circle of Life"

Lion King--"Morning Report"

Lion King--"He Lives in You"

Lion King--finale

Great job today, guys. Best wishes to all of you! We love you guys!

Awesome Day!

Today has been such an awesome day. It began with a very sweet reunion. After college while living in the Dallas area I was blessed to become a part of the Nofsinger family. I adore them. Kirk and Vickie were such mentors to me and friends. Their kids-Jenny, Jonathan and Justin were so special to me. I cried and cried when I moved. In fact, I still remember the conversation with Kirk and Vickie in their living room as they promised that our friendship would endure any distance.

It's hard to believe that it's been 14 years. In that time, Jenny graduated from high school AND from ACU and is a successful business woman in Dallas. Jonathan and Justin are in college. I miss them all.

Here is a picture of the Nofsinger kids and me at my going away party 14 years ago...



And here's a picture of them today...14 years later with my own kids who are now the ages that they were when I moved from Texas. Absolutely surreal!

Our visit with them this morning was such a blast. The kids had so much fun with Jenny Jonathan and Justin. I just wish it could have lasted several days.

After the Nofsingers left, Grant Batson and two of his kids came over and he and I took Abby, Michaell, Maddie and Sam to the wacky east Nashville "Tomato Art Festival". It is completely odd and fun and totally east Nashville.

Sam and Michael. (they are two peas in a pod)

Some random woman serving fried green tomatos

It was about 1000 degrees outside today so Grant and I decided to leave the tomato madness and head back home. (Sheryl had a wedding today and Ella had a birthday party.) The kids were glad to get some air conditioning too.

Back at our house, Grant and I had a couple of hours just to visit. Our lives have been so blessed by their friendship. Since Jill is in Los Angeles we had Grant and the kids stay for dinner and had some great sushi. As I write, I am listening to one of his daughters (Abby) and our girls giggling (sleep over fun).

Thinking back over the day, I just feel so grateful for the beauty of friendship. My back was better too--overall a great day!

New York Auditions

Click on the text above to enlarge

Funny Old Pictures part 2

I found an old photo album with more crazy pictures. I've posted some funny old pics before. This is part two...

ACU SummerStage 1987...I was still in High School but did the summer shows at ACU that summer. I had such a great time. Some of the friends I made that summer are still dear friends today...22 years later. GRACIOUS!

SummerStage 1987...for those of you from the Austin area (and other TX markets), the guy in the crazy red coat is Allen Roberson. He is a brilliant actor, writer, arranger, etc. He has a show on PBS called "The Biscuit Brothers". It teaches kids through using music. Check it out. It's really awesome! Click here for a link to their website http://www.biscuitbrothers.com/

ACU SummerStage 1987...ooooh so dramatic. I think I look like Maddie in this picture.

Reflections--Disney World 1992

backstage at Six Flags Over Texas 1993


As I mentioned to someone earlier today, part of the fun of getting old(er) is getting to laugh at yourself. Looking at some of these really took me back.


Sheryl has another wedding this weekend. There are new pictures posted on her blog from the one last weekend. Go to http://www.sherylthomasflorals.blogspot.com/ to check them out!

Friendship

I came home this afternoon to a familiar face...Sydney Williamson. Maddie and Sydney have been friends since birth. They're 3 months apart in age and have already informed us of their plans to room together at ACU. Sydney is a great friend.

Sheryl left to do the COSTCO thing and I stayed with the kids. (Ella is spending the night at her Nonnie's.) I got to be the one to break the news that Sydney could spend the night. The squeals of delight were hilarious.

They are sitting on the couch tonight watching "Evan Almighty" and huddled close together. It made me feel so thankful that Maddie has that kind of friendship. Honestly, all of us should be so blessed to have that kind of friendship in our lives.

Center Hill Lake

This weekend after Sheryl finished another large wedding set up, we took off to Center Hill for an early anniversary treat. Mark and Holly Whaley invited us up along with Grant and Jill Batson. And even though we could only make it half of the weekend...it was worth it. Thank you too all of Liza Musick's family for pinch hitting in thr child care dept. Even "Mr. Gary" stayed with them for a while on Saturday night and experienced bed time!My kids love Gary Musick more than Mickey Mouse. But--who doesn't?? Thank you to Dani as well for her help with kids. It was a crazy weekend and as it appears, everyone is in one place


It is such a beautiful drive over to Center Hill Lake. We were excited too about having some extra time with our friends.

This is a view from the Whaley's front deck

view off the front upper deck

Jill and Grant Baston

What's a Whaley, Batson, Thomas gathering without a little Mexican Train?! See how smug Grant looks? It's because he CHEATS! jk

Breakfast time, bring it on!

Jill and Sheryl--I think maybe once in life you might be blessed enough to meet your true counterpart. These two are seriously the same women. They sing and sound AWESOME together, all our kids are the same ages and all go to Granbury. It's truly a kindred friendship.

Grant and BST--sporting our Batson Guitars caps

Jolly Roger-Mark. All the fish loved Mark and wanted to eat him alive today. One mention of it was all it took to send Jill into sprint swimming back to the boat. Hilarious!

At first glance this looks so romantic---the hot couple....but then,,,wait,,,is she trying to strangle our poor Grant. Good luck with that-- JILLEEEEEE

BST and Sheryl

Our lake group (L:R
Mark and Holly Whaley, Sheryl and Brandon Thomas,

Grant played a little background music for us over the weekend. He's playing a Batson guitar--one that he made. It's really beautiful.