Friday night Kingdom Performance

Mom with Cindy Davis...she's a sweet sweet lady

My lighting Man

Jared, Sharon, and Ronnie Barker....they are fun!

The tech team debrief

Trevor and Lori

Mom with Mary Sue Brashear....she's a nice lady

Luke, Jim, and Mr. ATM (Assistant Tomb Man)

Reed, Jim, and Tom

Charelle, Chris, and Mom

Jason and Alicen Bennett

Bill Rogers getting a beard....they look SO good!

Sara Holloway...she did the choir headpieces...which were awesome!

Mom with the Prophet Ronnie Barker

Mom and Russ, the Fabric Merchant, gotta love that feather!

John James growing his wings....LOL!!!

Last nights performance was packed. It was so wonderful to see the sanctuary full on the first night. My brother, Chris, and his fiance Charelle even came. Margaret and her Mom were also there! I work the Baptistery doors....so I get a work-out for sure going up and down those stairs. Mom works the "blue" door which is on Pilates side, Michelle Cheatham works the "blue" door...the Jerusalem side, and Sharon Barker works the back aisle doors.

Our poor ATM (Assistant Tomb Man) had to listen to everyone last night in the coms. It was his first time to do that and I'm sure it was overwhelming. Especially during the ascension when I'm trying to get ahold of Dad and Mom at the same time...in the same ear!

Last night, Walter rolled the stone away (It's pretty sad Jesus has to roll his own stone away!) and knocked the stone over! He came out of the tomb with gum in his mouth....one of the poor angels threw away his ABC gum. He is a joy to work with!

After the performance, we had our usual debrief session. We discussed everything from pulleys to makeup. Then, Mom, Dad, Chris, Charelle, Me, Luke and Reed headed for IHOP. Reed got the nastiest looking chicken flourentine crepes....he ate them all though! We headed home around 12:30....so it was a long night! It's neat to talk to someone who has never seen a performance before. Chris and Charelle even missed the water into wine.....so it's not just Me and Mom that miss that!!! Oh well.

I lost my lens cap for my camera last night too, so if anyone sees a Nikon lense cap, it's probably mine! Tonight should be another wonderful performance. I'm going up to the church around 3pm to get all the props back in order and the candles at all the doors. See ya'll tonight, enjoy the pics!

TK 08 Dress Rehearsal

The Cast at Dress Rehearsal

Reed, Royce, Nick, Luke...Royce and Nick helped take pictures of our dress rehearsal, I can't wait to see them.

Michelle and Mom...Michelle is running the Green Door this year

Jim Erwin....AKA Tomb Man

The Techinal Staff.....it's an inside joke...I didn't mispell it!

Ellen and Jordan...I taught Jordan at the daycare, he got to see Mr. Walter...that was a BIG deal

Tina and her baby

Walter gets lost coming out of the tomb b/c it's so dark in there...so we fixed it for him!

Russ Rhodes...the fabric Merchant....gotta love it!

Sherry Fikes and Brad....Sherry sewed this amazing costume!!! Brad plays the part of Satan

John James and his wings!

Dad still wants to play Jesus...he's ascending!

Walter...he plays Jesus....and Mom

Main cast getting makeup....Melissa Cole does a wonderful job!

Mrs. Jeanie doing headwraps for the main cast...they look awesome!

The Dress Rehearsal went great. As usual, I had Mom and Dad in the same ear on my headset....it's always nuts at first. Mom talking....and talking....and Dad talking...and talking...then they talk together and together and AHHH!!! LOL! John James this year or otherwise known as Gabriel has wings....BIG wings. It's a trip literally to get him out of the baptistery doors each night. His wife Nina was there to help me last night, and that was a real blessing. They are both so much fun to work with.

We had a few problems....but nothing we can't work out tonight. I kinda consider Friday night performance to be the final dress rehearsal. At our debrief after the performance, we were able to work out all the problems we experienced...or at least we hope! The poor lighting guys...Dad and Luke...had the computer crash on them and lost all their cues. They are up at church right now working on it as I type this!!

Dennis and Michelle brought their new lamb and his mom, Tina. Tina was the lamb we used 2 years ago...and this year we are using them both...which is too sweet. It really adds a lot to the performance I think.

The Waffle House:

After our meeting, we rushed out of the church because the alarm goes of at 11pm....and headed to our usual spot...Waffle House. We also ran into the James' and the Neilsons too! The storms were really getting heavy outside and we watched it hail! Luke and I didn't go to bed til 1am this morning. I can't wait for tonight!

We have so much to be thankful for...

Mom, John James, and Ronnie with screws in his teeth!

Pilates Place

Prop Table #1

Another view of the prop table.

The curtains hung!

"Are they straight?"

Is Dad going to fill in for Walter now?? Please tell me NO!!!

The cart!

This is the tree Ronnie and Sharon and Dub created...it's amazing!

The Kingdom Set is finally up and secure. We have been up there most of this week working, and it looks great! The team of men and women are simply amazing. Saturday, we were able to hang the curtains and put up black fabric in the doorways. Each year, we seem to struggle to have enough black fabric for the doorways...and every year, we are surprised we don't have enough black fabric! Go figure!

We had our first rehearsal with everyone on Sunday afternoon. I felt like I was in a whirlwind, but it seemed to go great. I wasn't able to get any pictures that day because we were all so busy!

Mom and I were finally able to decorate Pilate's place yesterday and were happy with it. We struggle with this every year to make it look "regal"....of course, we are both missing stuff from our bedrooms now...but it's only for a couple of days. I even broke my first prop!!! I was carrying a BIG pot out from under the stage...I placed it on the stage...and crash...it broke into a bunch of pieces. I suggested we glue it back but all I could get from Mom was laughter...so we threw it away! Oh well.

I added pics on here of the props too. Props are a major undertaking for the Kingdom. This year I sectioned off tables and labeled them well. The props will be put back under the stage by scenes....so it should be even easier next year. You may ask why I like doing props for the Kingdom....well it's because of several reasons. I love to organize things...so doing Props is really easy for me. I like to be able to go scene by scene and figure out what needs to go where and when. But the main reason is because I get to decorate the cart. Herschel Davis is known as "Cart Man". He moves the cart during the Marketplace and sells his goods. I get the biggest joy out of watching him look at all the things in the cart. Last year during the actual performance, the cart broke! Herschel was so glad that I had tied all his goods on the actual cart....it could have been a mess. He is always so appreciative and kind about the cart....and it's nice to feel appreciated sometimes! So Mr. Herschel you are the main reason I do Props!

Well enjoy the pics....sorry this blog kinda rambled on!

Sunset Tonight

I was right in the middle of balancing the checkbook, when I noticed how pretty the sky was outside. I couldn't help but get my camera. I wish I had a better view from the front, but I think the pictures turned out pretty good. I'm off to watch some House of Payne....we recorded it the other night and I'm hoping Madea is on there. If you haven't ever watched this show, it is good clean fun. Tyler Perry produces it and we know how much I like him!

Snowy Day 2

Samson getting out to stretch

Stormy running around the yard

Snoopy wouldn't look at me....best I could do.

BJ wasn't coming out either

George had to see through the window what all the fuss is about!

I was beginning to wonder if it was ever going to snow today. It did! It looks really wonderful outside....although, I don't think the dogs are too happy about it. They are warm though in their houses. I got a few good pics before I was too cold and had to come inside. I had trouble getting my camera to focus on the dogs...it wanted to focus on the snow instead...oh well! This may throw a wrench in our plans for working at the church tonight....we'll see!