We are so thrilled that jake finished third in the Murray Idol Competition. Way to go Jake!
Jake was first chosen as one of eight finalist in the Murray Idol competetion after two cuts. This was a three night event. The first night he danced and sang his pop song "Footloose" and the judges commented on his amazing energy! His second song was "Dancing Through Life" from the Broadway musical "Wicked". The judges loved the way he was in character the entire song! The second night he performed a country piece that had the audience clapping along, and wowed the judges. His final number was by Elton John, "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me."
It was an extremely competitive contest as some of the other finalists had graduated from College in Theater and voice, so we came to the final night unsure if he would make the top three. He did! We are so thrilled! Jake wants to thank Grandma & Grandpa, Kristine & Sammie, Alma & Cameron, and Maria, George, Julia and Rheanna, who all came to support him!
Monday, March 31, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Matt's Trip to China
Dear Family:
Below is part of an e-mail Matt sent to Betsy describing some of his recent trip to China with his University choir:
We arrived Friday night after a 29-hour trip, including about 13 hours on the last flight. That was very cramped and stuffy. The highlight of the flight was flying over the North Pole - looking out the window at 30,000 feet, I could see beautiful reflective sheets of ice, and also I saw the curvature of the horizon. It was beautiful.
Beijing is a very old old city, with a history of over 2,000 years. The historical sites are mostly palaces and shrines built by the emporers and dynasties. It is a city of 15 million people, and the sky is often clouded with pollution. It is early spring, with leaves starting to come out on the trees, some cherry blossoms, but with yellow grass and dirt everywhere; and lots and lots and lots of towers and buildings. The streets have a lot of bicycle traffice everywhere, weaving in and around cars. There are lots of poor people and poor areas. The toilets are an adventure; many places we visit, the public bathrooms do not have toilets; they have stalls with holes in the ground to squat. YIKES! I am very grateful for toilets.
The first full day in thhe morning we had a choir rehearsal in one of the hotel banquet halls - with no piano, but we managed to get some work done. The afternoon we went to see the Olympic Stadium, which is very striking. Then we went to see the Temple of Heaven. This is more than a building. It is a very large complex of forests and several buildings, where the Emporer would come twice a year (for several weeks) to worship heaven to petition for rain for the crops. Very Chinese architecture.
Then, at night we went to a Kung Fu show; this was fascinating. It told the story of a young boy's journey, overcoming temptation and humna weakness, too become a Kung Fu master. It was very dramatic, lots of lights and loud orchestral music and lots of group kung fu choreography and several combat scenes that looked like they came from "The Matrix". One very dramatic scene showed the young man laying down on three sword face up, with a plank full of nails placed on his chest - another man laying on top of the nails, then a slab of concrete placed on top; then another man took a sledgehammer and shattered the concrete slab, and both of the men got up and showed no wounds from this. Kung Fu is a lot about how inner strength is more powerful than physical things. I think Sean and Cameron really would have enjoyed this.
Food - we eat a lot of Chinese! The restaurants have tables where we all sit and they bring out rice and several courses to go with it; some things are a little too strange for me to try. It looks a lot like American Chinese but the flavors are different. They do have a lot a squid and fish and things we don't see in the US. It generally is pretty good, but I really miss your cooking!!
On Sunday, I missed going to Church very much. We drove 3 hours in the morning to the city of Tianjin, which is the 4th largest city in China (11 million people). There are LOTS of people in China. We spent the afternoon rehearsing the Mozart at Nankai University, which is one of the most prestigious universities in China. I learned one chinese phrase, "We are honored to come to sing with you at Nankai University." When I said that to their choir, they all cheered for me. That was sweet. Their choir is aboout 60 people, annd they are all very short and tiny - and very sweet faces. It was fun to work with them. The rehearsal was draining - about 3 hours. Then we had MacDonald's delivered to eat before the concert - it was fun too have a big Mac, though I didn't have time to finish eating it. The concert hall is the nicest university concert hall in China - and has a beautiful acoustic. It was packed, with standing room crowd in the back. Their choir performed first - and they had some folk dancers with their first piece - it was beautiful to watch. They are a very good choir and very professional in their presentation. Though in China, it matters more that you have opera singers in the choir than that you sing with unity and in tune. Then our choir sang - they were so tired, but I think they did a very nice job. The highlight was their Chinese piece- the audience LOVED it so much. Then we did the Mozart - it was really fun to have a choir of 130 and a large orchestra doing this wonderful music.
Apparently their choir director was not impressed with our choir, because we do not sing with the solo operatic sound, and it is apparent we do not have solo-style voices in the choir. That bothered me a little bit, but what others think is out of my control. I felt grateful to have had this opportunity with our choir, and I know I will never get the praise of men, so I won't have to worry about pride!!
Got back to the hotel after midnight, then were up at 6:30 am the next morning to prepare for Great Wall. It was a 2-hour drive north of Beijing, into the mountains. The mountains look somewhat like Utah's mountains, very rocky but with less vegetation. The Wall is quite amazing. We met Mike there, so that was really fun to see him, and I felt a little closer to you because he was there. I told him to take several photos and sent them to you so you could see me. We did a little concert at the Wall, and a few people came over and watched as we sang. Then we went to the Ming Tombs, very elaborate set of buildings and shrines - and Mike came there with us. Then stopped at a jade factory.
Wuo ai ni! (I love you in Chinese!)
Love, Matt
Below is part of an e-mail Matt sent to Betsy describing some of his recent trip to China with his University choir:
We arrived Friday night after a 29-hour trip, including about 13 hours on the last flight. That was very cramped and stuffy. The highlight of the flight was flying over the North Pole - looking out the window at 30,000 feet, I could see beautiful reflective sheets of ice, and also I saw the curvature of the horizon. It was beautiful.
Beijing is a very old old city, with a history of over 2,000 years. The historical sites are mostly palaces and shrines built by the emporers and dynasties. It is a city of 15 million people, and the sky is often clouded with pollution. It is early spring, with leaves starting to come out on the trees, some cherry blossoms, but with yellow grass and dirt everywhere; and lots and lots and lots of towers and buildings. The streets have a lot of bicycle traffice everywhere, weaving in and around cars. There are lots of poor people and poor areas. The toilets are an adventure; many places we visit, the public bathrooms do not have toilets; they have stalls with holes in the ground to squat. YIKES! I am very grateful for toilets.
The first full day in thhe morning we had a choir rehearsal in one of the hotel banquet halls - with no piano, but we managed to get some work done. The afternoon we went to see the Olympic Stadium, which is very striking. Then we went to see the Temple of Heaven. This is more than a building. It is a very large complex of forests and several buildings, where the Emporer would come twice a year (for several weeks) to worship heaven to petition for rain for the crops. Very Chinese architecture.
Then, at night we went to a Kung Fu show; this was fascinating. It told the story of a young boy's journey, overcoming temptation and humna weakness, too become a Kung Fu master. It was very dramatic, lots of lights and loud orchestral music and lots of group kung fu choreography and several combat scenes that looked like they came from "The Matrix". One very dramatic scene showed the young man laying down on three sword face up, with a plank full of nails placed on his chest - another man laying on top of the nails, then a slab of concrete placed on top; then another man took a sledgehammer and shattered the concrete slab, and both of the men got up and showed no wounds from this. Kung Fu is a lot about how inner strength is more powerful than physical things. I think Sean and Cameron really would have enjoyed this.
Food - we eat a lot of Chinese! The restaurants have tables where we all sit and they bring out rice and several courses to go with it; some things are a little too strange for me to try. It looks a lot like American Chinese but the flavors are different. They do have a lot a squid and fish and things we don't see in the US. It generally is pretty good, but I really miss your cooking!!
On Sunday, I missed going to Church very much. We drove 3 hours in the morning to the city of Tianjin, which is the 4th largest city in China (11 million people). There are LOTS of people in China. We spent the afternoon rehearsing the Mozart at Nankai University, which is one of the most prestigious universities in China. I learned one chinese phrase, "We are honored to come to sing with you at Nankai University." When I said that to their choir, they all cheered for me. That was sweet. Their choir is aboout 60 people, annd they are all very short and tiny - and very sweet faces. It was fun to work with them. The rehearsal was draining - about 3 hours. Then we had MacDonald's delivered to eat before the concert - it was fun too have a big Mac, though I didn't have time to finish eating it. The concert hall is the nicest university concert hall in China - and has a beautiful acoustic. It was packed, with standing room crowd in the back. Their choir performed first - and they had some folk dancers with their first piece - it was beautiful to watch. They are a very good choir and very professional in their presentation. Though in China, it matters more that you have opera singers in the choir than that you sing with unity and in tune. Then our choir sang - they were so tired, but I think they did a very nice job. The highlight was their Chinese piece- the audience LOVED it so much. Then we did the Mozart - it was really fun to have a choir of 130 and a large orchestra doing this wonderful music.
Apparently their choir director was not impressed with our choir, because we do not sing with the solo operatic sound, and it is apparent we do not have solo-style voices in the choir. That bothered me a little bit, but what others think is out of my control. I felt grateful to have had this opportunity with our choir, and I know I will never get the praise of men, so I won't have to worry about pride!!
Got back to the hotel after midnight, then were up at 6:30 am the next morning to prepare for Great Wall. It was a 2-hour drive north of Beijing, into the mountains. The mountains look somewhat like Utah's mountains, very rocky but with less vegetation. The Wall is quite amazing. We met Mike there, so that was really fun to see him, and I felt a little closer to you because he was there. I told him to take several photos and sent them to you so you could see me. We did a little concert at the Wall, and a few people came over and watched as we sang. Then we went to the Ming Tombs, very elaborate set of buildings and shrines - and Mike came there with us. Then stopped at a jade factory.
Wuo ai ni! (I love you in Chinese!)
Love, Matt
David and Kimberly's Pittsburgh Home
Have you seen the Faerber Mt. Lebanon home in Pittsburgh? Better take a look before it gets sold. It's on the market now and Dave and Kimberly hope to be back in Utah by June. We are looking forward to getting them back. They have posted it on the Internet on Craigslist. Good luck in selling it!
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Welcome, Peep!
Hi Brittany and Clint,
So happy to hear about your new addition. Peep sounds so loveable. Grandpa and I know that's the best you can do at this point. So, he's a couch potato already. Well. Ok. He'll fit in just fine. Grandpa is recovering from his 8-hernia surgery. He thought as long as he was getting tucked in, he'd get all tucked in all around with a big mesh across the whole abdomen. A built in girdle? Whew. I should be so lucky. He said it hurts if he wiggles too much, so he pretty much stays in the chair and watches the ball games. Now he has a great excuse. Just kidding, dear!!!
Matt is in China with his choir so I suppose they are racing around on the Great Wall and Ching Chonging around everywhere. We hope they stay safe and stay right on pitch. What a great adventure. I can't resist posting this photo we recently got from Faerbers. Matt loves to have the missionaries over to his house where everything is very serious and righteous as you can see from Matt's strict composure there.
It snowed today, but the tulips are trying to show forth. The crocus are blooming and Spring is trying to come. Suzanne is so tired of snow, she about ready to fly South. We loved our Hawaii fling with Julie, Jim and Alma. It was the greatest. Sunshine is so healing. We love you all. Our best from Grandpa and Grandma Faerber
So happy to hear about your new addition. Peep sounds so loveable. Grandpa and I know that's the best you can do at this point. So, he's a couch potato already. Well. Ok. He'll fit in just fine. Grandpa is recovering from his 8-hernia surgery. He thought as long as he was getting tucked in, he'd get all tucked in all around with a big mesh across the whole abdomen. A built in girdle? Whew. I should be so lucky. He said it hurts if he wiggles too much, so he pretty much stays in the chair and watches the ball games. Now he has a great excuse. Just kidding, dear!!!
Matt is in China with his choir so I suppose they are racing around on the Great Wall and Ching Chonging around everywhere. We hope they stay safe and stay right on pitch. What a great adventure. I can't resist posting this photo we recently got from Faerbers. Matt loves to have the missionaries over to his house where everything is very serious and righteous as you can see from Matt's strict composure there.
It snowed today, but the tulips are trying to show forth. The crocus are blooming and Spring is trying to come. Suzanne is so tired of snow, she about ready to fly South. We loved our Hawaii fling with Julie, Jim and Alma. It was the greatest. Sunshine is so healing. We love you all. Our best from Grandpa and Grandma Faerber
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Our Little Peep
Clint and I would like to introduce you to the newest member of our family. Her name is Peep (thanks to Katie for picking her name), and she is 12 week old chinchilla. She is SO SOFT and we just love her to pieces. She is kinda hyper, and nocturnal, but fortunately likes to watch tv, so when she does her quiet little bark at night we just turn on a movie for her. She likes the animated living scriptures best (go figure). Anyway, she is so much fun and we are glad to have her. Sword class is going really good, and we were lucky to have Katie for a week and a half while my parents went to Hawaii! We are doing great, and hope everyone is safe and well. We love you guys!
Brittany and Clint
Brittany and Clint
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