Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Hope of America

Those of you who live in my county who have kids (or have had kids) in the fifth grade you know what this is all about. It's a huge program that is actually, supposedly, part of the 4th of July celebration in Provo. I know right?

Anyway this was our first year with a child participating. Actually it was supposed to be two kids but George neglected to remember or bring home any information on what time he was supposed to be there or where he was supposed to meet his group so that he could perform in the "pre-show."

The traffic getting over there was a nightmare, we barely got McKenna there at the time she was supposed to get there. Ty dropped McKenna, George and I off and then went to park the car. Mckenna then went to where she was supposed to be and George and I went in search of his group. Since we had no idea where we he was supposed to meet them we were unable to find them and he missed out. Which bummed both him and me out but there wasn't much I could do about it. Hopefully he'll learn from this the importance of bringing home notes and/or remembering what instructions he is given.

The program is a showcase of the youth and is all about freedom and our country. It is taped and broadcast to the troops who are over seas. Good program....what am I saying? Excellent program!

This year they had two nights because they had so many kids that wanted to participate. (They said somewhere in the 8,000 range!)

Amazingly enough I was able to pick out my girl from where we were sitting in the nose bleed section. Does that make me awesome or what?
George was very observant and said "Mom!! They make up a huge flag!" Yes George is on top of things. He wasn't sure about the yellow and I explained that the yellow was supposed to be a fringe....because some flags have a yellow fringe.

This picture was taken with no flash as kids performed a song called 50 states. They were whirling around in a circle. I thought it turned out cool so I'm going to post it.And they had this dance group that performed called "The Golden girls" It was a group of ladies from 50 - 92. They rocked the house!!! And the 92 year old? She did a solo at the end where she ended up in the splits. Crazy! I wish I had had enough memory on my card to do a video of her but I knew that I didn't so you'll just have to use your imagination.

Here are three videos from the night. My camera isn't that great but you can get the idea.
This first one is "America Rocks." You can't tell in the video but the kids are all wearing sunglasses.



This is a really short one of the kids in the flag doing the wave....a waving flag! HA!




And this is the last song of the program "We can be a Light" the kids sing it in the dark and then use flashlights. It's a very moving song. And of course I didn't have enough memory on my card to get the whole song...*sigh*




The thing I loved most about this song was how it touched my 14 year old. The lights came up and the applause had ended. I looked over to him and he had tears streaming down his face. He was so moved by the message and the presentation. He's an amazing kid. Very soft hearted and loving. He loves his country and I love him.

McKenna and all of the kids did an amazing job. They sang wonderfully and performed beautifully. I'm glad she got to go and participate in this. Hopefully next year will be George's turn.

*And this was actually posted at 1:00 a.m. on May the 7th. (although for some weird reason blooger(yes I know it's misspelled I did it intentionally because this time thing is ticking me off) says that I posted it at 11:40 p.m. on May 6th! Stoopid blooger.) I took some Excedrin at the program because I could feel a headache coming on. I've been off of caffeine now for a couple of weeks so taking those pills at 8:00 p.m. was not a wise decision. I should have just dealt with the headache.

23 comments:

Me (aka Danielle) said...

That is seriously one of the coolest performances...just looking at the pictures and short video. I bet it was amazing in person!!

Kristina P. said...

This is so cool! It looks amazing.

Jan said...

I love this so much. What a great thing to be a part of. That will be such a powerful memory.

Christa said...

I've never heard of this. It looks and sounds amazing.

I know what you mean about the Excedrin. Since kicking the DP, even one Excedrin has me bouncing off the walls.

Barbaloot said...

That looks awesome! I LOVE patriotic programs---they are so inspiring.

Lara Neves said...

Even when I lived in Provo, I never heard of that program! How cool for your daughter to participate!

(PS: Blogger puts the time and date that you started writing a post, not when you finished it, unless you manually change it. Sheesh, girl! You worked on this one for a while!)

Olivia Carter said...

Wow! That's so neat! You must be SO PROUD! I can't wait until my kids start doing neat stuff like this!

Jo said...

It makes you a great mom is what it does! (spotting your kid)
What a neat evening.

Melinda said...

Wow! That looks so neat! I'm glad your daughter got to be a part of such a wonderful program!

Lady of Perpetual Chaos said...

That is so great that the kids get to participate in something like this. And what a sweet boy.

AW Cake! said...

It looks like a pretty great show! I always get a little teary when I hear patriotic songs too.

mCat said...

Cool. No words necessary really. Just way cool!

Kate said...

What a special night. I love the pictures and the videos. What a memory for a long time to remember.

tammy said...

That looks completely awesome.

Shauna said...

How wonderful! ♥ Hugs!

Missy said...

What an awesome experience! Wow! This is so great! Thanks for sharing!

Shawn said...

Looks really awesome! Great to see so much talented kids....and....er....ah....90 year olds.

That Girl said...

Holy craparola. I think we should move THERE.

Fiauna said...

That's a lot of kids! You are an awesome woman to be able to pick your daughter out of that huge group.

And the time thing on blooger bugs me too.

amelia said...

Ah, this is really cool! Yeah, I'm also confused why they did it in May...I guess to edit it for the troops?

Alyson | New England Living said...

That looks like a pretty awesome program!

Cranberryfries said...

Thats pretty cool to get to see your own kid in that! I've wanted to sneak over and see it since I heard of this program a few years ago (mostly because we always wonder what all the traffic is about and someone finally showed us pictures).

I'm SUPER impressed you could spot your tot from clear across the room.

(PS did you try going to "post options" at the bottom of your edit post? You can change the date and time manually. Blogger automatically saves the original time you start a new post even if all you type is a space and then come back later to edit and finally publish. Sorry if I'm a dork.) Love your blog!

Teachinfourth said...

You know, it's funny...I went there with my class the first night and then with four other students the second night because they couldn't make it to the first one.

Your post reminded me of my experience there.

Loved it.

http://teachinfourth.blogspot.com/2009/05/hope-of-america.html

I can't wait for next year.