Little Monkey

The most recent general conference of the Church was held a couple of weeks ago. The weekend before that, the Church also held the first-ever women's meeting, and all LDS women aged eight and older were invited to attend.

(Yep, I have some catching up to do yet again here on Electric Bassoon.)

At any rate, while the women in the family were attending the women's meeting, Ben, Steve, nine-month-old Christian, and I had a guys' night out together, first enjoying dinner at Sizzler together, then going over to Ben's and Adi's place to watch the Real Salt Lake soccer game.

As a nine-month-old, Christian has a bedtime much earlier than ours, though Ben gave him a bath before putting him down to sleep. His bathrobe resembles a monkey.

Assassin/Bodyguard

One of my favorite improv warm-up games is "Assassin/Bodyguard," in which each player chooses another player to be his/her assassin and a second player to be his/her bodyguard, without telling them whom they have chosen. When the M.C. says "Go!", the following ensues:

It's hilarious to watch and even more fun to take part in.

Dead Men *DO* Wear Plaid!

A shameless plug goes out today for Murray Arts Council's production of Forever Plaid, starring my brothers Ben and Steve as half of an excellent cast of four.

Yep, I'm biased. Admittedly.

For those not familiar with it, Forever Plaid is the story of the four Plaids, a doo-wop singing group killed in a car accident on the eve of their first major performance in 1964. In 2014, however, the singers are allowed to come back to Earth for a special one-night performance. Good, time-tested music and hilarity ensue. I went to see their opening-night performance Monday and was thoroughly entertained.

To obtain any additional information, visit the Forever Plaid Facebook event page at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1411848399074698/. The show plays through this Saturday night.

King Boo

A few days ago, Jackson dressed himself up as King Boo from the Mario video game universe. When I tried to take his photo, he made this classic Jackson pose:

 

There are no words.

Rocking Horse

Grandma Plowman's toy rocking horse was a popular item at this past Sunday's bi-monthly family dinner. First, eight-month-old Christian went for a ride:

Then five-year-old Jackson went for a spin:

Jake's Second Birthday

A couple of Sundays back, we celebrated Jake's second birthday as a family after bi-monthly family dinner. There was cake, presents, and a "Pass the Parcel" game that was won by *ahem* yours truly for the first time in . . . well, a very long time.

I gave Jake a Thomas the Tank Engine toy, and, judging by this video, I think it's safe to say that he liked his gift:

Chantel Comes Home

Three weeks ago (yeah, I need to do a little catching up here on Electronic Bassoon), my cousin Chantel returned home to Utah from her mission to Asunción, Paraguay. Though she came back to us a few months before she would have liked due to health reasons, we are proud of the good work she has done in the Lord's service over the past seven months.

Most of the Plowman clan, along with the Sanders and Berlangieri bunches, were waiting at the Salt Lake City airport when she returned. Here's a shot of the entire group who showed up:

 

 

And here's Chantel meeting her siblings Eden, Ashlyne, and Meikayla after emerging from the plane:

 



Replay at Bernie's

Friday night was the Improvables' annual Valentine's Day performance, aka the Battle of the Sexes. I was joined on stage by Brianne, Bryan, Charlotte, Erica, Keenan, Lorin, and Willis. We had the rare opportunity to perform on the CenterPoint main stage for this show.

One of the highlights of the night was this video, which captures Brianne, along with "dolls" Charlotte and Erica, in "Replay at Bernie's."

Basketball Time with Kylee

My 16-year-old niece Kylee made it on the Layton High School sophomore girls basketball team this year. The team has been doing very well, having lost only two games all season.

I finally made it to a game Friday afternoon, which was also Valentine's Day. The Lancers beat the Northridge Knights by a score of 56-26. Though Kylee is not a starter, she got about five minutes' playing time, shooting 2-2 and scoring four points. She also added a couple of steals and generally played very well and aggressively.

After the game, I snapped the above photo of her alongside her dad, my brother Mike. She wears #5, which was also Mike's number when he played sports.

More Rasslin'

At Sunday's bi-monthly family dinner, eight-year-old Luke tried to tickle his nearly two-year-old brother Jake.

Jake wasn't having any of it.

February Family Birthday Party 2014

Sunday's bi-monthly family dinner also doubled as our family birthday party for late January/February, for which we recognized Dave, Jeff, and Jessica. Accordingly, we sang "Happy Birthday to You" . . .

. . . and ate delicious cake, not to mention another spirited game of everyone's favorite, "Pass the Parcel."

Grandma Plowman (along with everyone else) also enjoyed spending time with seven-month-old Christian, feeding him strained carrots during dinner. Like you do.

Jazzercise with McKenna and Jackson

The other night, McKenna and Jackson did some sweatin' to the oldies (Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger").

Nunchuk Skills

Jackson recently attended a friend's birthday party and came home a ninja.

Don't look so shocked.

Olive Fingers Strike Back!

At Sunday's bi-monthly family dinner, Kira came up to me and said, "Look! I painted my nails."

Reunited, and It Feels So Good

The members of the Improvables celebrated their fifth (closer to sixth, actually, but who's counting?) anniversary at the Davis Center for the Performing Arts this past weekend with a Reunion Show, something that I think was long overdue for us. For this occasion, former troupe members and friends Darren Eggett and Grant, Guy, and Michael Gibbons joined us on stage for the first time in years (in Darren's case, it had been nearly six years!), and the multitalented Gibbons clan brought along their instruments, to boot.

I was fortunate to be able to join them and other current troupe members for this performance, and we had a most enjoyable evening together.

Prior to the start of the show, Grant, Michael, and Guy warmed up musically:

During the show, Guy reprised his Leroy character, seen here alongside Ryan, Grant, and Lorin in "Musical Day in the Life":

And after the show, Ricky and Keenan joined in with the Gibbons on an impromptu (what else?) rendition of the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby":

It was an evening not to be forgotten.

Luke's Baptism

My eight-year-old nephew Luke was baptized into the LDS Church Saturday by his dad, my brother Dave. We're all proud of his decision and are grateful for the great young man this kid is becoming.

Here's a photo from after the end of the baptismal service, with Luke standing next to Jenna, Jessica, Jake, Dave, and Kira.

Normally, I post just one photo for an event like this, but I love the look on Luke's face in the second photo. So, lucky you—you get to see two of them.

Peas

I got to spend part of my New Year's Day holiday with this cute kid, my five-month-old nephew Christian:

As you can see, I fed him peas, which was his first experience eating that particular vegetable. And, as you can tell, some of them actually ended up in his mouth.

All Is Calm, All Is Bright

Christmas was last week. Perhaps you've heard of this holiday.

I am a week (and also a year, depending on your point-of-view) late in posting photos of our family shindig, but suffice me to say that we had a good one together. I was down and out with strep throat though I was on antibiotics, and the family was good enough not to shun me from spending time with them and observing the many goings-on.

Our annual family Christmas Eve program was very well put together, as it always is, by my sister. Kira enjoyed playing the part of Mary, while Luke was one of the three wise men:

Dad grew out his annual holiday beard for the occasion and gave Kuma a good scratch on the head as he looked on.

Gifts were also exchanged, and among the many given and received, I must say that my family knows me well enough to get me gift certificates for Dee's:

I hope the rest of you out there in blogging land, likewise, had a good Christmas holiday and that the year 2014 is a good year for one and all.