We were left to scramble around and get everything organized, but, as I said, it turned out fine. Carolee played the piano, I led the music, Michelle and Phyllis cued the children. It was...busy. We had the children bring their own costumes but brought garland for the angels. It was a good thing we did because there ended up being several more angels in attendance than we'd ever had in primary. Several of the Arab males in our branch have families, but their families aren't members of the church so they only come to parties, which is great!
All the children that showed up wanted to participate, though, so we had plenty of angels. A heavenly host, really.
Grant was the star--he's the one wrapped up from head to toe in garland. It was itchy, apparently. He was so funny though! When his part came up he stood up on a chair and stretched his arms out wide, smiling for the whole world to see. He did an excellent job!
We had a hard time taking pictures because I was leading the music and Andrew was busy chasing Rachel and Sam around. And the layout of the chapel is really awkward and there's this huge pillar right in the middle of the room. We did get a few pictures, however, focusing mainly on Jacob, Emma, and Megan since their parents weren't there to watch them. Jacob and Emma were Joseph and Mary; Megan was an angel.
Mary (Emma) and Joseph (Jacob)
Megan was upset about her dress all day. It's the same dress she wore to be a fairy for Halloween.
"It's not an angel dress, it's a fairy dress! I can't be an angel in a fairy dress!" she cried.
Emma told her that fairies and angels are almost exactly the same thing.
"No, they're not," she insisted.
"But they both wear pretty dresses," I said.
She perked up a bit when Andrew brought out the garland and we made a halo for her. But then, about a half hour before we left for the party, she was goofing around--walking on her knees or something like that--and she fell over and landed on her head. She got a huge goose egg on her forehead and cried about how angels don't have bumps on their heads, etc. So we brushed her hair and pulled it down kind of in front of her face so that it covered the goose egg and she was happy enough to leave the house.
She was supposed to wear a shirt under her dress, but when the time came to get on stage she was so concerned about it and started crying, so Michelle helped her take off her shirt and go out in just the dress. She ended up being a rather immodest angel, but I don't think anyone noticed. I think you can see the goose egg in this picture...on the right hand side.
Angel MeganThe Young Women sang Mary's Lullaby for the primary. It was so beautiful. They rehearsed so long and hard for it, learned the harmony, and memorized all the words. They did a great job! Jessica is in the bright turquoise shirt.
Andrew, Jessica, Carolee and I also sang a number in the pageant: A Shepherd's Carol. It's a round and Simmone was supposed to get a group together to sing it, but she forgot. So at 5:30 when we arrived at the church I grabbed up Andrew, Carolee, and Jessica and we practiced for all of 5 minutes. We did not sing as well as the Young Women, but I think that's okay because there were a lot of other songs sung by the congregation, and more importantly by our primary.
Nothing invites the spirit into a room like a choir of children singing, especially when they're all angels!
Sounds lovely! :o)
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