Christmas Sacrament Meeting Program

We had a beautiful Christmas program!! I am the music coordinator for our ward and so I am very invested in the Christmas program, and so I am glad it went so well! Our "temporary" ward Christmas Choir sounded awesome!! I tried to record the song that Jenna, Jaiden, and Emily sang, but the app decided to malfunction at that moment. Sad!! It was beautiful though! Rick and I both sang in the choir (Rick took some convincing, but I am glad that he gave in.) Jaiden also sang in the choir!

1 Opening Song: “Away in a Manger,” with the ward choir. (Congregation come in on the third verse).  

2 “Witness of Christmas,” Sung by the Primary. Accompanied by Reagan Tachiini. Led by Sophie Rees.  (This was absolutely darling! Three little girls sang little solos at the end and it was so cute!)

3  “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” sung by Alivia Jackson. Accompanied by Brooke Ence (Beautiful!!)

4 “If I was There,” sung by Paige Allred, Ethan Allred, and Chay Gubler, with Drue Ence on the violin and Josh Allred on the cello. Accompanied by Rebecca Gulbranson. (Drue and Paige wrote this song and it was gorgeous!)

5 Youth reciting “The Living Christ” (The Bishopric asked four young men and four young women to each recite a part. It was nice having the youth involved and I liked the variety of having different speakers).

6 “What Child is This,” sung by Jenna & Jaiden Jensen, and Emily Williams. Accompanied by Rebecca Gulbranson. (GORGEOUS!!! Jenna was really worried since she has been sick for the past week, including losing her voice, but the song sounded beautiful!)

7 “Peace, Peace, Peace,” sung by the Ward Choir. Accompanied by Jennie Rowan, led by Rebecca Gulbranson (Beautiful song!)

8 “Oh Holy Night,” sung by the Ward Choir. Soloists Jenna Jensen and Ethan Allred. Congregation join in when indicated. (One of my favorite songs! Jenna and Ethan did a nice job on the solo parts!)  

 
9 Closing Song: “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing,” with Shauntel Anderson on the organ, Rebecca Gulbranson on the piano.
(Such a powerful number!! The piano is extremely fast and complicated. Add the organ and congregation and this song is thrilling! I loved singing to this!! )

I pride myself on planning a program that ends on time (I hate when programs go over!) But we had a last minute addition to the program, which pushed us over by five minutes. But it was a beautiful number and a nice addition!

Josh Groban Concert

Rick and I went to Las Vegas for dinner and the Josh Groban concert with our friends, Laurie and Kyle  Larsen. Laurie was in Sunburst Singers with Rick in college. The live in Henderson and so we thought of them when booking our tickets and asked if they would want to join us! 

After dinner we were just chatting it up at the restaurant thinking we had plenty of time (we had checked the distance from the restaurant to the concert and it was just a few minutes). But we didn't take into consideration that we were walking, not driving!! So then we were booking it, walking as fast as we could, to get there on time! We barely made it into our seats just before the concert started! 

Josh Groban has such a beautiful voice and we love his music! We enjoyed the show, except we didn't enjoy Josh Groban's language! There were times when he threw in swear words that I felt was totally inappropriate for a nice concert! So we probably won't go again because of that. But other than that it was a fun getaway and double date! 

Patriarchal Blessing: Jenna

This morning Jenna received her patriarchal blessing! It was SO beautiful and amazing as we knew it would be! She is definitely a very special girl!! Josh hasn't gotten his yet, but we hope he does soon. We had to call the Patriarch to get permission for him to come to Jenna's blessing, since they generally only allow parents to come. 

Today was also our primary program, which is always fun. Jared and Hallie came to church with us and then headed back up north. Then Ellen came with Evan and Eli a few hours later. She is staying at an Airbnb with her family this week since it is their Fall Break. 

I am the music coordinator in our ward and therefore responsible for finding the musical numbers for sacrament meetings. So I asked Rick to sing next week. That request prompted him to spend some time in the studio reviewing his music and gave him the itch to write a new song (not for Sunday, just for the future). I requested that he write an arrangement of "Go Forth With Faith," since it was my mission song and I love the message. I have ever been able to find any good arrangements for it. So he did! It is beautiful! 

Senior Showoff!!

Today was Senior Show Off!! Jaiden sang "To My Angels" from SuperYou the musical, while her friend, Gwendolyn Dooley played the piano!  

State Music Festival (Jaiden)

Jaiden: This weekend was state solo and ensemble!! we went up on a bus Friday afternoon and then we drove and stopped for dinner and some friends and I went to this place called cubby's and I got the best blueberry shake ever haha! and then we got to the hotel and partied and went swimming and face timed people, and we were having a blast! the next morning Emily and Gwendolyn and I went to the little gym and worked out for a bit and took this pic where I look INSANELY buff and then we got ready and went to the competition!!

I got to hear Emily's song and she did super good! and I also got to hear some other people perform too and they did INSANE, like I'm pretty sure the girl who went before me was pro opera singer... any way haha I did my song and it was good and then I got picked up by aunt Alicia and we went to Janika's baby shower!!! there was so many children there hahaha I was in heaven it was so fun and then after Jenna and I went to stay with Adria and Rella! we made bracelets and watched a movie, it was a good fun relaxing night! 

Then today I got my score form the competition!!! I GOT A 1!!! that's the best score you can get!! so if there was nationals I would have qualified haha isn't that awesome??? I'm pretty proud and then we went to church and hungout and decorated onesies for Janika and I made one that says "I 💗 hot moms" and another that straight up says "O'Hare air" and then we drove home and Evan was in the car with us so that was super fun hope you have an amazing week!!! it's already may which is so so crazy!!  also they resurfaced the parking lot at our school so I don't have my senior spot anymore but I have a pic of it so it'll chillany! 

Après un Rêve

This is the song that Jaiden sang for the competition (but at a different performance). Her director asked her and a few of the others to perform their piece during their last Madrigal Concert. I was happy about that because then I was able to video it! They all did amazing! If you are wondering about the random chair in the video, well the opening song had someone playing the cello and that is why the chair is there. Then it sat there the entire concert and no one moved it! I kept thinking, "Will someone just move that chair off stage?!" Ha ha! Oh well!  

(Jaiden's senior parking space that she references above. "PJ" stands for "Princess Jaiden," ha ha!)

Jenna, Honors Choir Performance

Jenna sang with the Honors Choir for the Veterans Program -- Saving Dr. Warren Essay Contest. the theme was "Let Patriotism Prevail." They had a full flag salute and honored our Veterans. They also announced the winners of the essay contest. I didn't know that this was an awards ceremony for an essay contest until I came -- I thought it was just a choir concert. But I was so touched by the program. The overall winner of the essay contest was a middle school girl from Alabama. They showed a video of her reading her essay and it was amazing! I totally cried! The program was live-streamed and the local news did a story on it. You can see the story HERE. 

https://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/archive/2022/04/20/ggg-let-patriotism-prevail-students-veterans-recognized-during-awards-ceremony-in-santa-clara/#.YmYMuNrMKUl

7th Grade Talent Show

Jenna and Grace sang a duet at their 7th Grade Talent Show! I am so glad that they decided to do it. They did a great job! They sang "She'll Love You." I will have to post a video later. They also sang with their Honor's Choir. It was fun to watch! I brought them to Dutchmans for a treat after! 

Jenna Region Reflections Winner!!

Jenna (7th grade) wrote a song for Reflections and won on the school level. Then her song went on to win on the council level, and then the Region level!! (She won in the category of music composition for the 6th to 8th grade division.) She has been teaching herself to play the ukulele and loves to compose songs! It is so fun to hear her play and sing! Here is the song (thank you to my sister, Jen, who added it to YouTube!)

 

https://www.utahpta.org/reflections/gallery/32383

Verse One:

When you fall down, and you feel so small,

you feel like you can’t do anything at all

Just rise up, like the morning sun,

don’t let them think that you are done.

You can show them that you’re the one

to change the world.

 

Chorus:

Be yourself so others can see,

be the leader you know you can be.

And then, finally,

you can change the world with a smile

you can go the extra mile

and then there’s hope again.

 

Verse 2:

When you walk down those empty streets

and you wonder why you’re so lonely,

and when you think you can’t do a thing,

just listen to me…

 

Bridge:

It doesn’t matter, just a simple thing

but the love that you bring

will show the light.

It doesn’t matter, just a few small words

To make you heard,

through the loudest noise.

 

Chorus:

Be yourself so others can see,

be the leader you know you can be.

And then, finally,

you can change the world with a smile

you can go the extra mile

and then there’s hope again,

you’ve changed the world! 

Mini Christmas Concert

Jaiden is doing so well in voice lessons and has really progressed! However, I am sad that they don't do any shows or concerts for family and friends (at least there hasn't been any the last year since she has been taking.) Anyway, some of the other voice students must feel the same way because they decided to put on their own mini Christmas concert in the park tonight! Fun idea, but cold!! I tried to convince Jaiden to have them do it indoors somewhere, but she said that they had already planned it at the park and were sticking to it! 

Pictured: Emily Williams, Jocelyn Ostler, Topher Belmont, Ali Alverson, Jaiden Jensen 

Madrigals: Salt Lake Trip!!

 Madrigals...

Jensen Family LOVE CD!!

I mentioned that we were working on a family LOVE CD for Valentine's Day. Everyone participated, except for Janika and Brandon (since they live too far away) and Jared (because he didn't want to). Janika has a fun song picked out to record and will have to do it next time they are in town. I wondered why Josh was so accommodating this year, but then I realized that he is going to send his song to his "Valentine" as part of his gift. Yikes! 

Jenna decided to write her own song! We were pretty impressed! Of course Rick had to come up with all of the background instrumentals, but she wrote the lyrics and the tune. Pretty darn good for a 12 year old!  (She is really into the show "Once Upon a Time" right now, which provided some inspiration for her song, "Fairytale.") 

Rick also wrote his darling song "I'm Fortunate," which you probably already saw on Facebook. Jase and Ellen chose "A Whole New World" but switched the boys and girls parts. I had never heard the solo songs that Jaiden and Janelle sang before. I really like both of them! Anyway, hope you enjoy this Valentine's Day gift from our family!! Click HERE to download the CD!! 

Singing Valentines

 Jaiden and Janelle had fun doing their traditional Singing Valentines with the Madrigals! 

Jaiden and Janelle Singing "Some Things Are Meant to Be"

Click HERE to listen to Jaiden and Janelle singing "Some Things Are Meant to Be," from Little Women, the Broadway Musical. 

Wendy J · Some Things Are Meant to Be from Little Women