Carl Bloch...Again

Dan and I took the girls last night for FHE to the MOA to see the Carl Bloch exhibit.

The MOA website describes the Danish artist and the special exhibit as:

Carl Bloch: The Master’s Hand will feature five large altar paintings from churches in Denmark and Sweden. Four of these paintings will be taken out of their altar settings for the first time since they were originally installed in the late 1800s. The other painting, “Christ Healing the Sick at Bethesda,” has become the museum’s signature piece since it was acquired in September 2001. Additional religious paintings and etchings along with genre, history, portrait and landscape paintings from Danish museums also will be included in the exhibition.

I can't adequately describe our experience. To say it was amazing would be an understatement. There is an undeniably strong spirit in this exhibit and Bloch's masterpieces testify of the living reality of Jesus Christ. I especially loved the way Bloch incorporates the use of light into his paintings. My favorite was his painting of the daughter of Jarius. I know that the others had their favorites as well. I am excited that this exhibit will be here until May. I plan on going a few more times and would say it is worth a trip to Utah just to experience it!

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful, relaxing and practically perfect Thanksgiving this year.

The so-called blizzard really never materialized where we are, but it was really cold!

We were delighted to have Andersen's from Mapleton with us... minus their missionary who will be home in a matter of days now.

Lauren and Chris (with Alison in the middle) also joined us.

We've loved having Alison with us over the break!

 We did the usual... lots of eating, laughing and talking and a few photos.

Dan didn't disappoint with the turkey and then managed to clean up everything while we chatted away!

We ended the evening with the new Harry Potter movie... and loved it!

Gearing Up...

for a MAJOR snowstorm...they're even calling it a blizzard.

I got all my errands taken care of today...

Got out the emergency flashlights, blankets, and stocked up on everything.

IF we don't lose our power, I will actually enjoy this storm.

There is something about having everyone home, nestled inside together enjoying the warmth of the fireplace, baking, and preparing for Thanksgiving.

Here's to a white Thanksgiving this year!

Orca Report, Part 2

Mrs. Hatch's 5th graders got to share their expansive knowledge, display boards and artwork from their animal reports.

They lined the 5th grade hallway with displays and beautiful artwork.

Students from the lower grades enthusiastically moved from one 5th grader to the next and listened intently. Pretty impressive.

Now onto the explorer report...!

Meet Hank

I really thought by now that Julia would have blogged about her water frog, Hank.

However, I don't think Hank has endeared himself to her and sadly, this frog is lucky if it gets fed once a week. Somehow though, Hank continues to survive.

I had never heard of a water frog before, but when Julia learned at the end of 4th grade that her new 5th grade teacher would be awarding students who had read the most pages or written the most pages over the summer, with one of these, her competitive juices started flowing.

Julia took the writing challenge seriously and dutifully wrote page after page in her journal.

I can't remember her final count, but it was enough to win the frog.

I believe a little guilt has settled in on Julia about her lack of enthusiasm and attention for this creature. She is even contemplating finding it a new home. In the meantime, Hank has been placed in the office because of a buzzing noise he emits erratically. So far he has outlived the 8 different hamsters we went through while living in Atlanta. For whatever reason, we couldn't keep a hamster alive, but we've succeeded unexpectedly at not starving a water frog to death.

May I Recommend...

two amazing, special displays at BYU right now.

 The BEEyond display I ran into unexpectedly while on a field trip with Julia's class last week.

While all the fifth graders were off with their law school mentors, I got the chance to take a closer look at the unbelievable photography of the honey bee that has been transformed further on an electron microscope.

I am confident that no one could deny the existence of a Creator after seeing this display.

I highly recommend taking the time.

The second event, which I haven't attended yet, but plan on doing so with the entire family very soon,

is the Carl Bloch Display at the Museum of Art. It is truly a once in a lifetime experience to be able to see these amazing works of art, focused on Jesus Christ, up close and personal.

Just a few of the many reasons I love living in this college town!