A Visit to Carly's House and a Cha

One reason Emily has been spending time in LA is because of a call back from a casting director named Jenny Treadwell. Jenny asked that prospective talent stay in the LA area for three months. When Emily's agents at KSR found out about this connection, they wanted to make sure Emily met Jenny's partner, Krisha Bullock, who does the actual casting for Nickelodeon shows like iCarly. After being coached by her wonderful new acting coach Dawn Jeffory Nelson on her comedic monologue, Em was granted an interview by Krisha last Friday. After waiting a few minutes, it was determined Krisha would be too busy working with the director of iCarly to see Emily. However, Jenny videotaped Emily to show Krisha later, then took us on a tour of the set, which is closed to the public. Above, Emily is at Carly's apartment door. . .then in her kitchen . . .and sitting on her couch. . .and hanging out in her green room! Jenny even toured us through sets that were being built for a space ship episode that hasn't been shot yet.Jenny, who was as honest as she was kind, made sure Emily understood that this was not an audition for a specific part, and if that opportunity came, she would have to try out like anyone else.
All is well back home in Granite Bay as Peter has been practicing for his All-Star baseball games, which began with a 10-0 victory today. The baseball field literally backs up to Granite Bay High School where Emily was swimming with her team against the Granite Bay Gators, so I could run back and forth and watch them both! Emmy achieved personal best times in breast and butterfly, due in large part to the encouragement she receives from our special coa-cha (this is coach plus a cha, you see), Jackie Vigeant. In addition to being an amazing swimmer, Jackie is both a real princess and a hostess with the most-ess. Although she can be seen as Cinderella, Tinker Bell, Alice in Wonderland and other characters, on this day she was The Little Mermaid, Ariel, and therefore needed to use a dinglehopper to comb her hair.We had the great honor of assisting her with some of her duties at Olivia's Doll House. This was followed by a session with Jackie generously putting up our hair and playing dress up! Emily's doll friends, Samantha (who is seen here resting her broken leg), Nikki and Miley all came for a tea party.

Bruin Spectacular

As I sit down to create this blog, it's with the acknowledgment that I'm very tired! I'm very glad I could have Sunday as a day to rest. I spent the morning taking care of Emily who is suffering with a virus, then left her with Kevin while I attended the Studio City ward sacrament meeting. I was very impressed with the spirit of the meeting. The bishop took the opportunity to thank ward members throughout the meeting--activities committee, seminary teacher, an elder who would be leaving, a sister who had just returned from her mission. I was grateful to be among them.
When I returned home, Kevin had made Emily her lunch. After I ate, I found I couldn't keep my eyes open! I have been needing naps frequently since I've been here, which is frustrating since I like to stay on my toes all day.
Our time here in LA is interesting. Emily misses her friends. I miss home, the dogs and Peter especially. Luckily, we stayed in Granite Bay last week through Tuesday. Emily was able to attend school and we were able to go to Peter's baseball game and team party.
We left early Wednesday so Emily could attend two auditions. I'm fortunate to have Kevin coach me or come along when we are in unfamiliar areas. Emily is a trooper; we arrived barely in time for the first audition and they asked her to improv as if she were reporting at a fashion show event. At the second audition, the casting director put her at ease having her blow bubbles and she really enjoyed it. Likewise, the next day she enjoyed working with her acting coach. Later in the day we went in to KSR to go through the process of "signing her" to the agency and she went in to say hi and show her agents her progess on the monologue she's working on. The family arrived to join us Thursday evening.
Friday was the big graduation celebration. I got up early to finish shopping for supplies, then in a fete of extreme teamwork Marv, Diana and I prepared the meat and all the fixings for three different types of small burgers, called sliders: pizza, teriyaki and mesquite. We also made a strawberry spinach salad. We met Bryan's roomates Mark and Bobby and their families at the UCLA Sunset Rec center where we had a great picnic area reserved. We were joined by Grandpa, Aunt Patricia, Uncle David and Aunt Peggy. Bryan's other's guests included family friend Jennifer Du and Jackie's dear former roomate Lindsey, who is pictured with Emily. Great athleticism was exhibited in the frisbee tossing. As Bryan himself said, the graduation ceremony itself was a bit like a political rally, but Brad Delsum from the rock group Linkin Park was impossible not to like as the keynote speaker. To view his address, here are the links:
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esQ7WSzJUxk
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSlTGW3GDgs
Speaking of graduations, we missed Jackie's due to our rental car breaking down, but we think we got the right gift. We presented her with a tape measure that acknowledged she is "pratically perfect in every way"! Attached to it were two tickets to an upcoming theater event; Mary Poppins will be in LA later this year.

Bursting with Pride

Just a quick update. Photos will follow. Marv has started his new job at US Bank and he seems very happy. Peter pitched a great game last week--a no hitter up until the third inning. His hitting coach Richie said he's had a breakthrough with batting as well. His essay was selected as the best in his DARE program and he will read it to the entire sixth grade tomorrow. Emmy swam personal best times in the IM and Butterfly at her swim meet Sat. We left for LA Sunday morning. In spite of having a nasty cold, she felt good about her audition for the television pilot for INCYBERS. If you'd like to know more about the project, they have a website. We visited Bryan Sunday evening and enjoyed going out for Mongolian Barbecue and playing the new card game Diana and Mac taught us. They call it "Heck" and it's like a multiplayer game of solitare. Our biggest news is Kevin's acceptance as a transfer student as either a film or screenwriting student to the following universities: Loyola Marymont, Chapman and (drumroll, please) USC.
In LA, Emmy and I spent the entire morning trying to navigate the Kaiser medical system. She was seen and has both an inner and outer ear infection. She felt better this afternoon so we explored the grounds of our apartment complex and played beach volleyball. She is a natural athlete. I embarrassed myself. And her.