Hello Dolly!

No one should expect a lot from high school performing arts.  Usually a stand out upperclassman with reasonable talent will carry the spring show and likely never perform again.  Or, a wannabe diva sings her vocal chords to shreds while the rest of the cast looks on with disdain, but at least earning the extra credit necessary to pass biology.  The audiences are primarily parents, teachers, protesting siblings and at least one administrator to show "support for the arts."

There are exceptions, of course.  For example, I attended a performing arts magnet school in Atlanta, GA where it was commonplace for our shows to be covered and reviewed by local media.  Professional choreographers and private vocal coaches were employed to fine tune the county-wide talent that often went on after commencement to perform in NYC or get picked up by a traveling Broadway show after successful stints at some of the nation's finest collegiate arts programs.  That is not typical of most high schools.

Churchill High School, in San Antonio, TX, proved that they aren't typical of most high schools either.  Today I had the pleasure of seeing "Hello, Dolly!" and the surprise of being blown away.  Every member of the cast performed their hearts out during a matinee showing to an almost packed house, and the cast was plentiful!  A live orchestra accompanied beautifully and in perfect step with the players.  The music and theater performers were supported during the closing number of the first act with a cameo from the school marching band and dance team, the latter of which joined the troupe during the second act as waiters during the scene in the Harmonia Garden Restaurant.  These usually non theater performers augmented a cast that seemed to have a spot for every student willing to dress up in period garb and learn some basic blocking and dance sequences.  In reality, this mix of school programs combined with the sheer number of players involved and the typical let downs that often come with matinees should have been a recipe for disaster.  But it was far from it!

The choreography was simple, but striking.  The set was sturdy yet elegant, and flawlessly manipulated from every angle.  The humor was contrived (obviously - it is a script) but timed brilliantly!  There were some challenges with ticketing it appeared, but the director held the show back about 10 minutes so that everyone had a chance to get in rather than kick willing patrons to the curb by snobbishly holding fast to a 2:30 curtain time as some directors might be inclined to do... And I haven't even mentioned the performers!

This classic show is about Mrs. Dolly Gallagher Levi, a widowed matchmaker who has hooked everyone up except herself.  I had never seen it before and I had not seen the movie so I was looking forward to being surprised and enjoying a new story.  Considering Dolly is the central figure, way beyond the involvement of most theatrical protagonists, Clark Stevens (Director) had to find the right "Dolly" out of Winston Churchill's student body or pick a different show.  I have no clue where Bianca Phipps came from, but I know where she's going!  As the total package, Ms. Phipps owned the stage.  I was sitting about five rows from the back  but she pulled me into her spell through a powerful voice and the timing and facial expressions to impress some of the best stand-up comics in the country.  I loved watching her do Dolly's business and I only wished I had the opportunity to see her performing again, but sadly, my time in San Antonio will come to an end too soon.

One performer I believe I might hear from again is Meredith Trapp.  As the widowed Mrs. Irene Molloy, Ms. Trapp carried an already challenging vocal role that alone would have prevented the school's department of theater from pulling it off.  There is no doubt in my mind that unless she was singing to someone else's recorded voice, (which I highly doubt) Meredith Trapp has the ability already to write her ticket.  Besides doing proper homage to the role as an actor, Ms. Trapp's singing was trained, mature, healthy and shining!  I've already picked out her next role (if she can find a place to perform it) as the Narrator in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat."  Of course, as talent is usually evident in multiple areas of those who are most talented, she is probably also a terrific student and would do just as well working towards a doctorate and finding a cure for cancer.  Seriously though, I had one word for Meredith Trapp's performance - Awesome!

I could name others (so I will, it is my blog after all!) to include the perfectly poised antics of Michael Coyle and James Rodriquez as Cornelius and Barnaby, respectively, or the surprise stand out performance by Jacob Wagner as Horace Vandergelder (a role that didn't need to impress, but certainly did; Jacob, "Guys and Dolls" just called and they said you need to hurry up to make the 7:00 show!)  It would be easy to add the tap dancing feats, the backstage "ballet" or the excellence in costuming to the long list of why I never never never (pun intended) wanted this show to end, but then I would never be able to sit down and write up this review.

Still, what stood out most to me was the team effort that was put forth by so many.  Everybody involved gave it their all and the director made sure to include as many to the group of "Everybody" as possible.  This is really what high school musicals should be about - the School!  I couldn't help but feel the excitement and energy of seeing so many involved from so many departments.  To this effect, the true star was Winston Churchill High School and I can't wait to see another show by this terrific team.

http://www.neisd.net/churchill/academics/fine%20arts/fine%20arts.html

Funny Devotions

This morning I read a few verses from Psalm 139 to the kids before we started school. It included verse 11, where it says, "I could ask the darkness to hide me" and on to verse 12, "but even in darkness I cannot hide from You." I asked the kids what those verses said to them about God. Andrew replied, "That's why you should never play Hide 'N' Seek with God when He's "It"!


Amen!

Bach'in it...again.

Rachel and the kids are currently suffering through Lake Charles and the I-10 construction traffic as I sit back at Randolph alone, for the first time since getting back home from Afghanistan in August.

I miss them, but I'm thankful.

Since August, we have made two trips to Atlanta, one to Montgomery, a 4,700-mile road trip, two trips to San Antonio and numerous day/weekend excursions to get reacquainted with so many friends we met during previous assignments.  And we have been together for all of it.  We've laughed together.  We've cried together.  We've disagreed together. We've led together.  It was so refreshing to finally do all of that - together!

In Him,
David

Hannah's 4th Birthday Party!

Yes, we celebrated a couple of days early.  She will actually turn four tomorrow, January 17 at 5:30pm.  Yesterday, she was able to share her birthday not only with all of us, which is notable, but also our friends the Chambers who were in San Antonio for the MLK weekend. It is most notable that all five of us were together for the celebration, and will be for her birthday tomorrow, because David was not able to be present for her 1st, 2nd or 3rd birthday! He was very determined to give her a great birthday party! And it was great! Andrew was in charge of games and Elizabeth in charge of crafts. Andrew made an obstacle course and hid rocks for a rock hunt; Elizabeth cut out objects for girls to color and glue onto paper.

We asked her what kind of cake she wanted. After much deliberation, she decided on a dolphin cake. She called it A Dolphin Tale cake. (Side note: A Dolphin Tale is a great movie about choosing to respond positively to life when life deals you very difficult circumstances. We recommend it.) The pictures of her dolphin tale cake follow. And, yes, David and I were up kinda late on this one, but it was worth it!

Top Ten List for 2011

10. Christmas Letter

The pain and suffering that goes into writing a Christmas letter is hard to fathom (we know you secretly agree!). Trust us though, when we say that getting this completed at all easily qualifies it as a "top ten" moment for our year!

9. Chapel

Despite waning numbers of families to fellowship and grow with as well as waning numbers of chaplains, along with the indefinite end to children's church, we committed to staying with the base chapel. God brought a new chaplain on staff, committed to our service and ready to work. Since then, the body has grown inwardly and outwardly, children's church has been re-established, and the Holy Spirit is moving. Praise God!

8. Dignified Transfer

The war(s) has taken its toll on our family as well as many others. This was more apparent than ever late April 28th when David stood in the rain with hundreds of other service members to honor eight fallen Airmen during a dignified transfer at Bagram Airfield. He remembers where he was when he found out about Bin Laden's death and where he was when the last Airman left Iraq, but no time stands out as poignantly as those cold moments that brought a pause to the six and a half month deployment he was engulfed in day and night.

7. Travelling/Visiting with friends

Arguably the best aspect of the military life is the potential for finding old friends just about anywhere one travels. This was certainly the case during a 4700-mile, 13-state road trip we took during October and November. Spending a week at the Sulhoff Family Cabin in South Dakota's Black Hills was a much needed respite for everyone. And seeing firsthand the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and rebuilding in New Orleans brought great perspective to us and the kids. Still, the true highlights of the trip came from visiting Rachel's Grandmother, many dear friends from our first assignment (the Rensch's, Cecilia, Leonard) and multiple families who have grown with us (the Chambers, the Eckarts, Geof and Kyle. Our only regret is that we could not visit with more!

6. Giving

Giving has always been a priority for us, but being released from the bondage of debt in 2006 provided more opportunities than ever to share our gifts with so many others. In that regard, this has been an exciting year for us as David promoted to the rank of Major, bringing home a little bit more "bacon" to share. In addition to financial gifts that will go without mention, David was blessed with the opportunity to give his time in service to the Bagram chapel as a Praise Team leader and Rachel was likewise blessed to share her time as a teacher for AWANA. This is a conviction and a joy for us and we pray that even in these lean times, your family will discover new and exciting ways to increase your joy through the sharing of your God-given time, talents, and "tokens."

5. School's In

Home education is a full time job with a crummy benefits package. There is no paid leave, no medical benefits, no additional staff to assist with the load and the hours are at best fluid and unconventional. The home educator is principal, teacher, hall monitor, nurse, lunch "lady", coach, cheerleader, and friend all rolled up in one – oh, let's not forget parent as well (makes for some interesting parent-teacher conferences…) This new year brought great growth by way of kids who have finally "bought in" to the idea and a fabulous homeschool cooperative we joined this fall. Here we met with like-minded and driven families once a week to provide some semblance of a structured schooling environment while capitalizing on the strengths and experiences of every parent to serve as subject-specific teachers.

4. School's Out!

For the first time in 28 years, David has zero school hanging over his head and keeping him from being available mentally, emotionally, and physically to the rest of the family. This happened after he completed Air Command and Staff College via correspondence, a mandatory Professional Military Education course that all Majors should complete. Halleluiah!

3. Homefront growth/healing

Rachel discovered the cause of several health issues she had been facing. God has begun healing her body through informed friends, even more informed doctors, medicine, nutritional supplements and changes in diet. This change alone has given her so much more energy and mental capacity, leading to a much more productive homeschool. After pushing a year and a half, Hannah Joy Sulhoff has finally decided to be completely potty-trained. Her parents are very relieved!

2. Family Gatherings

Over all the years and duty stations, we have only grown closer to our families. Though it is sometimes difficult, we make it a priority to spend time with both of our sets of parents and siblings. This year Rachel and the kids spent July in GA and AL visiting mostly family, but a few friends as well. Cousin's Camp was the highlight of the trip. Riding a four-wheeler, playing foosball and ping-pong in the "man-cave", shooting at targets, swimming, jumping on a trampoline, campfires, skits and just pure playing with their cousins could not be beat. BorderTown, a weekend retreat focusing on God and men/boys encouraging one another was an event this fall at which all of the male Sulhoff's were in attendance. Since moving to the southeast, we have always shared in Christmas traditions with both of our families and will this year as well.

1. Reunion

Living months on end without your spouse is difficult. Sometimes, living with them is difficult, too, and we (like everyone else) are not exempt from miscommunication or arguments. However, being together as husband and wife/father and mother and operating out of the same home, is the best thing in the world. Our family has begun a new chapter and David being home with us daily, being the man he is, has changed everything for the better. His homecoming was unequivocally the best moment of our year.

The Weekend with our Friends

(This is Elizabeth's first blog post - dictated to David)



Our family at the Alamo

Our friends eating lunch with us at Whole Foods

My brother and his friend are hiking at the Friedrich Wildnerness Area.

In a boat on the Riverwalk.

Eating dinner at PizzaRitas

Concert / "Event"

Two nights ago, Rachel and I had the privilege of attending one of David
Crowder Band's last concerts ever (as they are disbanding). Honestly just the fact that we were able to go was pretty amazing to start with, and someday I may tell that story as well.

Three artists opened up for DCB including John Mark McMillan (songwriter for current contemporary church standard "How He Loves"), Chris August (think "7 Times 70" or "Starry Night"), and Gungor ("Beautiful Things" was Grammy nominated).

McMillan presented a very raw style that was a little un- comfortable at first - mostly because

I had no clue what to expect. Also, his vocals were very difficult to understand. Still, his band definitely kept things very lively with some awesome riffs and mad skills on all parts. I look forward to getting to know more of his music.

Chris August provided not only a pleasant break from the bigger band by leading us in worship with himself, a guitar, and one light, but he also provided the comic relief for the evening. He actually performed solo twice - each time before and after Gungor. His music was definitely worshipful though it sparked of some of the more popular solo artists of my days. I couldn't help

but think of Michael W. Smith or Chris Tomlin as he played! Still, he was a lot of fun and his songs were very well received (probably because of the air time the stations provided as well as their proliferation among contemporary churches).

Gungor was the surprise of the evening for me. More and more I am trying to expand my musical interests beyond Third Day (though the boys still rank #1 in my book). I've grown to enjoy Bebo Norman, Andrew Petersen, Casting Crowns, Jeremy Camp, and this summer - David Crowder Band. Yes, I know that I may have picked up on those folks awfully late in the game, but still - I'm here and thankful. I might have jumped on the Gungor bandwagon just in the nick of time... This "collective," as they call themselves, is comprised of a wife/husband duo and several other instrumentalists/vocalists who did not appear. Instead, they had a cellist/beatboxer named Kevin Olusola (KO). Besides being out-of-this world talented, the lyrics penetrated the soul and reminded us of our weary and weak state and the fact the only Jesus Christ has to capacity to restore us and make us worthy of sharing God's company. I encourage you to look them up.

Now this was my first (and more than likely last) DCB concert, and like I mentioned, they are disbanding - for some admirable reasons - and I will not have another opportunity before their last show in Atlanta. Being the last chance I would have to see them live, I was very thankful that we had an opportunity after the event to shake their hands and thank them personally for their ministry and for sharing their talents. For that was exactly what we witnessed over the course of the evening - ministry coupled with talent. It was so refreshing and exciting. It made me want to get out my guitar and sing out (which is what I did tonight with the kids - that was even more refreshing and exciting!) God used DCB music to sustain me during my recent Afghan tour and I was blessed to share a couple of their songs with the chapel service I was leading, so I am thankful that I had that opportunity to see them.

David's Telling of the Trip

Our recent tour of America's heartland is over and we racked up some serious miles and lasting memories. I am continually in awe of the great land that we inhabit and of the Americans who keep it great. Some facts from the trip:

States traveled through: Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and Louisiana.

Friends/Family visited in: Sedalia, MO; Rapid City, SD; Albuequerque, NM; Clovis, NM; and Bossier City, LA.

Interesting detours: Bellevue Bridge over the Missouri River in Nebraska (my Grandfather's A/E firm designed/built that bridge over sixty years ago); Minuteman Missile National Historic Site (my AF Squadron forged the path to turn these facilities over to the National Park Service during my time at Ellsworth in the early 2000s); New Orleans, LA (we followed a driving tour of the significant Katrina event locations - a very sobering glimpse of a very devastating time)

The route we took was 4,000 miles even (by Google standards) and we actually covered a little over 4,700.



Seen throughout New Mexico and Texas, these wind generators dominated many of the horizons during several long drives.



The South Dakota Air and Space Museum at Ellsworth AFB replaced a previously displayed 1/3rd scale B-2 Stealth Bomber model with this full-scale B-1B Bomber, retired when the B-1B consolidation took place.

One of our huge tasks as the cabin was to replace a set of two 12-foot blinds with canvas coverings - the job was a huge one and Rachel was well up to the task to make it happen; we even lugged her sewing machine all the way from Florida specifically for this.

Crazy Horse Memorial, a monument to all Native American tribes still in the making after over fifty years, is an awe-inspiring carving of an entire mountain. The picture doesn't do complete justice to this massive project but to give you an idea of the size - imagine a four-story building fitting inside the hole in the mountain, because it could if they tried it.

The mountains of Southern Wyoming loom high at the end of a long two-lane highway that took us through the quaint town of Lusk.



No, it's not Las Vegas - this is the Memphis Pyramid Arena, aptly designed as a reminder of the town's Egyptian namesake.

Andrew and Hannah rake up leaves at their Great-Grandmother's house in Sedalia, MO.

The massive door, adorned with the art from previous crews, would seal off the missileers during the Cold War alert days at this Launch Control Facility for the Minuteman II Intercontinental Ballistic Missile outisde Rapid City, SD.

I loved the contrast from this picture take on the interior loop of Bandlands National Monument.

Distance signs from Wall Drug have adorned wooden signposts all over the world and here the kids are, riding a Jackelope at the infamous watering hole on I-90.

I took several pictures in the Badlands, but none were as seemingly "set up" as this one - the Bighorn Sheep is framed perfectly by the Badlands and the horizon - all I had to do was take the picture.

The Shrine of Democracy (known as Mount Rushmore) is one of my favorite attractions in the Black Hills of South Dakota. I've been visiting my whole life and it's a wonderful thing to share now with my own children.

Of course, nothing worth sharing is worth sharing without my favorite travel companion of all-time - Rachel. She has put up with my "detours" and crazy mileage days beyond my understanding.

Interestingly enough, it's not over yet - though we are back in Florida, we will leave in one week again to drive to San Antonio where we'll spend a month while I'm on temporary duty at Randolph. The fun never stops!