Joel's Switch

Well folks, there's a new development in Joel's voice. After years of speculation, we've discovered that Joel is definitely no longer a high baritone. He's a full lyric tenor. For those of you not familiar with opera, think Placido Domingo (who also started singing as a baritone). I was at Joel's last voice lesson while he and his voice teacher, John, were working on some tenor technique to see if Joel could hack it. Well it sounded great. John told Joel to sing an aria he pulled out. He didn't tell Joel what the aria was from because he didn't want to intimidate him. Joel got through it easily. It turned out to be Cavaradossi's Aria from Puccini's "Tosca"!!!! Very exciting!!!! So Joel is now studying as a tenor. The con: He's back to square one. He has no roles under his belt. The pros:(1) Joel is still only 29, young for a singer. (2)There is more demand for Tenors; operas with tenors in the lead are performed more often than those with baritones in the lead. (3) If he's good, he can just about demand his own price. (4) The stuff he'll get to sing as a full lyric tenor rocks! It's very recognizable music to the general public.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I set the table the night before the carnage took place.

My very first whole oven-roasted turkey. It was a 13 pound bird. I'm so proud of myself!

Here's the spread: turkey, stuffing, mashed red potatoes with garlic, rolls, and green bean casserole. We had homemade pumpkin pie for dessert, but I forgot to get it in the picture!

Here's my first plate! My mouth is watering even now.

Here's my very own turkies. Or are they hams? :)

Trick-or-Treating in Rock Hill

Here's Gary in his duck costume! Look at his face. He totally has had it with me taking pictures.

Waiting outside for dad to get home from classes so he could get some candy.

I love "Duck Butt"!

Joel posing with a random guy we passed on the street. We loved his costume!

Gary the Duck and Heidi the OSU tail-gater. (I know, my costume was a real stretch for me, eh?)

Historic Brattonsville

While Kay and Aaron were in town, we went to see Brattonsville. It's a Revolutionary War period battle site. And "The Patriot" with Mel Gibson was filmed on location here. I highly recommend seeing this place if anyone is down this way. The antiques are gorgeous.

The original Bratton House built in 1770. It was a house, then a tavern after the revolutionary war, and then a school.

The classroom wing of the house.

The House built by the son of town's namesake in 1826. A lot of the scenes from"The Patriot" were filmed in this house.

One of the bedrooms in the big house. The quilt on the bed is the real deal, mom! It was beautifully made.

Recognize this dining room from "The Patriot"?

This is the kitchen located directly underneath the dining room. The kitchen and dining room were there own separate building attached to the main house by a small breeze way.

Gary checking out the horses. We also saw sheep, chickens, pigs, and lots of cats.

Gary looking at the cotton plants. I had never seen actual growing cotton plants before. They have really pretty greenish white flowers.

The building that housed the cotton gin.

This is the "Watch Tower House." It is part of Brattonsville, but it is being renovated and unfortunately not open to the public yet.

Kay and Aaron's Visit

In early October, Grammy Kay and Uncle Aaron came down to Rock Hill for a visit! Gary was so excited when they got here. Here's some pictures from our visit to the pumpkin patch!

Gary and Joel as pilgrims.

The emu that bit Gary's finger as he was petting the goat next to it. That bird scared the crap out of him!!!

Kay and Aaron on the covered bridge.

Gary "driving" a tractor.....E-I-E-I-O!!!!!

This farm turned their silos into slides. Here's Gary racing down the big one on his belly!

You're probably wondering, "where's the pumpkins?" Well, after playing on the slides and with the animals, we all took a lovely hayride to the pumpkin patch. But only Aaron, Joel, and I went into the actual patch to pick out our pumpkins. Gary was so pooped that he wanted to stay with Grammy Kay in the wagon. We picked out some beauties, though!