Our BE Taylor Day "1"

This is our super-crazy week of Christmas~ On Monday Mark and I enjoyed our tradition of 8 years-- an adult day out on the town- LOL! This tradition started when our dear friends took us to our first B.E. Taylor Christmas concert at Heinz Hall- we loved it so much, we HAD to take our family to see it in Wheeling the following week. Thus started the tradition: a day out in the big city- complete with concert- for Mom and Dad- sometimes even spending the night at the BEAUTIFUL Renaissance Hotel, then later in the month a concert for the entire family. (and Mom and Dad get to go twice- YAY!)

We had a wonderful day of dining, sipping coffee, strolling the streets of 'the Burgh' in the EXTREME bitter cold- (boo!) and shopping- we bought out the Yankee Candle store, and needed to buy Mark a new outfit to wear because the sweater he had was making him itch-- how's that for justification? Think I'll try it next week- ha ha! OK- in his defense, I had to prod him because he never buys things for himself. I still like that excuse though :) Oh yeah- we also saw an awesome concert- again! I've been asked by a few people on different occasions why we attend so many of the same concerts every year, starting in October with Christmas in the Woods-- so that got me thinking- why do we love them so much?

Guess I would have to say that it's the feeling of 'one big family' that we get when we go. The children have attended since they were literally babies, and watching the sparkle in their eyes each time is never tiring. Sure- you can watch a multitude of Christmas specials anywhere, but there's just something special about the 'life' shared on the stage of those concerts. We've gone to so many, it's almost like the BE Taylor group is part of our family in a way too-- the children LOVE them, and they've always been so gracious to stop, take moments out of their time to simply shake their hands and take pictures- not too many people genuinely care and would do that anymore- that means the world to children. (By chance if any member happens to read this- come on over to share dinner with our family ANY time- the invitation is ALWAYS open! :) )

No matter how many times we see the show, for some reason it just never gets old- not to mention that Heinz Hall is gorgeous at Christmas (SO mad I forgot my camera!)- for those few hours there are no worries, and we still get chills when the first notes of music begin. I can hear to the CD's for hours on end (which thanks to the little ones, does occasionally happen) and then hear Light of The Stable on the radio and again get goosebumps of excitement- for some reason, when I hear that song I can see my Dad looking down and smiling on us- I think it's the memories of happy times in the past and more to be made in the future that we think of when we hear the music.

In a few word summary- family tradition, memories, love, life, joy-- oh yeah- and some VERY talented musicians too! Don't know if any of that makes sense- you just might have to experience it yourself to understand. ;) Many thanks to everyone working so hard to make the shows happen! (OK- how's that for a BE Taylor Christmas plug-- ha ha)

And so ends concert day "1"-- Wheeling is yet to come-- YAY!

Yesterday the children sang with the Wheeling Orchestra and Symphony on Ice- more on that later.... as well as Carrie's tag-- THANKS ALOT AGAIN ;) ..... and today's snow day :( ..... we were supposed to be in the strip district celebrating PapPap's bday, but thanks for 4 inches of snow and 3 sick little ones- we'll have to do it another day. I'm taking a nap-- after 3 hours of cleaning up after sick children last night- it's Mom's time to rest!