101 Dalmatians

Ali was so excited about seeing Laura and Melissa in CATS that she was determined to be a part of the bast of 101 Dalmatians put on by Biola Youth Theatre. Although she was incredibly excited, she had a pretty rocky start. The first day I went to pick her up and the choreographer headed straight to me. To be honest, I thought she was going to tell me how great Ali did on her first day! This was not even close. She told me how she cried for quite awhile after I left. You have to understand that Ali was the youngest and she knew no one. Camp was from 9am-2pm. This was the longest she had ever been apart from us. When I saw her she was really happy, though. So, it was hard to see how she could've had such a hard time. The second day was worse, but the third day she made a friend! It made all the difference. Thank God for Emily and Anna. Two girls that comforted Ali as she adjusted to Theatre camp.

Before every rehearsal they pray, read the bible, and share how God has used His word to impact their lives. The Teen Leadership Challenge were teenagers ages 16-18 who volunteered to mentor the 6-13 year olds. These were people who had lead roles in other productions. It was so neat to see their servant hearts. They cleaned up after every meeting. They encouraged the little ones. At the cast party, they helped Ali and Sammie rollerskate. The list goes on and on. These teenagers are something else!

Call time for our first show! The girls brought things to play with in their show boxes. I love how BYT is so organized. They really thought of everything. Here, they are playing with Christiana's little pet shop animals.A few pictures from the shows. See if you can spot Ali!

Emily and Ali - Emily was the first friend Ali made. Emily's friendship made all the difference!

Christiana and Ali. These two clicked really well, too. Christiana gave Ali a silly band and now she LOVES them, too!Adriane and Ali. The other Taiwanese girl in the cast! She is going to be young Cosette in Le Mis! She is going to sing a whole song all by herself! Ali can't wait to see her in it.
Grandma and Azhou - Great grandpa came to the first show.
I started tearing up when the curtains went up. I couldn't believe that was her up there. She was this tiny little thing up on stage, but she did such a great job. I was so proud of her. She had a radiant smile on her face during her first couple of songs. What a great moment!
After the show, we headed over to Corner bakery to have lunch with some of the cast members. Then, since it was my husband's birthday, he drove down with Sammie and Josiah. We drove to the mall, had ice cream and crepes, bought some birthday shoes, and headed back for call time. Auntie Evelyn and Uncle Howard brought Ali's Akong to the second show. Even though Josiah was super cranky because he had a very short nap, he sat through the entire show! During intermission, he wanted to go up on the stage with the "go gos" (dogs!)Sammie, Ali, and Anna. I met Anna's mom, Trudy and she told me that she and her sister were in the L.A. foster care system. They adopted them about a year and a half ago. At first the girls were completely blown away that they really wanted to adopt them because they were 9 and 11 years old. She told me that the magic number is 7. Once you're older than 7, then there is basically no hope for you. This family fostered them and now they are theirs forever! Isn't that beautiful? Her mom told me that she got a phone call from the show's producer who said that Anna was so kind to a little girl that day. She said the little girl was crying because she couldn't find her lunch box and Anna comforted her and asked her to sit with her. Guess who that little girl was? Yup. Our Ali. Ali first mentioned Anna's name the night before I met Trudy. She said that Anna could carry her and spin her around. She said you say, "I'm so heavy, but Anna says I'm so light!" So, I pictured this girl who was much older! When I told Trudy that, we both laughed because I don't think they're supposed to do that back stage!
On Saturday, we were blessed with so many people who came to see the shows:
Evelyn came again with Ama!Joy, Nathan, Jadon, and GracieExodus kids: Lina, Nicole, Amanda, Sammie, and Lindsey (Aunties Judy, Liz, Steph, Wendy and Uncles Leonard and Dennis also came!)Ali and sisters: Jessica and BethanyAt night Melissa and Laura came! You may remember them as the ones in CATS!
We had some family support from Mary and Mickey!Garrett, Tabitha, and Kayla (Uncle Joy and Auntie Kathy) all came to the finale!Thank you everyone for making it out to Ali's show!
It meant so much to us that you all were there.