the show is up and running

Hey all! It has been an eventful week. Brenda had her first performance of La Traviata at Santa Fe Opera on Saturday, and it was a hit. I don't want to give anything away, but Brenda's character is alone on stage at the end of the opera when the lights go out. The audience then starts clapping and when the lights come back on Brenda is standing alone on stage to receive a solo bow before the rest of the cast comes out to take their bows. When the lights came up on Saturday to reveal Brenda standing by herself on the stage the audience leapt to their feet. There was an immediate standing ovation, which apparently isn't a common occurrence at Santa Fe Opera. Brenda was quite moved by the audience's reaction, and I must admit that I had to fight back a tear or two myself.

Our friend Dan arrived in New Mexico late Friday night and was able to join me at the opera on Saturday. We had a great time seeing him and wished him well as he prepares to head off to Japan for the next five months. His wife, Whitney, has been teaching English there for the past year, and Dan was able to take some time off of his studies to be with her for several months. He is obviously very excited for the trip for many reasons. We are very happy that he decided to spend a few days with us before crossing the pond.

We wanted to give Dan a little taste of what New Mexico has to offer, so yesterday we headed off to the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument. We ended up doing around 4 miles of hiking and were able to take in some amazing sights. Such as...

I'm assuming these are the "tent rocks" the monument is named after.

 The first part of the hike was quite flat, but the latter part involved some uphill climbing that lead to some gorgeous views.

 We did come across some interesting creatures along the way.

Dan at the peak. We made him carry the supplies - we're nice hosts.

Well, that was our week. We're looking forward to seeing our friends the McCowns tomorrow, who are also going to Brenda's performance tomorrow night and bringing quite the entourage with them. We are also very excited to see my parents when they arrive on Sunday. (We are thrilled that so many people are coming to visit us this summer!) Before I sign off, I wanted to share an article with you about Brenda's performance at Santa Fe. You can read the article here. Until next time, have a great week!