Mercy River Music

We're Moving!!

noreply@blogger.com (mercyriver) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:14:00 +0000

Hey everyone-we're moving our blog to:

www.mercyrivermusic.blogspot.com

Make the changes in your google reader, etc. and come follow us at our new address. Hope to see you there!

XOXO

Mercy River + Cherry Hill = Wind

noreply@blogger.com (mercyriver) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:17:00 +0000

OK, it actually wasn't THAT windy. There was a breeze, but it was NOTHING compared to last time. (i.e. chairs weren't blowing on top of people!) We had so much fun this time around. Cherry Hill has a way of helping us see how far we've come, and how far we have to go. We're so thankful for the opportunity to practice our concert chops! Thanks to all those who came-and for those of you who missed it, don't fret! We are doing it again August 8th, so mark your calendars! XO

Brooke

I have to post this picture too-my daughter is obsessed with dress-ups, and it's usually easier to let her keep them on when we go somewhere. This was her ensemble for the concert. Her style is impeccable, right? She caused quite the stir that night!

Catch Up--CANADA!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (mercyriver) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 21:38:00 +0000

We have a lot of catching up to do--LOTS of great performances and adventures that we want to share. Let's start with...

CANADA!!Zach sitting like a big boy on the plane.

Our trip to Canada by FAR was one of our favorite Mercy RIver experiences yet. In May we flew to Ontario, Canada to perform at a tri-stake scripture mastery conference. It was a three day adventure—traveling all day Thursday, performing Friday, and traveling back on Saturday.

On Thursday we sat in our first plane for an hour before take off—because of some "paper" error—so we missed our connecting flight in Denver. Brooke demanded free food (that girl!) so we enjoyed pizza and cinna-sticks and ice cream while we waited for the next flight later that night. When we arrived in Detroit, I was shocked to discover that the Meagan Sandor I had been in contact with for months--the Stake YW President--was OUR AGE! We quickly learned about the church in Canada--how members there are few and far between (literally). Some members, like Meagan's husband David, drive 2 hours every week to go to meetings. And most members juggle several callings at a time and fill in leadership positions at young ages. It's amazing. What an ispiriation it is to meet such good, faithful people.

The London Stake YW Presidency

Meagan and her counselor, Cheryl (just as young and just as darling!) picked us up and drove us across the border to Meagan’s house. I enjoyed soaking in their Canadian accents—"howse," "owt," sore-y".....

This is Meagan's house. B & S said they would kill me if I posted this picture (no makeup, peeps) but I wanted to show this darling place!!!! If I go missing you'll know who did it.

Meagan’s house was this darling cottage like thing on a street with huge trees and houses just like hers. So cute. Inside it looked like we had stepped into a Jane Austen book. I thought Brooke would pass out. Around the house were vases filled with our favorite flowers, and on each of our beds we found our favorite candy.

The next day we worked on our script, trying to re-vamp it to meet the specific needs of the youth in this stake. Many of them are the only members in their schools. We prayed hard about what and how to teach these youth...and when it finally came together and I was very pleased (and relieved!).

Here are some YM trying to win Mercy River magnets. Would you believe me if I told you they were practically wrestling for these?

The fireside went great. My favorite part was mingling with the kids and hearing about their lives and seeing the light in their eyes. The next day we sang to them after breakfast (a fun little "mini-concert") and then we headed off to the airport. Meagan and Cheryl took us to “Big Boy” in Michigan for lunch, and BOY oh boy was it yummy.

Here we are with real Canadian syrup!

Chillin' in the airport with our amazing new cookbooks, a gift from the London Stake. Is it weird that all three of us LOVE cookbooks????? We spent the entire flight home reading them....

And so it was, that with full bellies and siutcases full (really full) with Canadian souvineers, we headed back to the USA.

Thank you, Meagan and the London Stake, for an AMAZING time!

Pictures: Concert and Ladies Night!

noreply@blogger.com (mercyriver) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 19:41:00 +0000

Here are some pics from our BIG weekend earlier this month--a benefit concert and Deseret Book's Ladies Night--all in 24 hours!

Backstage at the Lori Udy Benefit Concert in Idaho

The PopRocks

David Osmond

Backstage...

Saturday morning breakfast with David Osmond and his wife, Valerie

Ladies Night!

This weekend....it's CANADA or bust! :)

In Memory of Lori Udy

noreply@blogger.com (mercyriver) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 01:52:00 +0000

A few weeks ago we were privileged to perform at the Lori Udy Benefit Concert in Idaho. I promise to post more later about this AMAZING show (lots of pictures!) but today, we wanted to pay tribute to our friend, Lori.

Lori battled with cancer (starting with breast cancer) for about 6 years. She is a wife to Steve and a mother to Mikayla and Austin. Her courage and strength in the face of so great a challenge inspired those who were lucky enough to meet her.

At the concert, Brooke, Soni, and I were able to talk with Lori. Honestly, my thoughts were, "I could be really good friends with her." I found myself wishing that I could know her better-- spend time with her, maybe take our kids to the park, talk about books we just read, agonize over laundry, complain about the weather.

That's the kind of person she was--even when you first met her you felt like you'd known her forever.

The concert was amazing. The energy and excitement were strong, as was the spirit. It was a night of celebration but also one of somber realization that Lori didn't have long.

And two weeks later, she was gone.

Lori passed away on Friday, April 17, 2009...only 14 short days after the concert. Her funeral was today in Florida, and all day long I was wishing that I could have been there. But instead, I wanted to pay tribute in this way--to honor a woman whose very smile inspired me to be better, count my blessings, and thank Heavenly Father for every single day.

Thank you, Lori!

BIG WEEKEND!!

noreply@blogger.com (mercyriver) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 19:18:00 +0000

OK, so first of all, I'm sure you've all noticed our New Year's resolution has pretty much bombed. So much for once a week updates! We've been nice and busy these last few months-whether it's rehearsals or firesides or concerts, there's always a Mercy River adventure. As soon as we've recovered from one, it's on to the next. Lately we've been working hard to get ready for...

THE BIG WEEKEND!

This Friday Mercy River will be performing with David Osmond, (enter high school girl squeal here!) and Pop Rocks, (a rock-your-world accapella group), at a benefit concert for Lori Udy. (Read Lori's story here.) The concert will be held in Rockland, ID and starts at 7:00 PM. Tickets are $10 a person and all proceeds go to help Lori and her sweet family. Read her story-we know you'll be touched. We would love to see you there!

Saturday we'll be at the University Mall in Orem for Ladies' Night! Ladies, put on your dancing shoes and come party with us! We'll be there from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM, (during the Priesthood session of General Conference), it'll be a blast.

And finally, what better way to top off a fun filled weekend than General Conference? We're so blessed to have such strong and incredible church leaders during this otherwise difficult time. We love our Prophet, and can't wait to receive his inspiration and counsel.

Thanks for all your sweet emails and kind words! We feel so blessed to have the opportunity to be a part of this.

XOXO

At the Feet of an Apostle

noreply@blogger.com (mercyriver) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 21:29:00 +0000

Last week, Brooke, Soni and I had the privilege of attending a Deseret Book banquet. The best part was not the amazing food, not being in the same room with incredible authors and artists, not even getting a night away from the kids.

It was sitting at the feet of an apostle.

We didn't know that Elder Bednar and his family would be attending that night. When he walked in I thought my husband might pass out! (We love Elder Bednar because he was our President at Ricks College.)We got to shake hands and visit for a moment, and Brooke (lucky) even got to ride in the elevator with him.

After dinner he spoke to us about some of his experiences while being an apostle. What hit me the most was the reminder that the gospel is SO personal. It is so one-on-one. The Lord would send an apostle half way around the world to help ONE PERSON. Just one.

It's about individuals.

If the Lord would send someone as busy and important as an apostle to help ONE person...surely He would need me, and you, to help in the same cause (cuuuuz, last time I looked, He had a LOT of children...)

I have since looked more closely, more carefully around me--seeing faces, reading expressions, searching for a need.Who around me needs MY help? Who is the person that the Lord needs me to wrap an arm around?

What a fantastic reminder that the Lord would--and will--come after each of us one by one. And how humbling to remember that at times, He is counting on US to reach out--so that through our arms, that precious ONE will feel His love.

Be Thou Humble

noreply@blogger.com (mercyriver) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 20:33:00 +0000

Being a part of Mercy River has BY FAR been the most humbling experience.

Ever.

Let me explain our latest adventure. (Because it's always an adventure with the three of us!)

Soni, Whitney and I have been working non stop on rehearsing and performing. Whit has arranged some amazing new harmonies for some of our songs, so we've also been learning and trying to perfect those. We had an opportunity this last week to perform with our friend and mentor Jenny Phillips-it was for the Seminary classes at Springville High School. We would be performing for each class, for 2 days straight. We were excited about this-sure, we all have brand new babies, (which makes EVERYTHING a little hard!) Sure, it's all day long-for two days straight and we have a handful of kids, no biggie! Sure, it's ridiculously early, we'll be fine! Sure, I was recovering from a wicked cold, I'll get over it! We couldn't wait to perform with our well-rehearsed skills, show off our new harmonies, and WOW the crowd. Hmmmm...

The night before our first day, we were doing sound check, when I noticed my voice slowly quitting. By the end of the night, my voice was gone. Completely. We decided to go to bed, and see how it was the next morning. I did everything-gurgled salt water, chewed on some Bayer, sucked on an entire bag of cough drops-to no avail. I sounded worse the next day.

What to do? With a third of Mercy River out of commission, the only option was to sing the songs with two gals, and cut all our fancy three part harmonies out.

So what did we learn from all of this?

This isn't about us. It's about Him. That's why we do this. To spread His gospel, to invite others to feel of His Spirit. This opportunity is a gift from Heavenly Father, and we owe it to Him to use it to benefit His kingdom. And even though we know this, and try to always keep this in our minds, sometimes we all need a reminder. And it's always humbling.

We likened this to the story in the scriptures of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who were about to be burned for not following the king's orders to worship a false idol. When the king asked if they were really ready to be killed for such a "small" matter, they responded in a way that shows their true faith;

"If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up."

(Daniel 3:17-18 Emphasis added)

So whether or not things turned out the way they would like, they would not lose their faith. They would continue to do the work they were sent to do.

It would've been nice to have a great performance, with all three of us in perfect health. But it didn't work out that way. We still need to do our best to deliver His message, and bring His spirit. And with faith, He'll make it work. We just have to do our part. And that's the lesson we learned. It's something we will definitely remember, and use it in not only our Mercy River world, but in our everyday lives.

Whew! Long post. I'll leave you with a picture of Mercy Babies-in birth order. They were born to be BFF's! This picture shows these babies in their true form-Chase is ALWAYS chewing on something, Zach is ALWAYS smiling, and Gemma is ALWAYS looking dainty and innocent. It's been so fun to have them so close together.Remember to check our website for our upcoming firesides and events, and we'd love to come to your next Enrichment Night or YW/Youth Fireside!

XOXO
Brooke

Announcing our Colorado and Canada Tours!

noreply@blogger.com (mercyriver) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:51:00 +0000

We are excited to announce two mini-tours this year: Colorado and Southern Alberta Canada! We are currently in the process of setting up our performances and have room for a few more in each area.

And here's where we need YOUR HELP!!

Do you know anyone in a ward, stake, or city (in either of these two areas) who may be interested in a Mercy River performance? Send them to our website, where they can email us directly.

Thanks!
Whitney, Brooke, and Soni :)

The Great and Spacious Makeup Kit!

noreply@blogger.com (mercyriver) — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 21:04:00 +0000

One Young Women fireside we do is called, "The Great and Spacious Makeup Kit." We have such a blast using items in our “Spiritual Makeup Kit” to combat the “Great and Spacious Makeup Kit”---also known as Satan’s deceptions.

Satan has is trying his hardest to distract young women from what is most important! We feel so strongly about encouraging young women to develop confidence in themselves by pleasing Heavenly Father, not by pleasing the crowd. Developing Christlike attributes and habits makes a person not only beautiful, but absolutely stunning from the inside out!
A few weeks ago we shared this program with a great group of young women in Lehi, Utah. They took the theme and ran with it--just check out these "makeup bag" cakes that some leaders made for each girl. Each cake was "quilted" and had a zipper and everything. And each cake was unique. Amazing. Definitely a talent I do NOT have!

To book this fireside for YOUR young women, visit our website and send us an email! And feel free to pass this info along to any YW leader you know who may be interested!

Merry Christmas!

noreply@blogger.com (mercyriver) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 14:23:00 +0000

We just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! It's such a sweet time. This year my almost-three year old is understanding the whole "Santa" thing, and although that's been a lot of fun, we've also been trying to teach her the true meaning of Christmas. We've told her the story of Christ's birth over and over. That along with having a new baby in the home, I've been especially overwhelmed by the miracle that came in a little bundle so long ago.

I'm so grateful for a Heavenly Father who willingly sent His eldest son to this world, all because we needed a Savior. I'm grateful for Mary and her example. I'm grateful for foreseeing wise men, humble shepherds, and a trusting and faithful Joseph. But most of all I'm grateful for my Savior. His atonement changes everything! I have gained new understanding of that atonement this year, and more than ever I know I could not function without the gospel.

I hope this Christmas you are surrounded by the people you love, and that you feel Christ's love for you. Thank you for all your support throughout this year! Merry Christmas!
XOXO
Brooke, Whitney, and Soni

PS Soni had her baby! All the babies are here, so starting Jan. 2nd, we're ready to go. And guess what our New Year's resolution is-update our blog once a week! :)

Baby #2 Has Arrived!

noreply@blogger.com (mercyriver) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:04:00 +0000

We are pleased to announce the arrival of our second Mercy River baby! Whitney and her family welcomed Zachary David into their family a few short weeks ago. Whitney was ECSTATIC to achieve her goal of an unmedicated birth. Everything went great and both baby and momma are doing well!

With two babies down...there's only one to go! Soni is due with her little one in about 4 weeks. Despite all of the baby action we have still managed to stay busy doing firesides for youth groups, Relief Societies, and ward and stake functions. Check out our website to book us--we would love to come see you!

XOXOXO

1 Down, 2 to Go!

noreply@blogger.com (mercyriver) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 20:15:00 +0000

OK, so this is 3 weeks late-but anyone who has had a newborn, or known someone with a newborn, you understand, right? I had my baby! He was a little early, which we expected. What we didn't expect was the 2 weeks of bed rest in the hospital, prior to my c-section! What an adventure that turned out to be! I'll spare you the boring details-long story short, our cute little guy, (and myself!) are both healthy and happy! We had our baby Chase on September 5th-he was 6 lbs. 10 oz. and 19 inches long. He's an absolute doll, even if he does look like an old man! :) I thought I'd share some pictures of our big day with ya'll! Thanks for all the cute emails, and for all the love and support we've gotten!

Me and the hubby

Our daughter holding her brother for the first time!

Our Baby Chase

P.S. A little update on our calendar-we're no longer doing the Fall Time Out tour. It's a little much with 3 babies scheduled in 3 months, (thanks Laurel, for your amazing and inspired insight!) so we're going to rehearse our behinds off, and hope we get a shot at the Spring 2009 Time Out tour. In the meantime we have a couple firesides scheduled-check out our website! And!!!

We will be at the Layton Hills Mall for Ladies Night next weekend! Come have some fun with us, while the boys are attending the Priesthood session of General Conference.

XOXO

Brooke

Our WINDY night at Cherry Hill

noreply@blogger.com (mercyriver) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 19:12:00 +0000

There's one word to describe our performance at Cherry Hill last weekend: WINDY! Chairs were blowing over, leaves were flying, and a few times we had to really steady ourselves on stage to keep from toppling down ourselves! But it was an experience we will never forget, and despite the wind we had a GREAT time performing at this cute venue.

Singing our last song, "I am a Child of God."

Here is a picture of our three pregnant bellies! These days, we refer to ourselves as "Maternity River." It just seems more fitting. Brooke is due in a few weeks, Whitney follows 6 weeks later and Soni is 6 weeks after that. It wasn't planned this way, but it's kind of convenient!

Here is "Mercy Men," showing off thier growing bellies as well.

Some members of our fan club waiting for the show to begin.

For the record, our kids have dubbed thenselves, "Mercy Kids." Watch out for this rising talent!

The official Mercy River fan club/support group (aka, our families) showed up extra early to get the best seats. We love you!!

The whole Mercy River clan.

Thanks, Cherry Hill! We would love to come back again :)

Yes, we're here!

noreply@blogger.com (mercyriver) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:12:00 +0000

Hello y'all! July has been a small "vacation" month for us! Whit was out for the first two weeks-Soni's out for this entire last week, so besides a rehearsal and a meeting, we've barely seen each other! It's been rather sad, really! But June was nuts, August will be seriously insane, and baby #1 will join our brood of children in September, so it's been great to have some time with our families.

We start back up next week-we will be performing with the rest of the Shadow Mountain artists for the LDSBA Convention on Tuesday, and then we have our last girls' camp for the year on Friday! :( We LOVE doing girls' camps, so we hope we have lots more opportunities next year. Make sure you check our website for the rest of our August concerts! It's quite the month!

We promised a shout out to one of our favorite gals-Gracie Shirley. She's one of the cutest 6 year olds we've met, and she is chock full of talent! She was able to come to one of our firesides in June, and we fell in love with her immediately! So "Hi Gracie! We love you!"

Still Learning!

noreply@blogger.com (mercyriver) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 19:36:00 +0000

Do you ever have those moments in life when you look back and still kick yourself? You still get that pit in your stomach, and you feel your cheeks getting hot from embarrasment? I think those moments, as awful as they seem, are there to teach us, even humble us. Most days our performances are on and we feel great about it. But other times we feel like we chose the wrong song, or we didn't blend well, or one, or two, or all three of us didn't hit that note. (And when one doesn't hit the note, we all sound off!) We've had several things go on this last month-2 girls' camps, a couple concerts, (and one more fireside tomorrow!), and we've had a mix of those two experiences. I think it's human nature to get discouraged or upset, but if we can learn to take the negative experiences in life, and use them to motivate us and humble us, we'll come away stronger than before. And how will we know what to improve if we don't fail, right? It's a tough lesson, but a valuable one. And one we're all learning. So here ya go, your motivation for the day! Blush over that mistake for the last time-get rid of that pit in your stomach-learn from it and move on to the next. And in the meantime, know we're fighting the same battle!

Our "Thank You" this week goes to Tyler Castleton. He has been the head of the music division at DB and has done so much for us and our album. He's been such a great support, and we're excited to have opportunities to work with him in the future. He's an extremely talented musician, and we feel privileged to know him. And a big welcome to Bob Ahlander, who has taken his place! We're thrilled to work with him and start sharing all our crazy ideas. Heads up, Bob! :) XOXO
Brooke

Staying Clean

noreply@blogger.com (mercyriver) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 19:12:00 +0000

Hi everyone! We had the opportunity to sing at a 24 stake Young Single Adult fireside this last week, and the speaker was...drum roll...Sheri Dew and Wendy Watson Nelson. They did an incredible job, and talked about staying clean in a filthy world. We learned a lot-As Sister Dew put it, it's not that we live in a BAD world, but it's definitely full of filth. One thing she said that stuck in my mind was "Foreordination is not enough." It's not enough to know we were saved for the Latter days. Were we strong in heaven? Yep. Is this a hard time to be on this earth? You bet. Were we saved for this time, because we have certain tasks and responsibilities? I'm sure we were. But it takes more than that knowledge to do what we have been sent to do. I'm big on finding your purpose-I truly believe, (as I always tell the YW in our ward) that we've each been sent with certain talents, strengths, and even weaknesses-because Heavenly Father knew we were the only ones who could take those tools, and use it to further His work. It's fun to be able to sing at these types of events, but I always feel like we come away with so much more.

This week we have two firesides-both at Stake Girls' camps. Now, I don't know about Whit or Soni, but I can't think of a better place to be. I LOVE Girls' camp! We're really excited about this, and excited to perform for the Young Women.

Which leads me to our weekly "Thank You"-(I know, I forgot last week!) With all these firesides, (plus drive time!) I have to send a thank you to our husbands. They are so sweet, and patient with our schedules, and even more, are our biggest fans. (We even call Soni's husband "The Manager"!) So thanks guys-we love you!
XOXO
Brooke

Yay!

noreply@blogger.com (mercyriver) — Fri, 30 May 2008 21:40:00 +0000

We're so excited-we're finally on ITunes! Spread the word...

Summer's right around the corner! I can't believe school's out for the summer, I swear the school year just started! But this is such a fun time of year. I thought I'd leave y'all a fun summer recipe-although it's good anytime of the year. It's a little time consuming, but oh my, it's worth the effort!

Strawberry Pretzel Salad
2 cups crushed pretzels
3/4 cup butter, melted
3 tablespoons white sugar

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

2 (3 ounce) packages strawberry flavored gelatin
2 cups boiling water
2 (10 ounce) packages frozen strawberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Stir together crushed pretzels, melted butter and 3 tablespoons sugar; mix well and press mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes, until set. Set aside to cool.

In a large mixing bowl cream together cream cheese and 1 cup sugar. Fold in whipped topping. Spread mixture onto cooled crust.

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Stir in still frozen strawberries and allow to set briefly. When mixture is about the consistency of egg whites, pour and spread over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate until set.

Enjoy!

Don't forget to go on our website and sign up for our email list! We'll send out a newsletter each month full of tips, scriptures, thoughts, and recipes-straight to your inbox! How fun is that? Until next week...!
XOXO
Brooke

Let's try this again...

noreply@blogger.com (mercyriver) — Wed, 21 May 2008 19:34:00 +0000

OK, Blogger is driving me nuts! It won't let me post pictures! Grrrr...I'll get to the bottom of this, but until then...

This last week has been a quiet one for us. With the craziness that lies in Time Out, and all the marketing whirl, it's been nice to sit with our families and be calm for a minute. (Oh wait, I can't believe I was thinking being with kids equals calmness...)

I wanted to share a quick thought today-lately I've had some challenges arise regarding my calling in the ward. This week, an answer was provided to me through my Stake YW Presidency. It requires a lot of work on my part, but the outcome would not only bless the young women in my ward, but their families. However, even knowing all the positive things that would come from the hard work, I was initially overwhelmed, and to be honest, my first thought was "No thanks!" This was not the answer I expected! I knew in my heart it was right, but I was scared. What if my family suffers? What if I fail? What if it has the opposite effect and I make things worse? Then I remembered a scripture I read about a month ago in Mosiah. It says, "Thus God has provided a means that man, through faith, might work mighty miracles; therefore he becometh a great benefit to his fellow beings." (Mosiah 8:18)

So I am once again learning the lesson, that through Him, all things are possible. So now, I welcome this challenge! I want to encourage all of you who are facing a problem right now, to have the faith to work mighty miracles. You have the power to be a great benefit to those around you, and if you put your trust in the Lord, he will bless you and your family for your effort.

And last but not least-our thank you "Shout Out" this week goes to our own Krista Maurer, marketing guru. We're so grateful for all the work she's put into getting our album out there. She's worked tirelessly answering our dumb emails and questions, and has taught us to be "Gracious"! Thanks Krista, for all you do-we love ya! XOXO
Brooke

Whew!

noreply@blogger.com (mercyriver) — Tue, 13 May 2008 20:55:00 +0000

What a crazy week! Sorry for the delay in new posts-I know this is WAY overdue. But better late than never, right? (Right, Krista? :) )

So the reasoning? Whit was crazy busy this week-I was on vacation-and Soni, oh Soni, has now jumped on the pregnancy bandwagon and was basically bed ridden with morning sickness and sheer exhaustion! So there ya go! But we have to talk about Women's Conference! It was a BLAST. We felt like Mormon rockstars! The crowd was so full of energy, we had this unbelievable band playing with us, and it was just too fun. The other performers were so great, it's such an incredible experience to sing with them. Below are some pics from some of the CUTEST girls we've met-thanks girls, for emailing them to us! It was definitely a night we'll never forget, and we hope hope hope we get to do it again next year! (No pressure DB!)

That was just a crazy day anyway-that morning we had the chance to perform on Good Things Utah. OK, these women are basically Utah celebrities, and we know they have quite the fan base, so to be honest, we were more nervous for that than Women's Conference. But oh my, they were nice! We did our best to not think about the thousands of women watching us at that moment, and then tried to avoid eye contact with the cameras, and then...it was over! It went so fast, and as always, the anticipation turned out a lot worse than the actual event. It was really fun! It helped that half the studio audience was made up of our friends and family! :) So thanks friends and family! Those GTU women were even cuter in person than they are on TV, (is that possible?) and we're SO grateful we had the chance to perform. It was such a fun morning. So thanks ABC4!

And last, I wanted to throw in another thank you. We have so many people that do so much for us, so I think I'm going to add a thank you each week, and then maybe by the end of the year we'll have them all mentioned! (Yes, there's that many!) This week's thank you goes to our close friend, songwriter, producer, mentor, etc. Jenny Phillips. She's done so much for us-given us all kinds of opportunities, written us some amazing songs, and has just been such a strong shoulder for us to lean on. We've learned so much from her, and are so grateful to her for giving us a chance to do something more with music. We love you Jenny!

OK kids, that's all for this week. Stay tuned-the three of us need to clean out our cameras and I'm sure there will be some pics posted in the upcoming days! XOXO
Brooke

We miss y'all in Oklahoma!

noreply@blogger.com (mercyriver) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 20:50:00 +0000

Another week has gone by, with another Time Out for Women under our belts. We had just as much fun at this one as we have at the ones in the past, but this one was a little bittersweet-it's our last one of the Spring! It's nice to be home with our families on weekends, but we love doing Time Out, and we love meeting all the incredible women, so we're glad we start back up in the fall. Whitney's husband accompanied us on this trip, so it was nice to have a "man servant" on hand! He even went out at 10:30 on Friday night to get us pregnant gals a pizza! What a guy!

We had the privilege to be in Oklahoma City during the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. Soni and I had to fly there Thursday night and didn't have sound check until 5:00, so we had the day to wander the city, and we were able to see the Memorial. It was such a moving experience. I'm always so impressed to see how a senseless act of terror can bring a community so close. We were amazed with the people we met, and hope that those who were affected by this tragedy have been blessed with the peace and healing Christ offers.

We'd like to offer a fond farewell to our new, and close friend Dean Hughes and his sweet wife! We've been able to attend the last two Time Outs with Dean, and he's been an absolute blast, but he and his wife have been called to serve in Nauvoo on missions. They'll be leaving in September, so we won't see them for awhile! Dean, we'll take care of your house, seriously, just let us know...

OK, "peeps", (Soni's new favorite word!) we will be on Good Things Utah next week! Next Thursday, May 1st! Oh, we're so stinking excited for this. Then we head to Women's Conference that night, where we'll be performing with quite the line-up. We're so excited to see some our favorite people again-Kenneth, Michael, and Hillary (goodness, dear, we love ya!) have been so great to us, and have welcomed us into this music industry family with open arms. Thanks to ya'll in OK, you were amazing! XOXO

Love, Brooke

P.S. We'll post some pics a little later...Whit, share the love babe!

Time Out Girls!

noreply@blogger.com (mercyriver) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:29:00 +0000

This weekend we had our 3rd Time Out event-this time we were in sunny Fresno, California. The weather was HEAVEN! Coming from a snowy, rainy, freezing Utah into clear blue skies and 75 degrees was the best welcome we could've received! So we of course were in love with the town the minute we stepped off the plane. We had a great time performing. It was a smaller crowd this time, but oh my, the energy was awesome! The minute we started singing this cute lady in the front got up and danced and sang the whole time. It's so much easier to perform when you have a great audience to feed off of. We performed with the Nashville Tribute Band for the first time. They are so incredible, I'm almost tempted to move to Nashville! It was a lot of fun this weekend.

One of the things we love about travelling to these events is meeting the presenters. Normally we don't have a chance to talk much-we're all rushing, and most of the time we leave the event on Saturday and head straight to the airport. This time though, there were no flights from Fresno Saturday afternoon, so we all flew out Sunday morning. Since we had a Saturday night to kill, the cute Time Out team arranged for us to go to dinner together. It was such a fun night! We learned so much and laughed even more. Thanks y'all, for an unforgettable dinner!

One more Time Out-this weekend we're in Oklahoma City. We love doing this, and love meeting all you fantastic women! Until then...XOXO
Brooke

Soni was cold at dinner, and thought her bitsy little napkin could keep her warm-she's such a crack-up!

Us and the "gang"-the presenters; Dean Hughes, Ardeth Kapp, Kenneth Cope, Emily Watts, Sharon Larson; and the DARLING Time Out gals! Thanks for the fun night!

PS I need to throw in a "Thank You' to Krista's assistant, Whitney. She was with us through the hand-to-hands, drove us around looking around for a KFC so prego Whitney could have some mashed potatoes, kept us on schedule and Sharpies-in-hand during Ladies' Night, pep-talked us through the Bob Lonsberry show, and is just so fun all around! Thanks Whitney for all your help during those crazy days!

Our Crrrraaaazzzzyyyy Weekend!

noreply@blogger.com (mercyriver) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 04:58:00 +0000

Brooke again...We survived! First of all-General Conference was amazing! It's so nice to hear from our church leaders. It's amazing how each conference you hear at least one talk that you think, "That was written for me!" They are truly inspired, and we can't wait for October's session! :)

Friday morning we found ourselves nervous and waiting in the control room for our turn on the Bob Lonsberry show. Side note-the nice thing about doing a radio show is you don't have to do your hair or dress up; Ponytails and jeans work great!-Bob was amazing, you'd think he's been doing this for years! :) He made it so easy to just talk and forget about the hundreds of people listening. Singing on the radio was an interesting experience-it's quite different singing in a radio studio than a recording studio! But it was a lot of fun, and we want to thank Bob and his sound guy for making it so enjoyable.

Saturday night we found ourselves in the midst of hundreds of women chatting, laughing, and shopping. We were so excited! It was such a laid back atmosphere, which made it really fun to perform. We sang three different times, for 15 minutes each. In between our performances we had the privilege to hear Carmen Rasmussen. I remember voting for her on American Idol, but as she sang we were looking at each other saying, "She is AMAZING! I can't believe she didn't win that season!" She sounded great, and it was fun to meet her. It was such a fun night-we met so many incredible people. Our favorite story of the night was a girl we met from San Diego. Her stake challenged their youth to read the Book of Mormon-all those who succeeded earned a trip to Utah and tickets to all 4 conferences, and she had completed the challenge. It was so great to see a 13 year old girl absolutely giddy about the opportunity, and she proudly showed us the pages and pages of notes she had already taken. We were so impressed with her spirit and faith.

We have another crazy weekend-Friday we're off to Fresno California for the next Time Out for Women Event. Make sure you come say hi if you're there! We love hearing your incredible stories, and we're constantly inspired by you. Also feel free to email us pics and stories that we can put on our blog. We want this to be about you as well! We love y'all! XOXO

Brooke

Friday morning-don't we look NERVOUS!

Waiting during a commercial break...

After the ordeal-with Bob! He's so nice!

Signing at Ladies' Night

Carmen Rasmussen...and us!

Here we Go!

noreply@blogger.com (mercyriver) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 21:21:00 +0000

Hi it's Brooke! Our first post! We're so excited to have this up and running-there's so much we want to do with our blog! We hope people will send pictures and experiences that we can share, and we hope it'll be a "window" into the lives of Whitney, Soni, and myself.

Tomorrow we have our first radio interview...! Auggh! It will be on the Bob Lonsberry show (570 AM for all you Utahns!) in the morning. We're really excited/nervous, but I think the anticipation is always worse than the actual event. Soni and I made an agreement-if there's a question that stumps us we'll turn it over to Whit-she's good at these kinds of things! Make sure you tune in! And then on to...

Ladies Night! Saturday night we'll be at the downtown Deseret Book during the Priesthood Session of the LDS General Conference, along with Carmen Rasmussen. We're so excited for this! Because the store isn't quite big enough to accommodate the number of women that attend, it will actually be held at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. It will be a blast so we hope to see y'all there!

And finally, we're so excited for General Conference! We're so grateful to have a chance to hear from our leaders, and can't wait to hear from our newest prophet, President Thomas S. Monson. We hope you all get a renewed sense of strength and hope from this conference. Thanks for all your love, support and kind words and emails-keep in touch, eh?
XOXO
Brooke

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noreply@blogger.com (mercyriver) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 20:12:00 +0000

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