Monday, December 21, 2009

Our talents have evolved

My Grandma Knecht (whose name was LaRue. My other grandma's name was Leola. LaRue and Leola. I double dog dare you to top that.) insisted upon having talent shows at every family gathering. Every Family Home Evening* included time for people to share their talents. Every family party there was someone getting up to play the piano or sing. The biggest and most entertaining being the Knecht Family Christmas Spectacular. But Grandma passed away 15 years ago and we all got older and it just wasn't as cute when my cousins got up and sang Santa Baby so the talent portion of the night took a back seat. We would make a half-hearted attempt at it and ususally get one person to play a Christmas medley but that was it.

So about 5 years ago, in the spirit of Grandma, we resurrected it and my sisters and I started displaying what some may call our greatest talents: making fools of ourselves and laughing like loons over it. We started choreographing elaborate productions numbers. One year we did Whitney Houston's version of Joy to the World and dressed up in graduation robes to look like a gospel choir. Another year we did the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy with tutus. This year we decided to mix things up. You can watch it on the Fam's Blog. I would like to point out that this is not our original performance in front of everyone. The sound did not work on that version so we had to do a retake after everyone left which means that you miss my Uncle Jeep laughing in the corner. And my Grandpa laughing in the other corner. Knecht Family no. 1 talent: laughing. Which, I suspect, is why Grandma loved the talent shows the most.

And in case you're thinking that my sisters and I are the only ones who do the talents my uncle's family did the Mark Jensen Family Christmas - that Will Farrell skit from SNL. There are zero clips of it on the internet but if you've seen it you know what I'm talking about. And if you haven't seen it I'll just tell you that my cousin Jared was spinning around on a lazy susan and singing It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year. Indeed.

*We know this because my grandma took the minutes of every single FHE for 30 years. I'm not making this up. There are stacks of memo pads filled with detailed accounts of each one. Who was there, who said the prayers, what treats were eaten, important family business brought up that usually consisted of my Aunt Lynn saying, "Scott looked at me weird," every single week. They are a treasure.

9 comments:

Rach said...

Oh, thank you, thank you. My favorite parts: The microphone with the enormously long handle (classic!), jazz hands (of course), the requisite train choreography, the sparkly boa, and of course, your excellent abilities as a lead singer. I'm still planning on starting our chick band later. Like when my kids are grown, and I can fit into my pleather pants again. I've been playing a lot of Rock Band on the Wii, so I will be the drummer.

The Katzbox said...

My desire is that my grandchildren will look back on me with such love and laughter...and remember the good stuff...and forget about the burnt dinners, and the time I broke into the old haunted insane asylum, and other sundry things.

You are a blessed woman and apparently you come from a long line of such souls.

I will watch your video with glee.

Stephanie said...

I love your family. I love your note-taking grandmother. I love that you're making this a tradition. I just love, love, love, love it.

Thank you!

Erin said...

I don't think it tops LaRue and Leola, but mine are Phyllis and Beryl. Beryl was also quite the record keeper. Phyllis was just plain mean. And that's why we called her Grandma Satan. The bad thing is that I see a lot of Grandma Satan in myself. Maybe I will be mini-me Grandma Satan.

Erin said...

Oh, and just as a side note after seeing that video, I'm pretty sure I was supposed to be born into your family. I always try to get my family to do stuff like that and am met with boos and hisses.

Gina said...

Love this post! I miss the Grandmas. Something worth mentioning about G.K. is that no matter how terrible you were, she always made you feel like a million bucks. She would have loved all of our more recent performances.

Thanks for making me smile!

Laura said...

I might give you a run for your money on the grandma name thing. And what's great is...both names come from only one of them. My paternal grandmother's name is Lula Ione. Yep, seriously. She always went by Ione since she hated Lula so much, but it's not like she had something normal to choose from! No offense to my granny, 'cause I loved her, but I don't believe any future daughter of mine will be getting one of those names!!

Mama Skates said...

i just went over & watched - freaking awesome! it's so great that u guys r keeping the tradition alive! i look forward to watching next year's performance!

Anonymous said...

My two grandmothers' names were Gerda and Thursie. I'm close, yes?