Missionaries safe

SALT LAKE CITY 27 February 2010 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued the following statement today following the earthquake in Chile:

"We, along with the rest of the world, are watching with concern as reports from the massive earthquake in Chile continue to unfold. As with any disaster, immediate details are difficult to confirm.

"We have confirmed that all of the Church's missionaries in Chile have reported in and are safe, including the two elders on the Juan Fernandez Island." (This is an update from a report earlier today when some missionaries had not reported in).

It will take longer to hear how many members were affected. Everyday a little more news comes in.

Amazing how many natural disasters are happening all over the world. Sign of the times? Maybe. Overdue occurrences of nature? Maybe? Whatever the answer, ask yourself if you're ready. Can you take care of your family if something like this happens? Both spiritually and physically are you prepared for any emergency? Well, that's what we're asking ourselves this weekend.

8.8 Earthquake

My heart hurts so much right now. I woke up with a simple Saturday before me. I checked Facebook and started seeing my old missionary buddies with strange comments about prayers going to Chile. Finally I read what the situation was: Chile Earthquake.

This is the area where I served. Bio-Bio is at the heart where the mission home is. So far, the church hasn't made any comments about contact made with the missionaries. One friend posted the following:

"We have a friend serving there now. Interesting thing is they were given earthquake instructions and water filtration equipment two weeks ago. thankful for heavenly inspiration!"

My prayers are with my brothers and sisters. I wish I was there! I want to don the yellow "helping hands" shirt and get to work.

They say the prison in Chillan was damaged and many prisoners escaped. Chillan was my first area!

Disneyland

Every year the middle school bands audition for the right to play for the crowds of Disneyland. They play for a few minutes and then are free to play for hours. This year, the band didn't win the privilege to play. Instead, they had to pay for a clinic experience. Personally, I think it was a much more valuable experience.

They didn't perform in front of the masses (all the moms and dads that go watch their kid play). No, they were taken behind the scenes (no pictures were allowed) and sat in a large studio. They were given music to sight read, and had to play for a professional director. Our director is currently working on the traveling Broadway show, "Peter Pan". He talked about what it meant to be a professional musician and how music and movies went together. Explaining how dynamics make such a huge difference in the mood of a scene.

So, the kids were able to practice their music about 3 times. It was Disney music to a scene of a movie. Then it was professionally recorded. Behind the director was a HUGE screen. After the music was recorded, the kids got to watch the scene of the movie (they did something from "Emperor's New Groove" and "Atlantis") with their music playing. It was so neat. I think they came away with a new understanding. The director was great. He was tough, but funny.

I went as a chaperon, but was disappointed that I wasn't assigned to hang out with my own kid. After the assigned "stay with your group" time, the kids were free to roam around in their groups with no chaperons. Brandon made it clear that he didn't want me hanging around. I know it is totally natural, but it was the first time he chose his friends over his mom. After a few hours riding rides with another mom, I got a call from Brandon. He told me they were stopping for dinner and asked if I wanted to join them. That made me happy. Am I a mush heart, or what?! It was a great day all the way around.

A Teenager In The House

I once heard that if your kids aren't causing you real grief in your home, it's only because they aren't old enough. Each year we knock on wood that our kids are still young enough to skip over the fore warned grief. And each year we wonder if this will be "the one". :)

Brandon turns 13!

The kids have all read the Percy Jackson "Lightning Thief" series. Brandon was so excited when he heard it was opening on his b-day weekend. All the boys had a great time (although the overall feeling was that the book was better).

Brandon has really good friends, but like all kids this age ... they are all CRAZY. This poster seemed to fit them. It's a movie called the "Crazies". Ok, the movie is actually scary, but the title is funny.

After the movie and pizza, the boys came home for cake and ice cream. It was a little cold for a swim party, but these boys REALLY wanted to play in the water. I am very impressed that none of the boys ended up in the pool anyway. Great restraint, right?!

Anticipation

It seems that these days kids get what they need/want at the moment. They don't have to wait for birthdays or holidays to get their heart's desires. But there are times when they are left to anxiously anticipate events to come. It is very fun to watch the process and even better when the event meets or beats the expectations.

Aubrey and her best friend, Hannah, received a fun Christmas gift from their moms. (Is it okay to just say that Heidi and I rock?! That feels wrong! ha, ha!) They were each granted a certificate good for one lunch at the American Girl Store in Los Angeles. They knew that we would drive them, and pay for lunch, but it was up to them to save their money and purchase what they wanted. They were thrilled! (And yes, Heidi and I accept that we're cheap and love that our girls are okay with that!)

The girls even dressed up for their big day. They are growing up so fast and are so beautiful. The cafe is beautiful and the chandeliers are over the top. I bummed I didn't get a picture. Note the cute high chairs they give the girls to put their dolls right up to the table. It was pricey, but it was so fun.

One of the things the girls did was leave their dolls at the store to get their hair done. The wait was over an hour before their dolls' appointment, so we went out shopping at "The Grove". Great weather, great company, great girls' day! We got home tired, but we all loved it!

We went 3 years ago, and the girls were so excited. We noticed that the luster of the dolls has worn off as the girls are growing up. I'm sure this will be their last trip to American Girl, but we are already planning to keep this a tradition of a girls' day. We'll have to come up with something new next year! :)

Moving on, Jon has been anxiously awaiting the day when he could compete in the Pinewood Derby. He got his car and started on his design right away. He worked with Brian who taught him how to cut the wood, sand it down, paint the design, and perfect it as best he could. He named the car Shark Bait.
He proved to be a really good sport. He didn't pout when he lost a race, and he didn't boast when he won. The people in charge of the event did an amazing job decorating and organizing it. With the computer set up to rank the races, it was very quick. Jon was thrilled when he learned that he came in 3rd place!