Most Awesome Commander Ever!

"Woo-yeah! Look at me and my bad self! Uh-huh! Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh!" James and his team did very well at the 16th Annual Utah JROTC Invitational Pentathlon competition. T-ville had four teams but only three of them could compete so the fourth one competed for another school that came but didn't have enough people. It was because of T-ville's 4th team that Independence High even received an award. All the T-ville teams did well and came away with several awards each. James' team won 2nd place in the Regulation Drill and Exhibition Drill competitions. While Ben Lomand High had the fastest male and female individual runners, James' team still placed 1st for the Mile Run. The absolute high-light of the awards ceremony was at the very end when James was announced as the Best Commander. Hoo-aah!

Mom Rocks!

Pasta is reported to give you natural energy so just before a competition, James likes to have pasta. The last couple of competitions (including today) he's gotten his teams together for a pasta party. This time it was at our house and I had the idea that it was a pot-luck pasta party and agreed to make a dish similar to spaghetti but the sauce is a little different and it's served over rotelle. Then last night I came across a recipe for a chicken pasta caesar salad and thought it looked good. The reviews all said it was fabulous. I had the idea that I could use up some left-over rotisserie chicken and make this salad for the kids also. Good thing! One other young man (John Grant) brought a creamy chicken and pasta dish and another brought some spaghetti makings which came in handy for a couple of very late comers! I had plenty of cooked pasta still but it was good to open the can of spaghetti sauce for them. The salad was a hit, even James liked it. We also had a jug full of lemonade which went fast so James filled it up again. The party broke up one by one until eventually the last 4-5 left together. They are sure to win their competitions tomorrow!

After everyone ate, they split up for games. X-box games for half and a rousing game of Risk for the others. They've had lots of fun and it was so cool to have a house full of happy noises.

Milestones

This last Saturday my oldest granddaughter, Natasha, was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was so happy to be eight and to have her dad baptize her.

It was a full day. I went up to Hillary and Marc's to get the hams started. Between Gingell's and Moseley's, it took two hams and my turkey roaster came in handy! There wasn't even that much left over, just enough for a few sandwiches but the bonus is that both Hillary and I have a ham-bone for soup. I'll be making beans and ham.

Back to the baptism... due to some miscommunication, we were late to the service. It turned out ok but we were kind of running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying get everyone in the car, figure everything out, and get everyone to where they needed to be. That didn't end once we got to the church. Then it was go here, go there and oh, Tasha and Marc need to change! It's obvioiusly been too long since I've been involved in a baptism and it didn't help that they do the service a bit different up north. Once the baptisms were done, we moved back to Hillary and Marc's for dinner.

The hams were perfect and to them we added rolls, veggies, salads and eclair cake. Mmmmm. While everyone was enjoying their dinners, Sonia was surrounded with little ones waiting their turn to have bunnies painted on their toenails. The Moseley siblings took the opportunity to pose for serious and fun photos. My favorite is the James Bond-ish style poses.

Before long Sonia, Shawn and I were the only guests left so we gave Addie presents (since her birthday was the week before) and she was so happy getting her favorite things, a horse and a dog (stuffed of course!). By then Tasha and Emma were getting ready to go see the Hannah Montana movie with Sonia and Shawn so I bugged out leaving Hillary with my few Easter things to dole out Easter morning. Dad, James and I had a quiet and very different Easter meal... grilled steak and baked potato! Mmmmm.

Domestic Divas Unite!

Man, have I been busy! Since my last post, I met with Sarah Marcrum who is the Magna Central's Stake Wardrobe Director. Our stakes were to combine for the three dances but our stake has almost twice the amount if youth as theirs. We decided just to divide the responsibilities so we have the German and Scottish dances and Magna Central has the Irish dance. It was fun to meet with Sarah and show her everything. A few days later we met with our Dance Coordinators, Kim and Melanee, and together we decided what the costuming should look like. Getting other people's inputs keeps making my job easier and easier!

I've managed to get a ward wardrobe coordinator for each ward and was able to have a nice meeting with about half of them. The other half I've had to rush through their duties which wasn't my preference. Last night we all went to the dance practices and measured our kids. Having each ward there made it go really fast because each ward only had 10-15 kids. Much better than trying to measure almost 120 kids by myself!!! There are still a few to track down.

We're going to begin sewing soon because the costumes need to be finished by May 9th. Flyers are going out Sunday to tell the youth what they need to provide for their costumes (everyone should have their own shoes, socks, etc.) and to ask for supply donations. I am hoping we have lots of material donated within the week because that is the most expensive part. (I can only imagine what was spent on the costumes we borrowed!) Everything has been going so smoothly and I'm excited about all the help I'm getting for this great project.

You're Gonna Be Hearing A Lot About This!

You see, about a month ago I was asked to be the Stake Wardrobe Coordinator. Since then, I've changed my title to Stake Wardobe Director because I'm having Ward Wardrobe Coordinators called (that means someone else figures out who can help and asks them for me) and it just seems more fitting that I direct them instead of coordinate them.

And why would I be asked to do such a thing? And beyond that, what would I do? And not really having a clue about this, why did I say 'yes'? I was really wondering that myself when I was asked! I was like, 'you've gotta be kidding!' Then, just a couple days later I was at a fireside (spiritual meeting in the evening, usually on Sunday) and afterward this lady comes up to me and says she's a costume designer and that she would be willing to help me with whatever I need. Wow... cool. Now the trick is to figure out what I need.

Through a series of meetings which seemed to make me more and more confused and overwhelmed, I eventually got a clue. This production is not as huge as the 'Day of Celebration' I was a little involved with about 4 years ago but it's pretty big. We anticipate having 3000 kids just in the choir and probably twice that in the different dances. With two LDS temples being built in the Salt Lake valley, it was decided just a few short months ago to involve the youth (ages 12-18) in a celebration of song and dance. Now, this isn't any random song and dance. Each dance segment tells a portion of a story from when the pioneers first arrived here and found the indians who populated this region, to present day. That's a lot of ground to cover. There are about 15 different dances to tell the story. Our little 3-4 minute segment is a re-creation of a town social where a few of the immigrants who came here get together and show off their 'skills'. We have Scottish, Irish and German costuming for our number and that is where I come in. I've been swimming in costumes since last Friday when I picked up the costumes we have been blessed to borrow. I've been counting and measuring and sorting. These pictures show a few of the costumes. Here is the German costume from the back. The tie you see is from an apron that we have to shorten a bit because it totally takes over the front of the costume and you can't see the pretty skirt fabric. We may or may not use the wreath... I haven't decided that yet.

This cute green skirt with the shawl is our Irish outfit. We have a few costumes of another style that we have borrowed but I'm not sure if they will get used or not, or if the two styles will clash. The good news is I was able to pick up a lot of green material to make what we need, FREE! I sure hope we have enough.

The German guys will be in knickers with suspenders to simulate lederhosen like these fine men. Our Scottish guys get to wear kilts and I've been surprised by the number of young men who are willing to wear them. We have about 15! Making the plaid skirts for the girls and the kilts is going to be a fairly big job. I've got about 48 yards of plaid material for the skirts and am hoping for lots of donations (or dollar fabric) for the kilts.

Doesn't this sound like a lot of work? It is but it's so fun! I wouldn't have thought I'd be having this much fun a month ago. I think it's because I remember the other celebration so well and how much fun it was that I'm so excited for this group of kids to have this opportunity to celebrate having these new temples. It helps that James gets a second opportunity to participate in this kind of production. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and it's rare that he gets this second chance.