Girl's Camp Highlights

In the strength of the Lord I can do all things.
He know hows to change the weakness in me,
So I will let His love lift me up.
He believes I can do hard things if I will trust Him,
And walk forward in the strength of the Lord. –Jenny Phillips

Monday, June 2
Waaaayyyyy back at the beginning of June, LadyBug and I went to Girl's Camp.

{Can you believe that 23 teenagers turned up at 7:00 am to go camping?
LadyBug is on the front row, second from the right.
I am on the front row, third from the left.}

I use the term "camping" here very loosely. It was a lot different than when I went to camp as a young woman. We had to sleep in tents, dig latrines, and cook on a number 10 can stove. There were a few similarities. We were definitely up in the mountains, surrounded by trees and deer and nature. But that is where the similarities ended. We slept cabins with bunk beds {there were no mattresses; you had to bring a foam pad, but is definitely better than sleeping on the ground}. We had electricity and running water and flushing toilets and showers {never mind that finding time to take one was a completely different matter}. We still had to cook on propane camp stoves and pot guts ventured into our pavilion area to pick up any food we dropped. But there was a fridge in a pantry area with a door that closed to keep the pot guts from getting into the food storage. On a scale from one to roughing it, I'd say we were only one step down from the Ramada Inn.

The camp is situated on 8,000 acres and about 2,500 girls stay there each week. Over the course of the summer 70,000 young women each spend five days enjoying the best Utah has to offer. We left bright and early Monday morning. We had 23 young women from our ward attend. After we unpacked our gear and settled in, we had several fun activities with the other young women in our stake {around 100 more girls}, including a rousing version of Bazooka Bubble Gum, complete with gum for chewing.

Tuesday, June 3
Tuesday was hike day. There were several different hikes as part of the camp certification, and which hike you went on depended on how many years you'd attended camp. I went with the first-year girls. It was a little short of a 3-mile hike and all of the first-years in the stake went together. It wasn't LadyBug's favorite activity. We went at our own pace, walking at almost the back of the procession, but we made it in the end. The trails were amazing, criss-crossing all over the camp and marked with signs so that you could find your way to and from almost anywhere. We didn't have a particular destination, but just made a loop back around to our campsite. The paths were wide enough for only one person and we were asked to stay on the paths, preserving the foliage. It was incredibly beautiful and very peaceful. Even though there were 2,400 other girls there somewhere on the mountain, aside from the girls in our stake, I felt like we had the place to ourselves.

{Top left: Legacy Lake
Top Right: LadyBug and me at the summit of our hike
I know that hat is dorky, but I wear it anyway
Center: Entire group of first-year campers
Bottom Left: My first year campers - Kenna, LadyBug, Abbey, Me and Jada
Jada just turned 13 and the other girls are 12
Bottom Right: Moving upwards along the trail}

Wednesday, June 4
Wednesday we got to go canoeing on Legacy Lake. It was my favorite day. LadyBug, one of our other girls, and I shared a canoe and had so much fun paddling around.

{The bottom picture is a panorama of about ¼ of the shoreline.
Right click on the photo to open in a new tab so you can zoom in for more details.}

Wednesday, we also provided the camp an hour of service. I was so amazing at how self-sustaining the camp is. It is staffed mostly by volunteers; retired couples serving together. They have their own water treatment plant and everyone who comes and stays at the camp gets an opportunity to give back just a little bit. During our service, we pulled some logs along the trail back to our campsite to be cut into firewood. Prior to that, someone had been into the woods to cut down trees that had died. The trees were cut into manageable size logs and dragged to the trail for us to take back to camp. From there someone else cut it into firewood so that we could use it in the evenings for campfires and s'mores. Anything that wasn't large enough for firewood was run through the wood chipper by someone in our group and then later, another group could take it in wheelbarrows along the trails to keep them from getting too dusty and dry. In one our, we provided the camp 125 man-hours so that the next group could enjoy this beautiful camp.

Thursday, June 5
Thursday was the challenge course. There were five or six {I forget} low challenges and each ward was asked to send one or two leaders to be trained on those so they could help the girls when it was their challenge course day. It had a really fun time helping the girls and the challenge course is one of their favorite activities for the week. The high challenge, of course, is the highlight of the day. LadyBug and I were in separate groups; my group did the high challenge first and then moved on to the low challenge where I was trained. From there they moved on to the other courses and I stayed put. I got to see and help LadyBug and my other girls when they came through my challenge, but didn't get to see any of them on the high course. I was told that LadyBug met the challenge with determination.

You start by climbing a rope ladder. Then you have to move from the rope ladder to a suspension "bridge." At the end of the bridge, you get to go on a zip line. My goal for the week was to enjoy the experience as much as possible, so I didn't think about it, but just put the harness on and climbed the ladder one step at a time. I'm so glad I did.

Friday, June 6
When I was asked to work with the Young Women in my ward January, I knew that I would get to do a lot of fun things. And there would be some hard things, too. Girl's Camp was hard and wonderful. When you throw 23 girls together into two cabins and they spend all week hiking and canoeing and staying up late giggling, there is bound to be some drama. But I have to say, the drama among these girls was minimal.

Aside from all the fun things we did at camp, there were opportunities to feel God's love and guidance and to learn together. We met together as a stake for Family Home Evening on Monday. We had wonderful speakers on Tuesday and Wednesday night. We sang together and prayed together. Thursday night we spent together as a ward talking about our experiences and the things we had learned. And each of us was able to spend some quiet time reflecting, praying and studying. Those private moments I spent seeking guidance from the Lord were well spent and have helped me to make some important decisions.

We were all also given a challenge to complete during the week. There were scriptures to memorize, songs to learn, talks to read, questions to answer. You could complete the challenge at your own pace and every one of the 23 girls in our ward, plus all of the leaders who attended {believe me, there was no way I could have pulled it off by myself. The camp director was spectacular, as were the other two leaders who came up} finished the challenge. As recognition for this, we were given a beautiful silver pendant with a young woman and the Provo City Center Temple {currently under construction, and which is very special to me} etched in gold. These were created just for our stake and I was so thrilled to earn mine!

All too soon, our week at camp was over. We were packed and ready to go by 9:00 am. I was home, unpacked, the braids out of my hair, showered and smelling sweet as ever by about 2:00 Friday afternoon. In the weeks since then, even though I got rid of the camping smell, I haven't forgotten the things that I felt and learned there; most importantly that in the strength of the Lord, I can do all things.

Amelie Pattern Giveaway Winner, A Stitch in Time: June, and My Trip to Crazy Town

The human mind is not a terribly logical or consistent place. –Jim Butcher, Turn Coat

I usually reserve Sundays for posts of a more spiritual nature. Today, however, my back is up against a wall. I've yet to announce the winner of the promised giveaway and there should be some sort of linky party going on around here starting today. With my most humblest apologies for not being on top of everything like I always think I can, let's take care of some business.

First, I threw everyone's name who entered for the giveaway into a hat. OK, it was a dish, but you know what I mean. And Grasshopper pulled out the winner.

Congratulations to

P.

at The Way I Sew It

P., check your inbox .

Now, about the June Linky Party. I've debated back and forth and have decided that there will not be a linky party for June. I'm also considering taking the summer off. And maybe not ever starting back up again after that. But let's not get ahead of ourselves here. I'm juggling a lot and while it is really hard to let go emotionally to the idea that I can do everything, it makes the most sense at the moment to let a few things go. The June Linky Party is one of those things.

You see, LadyBug and I are going to Girl's Camp for the week. It's this thing we do in our Church to torture the girls by making them survive out in the wilderness for five consecutive days without technology and also to make the leaders crazy getting ready for it. I happen to be on the Crazy Town Express at the moment. I still have packing to do, my gluten and dairy free food substitutions to prep and about fifty other things before my self-mandated 9:00 pm bedtime, because I have to be up at oh-five-hundred hours tomorrow morning. I'm pretty sure the No-Bake Dark Chocolate Granola Bites that I made a special trip to the Health Food Store to get Sunbutter for {like peanut butter, only made with sunflower seeds} because peanut butter and I don't get along, and then discovered I'd left my wallet and home and had to run home and back in order to make my purchase are not going to get made.

Our packing lists are about a mile long and we have to make everything fit into one bag. LadyBug and I just spent 25 minutes coercing foam pads into rolls so that we might have some hope of sleep this week. We're not really camping. We're sleeping in cabins and the cabins have bunk beds, but the bunk beds just have wooden bottoms — no mattresses. Hence the need for foam pads. We also have showers with hot running water if you're the first or second in line. And kitchens with fridges and electricity and everything. There's a canoe lake and a ropes course and hiking and the food is fantastic, from what I hear. So, it isn't really camping. But it isn't like home. And it is a lot of work to get ready for it. I'm not ready.

Wish me luck!

The One Where I Went Rappelling

The difference between a mountain and a molehill is your perspective. –Al Neuharth.

Saturday, May 11, 2014
7:00 am: Why do all adventures have to start so early?

7:52 am: Why am I always late? I was supposed to be there 7 minutes ago. It's a good thing we all run on Mormon Standard Time.

8:16 am: I wasn't the only one who was late. But we are on our way. It is a 2½-ish hour drive. Good thing I took my Dramamine and brought a project to stitch on. And I'm so glad I'm not driving.

{The blue star is our starting point and the blue dot is the destination — Black Dragon Canyon in the San Rafael Swell}

10:48 am: Rest stop. One thing I really dislike about Nature is the lack of flushing toilets. But an outhouse is better than going behind a bush. I guess I'll take it.

I've been working on the labels for my patriotic sampler and have made a lot of progress. I would like to get this quilt finished in time to display this year, but it will be July before we know it.

11:13 am: Girls Camp isn't until June, but we're here to fill the High Adventure certification for the 4^th year girls {age 15}. The activity is for all the 4^th years in the stake, and arranged by the Stake Young Women leaders, but I thought it was important to come and show support to my girls. I'll admit that I was a little hesitant to give up an entire Saturday to go rappelling. I'm not a big fan of dirt. Or heights. Or non-flushing portable toilets {although I have to admit that the set up here is nicer than the pit toilet we stopped at earlier. The girls had some funny name for it, but I can't remember it now}. But it really is beautiful here and I am glad I came.

A kind, grandfatherly gentleman is our host for the day. Oliver has been teaching the girls in our stake to rappel for years. The basics are these: the ropes are certified up to 9000 lbs. but don't step on them, and don't drop the carabiners and figure eights.

This is where we are rappelling from. It's only about 140 feet. No biggie.

11:27 am: In order to get to the rappelling point, we have to scale an only slightly less steep incline than the face we will be rappelling from. I *huff* am *puff* so *wheeze* out *huff* of *wheeze* shape *huff*.

11:49 am: Surely the elevation up here isn't that different from where we were standing on the ground, but I'm feeling a little light-headed. I'm not so sure this is such a good idea.

The girls are starting to gear up. Oliver's granddaughter is helping them get their harnesses on correctly.

12:03 pm: The ropes are tied to hardware anchored in the rock. Oliver's son and grandson are harnessed and the ropes pass through a figure eight attached to their harnesses by carabiners. They serve as a back-up should the anchors fail. At the bottom of each rope is someone on belay who only has to exert about 10 lbs. of pressure to stop your progress down the rope. Good to know.

12:19 pm: These are my girls. Aren't they beautiful?

{Top left: Serina
Middle left: Kali and Oliver
Bottom left: A cactus patch growing in the middle of the sandstone
Bottom center: Kristina
Bottom right: Jehni
Group shot: Kristina, Kali, Serina and Jehni}

12:42 pm: Quote of the day from Cami, a girl from one of the other wards, to Oliver and his family: "you guys do this for fun?"

1:19 pm: It is my turn. I can see what Cami was talking about.

I've been watching Oliver coach each of the girls in turn. Keep your legs straight, keep your feet shoulder-width apart, lean back into the harness, keep your eyes on your feet and where your next step will be but don't look down, breathe, yell "help" if you get into trouble and the men on belay at the bottom will stop you.

Oh, look. There are grooves in the figure eight where the rope passes through. Interesting.

Time to go. *Deep breath* I can do this.

This is what it looks like after you go over the edge. It's really not so bad. Just put one foot behind the other, don't bend your knees, trust the equipment and don't look down. My partner, Lizzie, is from another ward, but I adopted her for the day.

1:31 pm: That was fantastic! What an amazing experience. I'm so glad I didn't chicken out. The hardest part was kicking off the rock as it curved back and letting myself dangle in open space. But when I turned around and looked around, it was awesome. I live in some of God's most beautiful country.

Now for some lunch. I had a hard time deciding what to bring. Eating gluten and diary free on-the-go is a hassle. In the end, I decided on a Jimmy John's unwich. It is a little bit soggy, but not bad.

2:27 pm: Oliver said that you should go twice, because the second time was more fun. It was pretty fun the first time. Maybe I should go again.

2:51 pm: That hill is a doozy to climb. I'm not sure that going a second time is such a good idea. I'm tired. What if I drop myself? They guys on belay at the bottom will stop me, of course, but still. I could get scratched up pretty badly.

3:13 pm: The second time was not as much fun for me. I was too tired. And I looked down. I'll remember that for next year.

3:26 pm: The girls are having so much fun. Jehni has been six or seven times. She rappels down and runs right back up to the top to go again.

4:18 pm: The wind has really picked up. I have sand in between my eyelashes. We're going to pack up and go up the canyon a little further, where there is shelter from the wind to eat.

5:05 pm: Oliver talked for a little bit on his experiences over the years and drew some parallels between having faith in God and having a safe rappelling experience. He gave each of us a carabiner and a bookmark with the comparisons he made on it.
Be Strong
Stay firmly anchored to the mountain (gospel).
Tie the right knots (good friends and family).
Remember, your life hangs in the balance (eternal life).
Only use the best equipment (scriptures and prayer).
Never step on your rope (sacred things).
Go with faith (in the Lord).

5:45 pm: Dinner was good and now we're on our way home.

8:11 pm: It got too dark to work on my stitching project about an hour ago. I have sand in my ears. I am so ready to be done. The drive up didn't seem this long. Just a few more minutes until we are home.

8:21 pm: That last 10 minutes nearly killed me. I can't wait to hit the showers!

Christmas Memories Part III: The Piano Guys

Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect. –Oren Arnold

This year, I wanted to spread the Christmas Season out a little bit and have the focus be on making memories as a family rather than on a huge pile of presents under the tree. Of course, we'll still have presents to open on Christmas morning. But I wanted to spend time on each other this year, too. As part of this we went to we went to The Piano Guys' Christmas concert on Saturday night.

We went out for dinner and then rode the Frontrunner {Utah's commuter rail, which has become a favorite way to travel for us} up to Salt Lake. It was snowy out and seemed a better choice than braving the roads and finding parking once we got there. There was one small hiccup; about half-way there was some sort of incident {word on the street was that someone slipped and hit their head/broke their nose} and we were delayed about 40 minutes. We still made it to Salt Lake in plenty of time for the concert {we just had to skip seeing the lights at Temple Square before} and were in our seats well before the show began.

We learned some fun Piano Guys trivia:
• Steven Sharp Nelson now has 15 cellos and they all have names. He only brought three to the performance; Bruce Lee, his black electric cello {and his white electric cello is named Chuck Norris}, his carbon fiber cello, Carmen Fibre, and his newest "traditional" cello, Marcello, as named by fans over at The Facebook.
• Between the four piano guys {Jon Schmidt – piano, Steven Sharp Nelson – cello, Al Van Der Beek – producer, and Paul Anderson – camera man} they have 16 kids. Steven's four kids are ages eight and under.
• They would like to make a video at all seven Wonders of the World. Their first was on The Great Wall of China. They are scheduled to film in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, at statue of Christ in February.

The Piano Guys is one of our favorite things to enjoy as a family. We love their videos. And their concerts do not disappoint. This is the third time we've been to see them and seeing them on their "home court" definitely has its advantages. When we went to see them in May, Alex Boyé performed Peponi with them and he returned again for this performance. It was amazing. Jon Schmidt's daughter performed again, singing Where Are You Christmas? this time. And part of the American Heritage Lyceum Philharmonic performed Beethoven's Five Secrets with them.

Generally, I'm not a fan of fan-recorded videos at a live concert. It just doesn't compare with the quality of a professionally produced video of the same song. And the excitement that the person who recorded it feels at being at the concert doesn't translate. But half-way through Jon Schmidt's mash-up of I Saw Three Ships and Waterfall, I realized that those are the kinds of things that are never going to be produced. When Jon Schmidt invited his father, Werner Schmidt, on stage, I knew this was something I would like to capture. Even if I can't duplicate the feeling of being there, I wanted to share this beautiful performance, which brought the audience to its feet, with you {have I ever mentioned how much I ♥ my iPhone?}.


When we went to see them in May, Steven Sharp Nelson invited his wife, Julie, on stage and together they performed a piece called Ashokan Farewell {many thanks to the fan who captured that moment}. I was hoping that she would be there again to perform with them and when they played A Thousand Years, Steven invited her to join them on the violin.


For their final number, Al Van Der Beek and Paul Anderson joined Jon and Steven on stage to perform Angels We Have Heard on High, followed by What Makes You Beautiful.

We had a wonderful evening and I hope it is a memory that the Not-So-Little Bugs will carry with them for many years.

Christmas Memories Part I: Ryan Shupe and the RubberBand

What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more. ― Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

This Christmas we're making memories instead of collecting more stuff that we have to find places for. Oh, I have a few good surprises in store for the big day. There'll be a few pretty good presents under the tree. In the meantime, we're spending time together and spreading the Christmas cheer across the whole month. Our first stop on the 2013 Christmas Memories tour was the Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband Christmas Concert tonight.

If you ever have a chance to see Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband, do it. They put on a really great show, despite tonight's reviews from most of the residents at Bug Cottage. Grasshopper maintains that he smiled once, but it was painful. When we asked LadyBug what she though, she said, "eh," even though I saw her clapping along and laughing at their antics. And Mr. Bug said he went for me {sidebar: my enthusiasm embarrasses him at concerts so he gets double points}, but I saw a pretty content smile on his face as he watched. Despite what they say, I know that they all secretly had a good time. As for me, I had an awesome time.

I thought I'd share a little bit of the Christmas Mayhem with you. You can see the band performing live on a local radio station here, but I picked this video to share with you because the sound is a little better and lyrics are actually quite clever.


However you choose to celebrate the season, I hope you're off to a good start!

Becoming Something Better

Look unto God with firmness of mind, and pray unto him with exceeding faith, and he will console you in your afflictions. –Jacob 3:1

In the early hours of the morning on December 17, 2010, fire fighters were called to a 4-alarm fire in an old and historic building in downtown Provo, Utah.

The fire continued to burn throughout the day, completely gutting the building and leaving only the exterior walls standing, with nine feet of rubble inside.

This building, the Provo Tabernacle, belonged to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and served as a meeting house and cultural center since 1885. I drive by this quilting every day on my way to and from work. For eleven months, I watched as the building sat in ruins while the debris from the fire was sorted through and removed. When the work was done, I wondered what would become of this once beautiful landmark.

My heart was filled with joy as, on October 1, 2011, it was announced that the building would be rebuilt, with restoration and preservation of the exterior, to become an LDS Temple.



In a recent, world-wide meeting, Sister Linda S. Reeves spoke about the fire. She said, Its loss was deemed a great tragedy by both the community and Church members. Many wondered, “Why did the Lord let this happen? Surely He could have prevented the fire or stopped its destruction.”

Ten months later, during the October 2011 general conference, there was an audible gasp when President Thomas S. Monson announced that the nearly destroyed tabernacle was to become a holy temple—a house of the Lord! Suddenly we could see what the Lord had always known! He didn’t cause the fire, but He allowed the fire to strip away the interior. He saw the tabernacle as a magnificent temple—a permanent home for making sacred, eternal covenants.

The Lord allows us to be tried and tested, sometimes to our maximum capacity. We have seen the lives of loved ones—and maybe our own—figuratively burned to the ground and have wondered why a loving and caring Heavenly Father would allow such things to happen. But He does not leave us in the ashes; He stands with open arms, eagerly inviting us to come to Him. He is building our lives into magnificent temples where His Spirit can dwell eternally.

I have watched the construction for the past two year. It is slow going. For months and months, the building stood on steel scaffolding as the area around it was excavated. Foundations have been poured, several basements have been added. The walls of the original building were reinforced and brought to current code and construction of the interior has now begun. But it will be close to two more years before it is completed.

I anticipate the day when the Temple will be complete; when this once great building will be something even better than it was. I find hope in the comparison that when things are hard, I am not left in the ashes but through the Savior, Jesus Christ, I can become something better than I was.

*Note: None of these photographs are mine. Photos have been posted and reposted without credit so many times that I don't know who to give proper credit to for the first two photos. The artist rendering of the completed Provo City Center Temple and the building on scaffolding are both from the LDS Church.

Random Bits: Vol. 10

A destiny is not realized until we let go of the illusion of control.
–Master Oogway, Kung Fu Panda

Getting Warmer
With a little help from Melissa at Sew Shabby Quilting, the quilt I've been working on for a friend is right on track to be finished and delivered on time for her birthday tomorrow.

I started this quilt a little over six weeks ago, but have been bouncing back and forth between projects trying to get something finished. {You think I might have figured out by now that picking one thing and sticking to it would get me to “finished” a little faster.} My friend had a pretty serious health issue, which included a trip to the hospital. I wanted to do something special for her during her recovery and I was thinking I could throw together a simple quilt and get it to her in a week. Not so much. The quilt pattern wasn't as simple as I thought {especially since I didn't actually buy the pattern, but sort of reverse engineered it from the photo and dimensions listed} and I debated back and forth about sending it out for quilting to get it done quickly. In the end, to take some stress off I decided to make it a birthday gift, and put it aside to work on other pressing projects thinking I had all the time in the world to get it done.

But at the beginning of last week, I realized I only had two weeks to finish it. Last Saturday, with one week to go and the borders to put on the top and bottom and back to piece, I was really feeling stressed about having enough time to get it done. In desperation, I called Melissa and asked if she could help. She kindly accommodated my rush order and did a lovely job with the quilting. I picked an all-over pattern, dropped my quilt off and in a few days, I had it back, ready to be bound, washed to crinkly softness and given away.

The two voices, Reason {a.k.a. What I Can Do} and Passion {a.k.a. Go Big or Go Home}, are still arguing in my head. Passion says I should have done the quilting {edge-to-edge is usually not my first choice; I think it often masks the piecing. I like to “color inside the lines” and try to quilt a design that accents the piecing}. Reason says that there is no way I would have had time to get the quilting done {especially since I've had a migraine since last Friday night. I'm hoping it is finally gone, but the jury is still out} and finished is better than perfect.

I must pause here to say that Melissa did a great job on the quilting. Her prices are very, very reasonable, she was seriously awesome to work with and the quilting is beautiful. Would I recommend her quilting services? Absolutely. Especially if edge-to-edge is what you're after. Will I use her again? Definitely. I have at least one quilt in the pipeline that is a great candidate for edge-to-edge.

The tug-of-war going on here is my choice to have edge-to-edge quilting done on a quilt that might have been better served with a custom job. The choice to send it out for quilting lifted a huge amount of stress off of me and made it possible to have it finished in time for my friend's birthday. Although I'm not 100% certain, I think the trade-off might have been worth it. At any rate, I'm hoping it will all come out in the wash.

Getting Colder
On Tuesday, we had a new air conditioning unit installed. I like to be prepared.

OK. The real story is that we needed to have our furnace replaced. Last winter was the coldest we've had in as long as I can remember. We kind of limped along with our furnace and had a few times where we wore multiple sweaters and borrowed space heaters while we waited for our repair man to come and fix it. Just when we thought we'd made it through winter and were well into spring, we had one more week-long cold spell and the furnace left us, well, out in the cold. We decided we'd better have it replaced.

But once it turned warm again, it wasn't such a pressing issue. The air-conditioned summer months lulled us into a sense of false security. But the temperatures have dropped early this year {I'm hoping we're not in for another deep-freeze of a winter, but I've heard rumors that it has already snowed in some areas} and we had to get out the space heaters and sweaters again. And the time was ripe to replace the furnace.

As it turned out, though, it was the air conditioner's fault that we needed a new furnace. It has something to do with the coil and condensation and rust dripping down into the furnace. They offered to knock $500 of the cost of labor on top of the pretty fabulous discount we negotiated through our handy, dandy repair man. We decided it would be in our best interest to just do it all at once.

The new furnace is chugging along and we're all toasty warm. It's just too bad we didn't replace the furnace in the spring because, we could have saved quite a bit of money on the electric bill this summer, since in this case it was a package deal.

Kung Fu Piano: Cello Ascending
The Piano Guys are at it again. This time on the Great Wall of China. Seriously. Check it out. And if you're wondering how they got the piano on The Wall, check this out.


Available for purchase from The Piano Guys or on iTunes

I'm a Mormon: Jeff Decker — Motorcycle Sculptor

I'm a sculptor. I love motorcycles. And first and foremost, a family man.

I can't find anywhere in the Bible that says that I can't love motorcycles.

I believe the best dinner conversations are with those who don't agree with you.

I believe in having friends that pray to a different God than I do. I think that they should be able to worship to the dictates of their hearts and I hope that they respect my right to do the same.

I believe that every one of us is a work in progress.
–Jeff Decker, Motorcycle Sculptor for Harley Davidson

While I don't know him personally, Jeff and I live in the same little Utah town. I passed him on the way to drop LadyBug off at school the other morning. He and his wife own one of my favorite restaurants and when I go downtown, I drive past his Harley shop with that first sculpture shown in the video displayed out in front. It's kind of cool.

Grandma Week 2013: Day 5, Lagoon — Let Fun Reign

A well adjusted person is one who makes the same mistake twice without getting nervous. –Alexander Hamilton

Half my lifetime ago, I worked at an amusement park right here in Utah. It was the best job I ever had {well, maybe I've romanticized it a bit, but I loved working there}. During this time I developed somewhat of an unfortunate habit of locking my keys in my car. It happened enough that I kept an extra set of keys at work and my parents had an extra set in case I locked my keys in the car somewhere other than at work.

I must have been channeling my 20 year-old self in anticipation for our Grandma Week trip to Lagoon because when I got home yesterday afternoon I locked my keys in my car. I didn't discover it until it was time to go today, which was after Mr. Bug and his key to my vehicle had already gone to work. Not having a spare set of keys at home and the need to get to our last Grandma Week activity of 2013 kind of fried the circuits in my brain. I called Mr. Bug, who is almost always calm and collected and he suggested I call the police department and see if they could recommend a locksmith, or if they might do it themselves. I did. They would. And two officers came and unlocked my car.

I then discovered that not only had I left the keys in the ignition, I'd left them turned half-way on and the battery was dead. So, I called Mr. Bug again. Still his calm, cool and collected self, he reminded me that we have a fully charged car battery that he bought to use to power his CPAP machine when he goes camping with Grasshopper, but also for a back-up power source in case of emergencies. Such as when his wife locks her keys in the car and runs the battery down. {Sidebar: Mr. Bug made the comment, "boy you must have been tired when you got home yesterday. You've never done this before." I blame the migraine.} I hooked up the jumper cables, got the car started and we were on our way.

{Top Left: Keys discovered locked in the car
Top Right: The police arrive to get the keys out
Middle Right: These guys aren't Gone in 60 Seconds
Bottom Right: Resorting to the Slim Jim
Bottom Left: Brand spanking new jumper cables and a back-up battery to get the party started}

We had lots of fun. Most unfortunately, my mom {a.k.a. The Grandma in Grandma Week} sustained a small injury while rollerskating on Saturday and wasn't able to make it to Lagoon. My sister, Robin and her husband, Jeremy, came and so did my brother, Andrew, and his wife, Ellen, in addition to my other two sisters, Julie and Jill, and their kids. We're quite the crew.

{Top Left: Frog, Julie, Cap'n Underpants, Mantis, Miss Butterfly, Grasshopper & LadyBug
Center Left: Cricket, Jill, Toad & Lizard Boy
Right: Cricket, LadyBug & Grasshopper
Bottom: Grasshopper, Toad, Andrew, Ellen, Mantis, Jeremy, Cap'n Underpants, Robin}

Lagoon has evolved quite a bit in the last 20 years. It has changed from a stationary carnival to almost a proper amusement park, complete with overpriced concessions {overpriced everything, really}, seven eight roller coasters and several dozen other rides and attractions. They even have a teacup ride, new this year.

{Top Left: Jeremy & Robin on the Paratrooper (ferris wheel on an angle)
Center Left: Capn' Underpants on Scamper (little bumper cars)
Bottom Left: Lizard Boy & Toad on the Dinosaur Drop
Top Right Grasshopper, Andrew & Ellen on the Tipsey Tea Cups
Bottom Center: Toad & Julie on The Bat (suspension coaster)
Bottom Right: Toad on Scamper}

We pretty much rode until we dropped. Julie and her crew and I with my two were pretty much the last ones out of the park at 10:30 pm, despite the fact that we both had to be up early to get back to real life the next morning.

{Top Left: Miss Butterfly & LadyBug on the Paratrooper
Second Left: Frog on Scamper
Third Left: Robin & Jeremy on The Bat
Top Right: Capn' Underpants & Lizard Boy on The Bat
Center Left: Selfie (me) and Lizard Boy on the Wooden Roller Coaster
Bottom Left: Toad, Lizard Boy and me on the walkway in line for Bombora
Bottom Right: LadyBug, Jeremy & Miss Butterfly on the Tipsey Tea Cups}

Thank you, Grandma, for a fun week! We can't wait until next year!

Grandma Week 2013: Day 3, Saturday Skate and Other Fun Stuff

If you don't fall every now and then, you're not trying hard enough! –Unknown

When I was little {and I say "little" instead of "when I was a kid," because I'm pretty sure I'm not a grown-up yet} we used to go roller skating every other Saturday morning. We'd usually go to the 10:00 session, pay our admission, get our hands stamped, rent our skates and spend the next two hours having a fabulous time rolling around the rink. There was a D.J. who would play music, dedicate skates to "couples only" {I forgot to ask my sister, Julie, if she remembers what what we did during those; I imagine we sat them out because we were only in elementary school}, led the hokey pokey, announced birthdays and had the skaters reverse direction every now and then to keep it interesting. Because we went so often, my dad had his own skates. He was pretty good, too. He could skate backwards and everything. So it was a bit nostalgic and a lot of fun to go roller skating during Grandma Week this year. My dad dusted off his skates and was the first one on the rink. He was skating like a pro from the word go.

{Top Left: Dad (a.k.a. Grandpa) lacing up his skates
Bottom Left: Still got it
Right: Skating backwards

Our family grew up in two sets; the big kids {me, Julie & Mark} and the little kids {Jill, Robin & Andrew}. My memories of Saturday skating trips mostly include my parents and the big kids. I think the last time I went skating was in the 80's. But the little kids went skating too. Jill, who is the oldest of the little kids, was quick to get on the rink and got her groove right back on.

{Top Left: Mantis
Second Down Left: Cap'n Underpants
Third Down Left: Grandma & Cricket
Bottom Left: Miss Butterfly
Top Center: Julie, Miss Butterfly, Jill
Center: Jill & Cricket
Right: Grasshopper
Bottom Right: Grandpa, Mantis, Grandma, Cricket & Julie}

We had a few spills. I think everyone fell down at least once. My skating skills were pretty rusty. I have a couple of new bruises, but it was fun to visit this childhood memory and share it with my kids. Grandpa spent time helping any of the grand kids who needed a bit of coaching. Everyone was on skates at one point or another and rink allowed scooters as well, so almost everyone switched off a bit. Miss Butterfly rented roller blades and kept up with the best of the skaters. Grasshopper preferred to scooter most of the time. And whatever the mode of transportation {see also, Baby Cricket in her stroller} everyone had a really fun time.

{Top Left: Lizard Boy
Center Left: Toad
Bottom Left: LadyBug & Grasshopper getting their skates on
Top Right: Grandpa, Julie, Jill, Frog, Grandma & Cricket
Bottom Right: LadyBug and me}

As is tradition, my mom also rented a bouncy house to go in the back yard. The kids bounced in it off and on all day long. The kids watched as the Guy With the Bouncy House got it set up. Toad came in to report that it had been staked to the ground, blown up and if it was OK with Grandma, it was OK with the Bouncy House Guy for them to jump in it. When Grandma gave her approval, a delighted Toad announced, The bouncy house is officially open!

{Top Left: Cap'n Underpants
Center Left: Mantis doing a flip
Bottom Left: Miss Butterfly
Top Right: Grasshopper, Frog & Mantis
Bottom Right Front Row: Cap'n Underpants, Mantis, Toad, Lizard
Back: Frog, Grasshopper, Miss Butterfly & LadyBug}

In between the bouncing and skating, we had cookies for breakfast {you can when you're at Grandma's, you know}, ate crêpes for brunch, stayed in our jammies until noon, had a good time chatting with each other, cooked hamburgers on the grill and ate ice cream bars and popsicles.

{Top Left: Frog
Top Right: Cricket & LadyBug
Bottom Left: Mantis, Cap'n Underpants, Grasshopper, Woodland Sprite, LadyBug, Toad, Miss Butterfly
Bottom Right: Pixie

Disclaimer: I used my iPhone for all the photos over the last few days, but I doubt that my fancy camera would have made much of a difference in the quality {well, maybe if I read the instruction manual} as it is hard to shoot a moving target. Obviously, we're going for quantity over quality here.

Grandma Week 2013: Day 2, Antelope Island

When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass and so, we are all connected in the great circle of life.
–Mufasa

Today was day two of Grandma Week, an annual staycation organized and hosted by my mom. Today we visited Antelope Island, Great Salt Lake State Park. It was pretty awesome.

{Top Left: A buffalo
Top Right: Antelope in the grass at the foreground, a buffalo on the salty/sandy beach and Farmington Bay beyond that
Bottom: A herd of buffalo}

There is an old ranch out on Antelope Island that was a working ranch up until a few years back. There were lots of interesting things to see. And of course, we had to stop for a few photos. Here are all the grandkids with my mom {the Grandma in Grandma Week} and dad {a.k.a. Grandpa}.

{In front of the tractor: LadyBug, Grandma, Baby Cricket, Pixie, Mantis, Cap'n Underpants
On the Tractor: Lizard Boy, Miss Butterfly, Toad (formerly Mouse), Frog (formerly Roly-Poly), Grasshopper, Woodland Sprite, Grandpa}

Here's my little family. I'm the oldest of the siblings.

{Top: Grasshopper's first day as a blacksmith's apprentice
Bottom Left: Elizabeth (a.k.a. LizzieBug, a.k.a. me) & LadyBug
Bottom Right: LadyBug, Elizabeth & Grasshopper}

This is my sister, Julie, who is next in birth order, with her little and not-so-little bugs.

{Top, Left to Right: Mantis, Julie, Frog (formerly Roly-Poly), Miss Butterfly, Cap'n Underpants
Bottom Left: Miss Butterfly
Bottom Right: Cap'n Underpants, Frog}

This is my brother Mark, and his two cuties. They are more mythical woodland creatures than your every day garden variety bugs.

{Left: Markus (formerly Mark), Pixie & Woodland Sprite
Top Right: Pixie
Bottom Right: Woodland Sprite & Pixie}

This is Jill, my twin-ten-years-younger, and her bugs.

{Top Left: Toad (formerly Mouse)
Top Right: Baby Cricket
Bottom: Toad, Jill, Cricket & Lizard Boy}

We have one more sister and one more brother, who don't have kids yet, but who are always welcome at Grandma Week and who will join us for some other activites in the next day or two.

After we explored the grounds a little, we enjoyed a picnic lunch in a grassy area shaded with large and very old trees. And then we explored the ranch house a bit. It was very old. I think the ranch was originally built in the 1850's. The ranch house had been updated somewhat, but looked and felt like it was from the early 1900's. There were lots of interesting things inside, not the least of which were these two old quilts. The Courthouse Steps quilt looked like it was about ready to fall apart. I kind of wanted to execute a rescue mission.

{Quilts in the Ranch House
Left: Snowball & four-patch, hand quilted with baptist fans
Right: Courthouse steps, tied}

And there were three old and beautiful sewing machines which I might have carried off if I could have gotten away with it. The White Rotary, in the top right, was in beautiful condition. I don't know if it worked, but I'm sure that if it were cleaned up it would look almost new.

{Sewing Machines in the Ranch House
Top Left: Bel Air
Top Right: White Rotary
Bottom: Singer Treadle}

After we finished at the ranch house, we headed out to explore The Great Salt Lake. The lake is at least twice as salty as the ocean and can be up to eight times as salty as the ocean in certain areas, depending on rainfall and evaporation. There are no outlets, so the salt just accumulates. In some areas there are 3 or 4 inches of salt sitting at the bottom of the lake. Brine flies and brine shrimp flourish.

{Left: LadyBug
Top Right: Lizard Boy with a brine shrimp on a rock
Bottom Right: Grasshopper's knobbly Hobbit feet, covered in sand}

The water was very shallow for a long way into the lake, and it was very warm. I loved Grasshopper's enthusiasm on this outing. He is kind of at an awkward age; too big to be a kid anymore but not big enough to be an adult. It was fun to see him enjoy himself without trying to figure out exactly where he fit in. He has his "teenage" moments, but the for the most part, he is a very mellow, helpful, kind, thoughful boy. I am amazed at what a neat person he is becoming.

{Grasshopper splashing in the Great Salt Lake, after which he pauses to wipe the salt off his glasses}

LadyBug loves the water. She, Miss Butterfly and Grasshopper were the first ones in the water and the last ones out.

{Top Left: LadyBug
Top Right: Miss Butterfly
Bottom: Grasshopper, Miss Butterfly, Mantis & LadyBug}

The kids all had a fun time floating in the salt water.

{Top Right: Lizard Boy
Top Left: Frog
Bottom: Cap'n Underpants}

When we were finished, even though we all had showers, we all still had a fine layer of salt on us after we dried.

Grandma Week 2013: Day 1, The Aquatic Center

Excuse me. I'm looking for the swimming pool. –Unknown

Every summer my mom hosts a fun staycation for her grandkids. Grasshopper and LadyBug start asking when it is going to be before school ends in the spring. In early July, she did had a few unofficial Grandma Week activities with some of the grandkids. My sister and her husband went to meet his parents in England at the end of their LDS Mission there and left their kids with my mom. She invited whoever could make it to do a couple of activities while my sister was gone. I wasn't able to make it because of work, but Grasshopper and Ladybug and some of their cousins road the light rail system, went watersliding and made a trip to the dollar store.

Today kicked off the official Grandma Week for this year. Swimming is always on the schedule. This year, we went to an outdoor aquatic center and had a super fun, splashy time. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

{Top Left: Mantis, Cap'n Underpants & Lizard Boy
Top Right: Jill & Baby Cricket
Bottom: Grasshopper, Miss Butterfly, LadyBug, Mantis & Cap'n Underpants}

{Top Left: Toad (formerly Mouse)
Top Right: Grasshopper
Bottom: Miss Butterfly, LadyBug & Grasshopper}

{Grasshopper jumping off the low and high dives}

{Left: LadyBug jumping off the low dive
Top Right: Miss Butterfly jumping off the low dive
Bottom Right: Cap'n Underpants doing a flip off the high dive}

{Left: Frog (formerly Roly-Poly)
Top Right: Lizard Boy
Bottom Right: LadyBug}

More Piano Guys

Were it not for music, we might in these days say, the Beautiful is dead. –Benjamin Disraeli

Saturday night we, the Not-So-Little Bugs, Mr. Bug and I, had the wonderful opportunity to attend a concert by The Piano Guys. They are a favorite at our house. We saw them in concert a little over a year ago, and when I saw their tour schedule had a stop in Salt Lake City, I jumped at the chance to see them again.

The hall was at capacity and as expected, it was a wonderful concert. One of the highlights for me was when Steven Sharp Nelson, the cello player, invited his wife on stage and they performed together. She played the violin and he played the guitar. {He also plays the violin, piano and kick drum. Whaddaya know?} The piece is Ashokan Farewell.



Other highlights include Jon Schmidt's daughter performance in the choir, which sang Simple Gifts during their Somewhere Over the Rainbow/Simple Gifts mash-up. And Alex Boyé performed Peponi with them.

It was nearly 2½ hours of pure musical enjoyment.

And here's another amazing Piano Guys video.

Random Bits: Vol. 9

If you don't get lost, there's a chance you may never be found.
–Unknown

Thoughts On Boston
My heart is heavy for those who were effected by the bombs at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. It is difficult to make sense of such a tragedy. My thoughts and prayers are with the families whose lives are forever changed.

In the wake of such an event, and with things like this becoming more and more common, it is hard not to let fear become the overriding influence. It is hard to think there might be hope for a world so full of bad. But there is hope. It comes from faith. For me, faith is knowing that God has a plan for me and that even though life is full of hard things and bad things, with His help, I can carve out my own little haven within my own home and I can overcome the hard and the bad. I will do my best to be prepared to help my family and myself when something bad happens us and do my best help others when something bad happens to them and leave the rest up to God. However you define it, faith is the opposite of fear. I choose to act in faith.


New Ironing Board Cover
Almost three years ago, I made a reversible ironing board cover for my small ironing board. Since then, I've done a lot of ironing. I've washed it several times, and worn a hole clean through the fabric. There were still a few good patches here and there, but the main ironing space was pretty much done for.

The other side was even worse.

It was time for a new cover.

I finished this up last week, but haven't had much time for posting. Isn't it pretty? This cover is reversible as well, but I used the same fabric on both sides so I don't have to feel bad when one side gets worn out. I can just flip it over and have the same pretty fabric all over again. I used three layers of pre-shrunk Warm 'n Natural in the middle. I did three layers on the last cover and there was pretty much nothing left in the end. In order to hopefully give the fabric a little bit more wear, I used the last bit of the 10-yard package of Mistyfuse I won three years ago to fuse a layer of white muslin to the back of the fabric. It gave the fabric a nice body, which I'm happy with. Only time will tell if it makes a difference in the wear.

I put a pretty yellow binding on to house the cord that pulls it tight around the ironing board. And I left the original cover and foam padding on the ironing board under my cover to prevent any rust that might occur, due to condensation of steam, being transferred to the side that is down. Every time I wash my cover, I decide I'm going to take that old foam and cover off because they are ugly from the underside, but then I get in there and remember that the metal rusts a bit and decide to leave it.

I've already put this cute little ironing board to use. I dropped Grace off for a three-week holiday last week. She's one of those “fancy” machines that don't require oiling, except by professionals, who take their sweet time and charge you an arm and a leg for it. While she's getting the royal spa treatment, I've got plenty to keep me busy and I'll show you what I've been up to tomorrow. Or as soon as I get the pictures edited.

Today's post brought to you by:

I Am Way Too Old {and LadyBug is way too young} for General Admission
or Lindsey Stirling Live
It's been almost three weeks now since we had a little adventure with general admission concerts, but I wanted to share it with you anyway.

Lindsey Stirling is one of our favorite YouTube musicians. So when I saw that she was going on tour, I thought it would be fun to go and see her. I bought tickets in mid-January, 2½ months before the concert, and smiled to myself every now and then at the secret I was keeping. Mr. Bug was in on it and we waited until two weeks before the concert for the big reveal. We gave two tickets to my dad for his birthday {hoping he'd use the spare to bring my mom} and at the same time told the Not-So-Little Bugs that we were all going to see Lindsey.

I was certain it was going to be beyond awesome.

People started asking where the concert was, and when we told them the venue, we were informed that there was no seating. At all. I was certain this couldn't be the case. A Lindsey Stirling violin concert certainly would not be without seating. I mean, how could you enjoy the music? I searched the FAQ's on the venue's website, and even tried calling & e-mailing to find out about seating. I hoped they might set up folding chairs or something. But I never heard back. I'm sure they just laughed at my inquiries. Besides the question of seating, there were other objections to the location, namely that it was a bar and we were taking children. But as the concert was billed as “all ages” we decided to take our chances and hope for the best.

As promised, there was no seating. And it was a bar. Fortunately, there was a separated 21-and-older area, to which the alcohol was confined. But there was nothing to be done about the lack of seating.

The opening act was 30 minutes of pure torture. I'm certain that there had been no sound check for this group, because all you could hear was the bass, which vibrated in a very odd place at the base of your throat in the center of your collar bone.

Happy Birthday, Dad. I love you. Oh, and by the way, I'm subjecting you to cruel and unusual punishment as a gift.

We'd managed to find a spot behind the “sound booth” that wasn't overly crowded, relatively speaking, and the shorter persons in our group could climb up onto a raised platform sort of thing and see over the very tall people who crowded in front of us as Lindsey took the stage. As people pressed in, trying to get a better look, it got warmer and warmer. I tied my hair in an actual knot to keep it off my neck. I stood on my tip-toes and peered between the abnormally tall people in front of me to see.

And Lindsey was awesome.

After about an hour, LadyBug had pretty much had her fill of standing and being too hot. She literally melted into a puddle of tears. She doesn't do well with excessive heat and all those bodies were producing a lot of it. She and I went to the back of the venue where the crowd was thinner and sat down by the open doors to cool off. My parents followed shortly and after another 20 minutes or so, we coaxed Mr. Bug and Grasshopper, who was having a marvelous time, out of the mosh pit, via text, and headed home right in the middle of Phantom of the Opera.

I learned several things from this experience. Number 1: check out the venue before you buy the tickets. Number 2: general admission with no seating should be designated as appropriate for ages 13 to 27. Period. Number 3: Lindsey Stirling is really that awesome, and I am determined to attend a concert of hers that has seating.

For now, I'm going to sit back and enjoy her from the comfort of my office chair.