"Savior of the World"
In May-August, we had the incredible opportunity to be involved with the play "Savior of the World." At first, it was taking a lot of time and we both wondered why we commited to doing it. But during the performances, it was incredible. The cast and crew were all wonderful people, who had the right attitude on stage, of sharing this incredible message of love for our Savior, Jesus Christ and sharing their personal testimonies of Him, through each performance. The spirit was SO strong every night. The girls were great on stage and good sports, especially to do one show each Thursday and Friday and then two shows each Saturday (very long days!) During one part of the play, the Savior appears to Mary in the garden and every night, the girls would try to peek from the side of the stage to see Him. They all shared testimony of the special feelings they received, just to look at Him. One night, while driving home, Karina said, "Mommy, Jesus loves me!" When I asked her how she knew that, she replied, "I could feel it, when I saw Him." It was truly an honor and a special memory we will always share together, as a family. Pictures above-- Our family, our girls with Callie, Ceithlinn, and Cody--friends that our girls made during the show, our family with the beautiful yellow/orange roses that Grant's Mom and Dad gave us on closing night, and lastly, two photos that I "borrowed" from the SoTW Facebook page-- Grant with Heather (Mary and Joseph) and then, the girls and I on stage (pictured on the left.) We were very blessed to have many friends and family come and support us, by watching our play. One very special visitor was Grant's elderly grandmother, who used to be a Professional Opera Singer. It was so awesome that she was able to make it. She gave the play an incredible compliment, when she told us that this was the most fulfilling show she had ever seen. What a nice thing to say!! We were so happy that she could make it! We were also thankful that Grant's parents drove all the way from Spokane, when they had just been in town, two weeks before. They made a special trip, just for us! That made us feel very loved. Lastly, we were thankful to my parents for coming and also for watching Aurora, during most of the performances (and my friend Teresa for watching her the night they came.)
"Monson Family Reunion"
Also in August, we had the chance to go to my family reunion on my Mom's side. We almost didn't make it because of my injury a few days prior-- partially tearing my achilles tendon. However, my Mom and Dad and us kids were in charge of it this year and so I really wanted to be there. I'm so glad we went. It was a lot of fun! First, before we came, each family decorated their own T-shirts, for a T-shirt contest. For the lettering, I printed out the writing that I wanted and then carved out the writing into a piece of cardboard, from a cereal box, creating a stencil to use. Then I just drew the numbers on the back. At the reunion, we had a Preparedness Fair, talking about food storage and all that. I was in charge of a Scavenger Hunt for the kids, where they had to find different items to go into a 72 hour kit and they received a sticker for each one. They had fun! We also ate yummy food, including the super yummy Sno-Cones!! The kids also had fun on the blow up water slides and mini-trampoline. And Riana and Tierra each won a guessing game and earned the jar of candy. There were about 10 jars to guess. They did great! Saturday night, we had a talent show. Grant did an incredible job as the MC-- even I was impressed!! Riana and Kaatlin danced, Tierra and Karina danced, and even Sariah danced all by herself. I thought they were all very brave! After the Talent Show, the kids played with glowsticks and had a slumber party. Sunday, as is tradition, we had a family testimony meeting. It was wonderful and I bawled, as usual. :) The one thing that was difficult about this reunion was that I was on crutches, so different family members were helping me a ton with things, like the kids, or getting food. It is very difficult for me to accept help but I really needed to. I sure appreciated it though! All in all, it was a really wonderful reunion. I feel very lucky to be apart of such a neat family. :)
Also in August, we had the chance to go to my family reunion on my Mom's side. We almost didn't make it because of my injury a few days prior-- partially tearing my achilles tendon. However, my Mom and Dad and us kids were in charge of it this year and so I really wanted to be there. I'm so glad we went. It was a lot of fun! First, before we came, each family decorated their own T-shirts, for a T-shirt contest. For the lettering, I printed out the writing that I wanted and then carved out the writing into a piece of cardboard, from a cereal box, creating a stencil to use. Then I just drew the numbers on the back. At the reunion, we had a Preparedness Fair, talking about food storage and all that. I was in charge of a Scavenger Hunt for the kids, where they had to find different items to go into a 72 hour kit and they received a sticker for each one. They had fun! We also ate yummy food, including the super yummy Sno-Cones!! The kids also had fun on the blow up water slides and mini-trampoline. And Riana and Tierra each won a guessing game and earned the jar of candy. There were about 10 jars to guess. They did great! Saturday night, we had a talent show. Grant did an incredible job as the MC-- even I was impressed!! Riana and Kaatlin danced, Tierra and Karina danced, and even Sariah danced all by herself. I thought they were all very brave! After the Talent Show, the kids played with glowsticks and had a slumber party. Sunday, as is tradition, we had a family testimony meeting. It was wonderful and I bawled, as usual. :) The one thing that was difficult about this reunion was that I was on crutches, so different family members were helping me a ton with things, like the kids, or getting food. It is very difficult for me to accept help but I really needed to. I sure appreciated it though! All in all, it was a really wonderful reunion. I feel very lucky to be apart of such a neat family. :)
Liz and Mark's House
After the reunion, we drove 2 hours south to visit my sister, Liz, and her family. It was nice to see their new home and to visit their town. Grant and Mark were able to go on a hike and they really enjoyed that, of course!! Also, while we were there, Liz took our pictures (pictures to come). She has recently started a professional photography business; complete with a home studio in her garage and an amazing website. Pictures of note-- 1) Aurora discovered Liz's piano and loved singing and playing, performing a mini-concert. It was very cute! 2) Grant enjoying what we, in our family, so lovingly refer to as a "Whoa" bowl. 3-6) The kids had a lot of fun together! We were thankful that we were able to spend this time with Liz and Mark and their kiddos! It was a nice visit.
Sand in the City
My brother, Chris, and my kids all take dance at the same studio and 8 of our 10 children are involved with it (though I think Chris's wife, Mandy, and son, Nathanael, were at a scouting thing that day). Anyway, they performed at Sand in the City again this year and I was finally able to go, for the first time. It was really fun to see all the sand creations and to play a few games. The kids each wanted to have their faces painted. 4 out of the 7 chose ladybugs. It was funny! Anyway, we had a really good time.
