Pioneer Day Fireworks

I love fireworks. When I am watching fireworks, I feel the same awe and excitement that I felt as a child. So the draw of the fireworks that were part of the Spanish Fork Pioneer Day celebration this year pulled me South. There is a certain energy in the holiday crowds.

My sister & her husband were in Salt Lake, so my parents and I took my 2 nephews downtown to the carnival, then the ball field to view fireworks. An added bonus to the evening was the company of a few of my friends. My nephews were a little shy around them at first, but warmed up eventually. But the boys, of course, weren't shy with me - you can see how my navajo taco disappeared pretty quickly.

One of my nephews - almost 2 - loved the rides so much, he would hang on to the seat when I had to pull him off at the end of the ride, crying "mo, mo!" It is more fun to see them enjoy the carnival rides than to go on them myself. Luckily, "grandma" paid for the rides - carnivals are super expensive these days!

There were a couple of rainstorms that we weathered with Mom & Dad's 6 umbrellas (yep, 6 - and no, I don't know why they travel around with 6 umbrellas in the car.) But the rain stopped before the fireworks began.

The fireworks were great and very close - and made even better by 2 little boys clapping their hands and calling "Yay! Yay!" It was a good night.

I haven't been to a temple open house in a long time. It is different than just visiting the temple to do work. In an open house, you actually get to walk through the entire temple and see all the beautiful rooms. If you live in Utah and haven't been to the new Oquirrh Mountain Temple, I suggest you try to get there before the end of the month.

My older sister's family came up from Blanding to attend the open house, along with my parents and my younger sister's family. It is great to be with family in the place that you know makes it possible for all of you to be bound together eternally. I've thought about that recently. It is probably not too different from how we are on earth. We are not going to be "bound" in the way that we are chained together and will go everywhere together. Rather, it is an assurance that we will all be in the same place, the celestial kingdom, and able to associate with one another.

For the first half of the tour, I had my own little "adopted" 3 year old "daughter". My niece grabbed my hand and stayed with me, as if she were mine. Then, she decided she would rather lead the group holding hands with her cousin, my nephew, who is only a couple of months older than her. One of the most precious sights I have is the two of them, blonde and brown curls close together, holding hands and walking at the front of our family group.

My 22 month old nephew could not be allowed to walk - or he would have wreaked some havoc. After he got tired of his mom's arms - he squirmed toward me, holding out his arms and calling "ney-ee" for his aunt (me) to rescue him. So I got to carry him for awhile. You have a different perspective when pointing out features in the temple to a young child. We focused a lot on the lights. Which means, we were both almost constantly looking up and admiring the beautiful light fixtures. But, you know, that is really what the temple is about after all. Light and looking up.

Happy Birthday!

In my book, France's "Bastille Day" (July 14) is no match for the other major holiday on this date - my oldest niece's birthday. 9 years ago today a woman that I do not know gave birth to a little girl and gave our family the most precious gift she could - her daughter. I was on my way home from visiting friends in California when I got the call that my first niece had been born! We had been waiting a long time for her. What a blessing she is to our family.

I was able to come to Blanding, Utah to spend the birthday evening with her and her family. Her mom and I in true secret agen fashion didn't tell her I'd be coming. Apparently my niece had to clean up the playroom, my bedroom for the stay, with only the promise of a surprise. I think she was surprised when I showed up at the door - I only hope she wasn't too disappointed that I wasn't a gigantic chocolate bar or a new pony.

My niece loves dogs, so that was the theme of the party. I became newly acquainted with the tv show, "Fetch" and the dog character on it, "Ruff", who the cake was patterned after. I'm telling you, if I ever have my own kids, I am not going to let them see all the amazing cakes their cousins get from my ultra-creative sisters. I just can't live up to that! My sister edited her kids into an episode of "Fetch" that we watched at the beginning of the activities for the evening.

I think I had too much pizza, cake and milkshakes.... I will have to eat nothing but celery sticks now for a week! But it has been a great day for celebrating a beautiful girl!

The Great American Pastime

I have been meaning to sit down and write for forever. OK, since a couple of weeks ago. But, sadly, I had to hand over my laptop computer to the school principal simply because I was quitting and leaving the school and district - Nazis! :P Then my new school district has the nerve to not give me one of their computers until the week before school starts. Well! I was then all set to leech off my roommate and use her computer, but our internet wasn't working and she had to get a new internet card for her computer. But finally, we got everything working and here I sit at her computer, having snuck into her room while she is gone for a couple of hours. Ha ha! (It kind of takes the excitement out of my sneaking that she said I could use her computer whenever I want to, though).

Sorry about the long explanation. So, now to my topic of the day. Softball. AKA baseball for elementary school kids and women. I play softball once a year. Usually. But two weeks ago, when I stepped out onto the field with my worn and hardly-used mit, I realized it had been two years since I'd graced a ball field, or indeed, even thrown a softball. I was tense and nervous as I contemplated the fool I was likely to make of myself in this competition of 6th graders vs Elementary Faculty. Needless to say, as everyone took their places, I inched into the far outfield where my abilities (or lack thereof) would not be called upon very often.

As I stood there, trying to look ready to catch a ball at any moment and send it flying to first base with lightening speed, I had some time to think. I wondered just when I had learned to play softball. I couldn't pinpoint a specific time. I suppose it must have been my dad who taught me how to play. I have vague memories of hitting a "wiffle ball" with a plastic bat. I remember learning how to not "throw like a girl" in a PE class at BYU. But how to actually play the game.... seems intrinsic to being American, ya know?

I also thought about my former school and all the friends I had there. I thought about how after a few years I knew many of the 6th graders as they came up to bat or tried to strike me out from the pitcher's mound. I remembered the year that I finally made it to first base, after usually getting out on my way there (and no, this is NOT an analogy for my love life!). I remembered the first, and only, time I made it all around the bases and scored a point for the faculty team. I remembered a friend playing catcher and deliberately dropping the ball to give the 6th graders an edge. And the teacher who got out almost every student from first base. The joking and laughing in the outfield. The teacher with her lawn chair, umbrella, and drink set up in right field, and me practicing for a few weeks before the "big game" with my 4th graders.... I missed the comraderie and the friendships I had built there over the years.

But sports can be very bonding. So, on the last day of school of this school year, I found myself joking around with teachers I hadn't talked to the entire time I'd been at this school. I wished that the softball game came at the beginning of the year, not on the last day of school when I was saying goodbye to virtual strangers that I had worked with for 8 months. Maybe I would have made more friends.

So, nothing great and heroic for me. I almost caught one ball, chased it a little, and threw it to the pitcher. And I batted once - 2 strikes, then a punt that got me out on first. My first graders enjoyed cheering for the 6th graders when I was standing right in front of them (traitors!). But, you know, I had a lot of fun. I think maybe I ought to play softball a little more often.