"So Great a Cause"

"Shall we not go on in so great a cause?"  

"Yes!  Go forward, not backward . . . on to victory!"

The theme for the Albuquerque Stake 2008 Handcart Trek was "So Great a Cause" from D&C  128:22.  Arthur and I had the privilege of being a Ma & Pa on this 2 1/2 day journey through the desert.  It was so much work getting ready for it, and physically exhausting once we actually got there, but totally worth every minute.  We are changed for this experience.  

We loved our trek family, the Gariety's (aka Gariety gangstas, but just amongst ourselves . . . until Brandon announced it from the pulpit at Testimony  meeting. . . thanks Brandon.  ;)  We had six boys and four girls, and some of the best youth in our stake, I think.

Some of my favorite experiences . . . getting that blasted wagon wheel fixed, FINALLY pulling into camp the first night,  singing with our family--our harmony was sweet, mourning Pa's death, (and glad it was temporary, and we got you back for the remainder of trek), giving birth out in the desert (ha-ha boys, FOOLED YOU!),  looking at the stars, Jana's awesome buffalo stew with honey & apples in it--a culinary masterpiece!, Quinn's classic response to "Temptation Junction:"  "RUN!!!!" Desert sunrises and sunsets, heaven-sent cloud cover, and a tail-wind for the end of a brutally hot day, rattlesnakes with half-eaten rabbits in their mouths (scary beyond all reason--but not really, because although he was really big, he was preoccupied, and couldn't hurt us), missing our son Quinn  when death took him, but comforted that he had an angel escort, ice water and watermelon in the valley!, sharing testimonies.

"If you will be faithful, you have nothing to fear from the journey.  The Lord will take care of his saints."  William Clayton, who penned the words to "Come, Come Ye Saints."

The Lord did take care of us.  

This is one of seven rattlesnakes that were found and shot while on our trek.  Miraculously, nobody was bitten.  (Arthur was the one to discover this beauty.  We all got to have a look since it was eating and couldn't do anything to us.)

Some of our great Gariety Family, waiting for our squeaky wheel to be repaired.

There is nothing like a New Mexico sunrise or sunset.

We are so thankful for this sacred experience.  It has truly sharpened our perspective on the sacrifices the pioneers made for their faith, and made us contemplate the question, what are we willing to give for this faith of our fathers?  The courage, faith and commitment of our pioneer ancestors (whether blood-related or not) is absolutely inspiring.  Arthur and I have come away with a deep desire to be totally committed to this beautiful gospel of Christ.  

It is true!  It is everything!  

It is worth giving everything we have, (fears, doubts, bad habits . . .) to be able to return to the Father someday worthy to hear the words, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."

I bear my witness in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

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(Dallin's counting down the years until he can go. --Two treks from now . . . 8 years.)

Stone Soup

On Friday, July 25th, we had the performance of the cute little children's musical I directed, "Stone Soup."  It was pretty much darling, and the kids had a blast!  I'm still working on getting video so you can see some of it, but here are pictures from the rest home performance and the actual performance on the 25th.  The set backdrops were painted by some of the moms, and I love them!  They look like they came out of a storybook.  And the pot for the soup is my favorite prop of all, also done by one of the moms.

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What is a CMT?

An acronym for my latest project. CMT stands for Children's Music Theater. I've been keeping really busy doing a Children's Music Theater for kids ages 5-11. We are doing a little 25 minute musical called "Stone Soup."

We've been working our tails off for the last two weeks and this is the final week!  We had a dress rehearsal/performance today at Bear Canyon Estates (An assisted living center). It came together really well, and the people there really enjoyed it. We have two more rehearsals before we perform it for all the parents, friends and family on Friday. It should turn out really cute.

More pictures to come, but here are the costumes I made for my kids, and they are standing in front of one of the set panels painted by some of the amazing moms of the kids in our group.

A villager and a traveler

 Cute Sean--in the picture, but too young to be in the play.

Hayden playing with some of our props.  

Everyone in the play has a wooden spoon, so we've got them coming out our ears!!!

Conversations at Church

While the kids were "trying" to be quiet during Sacrament meeting, here are a couple of the things they said to me today.

Sean was playing with some stickers and after he tired of putting them on himself, and his paper, I hear this from Daphne:  "No-no Sean!  Mom, Sean is putting stickers on Heavenly Father's couches!"  (pews)

Anybody who's ever held Hayden knows that you've got to keep a burp cloth close at hand.  The boy is a very proficient "spitter-upper."  Well, he was squirming around, so I set him down to crawl a bit.  He made his way over to the action where the others were coloring, and he, of course, proceeded to spit up.  I was promptly rebuked by Dallin in this manner:

"Mom!  Hayden just barfed on my Book of Mormon.  You are supposed to hold him, Mom, not let him barf everywhere!"  

Oh, of course!  Thanks for the tip, Dallin.

Don't throw the baby out with the dishwater!

Sean wanted to be like Hayden and get a bath in the sink. I think it says something about my wonderful sink that my gigantic two-year-old can fit inside it. 10 inches deep, baby! I love it.

God Bless America

Every Heart beats true for the RED, WHITE, & BLUE

Happy 4th of July! Here are some of our festivities:

Arthur sang with four other men at the flag ceremony for our Tri-Ward breakfast and 5K run.

Then we went to a neighborhood 4th of July celebration that was so fun! They had a cute bike parade, (or stroller, wagon, or people walking dogs, parade). Tragically, we discovered upon our arrival that Dallin's tire was flat, so he didn't get to ride after all. But there were lots of other fun things. Here is Dallin sitting atop the dunk tank.

He and I both got dunked, and it felt great.

The Albuquerque Fire Department sent one of their engines over

and let the kids explore and try on hats, and coats.

Adults, too. Those hats are HEAVY!!!

They also took the kids for a ride around the block in the engine, and later sprayed everybody with the hose. Unfortunately, we missed that part because the kids and Arthur were tired, so we headed home for naps, since it would be a long night.

Snow cones at the neighborhood celebration

Daphne with her good friend Kirra.


Hayden snoozing during all the celebrating.
Doesn't he look patriotic in his attire?

In the evening we drove over to Rio Rancho to visit some friends we met at Cornell. They have a perfect view from their backyard of the Rio Rancho city fireworks show which is a pretty good little fireworks show. I think we enjoyed it more than the kids. They were all pretty tired by the time it was dark enough. But they enjoyed the fireworks we did on the street, and of course, SPARKLERS!

How grateful we are to live in a land where we have so many opportunities and freedoms. Where we can worship how we choose and where there is no lack of food or necessity.
I feel so blessed to live in this land, and grateful for all the soldiers who have given their lives to secure our freedom, and for those who serve our country now. Thanks for making our nation the land of the free!