Sidetracked--the BAND

 

I'm in a band!! I always wanted to say those words and have them be true.

 I call it a geriatric band because we play at rest homes all over the Wasatch Front....but only on Tuesdays at 2 p.m.    I get to do this gig with Garth Oborn, Nick Cash, and Rob Nisbett on Guitar with Angie Smith, Maren Thomasma, and Kimi Farley as back up singers.  Kimi also adds flute playing to a couple of songs including "California Dreaming."  Add  Bob Farley on the Keyboards and base guitar and Emily Farr showing up every once in a while for a solo-- she just had a baby.  

  It's been a blast.  Singing old, feel-good tunes is fun.  You are my Sunshine, Take me out to the Ballgame, How great thou art, Amazing Grace, This little light of mine, Ferry cross the Mersey, You were on my Mind, California Dreamin, Sweet Caroline, Bye Bye love, I can See clearly now, Angel from Montgomery, I'm a Believer and Heavenly Father loves me/Give said the Little Stream.   We are currently working on a Christmas set.

Garth Oborn put this band together.  He calls it his ministry.  He had his granddaughter in as lead singer until she went on her mission, and I took over. 

This is a legit band with microphones and sound equipment, speakers and a mixing board.  Wayne is key to helping us sound good...he keeps us all in mic-check and if he doesn't like how we sound, he just turns off our mic. 

October Birthdays

 We celebrated OCTOBER birthdays.  We love having Tayla, Bre, and Poppy in our family.  Our tradition is to have a Sunday family dinner, presents, and cake and then go around the table and everyone says what they love about the birthday person.  It's really good to hear what's said and to watch the kids as we do this. 

Tayla is 8 and we had her baptism while her Meeme and Nana was in town on Oct 12.  I got to give a talk and Wayne confirmed her.  

Poppy had a paint party for her birthday... they painted pumpkins and Addison did facepainting on all the kids.....and she got her ears pierced.  She was so excited, but it hurt and she peed her pants.  She told me.  "I'm six but my earrings make me look at least 8."  She says this with her cute lisp.  

Puerto Vallarta

Wayne's siblings tripped together to Puerto Vallarta!  We went down to the Grand Mayan that Sandy and Clark have access to-- and it was wonderful.   This week turned out to be sooo relaxing.  We had 3 master suite condos– with Sandy and Clark and Bret and Wendi staying in a room.  Rob and Tami and Mark and Jill staying in a room.  AND Wayne and I in a room with Terry and Cyrrena.  The weather has been great.   The men did a big Walmart shop the first day and so we did most breakfasts and lunches in our rooms because of the great kitchens and then went out for dinners.  We tried 3 restaurants on the resort– all were good - but double the price and 3 restaurants OFF the resort that were more reasonable and delicious.  I got my fill of guacamole and chips this week.  We gathered in someone's condo every night to plays games.  …and to have Wayne tell joke after joke which began with “Hey Bret…”  Some were really funny!

We had 4 good sunset nights on the beach– so that was awesome…and then 3 overcast days and nights.  The overcast was still warm temp wise– and we didn’t have to worry about sunburns.  Some highlights include:  the lazy river floating for hours every day; spending time in the ocean and on the beach,  reading three books- “Faith after Doubt”, “Tom Lake” and “On Fire.”  We did ceramic painting– I did a skull for Halloween decor.  We went into Puerto Vallarta the city one day for an awesome  breakfast at the House of Pancakes and then wandering through the market.   Wayne got to fly his kite for like 15 minutes— we really didn’t have any wind.   We didn’t do any excursions– this was good for us since we have done so much in Mexico– (but I’m happy Bret and Wendi got to swim with the Dolphins for their first time.)   I taught everyone a 30 second dance to perform on the pool deck and then jump into the water.  All went well until the jump in part and Jill broke her big toe!!!  It was hard for her to get home the next day. We needed a wheelchair and lots of help.

Love spending time with this awesome family gorup.

Primary cookie day

 

My first week as Primary Pres I'm determined to go to every primary child's house and drop off a treat, find out their favorites and say a prayer for them  ( if they will let me ).  I have made over 100 cookies and packaged them up with this cute topper and I had one of my counselors/secretary join me and it was a great experience.  If the child wasn't home we just left the treat.. but the ones that were that we were able to meet with it was such a beautiful experience.  I'm enjoying these children and learning about them.  I also shared that I was going to greet them at the door every week and they could choose if they want a handshake, hug, high five, wave or fist bumps.   This week of visits has been a good first step in working on relationships with my presidency and with my  Primary kids.  Now I have to figure out how to minister to my teachers....