Take this show on the road

This week has been all about the roadshow.  Maddie and Jayd along with the rest of the youth in the stake have been furiously preparing their plays to perform last night.  I think it was a bold schedule.  The kickoff was on Tuesday, when they were given their subjects.  Then the performance was on Saturday night, less than a week later.  On Tuesday, they were given their subject, a fairy tale with a moral to be learned.  Our ward had to choose between the Golden Goose and The Ugly Duckling.  Maddie had the winning suggestion for a skit.  Her prize was to stay up late into the night writing a script.  Then they practiced at each building for three successive nights in a row (Wed, Thurs and Fri).  They had a dress rehearsal on Saturday morning where they were able to watch the other performances.  Then they performed at the three buildings Saturday night.  Maddie participated in a minor dancing and singing role.  Jayd was very happy to be downgraded from performer to tech after he missed Thursday's practice (he had volleyball practice).  Our ward did the ugly duckling adapted to High School Musical.  We also saw Aladdin adapted to a missionary experience, Pinnochio set in Back to the Future, Little Red in the Hood, Beauty and the Beast (where the beast saved Beauty) and the Elves and the Shoemaker. It was a whirlwind experience, but I think that they kids enjoyed it.  The performances were fun, and it was great to see so many youth that were involved in our stake. 

Ready, Aim, Fire!!!

As I was leaving home to run some errands on Thursday, I was immediately confronted by smoke and flames!  There was a brush fire less than a mile from my home, in between home and Jeff's office.  Over the tops of the trees and buildings, I could see the flames reaching skyward.  With the high temperatures that we have had lately, I was immediately filled with dread.  I could imagine the days cooped up in the house since the air was filled with smoke, the blackened hills stretching across Simi Valley bordered by pink strips of flame retardant.  It was not a pretty thought.  But as I returned home from my errands, I didn't see any plumes of smoke billowing from the ground, in fact, it appeared to have dissipated.  As I came closer to home, there weren't any flames licking at the sky.  I was amazed.  Our fire department had put the fire out!  In less than an hour, they had contained and squelched the fire, and it was all over.  I was so grateful for firefighters that are trained, prepared and ready to react to emergencies.  Within a day, the smoke was gone, and our hills look as brown as ever.  When compared to black, brown has never looked so good.

A Memorable Memorial Day

This weekend my sister, Becca, and her family came to visit!  Her son, Mason, is the same age as Allie.  He is the only cousin that is one of my children's ages, so his visit was well anticipated, as well as the twins, who are only 2 years younger than Gabe.  As soon as the cousins arrived, the group began playing.  We even had a hard time getting them to come to meals! 
On Sunday, in between mission farewells and celebrations for our 2nd cousins, we went down to Hollywood.  My sister, Krissy, and her family also joined us.  We walked along the Hollywood Boulevard and saw the stars on the sidewalk.  We went to Grumann's Chinese theater and saw the handprints and the footprints.  Our favorites were Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, and Star Wars.  We loved seeing all the characters along the sidewalk, spiderman, wolfman, Darth Vader, Mickey Mouse, Capitan Jack Sparrow, and Shrek.

 Monday was spent on the beach.  It was such a gorgeous day, I was expecting enormous crowds, but it wasn't very crowded at all.  It was a very pleasant day at the beach.  The water was a little chilly, but that didn't stop the kids!  They boogie boarded in the water, then came back on the sand to dry out.  They buried each other in the sand and made sand castles.  Someone told them that seaweed was used in ice cream.  So they spent a fair amount of time collecting seaweed in anticipation of a cool dessert.  They were very disappointed when we informed them the seaweed would NOT be going home with us!  We had a great visit with our family, and hope that they will come again soon.