I Conquered the Bracelet!

Yesterday was Super Saturday. Funny how me and the two other ladies on my committee are about the three least crafty women in the ward, but we pulled it together. One lady volunteered to teach chain maille bracelets. They looked so cute that I signed up to make one.

What was I thinking?

First of all, I could hardly see the tiny beads and jump rings, even with my glasses. Plus I had a bunch of other stuff to do, like serve lunch and make sure all the other crafts were proceeding smoothly and teach my short story writing class. So, I missed most of the instructions. By the time I sat down to really work on the bracelet, I was exhausted. It hurt my eyes. I could not figure out what I was supposed to do. My friend and visiting teaching companion showed me how it was supposed to go, but I was too tired at that point to even try. I took it all home with me, figuring I would never in a million years finish that bracelet.

Then I woke up this morning and decided that, by golly, I can do hard things! I would not let that bracelet get the best of me! After the temple dedication (which was amazing), I got to work!

I recruited Darth Tater to help me.

Xander took some pictures of me hard at work.

It took hours, but here is the finished product!

                                                                 And me wearing it!

Take that chain maille bracelet! And as a bonus, if anyone tries to stab me in the wrist or cut off my hand or something, I'm totally protected. Believe me, I won't be making a whole suit of chain mail armor anytime soon!

P.S. Apparently, I linked Ryan's mission call video wrong, so know it just shows whatever video Tracy last posted, which is kind of funny. 

Called to Serve!

In case you didn't see this on Facebook...



We are so happy and proud of him. =)Way to go, Ryan!

Scary!

Last Thursday, Tracy and I knelt down to say our nightly prayers together. Tracy said, "We're thankful we've been protected from the fires..." After the prayer I got up to brush my teeth and thought I heard something. Now, I don't have great ears and they ring all the time, so I'm not always sure about what I'm hearing, but it sounded like a siren. Not a normal noise in our little community. I opened the bathroom door and said, "Did you hear the siren?" Tracy said no, so I figured I had heard wrong and went back to getting ready for bed. A minute later Tracy stuck his head in the bathroom door and said, "There's a fire up the canyon. Get some things packed." Yes, our little Loafer Canyon was on fire! The air was full of smoke and we could see the orange glow of flames on the top of the canyon wall, surrounded by policemen and firefighters.

We threw a bunch of important stuff into storage boxes and loaded them up in the trailer. We got our photo albums and important documents, all the musical instruments (except the pianos): an upright bass, an electric bass, a ukulele, a guitar, a tenor sax, a trombone, and a flute. I quickly packed up some clothes, toiletries and medications. Tracy got our server from the basement with all our files on it. We still had time (and room), since we planned on taking all three vehicles, so the kids started loading up their precious stuffed animals. I got my Cabbage Patch dolls. Also all the copies of my book that I had on hand to sell at Elk Ridge City Days on Saturday. We filled up all our water jugs. The police said we were on voluntary evacuation and could go up to the stake center. By the time we were all packed, though, they said we didn't have to leave quite yet, so we waited. About 1am, Camary broke down in tears, so we turned on Phineas and Ferb to cheer her up. We got word (via Facebook) that the fire was out and we were no longer in danger.

Thank heavens! Our volunteer fire dept., plus Payson's and Spanish Fork's responded so quickly that the fire only burned five acres and no homes were destroyed. I was so very grateful. I know Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers, and I am so heartbroken for people all over Utah (all over the west) that have lost their homes. I am so sad thinking of all the beautiful canyons destroyed. I am so thankful that ours wasn't one of them and we are all safe!

This was taken by our neighbor, across the street from his house, about a half mile from ours.

Everybody pray for rain!