Principal Ferguson

So Uncle Dave has always played a game with our kids since the time David became an assistant principal a few years ago. The all line up and pretend to be naughty and then Principal Ferguson (uncle Dave) comes out and yells at them and threatens them if they don't shape up. It's really funny to hear about, and even funnier to watch. The kids love the game and will often refer to David as Principal Ferguson. Well this summer - that became a reality!

Principal Ferguson is now really Principal Ferguson and we are soooo excited! I had been telling him throughout the school year, that this was the year he was going to be promoted. I just had a feeling...I knew it was his time and that he was ready. He insisted that it was not and there was no way to know. He was always very negative, but secretly I know, wanted it to be true. No announcements of change were made at the end of the school year and he became very discouraged that he would be working in the same spot, with the same difficult principal another year. I still held out hope. The end of the summer came and still, no changes announced.

Then one day, we heard a rumor that David's principal was leaving and had found a new job in another district (knowing that the current district was not happy with his job performance, to put it nicely). I saw a light in David's eyes and he was ecstatic when he realized it was true. Timing is always perfect for David. He has been in the right place at the right time throughout his career, and this was no different. I know we have Heavenly Father backing us up at all times. David was currently one of the assistant principals at this middle school in the district, and the principal decided to leave, which meant that the principal job was now available! I just knew that it was all coming together like it was supposed to.

David immediately applied and was selected to have an interview out of 20 applicants (many of which have been principals in the district for many years). There were four people interviewing for two middle school principal positions. He was so excited that he might get to take over the school where he has been an assistant principal for three years now. He loves this school and the community there and had so many great ideas and plans to make it the great place it should be. I knew he was the guy for the job. He waited a couple of weeks to actually have the interview, and the waiting nearly killed him. It was a long end to the summer!

The day of the interview finally came - four days before school started! (And it just so happened to be the same day that I found out that it was going to be my "turn" to serve as PTO President at my kids' school.) The day was very long. David's interview was not until the afternoon and it took a couple of hours. He had a written exam and everything. When he finally called after it was all done, he said he felt really good about it, and couldn't have done any better. I wanted him to come straight home, but it was the middle of a work day. He had to go back to work and wait to hear. The kids and I were at home that day on pins and needles. The phone rang at home and I was just sure it was David calling to tell me he had the job. Someone from the disctrict office asked for David and when I said he was at the school they said they had tried to call there, and his cell phone and could not get a hold of him. They asked me to have him call back just as soon as he could. I was so excited - I could just tell by the tone of his voice that they had selected David for the job. I knew it. I mentioned to the kids that I was sure David got the job, but we were still waiting to hear it from him for sure. Let me tell you....the longest five minutes of my life.

But, five minutes later we got the call from David. He was so excited and the kids and I were screaming and jumping up and down. It was so fun to share the good news and the kids knew how bad David wanted this job. We were so proud of him. They decorated the mirror in our room with cute messages for "Principal Ferguson" and it was really fun to share it with him when he returned home. He was made for this job, I knew it was meant to be. We later found out that the District Office received many letters and emails written on David's behalf, trying to convince them that he should be the new principal at the middle school. People went out of their way for him. He is such a great leader and motivates everyone around him. He is seriously a breath of fresh air for this school. I am so proud of all of his hard work and look forward to all of the great changes that are coming for his school and staff!

Trail of Dreams

This summer was very exciting, for more reasons than one. But I think the summer was the most special this year because of the opportunity Kylie had to participate in our Stake's production of the Trail of Dreams play/musical. This story starts back in March when I mentioned to her that our Stake was putting on a play, and I thought that she should try out. We showed up early one Saturday morning, and she had sort of prepared to sing a little primary song. I myself never even realized how serious our Stake productions are. We got in a line to fill out an application/resume on a computer. We were giving all kinds of information about her experience - which at this point has just been dance recitals and enjoying singing. I have to admit that I was a little bit nervous as we stood in that line. Then they asked what part she was trying out for. We honestly had no idea. I hadn't even looked at the cast list yet - I thought for sure she would just automatically be part of the cast, not have an actual role. So I quickly glanced at the roles for the play, and I noticed a part for a little girl, Caddie Grant. I thought, sure, that sounds good. So, off we went to get in line to "audition."

I thought the audition would just be to sing this little primary song in front of some Stake music leaders. I thought for sure she would want me to go in with her for moral support. Nope. She asked me to stay out and listen from outside the door. I was a little sad, but really proud at the same time. I looked inside the window of the door and realized that this was an honest and true AUDITION. If she could do this, she could do anything. There was a full panel of judges, and she had to stand right up and sing her song. She was amazing - no fear. Then they gave her a portion of Caddie Grant's part to read. She had never seen anything like this before, and there she was, reading the part like a pro. Like she knew what Caddie's character was meant to be. I was a proud mom, but I still had no idea whether she measured up to what other little girls were doing in their auditions.

Later that week, I just so happened to meet one of the "judges" that was in that room at the time. She realized who I was, and went on and on about how amazing Kylie was, and how they were blown away by her audition. She said that everyone was wondering where she came from. She told me that she was sure that Kylie would have a role in the play, but that nothing had been decided yet. I was thrilled for Kylie and so impressed that she could do so well with little preparation. Kylie is very talented, but has also been very shy in the past. She loves to sing, dance, and act, but if you ask her to perform for anyone - there is no way. Just on stage, far away from the audience at a recital. But never with a small group of eyes staring at her. I was so excited that she challenged herself, and really enjoyed the process. I was excited at the fact that this could be the start of many auditions to come in the future. Maybe this would build her confidence so that she could participate in fun church and school activities in the future.

Many weeks went by and we heard nothing. Finally we got an email about a call back for the part of Caddie Grant. In the description of Caddie, it mentioned that she was a six year old girl. I was a little discouraged, wondering how Kylie would fit this role. When we got to the call back, there were three other younger girls there. I wondered how this would all work out. This time Kylie was asked to sing Caddie's actual song from the play and she was well prepared. Once again, she got right up there and sang. She read the lines for Caddie and did amazing. Each of the girls auditioning were amazing. I was very impressed with the talent of all of these young girls. We went home and waited to hear something.

We waited a few more weeks before we heard anything. One day I discovered an email from the director with a cast list for the play. Kylie was given a leading role! We realized then that there were two young girls needed for the production. Caddie Grant was six, and Bodil Mortensen was to be played by a young girl. Kylie was going to be playing Bodil Mortensen, a young Danish girl who came across the plains with the Mormon pioneers. She was traveling with Jens and Elsie Neilson. These are actually real people that left behind journals from their experiences coming across the plains to the Utah valley. The story is amazing, and Kylie was going to be a part of it. I was so excited for her to have this chance to develop her talents, really experience how a production is put together, and strengthen her testimony of the gospel - all at the same time!

They spent the next few months putting it all together. It started with just the music, then small groups rehearsing lines from specific scenes, to larger groups, and eventually the whole cast together learning choreography and everything. The whole thing was so awesome to watch. Since I was her transportation, I got to witness all of it first hand. It strengthened my testimony probably more than hers. Next time a Stake production comes around, which is usually every other year, our entire family will be participating. I don't have the singing and acting talent - but they always need people in the background. :)

I will never forget the first dress rehearsal and the amazing set and scenery. Watching Kylie put on her costume for the first time, and realizing what an amazing opportunity this was. I watched all of the four performances and cried a little almost every night watching her up on that stage. We have so many talented people in our Stake, and it felt like a professional production. I know the spirit of our pioneer ancestors where there and you could feel it. Some of the stories in the play were captured in a movie that came out a few weeks later, 17 Miracles. We went and watched it together as a family and Kylie was excited to see the real story of Bodil Mortensen, as she was a character in the movie. I am thankful that people keep journals so that their experiences and testimonies can be shared with others.

Here are many pictures from the entire journey....

PRACTICING

PERFORMING

Summer Swimming Lessons

Last summer Kylie graduated from swimming lessons. It was very hard for her this year to watch her brothers participate from the sidelines. This was Cameron's first year though, so we were all very excited! The very first day he was a little bit hesitant. But once he realized that the water was not cold, he was all in. It was very fun to watch. He never really liked to go under the water, but the lessons this year fixed that. He loves it and is now a little fish. Cute story about hanging with his teacher....while they were out swimming together, Cameron told her how we had just gotten back from a trip to Utah, and that he got to see the temple. She knew right away that we were LDS, and it turns out she was too! :) He is a little missionary already!

Chad did awesome this year too. He learned lots of new ways to swim across the pool. He can now do the breathstroke, freestyle, backstroke, and butterfly (I was amazed watching him learn that one). We were really focusing on his confidence in the water. He can swim, but forgets that he can. He has become much more confident this year, and I wasn't freaking out when he swam in the deep end on his own. So fun to watch him develop his new skills in the pool!

Utah Road Trip - Part 3 - HEADED HOME

On our way out of Cache Valley, we met Grandpa and Mary for a few last minutes. It was very important that we stopped at Utah State University to get ice cream at the Aggie Creamery. Afterwards, we stopped at a park on the edge of the Logan River, went to the temple and walked the grounds and then did some go-cart racing. It was fun to spend our last few minutes in Cache Valley with Grandpa and Mary. We love Logan...IN THE SUMMER!!

Park City has become one of probably four or five places in the world that we absolutely love. It is a place that, if we were rich, we would have a vacation home, for sure!! We took the scenic route to get there and were really impressed with how beautiful the drive was! What a beautiful part of our country.

We had a really fantastic time in Park City this year. The first evening, we had another great Utah thunderstorm. The next morning we headed to the Park City Mountain Resort, where we rode the Alpine slides, the rollercoaster and I ziplined. It is truly beautiful and was fun for everyone. We were then off to the Utah Olympic Park, where the bobsled and ski jumping events were held when the Olympics were held in Salt Lake City in 2002. It was fun to see some of the venues and watch the athletes train.

After spending time in Park City, it was time for us to really head home. We had wanted to stop at Temple Square on the way up, but because of bad weather, we waited until the end of the trip to go. It was beautiful, as always! The kids really enjoyed the conference center and the outside temple grounds.

We then headed off to St. George for the night. As one last adventure, we hit an intense thunderstorm south of Provo. Now, I have driven in some pretty intense weather. Living in Arizona, I saw some pretty crazy thunderstorms...and this one rivaled anything I have ever seen. The pictures below really don't do it justice. The clouds were so dark and lightning struck every few seconds...we drove for about 20 minutes in really heavy rain, thunder, lightning and hail. I thought it was awesome--everyone else was scared--and the clouds afterwards were really amazing!

We had the best trip to Utah we have ever had--that's obvious from the fact that it took three posts to get through it! We had so much fun and are really enjoying traveling with the kids. It is becoming so much easier as they get older. These are the times we realize how lucky we are and how much family time together on trips like this will really bring your family closer together!

We look forward to our next trip...