Hi dear ones,
Welcome to Summer! And for Kristy in cold Alaska, maybe we can send some of our 110 degrees your way! Yes, it's a heat wave here, but we're doing good. Everywhere has AC and we have passes to the pool, a fun indoor playland called "Rock and Roll Kids" where the boys also take a class, and a great park close that has the biggest, coolest sprinklers/water toys around. Oh my, a "Severe Weather Alert" just popped up on my screen as I was typing. If it gets too hot, they just tell people to stay inside, kind of like in Utah when there was extreme cold. Oh well, we've done our errands today anyway and we have fun indoor plans tonight anyway.
We're celebrating Paul's 33rd birthday tonight with his brother Brent, who is passing through heading for his new job position with GE. We'll eat dinner here, light the candles on the cheesecake (Paul's favorite) then maybe go play some games at the Excalibur gameroom, one of the truly family-friendly places on the strip. Paul and I will go out on Saturday night for a real date. We found a super 11-year old who will baby-sit in her home while her mom supervises. Aaron is her little brother's age, so they will have fun. It's nice to be getting to know people better in our ward.
I just got back from visiting teaching. It still hits me funny when I go to pick up my companion on Las Vegas Blvd. (right by the strip) that we really are living in Las Vegas, but it's amazing how normal life is even a few minutes away from all the glitz. We love our home and our ward, and still feel very certain that this is home for at least a while. Speaking of our ward, I was really thrown "into the fire" on Sunday when our ward organist didn't show up. I've been taking lessons, and have been planning on playing the organ July 9th after I feel comfortable with this very new instrument. But when she wasn't there 3 minutes before the meeting, I walked up to a very relieved bishopric and told them I could at least play prelude. There were so many buttons to push and I couldn't remember all the ones to push/not push, but I did my best for prelude. However, I didn't see her as the counselor got up to start the meeting, so I played the opening song and looked for her. There was no ward business, so they jumped right into the sacrament...and so did I. I think it sounded a little loud, but I got through it and was informed the real organist was finally there (she had arrived in time for the sacrament, but a switch would have been awkward). I could tell she had had a rough morning, so she slyly found a moment to sneak over to my bench mid-meeting and we decided I'd just finish the meeting music so people would just think it was my week instead of knowing she was so late. She was so embarrassed, but I got through the closing song and it went okay. The organ is so different than the piano! It's a good stretch for me and the closing song "Be Thou Humble" really hit home. I certainly felt humbled by this new calling and vow to practice very well. So for any of you who have been given this calling with little or no training, what are your secrets? Any shortcuts or suggestions would be appreciated!
In other music news, we finished the 10 demos for FLYlady two weeks ago while I was in Logan. We were absolutely blessed to accomplish in one week (5 days) what it typically takes 6 months or so to do (all the guitars, drums, strings, percussions, vocals, and most of the harmonies). John Carter was amazing, and Jay Richards was able to work on one song too and did great. FLYlady heard them and was even in "purple puddles" over one of them (her term for crying). Mom Benson and Jordan and Tera Sweat were so great to watch the boys so I could work all week long. It was fun to have a music-filled week like that, but it was really physically and mentally demanding and made me appreciate even more that I get to stay home with my boys full time and do music on the side.
The CD (title still not decided) will be released September 4th or so on flylady.net and will be a fun project to work on in the next few weeks, though not as intensely. The hard part of orchestration is done, so now we get to record live strings, hire a couple people for vocals, then mix it the first week of August. FlyLady decided last week she wants one more track on the CD (surprise!), so we'll try and get that done ASAP. I'm having a blast with it, and I never knew cleaning songs could be so much fun! We may recruit some of you locals or those passing through to sing harmonies or backups on a couple tracks, so beware! Paul and I have so much talent in our families, we hope you don't mind if we pull you into all this! Paul will also be hired to put together the CD guts and possibly the cover since he's done it before. The goal is to have it all done and out of my hands before our baby arrives. She is getting (I am getting) quite big, but other than feeling a bit yucky last week, I'm doing great! I like being pregnant when I'm not deathly sick! This has been a great pregnancy.
The other fun part of our Logan trip was getting to see Mom and Dad Lacey and Shannon on Saturday in Logan. I got to sing in a Songwriter's Showcase at Summerfest (like a county fair). They were so nice to come support me, take us to dinner, etc. Ooh, writing about the visit is making me crave some of that Aggie Lemon Custard ice cream we had at the cheese factory...ooh, with strawberries. Okay, this is an official craving. Next time I'm in Logan... :)
Our boys are doing great. They got matching sunglasses like Paul's new birthday ones, so we'll send a picture of the three guys in their "sunnies." They keep each other entertained by telling knock knock jokes, playing cars, cowboys, wrestling, etc. Aaron is loving the Hooked on Phonics books we checked out from the library and can read about 10 of them so far. Jacob surprised all of us this week by telling Paul he had to go potty and doing it in his little bear potty three times! He thinks it fun and loves the chocolate kiss he gets each time he goes. We all had fun with my cousin Laurie Funk and her family when they came for dinner on their way through to San Diego on Sunday. Their four darling girls were so cute to our boys, and our boys showed their true flirtatious personalities by charming them and making them laugh. They take after their father!
Well, that's all for now. Happy Birthday to little Jared in Alaska tomorrow. And the rest of you, please write back! We love and miss you all.
Love,
Amy, Paul, Aaron, Jacob and little princess
Congrats to Jordan on his first date. Please write with all the details. You know 6 older siblings are dying to know all about your love life! And it was great to see you Megan and Nate when we were there too. I'm sorry we all shared the stomach flu while we were there. Hope you're all better now!
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