beauty

This last weekend was full of fun. On Saturday night we went to an outdoor play here in Midway, The Music Man. Lately its been raining at night and the sky looked pretty threatening as we drove to the play and set out our chairs on the grass. The wind blew and knocked over some of the props on stage, blew the actor/actress' clothes all over, they had to hold up the "train" in the opening scene because the wind was blowing it, and occasionally rain drops fell and the sky looked dark and scary. But then, something awesome happened. Not one but two rainbows filled the sky behind the stage (double rainbow in the sky!) and the rain stopped and it was a totally gorgeous night. The play was funny and it was especially fun to watch because members of our ward were in it. Two of the kids I teach in my primary class on Sunday were in it and it was fun to see them acting. Natalie, a girl in my class, had the best facial expressions and danced and sang so great. I loved it when she noticed me sitting in the crowd and got a huge smile on her face. After the play was over she ran up to me and gave me a huge hug and as I praised her performance she was so giddy. Its fun to see that the kids in my class actually do like me and will acknowledge me outside of church :) Layton, the boy in my class in the play, was less enthused about me being at the play, but thats just typical 10 year old boy for you.

 The threatening rain before the show

 double rainbow

The next day, Sunday, we woke up earlier than normal to head to my cousin Erianne's ward down in Orem. She just got home from her mission to Texas and it was fun to see her and hear about her experiences. Since October, there have been tons and tons more missionaries and it was fun to hear about it from a missionary's perspective as she was on her mission before the age change and has been able to see it all transition. She said there were 30 sister missionaries in her mission at the beginning of her mission 18 months ago and now there are over 90. Her last area she trained two 19 year old sister missionaries. I wondered how the younger missionaries were doing and she said that the 18 year old and 19 year olds were doing awesome and they are totally prepared. It was so fun to see her and her family and I'm really glad we went.

On the way home, Provo Canyon was under construction-big surprise- so there was only one side of the canyon open for traffic coming and going instead of the usual two sides/4 lanes. Traffic was stopped completely, so we figured there must have been a wreck or something. Turns out an oil tanker flipped over and some people waited an hour before turning around. A lot of people just ahead of us were turning around and since we were stopped by the turn to Sundance, we decided to take the scenic route home, past Sundance, through the mountains, past Cascade springs and finally down into Midway. It was GORGEOUS.

The trees, wildflowers, and mountains were so fun to look at  and even though the drive was a bit longer than usual and the car I spent Saturday washing got totally dirty, it was a great way to spend Sunday afternoon. Its nice to stop and look at all the beauty around us once in a while.  The play Saturday night and the beautiful drive Sunday made me appreciate where I live just a little bit more. There is so much beauty all around us and I'm glad we got to stop and enjoy it all this weekend (in the comfort of my car with the AC blasting! This pregnant lady is much too hot all the time!)