My Audition

I bumbled like an idiot at the beginning, but I think you get what I was trying to say. Anyway, this was a really fun experience!

For more info, check out http://www.dodgers.com/lds

AMERICAN IDOLS LIVE 2009

For a limited time only, straight from our camera, here are a few show highlights.
This is intended for the viewing pleasure of our friends who weren't able to attend the show. No copyright violation intended.






Our "Slow Ride" Home

Lucy and Peter

Earlier this week I had the fabulous priviledge of going to girls camp with the choice young women of my ward. There is something to be said about being way up in the mountains, removed from electricity and distractions. There is something magical about watching the full moon rise as you listen to all the girls giggling in their dimly lit tents.

I should tell you, I am a heavy dreamer. My nights are usually filled with random restless images that seem to play until I open my eyes. It can be exasperating. However, while up in the mountians with only a thin layer of fabric between me and the stars, my nights were limited to one dream only. I slept so peacefully and dreamt so clearly.

I dreamed that I was on a staircase, close to the top, when I saw a beautiful blonde-headed girl running into the hallway above. Her curls were bouncing and her smiling expression was radiant. She was so excited to see someone approaching. I looked below to see a little boy, crawling up the staircase squealing with joy. I instantly knew who they were and recognized a big sister jumping up and down at the edge of the stairs, ecstatic to see her little brother. I have to emphasize, they were SO HAPPY to see each other. They were only two steps away from each other, and the dream was over.

I know without question who those beautiful children were. The little boy's name is Peter. I know this because I held him in my arms in the park last Sunday and had the priviledge of rocking him to sleep. The little girl's name is Lucy. I know this because I've played with her. I'd know her beautiful face anywhere. I know and love her parents and mourned with them when she passed away last year.

This was such a clear, sweet dream. When I woke up, I became regretfully aware of the fact that Lucy and Peter will never play like that in this mortal life. But, it was obvious that they do KNOW each other, that they LOVE each other, and there WILL be a time for them to laugh and play together. I'm so glad to have caught a glimpse.

This Ragged Old Flag

Image taken of a flag which was recovered from ground zero at the World Trade Center.

Ragged Old Flag - Johnny Cash
I walked through a county courthouse square
On a park bench, an old man was sittin' there.
I said, "Your old court house is kinda run down,
He said, "Naw, it'll do for our little town."
I said, "Your old flag pole is leaned a little bit,
And that's a ragged old flag you got hangin' on it."
He said, "Have a seat," and I sat down,
"Is this the first time you've been to our little town"
I said, "I think it is"
He said "I don't like to brag, but we're kinda proud of
That Ragged Old Flag

"You see, we got a little hole in that flag there,
When Washington took it across the Delaware.
and It got powder burned the night Francis Scott Key sat watching it,
writing "Say Can You See"
It got a rip in New Orleans, with Packingham & Jackson
tugging at its seams.
and It almost fell at the Alamo
beside the Texas flag,
But she waved on though.
She got cut with a sword at Chancellorsville,
And she got cut again at Shiloh Hill.
There was Robert E. Lee and Beauregard and Bragg,
And the south wind blew hard on
That Ragged Old Flag

"On Flanders Field in World War I,
She got a big hole from a Bertha Gun,
She turned blood red in World War II
She hung limp, and low, a time or two,
She was in Korea, Vietnam, She went where she was sent
by her Uncle Sam.
She waved from our ships upon the briny foam
and now they've about quit wavin' back here at home
in her own good land here She's been abused,
She's been burned, dishonored, denied an' refused,
And the government for which she stands
Has been scandalized throughout out the land.
And she's getting thread bare, and she's wearin' thin,
But she's in good shape, for the shape she's in.
Cause she's been through the fire before
and i believe she can take a whole lot more.

"So we raise her up every morning
And we bring her down slow every night,
We don't let her touch the ground,
And we fold her up right.
On second thought
I DO like to brag
Cause I'm mighty proud of
That Ragged Old Flag"

Let's not forget to give thanks.
Thanks to the men and women who have fought and still fight to keep America free, thanks for our government which isn't perfect but desperately struggles to provide for and guide it's people, and thanks to God for granting us time here on this blessed soil. Have a wonderful 4th of July weekend!