Several months ago, I was called to be the activities committee for our ward. Luckily for me (as we also teach primary and do Cub Scouts) it's been a pretty low-key calling. Sometimes less is more, right? Well, sometime last year our Bishop decided that a trip to the Hill Cumorah Pageant would be a fun activity so he reserved some cabins at a church camp. When it was first announced, I figured I would help with the planning but that we probably wouldn't be attending because we'd have a newborn. Well, after mentioning something about that, the Bishop informed me that his wife went straight from the hospital to a ward activity after one of their sons was born. If you know me well, you know that as soon as he said that, I knew I'd be going.
So, after our first successful roadtrip to Pennsylvania and doing the planning for the trip, we decided it was worth it to make the 12-hour round-trip drive (we didn't stay in the cabins - but neither did the bishop's wife :)). Like any good plan, however, it didn't go exactly as planned.
We had planned to go part way on Friday (the rest of the ward was leaving Saturday morning) to break up the drive so we got a hotel room in Albany and were planning on leaving around noon. After he had packed the car, Will checked his email and found an invitation to apply to teach at Johns Hopkins University's summer program for talented youth. He decided it was worth sending his email and a phone interview, unpacking and repacking bags and the car, and seven hours later, he had a job offer. The only hangup was that they wanted him in Lancaster, PA Saturday morning (as in 14 hours later).
So, Will drove with us to Albany where we stayed Friday night. Saturday morning we dropped him off at the train station to catch a train to Lancaster. Many tears were shed. Then, Liam and I continued on to Palmyra. Luckily, he was wonderful and slept almost the whole way. I stopped once to feed him and he only screamed the last twenty or so minutes.
Luckily for me we have an amazing ward family and I was well taken care of. The food and ward activity pieces went off without a hitch and Sister K even drove me to the pageant, to our hotel and back to the camp for breakfast and church in the morning. Liam was great and didn't seem to mind being passed from one pair of warm arms to another. Bill and Marie came to the pageant to meet us and even saved 30-40 seats for us when they got there before us! One of our primary children rode home with me and was great at talking to Liam and making sure the sun didn't bug him too much. On the way home he cried the last twenty or so minutes as well - not bad for a six-hour ride with only one short pit-stop.
I'm grateful for a ward family that is so great. I'm also grateful that we were able to attend the pageant and to be able to visit the church history sites so easily. I love to feel the Spirit and to have my testimony of the restoration of the church confirmed to me again. If you've been to the pageant, you know that there are a lot of protesters that come and try to get to the attendees with their megaphones... The young men and young women from our ward were visibly upset when they were being harassed in the parking lot. While the experience was upsetting to them, it provided an even greater contrast when we walked nearer to the Hill Cumorah and heard the hymns playing. That contrast made the difference between having the spirit and not having it almost tangible.
Unfortunately, because my hands were full and I was minus Will, our camera stayed in the trunk the entire weekend. If I get some pictures from someone else in the ward, I will post them.
Dear Will,
R is for righteous and honest and true;
At his two-month checkup on July 27th, Liam weighed in at a whopping 13 lbs. 4 oz. and had grown to 23 inches long. The first thing the doctor said when she saw his weight was that it was amazing that this was the same kid that we were worried about two months ago because he wasn't gaining weight. He clearly is packing it on now - we've had to pull out the 3-6 month clothes already. He's almost caught up to his cousin Brynley who is 6 months and just over 14 lbs. 
Here he is with the monthly monkey.
He had his first vaccinations at his appointment and it was really sad to watch. 
Liam - ready for some pool action, flip-flops and all.
Liam and mom swimming - he really loves the water but the weather was abnormally cool so we didn't stay in the water long.
All decked out for the festivities!
We decided to get Bill tickets to the Phillies game for his birthday. Unplanned, Grandma Marie had gotten Bill and Liam Phillies hats for his birthday!!
The gang at the Phillies game. It was a great day for a baseball game and they won! Liam also got a certificate for attending his first Phillies game. Six weeks isn't too young for professional sporting events, right?
