Random Rumblings

We had a good July 4th. We went to breakfast with our ward family, which was cool. There was even an mini-airshow put on over the skies of Tehachapi. After coming home, Stan took the engine out of the '64 Chevy Malibu (i.e., the Chevelle, the tin can, etc.) The engine is literally in pieces. (sigh) Anyway after BBQing chicken, we joined the Peterson's in the Home Depot parking lot to watch the small annual fireworks display that is put on from the airport. We had a good time. The traffic coming home was backed up - but that's life in a small town. Most folks come out to support the local activities, which is something that I like!

There are so many fires burning in California right now. There's one (the Piute fire) in Sequoia National Forest that isn't too terribly far from us. The last report states that the fire has burned 28 square miles and it's *only* a week old. I say *only* because there are other fires still burning which started on June 21st from the 6000 lightning strikes that hit Northern California. Today, from our bedroom window, I can see the brown smoke in the air from the Piute fire. Last week after church, we could see plumes of smoke, but the wind shifted and the smoke has been drifting in a more northerly direction. The photo at right shows about how it looked last Sunday.

This is a pic of the fire that was taken on July 7, 2008 from closer to the fire line. It gives me an eerie feeling.

After nearly two years as a Family History Consultant, last February, I was released. Two weeks later, our Bishop (R. Bryan Hoggan) called me into his office to give me a new calling. Since February 23rd, I've been the Young Women's President. I've been in a presidency before (Primary) but this is my first calling as President. I was speechless at the time! With Stan in the Bishopric, our lives have been busy, and now they're even busier. We're preparing for Stake Girls Camp, which is a big deal. I'm still camp director as well as YW President. I love my calling and I love the girls! I'm learning so much and I have much more to learn. Back in May, the Young Men did a "Fear Factor" activity which ended up being a lot of fun. One of the "events" was to pull raisins out of tapioca pudding. As you can see in the photo at left, more tapioca got on the participants than stayed in the trays! That's our son, Erik on the left, Sophia Barraclough in the center and Kendra Harris on the right. Our friend, and neighbor, Ryan Anderson is directly behind them, with Bishop Hoggan and his son, Brayden (in the orange shirt) farther back.