... and endeth!

Remember the photos we took last week of the dry Santa Ana River bed? Well, here's what it looked like last Friday -- and still today. Tornado warnings, hurricane-force winds, waterspouts, flooding, and power outages. What will tomorrow's storm bring? We watched the storms roll in both by looking out the windows and by checking the coastal radar and satellite shots on Wundermap.com. (Great site!) Being without power in the mission office on Thursday for 45 minutes was interesting, but we weathered the storm! (Ha, ha!) But the storm also took its toll on our house in Springville. An 80 mph wind knocked one of our pine trees over onto the house. (We'll send photos when we get them.)

Saturday was as un-stormy as the five days preceding it. Absolutely beautiful, especially on the drive from the Dover chapel (and OCMCO rehearsal) to the temple via Jamboree Blvd. in Newport Beach. It was a perfect day for temple tours, and while Signe helped prepare the punch and cookies, Gary set up the projector in the chapel and acted as gopher. Over 120 people showed up, many of them non-members -- including 16 Vietnamese, 6 Tongans and 20 Primary children. It was a great afternoon, but very tiring for both of us.

Gary had a four-hour rehearsal from 9 to 1. It was tiring and rigorus but also spiritually exhilarating and emotionally moving to be part of a professional choir for the first time in his life. The big treat was having the composer of the music field questions from the 200-voice choir as we took a break. Many times the music came from his own training and experience, but there were other tims (he related) when he looked up into heaven and exclaimed, "Thank you for that!"

Signe's rehearsal was 2 1/2 hours with the orchestra but equally demanding. This is some of the most difficult music we have sung and played. But the end result will be very rewarding.

This weekend there were 13 baptisms. We attended one in Anaheim Hills and were afterwards visited by Gary's brother Mike and his wife Ginny, with whom we also had dinner at El Torito Tuesday night. They are visiting their daughter Caroline again, who lives very close to us. We both rested well from a very hectic week, and Monday brings another busy day, with Gary having to process two 2010 Chevrolet Malibu's which he picked up at the dealer's on Friday.