Milestones and Marching Bands

We marked a milestone on Saturday. Gabriel not only turned eight, but he was baptized by his father. I loved how excited he was about this extra-special birthday. It was also special because Grandma Peterson shares this birthday with him and she came to share this event, as well. She turned 92. She wanted to come and be a part of this event with Gabe. Lots of family participated with us. Eliza played the piano, Sarah led the music, Nonna spoke on Baptism (and did a fabulous job!) Grandpa Don gave a talk on the Holy Ghost, and Tiffany and Sam gave prayers. That's such a blessing to live so close to family.

After the baptism we had a little party and lunch at the park by our house and celebrated with Kalua pork, rice, salads and fruit. It was nice for me to not have to clean my house twice (before and after).

Sarah and Sam took Eliza up to her band competition in Idaho right after the baptism. Eliza wasn't going to be able to play for the baptism, but Sarah found out that they weren't competing until later in the day. So Sarah and Sam came to the baptism and took off for Idaho right after to get Eliza up to her band competition in Pocatello.

Sarah called at about 6 while we were at Nonna's. She told us that they had swept the competition and had won in every catagory. We were so excited for them. Then, about 2 hours later, she called me and told me that there had been a terrible accident. That the bus carrying the woodwind section (Eliza's bus) had flipped and rolled off the interstate. Many of the kids were okay, but that a few had been trapped inside and had to be cut out and life-flighted to Salt Lake. As the night wore on, more and more details became available. The word came back that Eliza's section leader was killed trying to gain control of the bus after the driver passed out.

Such a tragic ending to a great day! My heart was so heavy hearing about all of this! I know what it's like to be in a marching band, or in any group that is close-knit like this! I am so sorry for those kids! I am also so thankful that my sister was willing to take Eliza up to the competition so that she could play for Gabe's baptism! I told Gabe that this was a perfect illustration of following the promptings of the Holy Ghost. And by doing so, Eliza was kept from harm.

The band had a competition last night at BYU. I was so impressed not only watching the American Fork High School Marching Band, but all of the bands! I was impressed that they were so supportive of the AF kids. Each band wore red ribbons to show their support during such a difficult week. The crowd gave AF a standing ovation when they took the field. Even the BYU marching band performed and after their performance dedicated and played "Amazing Grace" to AF, and presented them with flowers. It was pretty emotional. AF truly had great performance and they swept every catagory in their class. What resilience! Eliza said that she could hardly play during most of the performance. I'm sure a lot of the kids felt the same. But you would never know. It sounded and looked spectacular! I am so sorry for the loss of their friend and teacher. But I congratulate them on their dedication and precision!