This morning began bright and early for Mike and Hyrum as they had to be at the stage at 7am for a house/temple building rehearsal. My dad was also going to an early session at the temple, so I dropped him off on our way to the stage. When I came back to our cabin, the children were all still asleep, except for Camilla who I left sleepily in charge. I ate breakfast and quietly got myself ready, making sure to give them as much rest as I could before gently shaking them awake. Once they were all dressed and fed, we arrived at the stage area shortly before 8am to watch the family cast who arrived the previous week perform their dress rehearsal of the Nauvoo Pageant. We watched for the same family we had met last night and payed attention to their placement on stage during each scene as that would be us the following week!
After the dress rehearsal, we met with our districts for a quick meeting, refilled water bottles, and fed the kids some snacks to keep their energy up. It was almost forty degrees Celsius and humid. Our district leader (a sweet 16 year old boy from the main cast) asked all of us what our "why" was for coming to do this? He also asked us to think about what we were hoping to get out of the experience. All eyes turned to me to respond first and truthfully, I didn't know what to say as Mr. Stannix first had this idea, knowing what an incredible experience this would be for our family, and I lovingly supported the decision, knowing how important it was. The experience thus far, the long drive, the long days, the late nights, being pregnant, fighting children....all felt like a huge trial to me. I don't remember exactly what I ended up saying, but his words stuck with me throughout the rest of the day as I pondered my "why".
The last two hours before lunch were spent rehearsing and learning the Nauvoo Pageant and our placement on the stage. We ran through the dance we had learned the previous afternoon as well as some other scenes. The sun was beating down on us all and the humidity was almost too much to handle. My face was bright red, my feet ached, and my back hurt from being pregnant and hauling Lily around with me through all of the different dances and scenes on the hot stage.
As we gathered the actresses on stage who were to perform the scene of the organization of the Relief Society, a sweaty, tired Lily was hanging from my neck blinking back sleep. A sweet mamma of many pulled me forward under the shade of her umbrella, concerned for me with my pregnancy and my blonde little daughter and her exposure to the sun all morning. One of the main actresses brought me two glasses of ice water from back stage and begged me to drink since my face was so red.
We stood for a few minutes as a group of sisters and chatted about our roles and also about our feelings of the organization of the Relief Society and what it meant for us as sisters in Zion. Someone mentioned angels among us in the form of friends or other dear sisters and I immediately thought about our district leaders mother who pulled me aside on my way to the bathroom the night before while fighting children hung all over me. She grabbed both of my hands in hers and told me how brave I was for coming here with so many tiny children. She told me I was doing so so well and that I shouldn't worry so much and try to just enjoy the experience. My eyes welled with tears as I explained to her how many times I had already cried (out of exhaustion and frustration with children) and she smiled and reassured me that they were good kids and everything was going to be ok. She left me with a quick embrace and I went on my way. She was a literal angel, sent by a knowing Heavenly Father to comfort me in a time of desperate need.
I sat in the shade of this group of stalwart women and thought of this experience with this sweet mother the night before and tears welled in my eyes once more. As the tears tumbled down my cheeks, I quietly wiped them away on the hem of Lily's dress as the sisters continued their conversation above me, touched and reassured that Heavenly Father cares for each one of us individually. I felt so much gratitude for the many angels in my life.
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When it was time for lunch we were all exhausted from the movement and the heat! We went to the air conditioned cafeteria, ate lunch as quick as we could, and took everyone "home" for a quick snooze! Lily and Camilla fell asleep in our bed in seconds while we convinced a few of the boys how needed this nap was. By the time everyone fell asleep, they maybe got 45mins (and me even less as I was watching the clock) before we were waking them up again to head to Pageant Headquarters for a two hour dance rehearsal. We then had two hours to eat dinner, change everyone into costumes, and fix our hair before we had to be back for a company meeting prior to the Country Fair. We had just enough time to snap a couple of pictures of us all in our costumes for the first time before heading out. We made sure to get a serious one (like they would have in pioneer times) and a smiling one.
For the rest of the week, each evening, our family was assigned to serve at the stick ball station. Tonight we enjoyed welcoming those who were visiting and coming to see the pageants. We met so many different people from all over and got to share our testimonies. I was so proud of the boys and how they included everyone, manned the bases, and stuck it out as back catchers so that the other children could have so much fun batting and running bases.
Hyrum was a trooper with his busted hand as he manned third base (because in stick ball you run the bases backwards).
Fin and Ollie took turns back catching while Joe and Daddy took turns pitching.
I loved how into the game they were!
Sawyer and Lily spent a lot of time with these climbing bears at the station next to us.
Camilla was assigned to the group dancing session with the live band and other youth her age, but I did manage to see her at the tail end of the country fair!
The bagpipers bring everyone over to the stage in time to find a seat before the pageant actually starts. Tonight we were just watching and joining in for the finale, so we sat near the very back of the audience. The kids loved watching the fireflies come out and the really little kids spent much of the show running up and down the hill next to us and playing quietly.
We returned home shortly before midnight, tucked everyone in, and prepared for another long day tomorrow!
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