Playing Again, After All These Years

It used to be that I played my violin a lot. I played in orchestra, I played for fun, I played for church, I practiced. I sort of got out of the habit when I went to college, then I let my poor violin get really dusty after getting married and having kids. Every once in a while I would get my violin out, tune it up and play some scales or songs with music that I still had, just to make sure I remembered what I'd learned, oh so long ago. I'm glad I did.

Our stake is in the boundaries for the new Draper Temple, as a result everyone 14 and older has been asked to help at the Open House. My good and talented friend, Michelle Samuelson, was asked to prepare some music to be played in the Stake Center after people had gone through the temple. She decided to put together a violin quartet that she would accompany on the piano. She asked me to participate. I was so nervous, as I haven't played the violin publicly for years, but with a lot of practice (thank you Ruth Ann) I was able to pull it off. What a great experience! It was fun to be there and to see all the people enjoying themselves. It was darling to see all the little children just come up and watch us as we played.
Even though I was happy to be participating, I was even happier with the talented people I was with. I played with another mom Susan, an amazing 13 year Spencer and 14 year of Chrissy. They could have done the whole thing themselves and made it sound amazing. I was glad to be there and know that all those hours of lessons and practicing weren't totally in vain.

While I was busy entertaining, Sage and all the rest of our mutual were busy feeding and cleaning up after the crowd. They were all so cute, and seemed to be enjoying themselves.
Sage and I were both in the Stake Center doin' our thing, while Stephen was able to serve in the temple, helping people on the tour who needed a little extra assistance.

Sage and I didn't get home until after 10 and Stephen got home closer to 11, we were all tired, but the good kind of tired. It was great to be able to spend so much time in a wonderful place and meet and serve the people who came there. If you haven't taken the time to go through the temple, I would totally encourage you to do so. It's a great experience.