Week 32--Anaheim

This week our family was spread out.  C4 was still in Guatemala, I was in Anaheim, California with Maddy and Nathanael for the National Fine Arts Festival and Youth Convention, and Colombo stayed back at home with the rest of the crew.

Monday, Aug. 7th
We woke before the sun to drive to Boston for our flight.

A long, but uneventful day of travel.

He hadn't been on a plane in nine years.

It was so good to see more pictures from Guatemala.

 Once settled in our room, we took the 5 minute walk over to the convention center to register.

It took the kids no time at all to start meeting people and making new friends.

The opening service was amazing!  I was so impressed with the actual production.  The lights and multimedia components were cutting edge and highly engaging.  Clearly, not what's important; just noting that it was done very well, with excellence.  The speakers were dynamic and they were successful in setting a tone of expectancy and hunger for the what the rest of the week would hold.  Man, there is nothing like a colosseum full of teenagers worshipping the God of the universe.  It moved me to tears.

 Tuesday, Aug. 8th

We went to my youth pastor's theater workshop on 'character development'.  It was fun to see him in action again!  We bounced around room to room watching a couple of friends do their thing.  From one room we heard some girl completely killing (in a good way) "My Redeemer Lives."  The doors are to be closed while a participant is performing.  It turned out to just be a volunteer singing during the room's judges break.  She was amazing!

***Maddy danced her Worship Dance Solo towards the end of the day.  She wasn't happy about dancing on carpet, but she was pleased with her performance.  Click here to watch.  We would later find out she scored a Superior.***

Every night from our hotel balcony, we could see the Disneyland fireworks.

My heart leaped into my throat when I saw this picture!!

Wednesday, Aug. 9th
Anaheim is BEAUTIFUL!  It just is.  We were there for 6 days and never saw a cloud.  It was 80 and sunny with low humidity and a nice breeze.  Basically, PERFECT weather in my opinion.  The area was clean and easy walking to many restaurants and stores.  We explored a little bit, but both the kids struggled with sore throats and fevers through the week.  We had a GREAT week, but the sickness factor definitely limited us.  We spent more time in the room than any of us wanted.  We didn't get to anything extra, and both kids even had to skip some services.  The good news was that Nathanael had the fever on Maddy's dance day and Maddy had the fever on Nathanael's preaching day.  So I was thankful for that!  And it's really hard to be too bummed when there are palm trees!

This guy had his big day of preaching!

Nathanael had his first round of Short Sermon, Jr.  He did a phenomenal job!  You can click here to watch.  We would later find out he scored a Superior.

I won't get into all the inner workings of Fine Arts, but there are a few things that could be improved. Maddy danced on Tuesday.  We 'assumed' she'd get a Callback because she did 3 years ago, but they weren't going to post until Wednesday night after all dancers had danced.  Callbacks began on Thursday morning at 9:00.

The judges had no critiques of her dance except for her costume bordering on rule violation, which it didn't (it didn't!) but just in case, we wanted to make an effort to rectify it.  TGFT.  Thank God for Target!  The judges suggested adding leggings to the costume instead of her shorts.  Target didn't have off-white leggings so we bought some white tights to cut off and tea bag dye in the hotel sink.  But while at Target, I suggested to Maddy that we just buy a Plan B costume.  Just start over and wear something more similar to what we saw other dancers wearing.

Back in the room, we sent a couple pix to our phone-a-friends.  Option A: imagine these tights were capri length.

Option B: a whole new look.

She was completely stressed out by the whole thing.  I had to be very careful with my words because I knew Maddy had to make the choice and be 100% ok with it if it was going to work.  I suggested that maybe her original costume with leggings looked a tad clownish.  But she was nervous about the changing it up completely and the judges not 'remembering' her in her first costume.  She liked that it stood out and she liked how it moved.  Meanwhile, I'm thinking about C4 with the orphans in Guatemala and people with ACTUAL problems.  Finally, she came back after brushing her teeth and said decidedly, "I'm going with the new look.  I think it's more what the judges are looking for and I just can't add leggings to my costume."  So we crossed our fingers our choice wouldn't backfire.  Oh, but we did ALL of this without knowing if she even got a Callback!!!!  Luckily, we saw at 9pm that she did in fact get a Callback and she'd be dancing again the next morning at 9:30.

Just to add to the fun...

Rewind to earlier in the afternoon.  Literally 5 minutes before Nathanael's turn to preach, I get this picture and a text, "Don't be alarmed, but I'm at Urgent Care.  Renna fell and hurt her arm."

Long story short, Renna fell from the monkey bars and landed on her wrist, revealing two breaks.  One of the bones was straightforward, but the second one concerned the PA and he said that he needed to show it to an orthopedic doc before giving us any definitive answers.  They put her in a soft splint / temporary cast thing and a sling and sent her on her way.

It was surprising because as Lisa said, "She's part superhero."  But also surprising it took this long to happen the way she does life.  Four boys--zero broken bones.  And then there's this girl!

Thursday, Aug. 10th
I finally was able to see my sweet littlest in all her cast and sling glory.  It was so good to FaceTime and actually see that she was ok.

Madison danced for her Callback (she was one of 17) in her 'new' costume.  The dancer in her was upset that the capris cut her lines, but she felt confident that it was the right move.  She also LOVED dancing on the floor!  You can watch it here.

After callbacks, the judges give the dancers immediate feedback, and she said they didn't really have any comments except to say that they thought she was beautiful.  And the waiting began.  Thirty-six hours before we'd know the results.

Both kids were finally feeling good enough to walk through the exhibit hall with all the vendors collecting free t-shirts, bags, and sunglasses.  They also had this very cool 'around-the-world' missions exhibit with different things to do and taste as you traveled from region to region.

That night, we got to hang with my youth pastor, Pastor Brian, his family, and a couple of his friends. We had so much fun recalling funny stories, exchanging how so-and-so is doing, and catching up after 25 years.  I took the opportunity to write out beforehand and read at dinner about the profound impact he had on me and how grateful I was for him.  Buca Di Beppo never fails.

The Guatemala team traveled into El Salvador for their last day of the trip, where they stayed the night at a very nice all-inclusive resort before traveling home.

Friday, Aug. 11th
So thankful for my mom, Colombo's mom, and Andrea that covered the Littles while I was gone.  I know they had fun!

We had the day free with nothing to do, so I took the kids to Downtown Disney just a couple blocks from the hotel.  It's part of the park, but outside the park so it's not ticketed.  Shops and restaurants; the first touristy thing we did all week.

I found a quiet place to FaceTime into Renna's appointment with the Children's Hospital's pediatric orthopedic.  Two other orthos had both looked at the X-rays and suggested a surgery consult, thinking that one of the bones was twisted and may require surgery to set correctly.

My heart was so ripped.  It was bad enough not being there for her when she got hurt, but it was also difficult to be talking about surgery not being there; not being able to assess the entire situation.  Thankfully, I was able to FaceTime in and we went from considering surgery to just a simple buckle fracture that didn't even need a cast!  The doctor said that something similar in an adult would be concerning, but this injury is very common in kids and no action is required.  He put her in a brace, but it's not even super functional; it's more a reminder to her and others that she needs to heal.  Praise be to Jesus and a big exhale!  Dab to no surgery!

Maddy and Nathanael spent their own money making a Build A Bear to give her upon our reunion.

My boy headed home!!

We spent the afternoon with the only other family from church along with us in Anaheim.  The kids had so much fun!

FINALLY!!!!  We went to the Friday night Celebration Service AKA 'Awards'.  For each of the 66 categories, they would read the category, would flash the top three names on the screen in random order, and then announce the winner.  About 8-10 categories are showcased every year throughout the evening service.  So the winners do not know if they'll be performing or not.  Everyone has to be prepared.

Finally, for the Category of "Worship Dance Solo"..........

My stomach did flip flops and it seemed FOREVER for him to say the winner.

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!    We all went WILD!  

Backstage, our district's youth director, Heath McCoy, was anxiously awaiting to congratulate her.

Crossroads

She did it.  She really did it.

We went out with Pastor Brian + gang after to celebrate.  They were so happy for her and so sweet to rejoice with us.

Saturday, Aug. 12th
Some more pics that I stole from Kelly.

The kids at home were excited about their countdown and only 1 MORE SLEEP until the Cape!

Renna got the sweetest package of get-well cards from Rhode Island cousins.  Auntie Lisa stopped by, too, with popsicles and a 'monkey' get-well balloon.  How perfect is that after falling off the monkey bars?!  We are so blessed to have people love on us so well.

We packed up the room and stored our suitcases.  I went down to the pool until we needed to leave and the kids walked to Target to return tea bags and tights!  

So grateful for the opportunity, the time, and the means to do trips like this.  I don't take it lightly.  I try to teach my kids to be so very grateful for such things.  We all left with huge smiles and full hearts.  Such a fantastic experience!

I'm going to include Sunday with my next post as it fits better into that week.