Today I attended a funeral. I knew Heather as a fellow band-teacher and woodwind instructor like myself. In fact, I've been teaching a little elementary band twice a week for her - until her scheduled became less hectic after Marching Band season. We weren't close - but, it still felt like family in so many ways. My heart aches for her family and the band members she served selflessly.

When I found out the news (when I arrived in Las Vegas from Hawaii) I cried a lot. When I went to elementary band on Monday afternoon - I cried a lot. They had a counselor there to speak to the students about how to deal with death and I found it very comforting myself to hear the counselor's comments. When I watched the AF band perform at their competition on Tuesday night, I sobbed. When I attended the funeral today, I cried even more. Sitting there and being a part of the celebration of her amazing life - one can't help but to be reflective and pensive in the greater meaning of life and the eternities. And to think that we were just fellow band directors - not even close friends. I can't even fathom the emotions that have been felt by those who were really close to her. My soul aches for them.

They sang the Hymn, "Be Still My Soul" at the start of the meeting. I'm sure I have sung this hymn many times before, but the 3rd verse was so powerful in this setting;

3. Be still, my soul: The hour is hast’ning on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: When change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

I am so grateful to know that life goes beyond what we see and know around us. God is real. Our Savior is real and His sacrifice is beyond my comprehension. Knowing that Heather jumped up and essentially sacrificed her life to spare others in the bus with her gave me just a glimpse of that sacrifice. To know that He did it for me is overwhelming. And despite the tragedy, I'm grateful for all these experiences this week that have helped me feel even closer to my Savior.

Thank you Heather.


Here's a link to her obituary:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/deseretnews/obituary.aspx?n=heather-christensen&pid=134367127

Kaua'i

As many of you know, we got to go to Hawaii for a week with our good friends Rachael and Greg. We went to Kaua'i and I had no idea how amazing that place would be. I wish I had taken a picture of a bumper sticker we saw there which said, "If you love Kaua'i, send your friends to Maui." This island was paradise with so much to do. I started this post thinking, I'll just post a few pictures - but it turned into a BUNCH and I still have more to share! It'll give me plenty to write about for the next few weeks....



Sunset from our condo (special thanks to Shayne's parents for letting us use their timeshare to make this possible!)

Queen's Bath

Snorkeling Queen's Bath (we snorkelled EVERY DAY! and lived in our swim suits)


Hawaiian Shaved Ice goes WAY BEYOND a snow cone. I can't explain it - but I'm ready for another one.

Wailua Falls

Not only did we see the falls, we took a little treacherous hike down a steep hillside and SWAM under the falls! The water was muddy - but so refreshing after that muddy hike!



Kipu Falls. My only regret was that I didn't dare do the rope swing by these falls. I should have just done it (as Shayne did!). When will I get a second chance?!?!



Wild roosters EVERYWHERE! And they were tough to catch too.....

The 4 of us - at the top of Waimea Canyon - which is coined the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific." How that Grand Canyon just exists on this island is beyond me - my pictures didn't come close to showing the grandeur and immensity of this place.

Sunset from Waimea Canyon

We did a rafting trip to see the Na Pali Coastline. It is a part of the island that does not have roads - and you can see it 3 ways: by boat, by air (helicopter or airplane), or by an 11 mile hike. The boat trip was AWESOME. En route we had some company:

This was a landmark that I was thrilled to tell my boys about. We love the Popeye move (with Robin Williams) and this is where they filmed the ending scene with the octopus!

Na Pali Coast (this is just 1 inch of the most amazing scenery I've seen in my lifetime)

can you find the turtles?

There are probably 50+ turtles in the previous picture. I focused in on this picture so you can see the turtles better.

We weren't prepared to do an 11 mile (overnight) hiking trip along the Na Pali coast - but we did venture on the first 2 miles to a remote beach. It was HOT and HUMID - but the scenery was once again, breath-taking.

Na Pali Hike

Next to the beach, there was a creek/river/stream that flowed down to the ocean. That particular beach is considered dangerous - so Rach and I cooled off in the stream. It was SOOOO refreshing.

On our last day - we went to an area called "Secret Beach and Secret Lava Pools". They aren't very secret anymore - but we were the only ones there. I took about 75+ pictures at this one site - the waves were massive and powerful. I tried to capture it on film....

(Where's Waldo... I mean Greg?)

For my eternal sweetheart:

May we continue on our path, hand in hand, loving each other more every day. Thank you for loving me!