How Firm a Foundation

Six months of practice. Over 2,000 youth from a radius of 200 miles. Ten dances ranging from hip-hop to jazz to waltz to disco to ballet.

Last January our Stake began preparing for a multi-region Dance Festival. It was a huge undertaking and involved practices almost every week. As a Young Women leader, I wondered at times whether it would ever come together! The Dance Festival was held in a football stadium on the other side of Vancouver on June 24-26, the week after school ended.

I helped behind the scenes at each performances, except for one show, which I watched from the stands with the rest of the family. It was a very different experience to see the entire show from the audience. It was exhilarating, fun, impressive, spiritual, inspiring . . .

To start the show all of the youth run onto the field and immediately started an energetic dance. That's when I began to cry. It was touching to see all the youth, from different areas and of different ages, performing together and supporting each other. I knew the many hours of sacrifice involved in the practices, and I recognized the deliberate choices the youth had made to participate in something uplifting rather than the many other activities the world offers. In an area with a low population of LDS families, it was really cool to see so many youth with similar values working and dancing and laughing together.

As one of the oldest group of kids, Brandon performed in two dances, a disco and a waltz. Luckily, my zoom lens of my camera caught some of his smiles.

The above pictures were from the disco. Below, the waltz.

Bailey was part of a jazz dance with the other Beehive-age girls.


For the final number of the show, all the youth came onto the field and sang "How Firm a Foundation." Bailey was one of the few youth chosen to stand at the front and sign the words to the hymn.
During the second verse of the song, the missionaries serving throughout our area marched onto the field holding flags which represented the temples. They surrounded the youth, and everyone sang the last verses of the hymn. It was a breathtaking sight. I had a very spiritual moment where I felt the presence of a "bubble" of power and righteousness extending over the stadium. It felt as if the combined goodness and testimonies of the youth on the field were enough to repel the effect of the adversary, if only for awhile. I was cognizant of the power of righteousness to combat the evil of the world. I felt privileged to be a mom to two of the youth who are so valiant. I felt the power of LDS youth supporting each other. I felt a strengthening of my testimony in the restored gospel and in my Savior, Jesus Christ. I felt the love of my Savior and His desire to help me and my family.

The words of this hymn have always been one of my favorites. They are even more meaningful to me now. I will never forget the power exuded from a group of youth as they sang these words on a cool summer evening in Vancouver.

How firm a foundation ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in his excellent word;
What more can he say than to you he hath said?
You, who unto Jesus, for refuge have fled.

In every condition - in sickness in health,
In poverty's vale, or abounding in wealth,
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,
As thy days may demand, so thy succor shall be.

Fear not, I am with thee; O be not dismayed!
For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid;
I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.

The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose,
I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes:
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I'll never - no, never, no, never forsake!

What else did we do in the summertime?

The end of June Rich and Lindsey and their six cute kids visited us. They had taken a month long trip from Arizona, up through Utah, Yellowstone, Glacier National Park, and then over to Washington. After leaving us they traveled south, through the Redwood Forest, to San Francisco, and then home to Arizona.

While at our house we showed them a few of the beautiful sights around us, including Ape Caves, which is at the base of Mt. St. Helens, and the gorgeous lakes at the base of the volcano. We also took them down to the beach house in Depoe Bay, one of our favorite places anywhere! It was a wonderful visit. They kids all got along like best friends and we loved hanging out with their family. We love to have company!
Posing outside our house, Paij, Sydney, Aubrey, and Bailey.
Joseph and Carson were great buddies.

The beautiful Oregon Coast.
These are heaven on earth . . . . Hood strawberries, which happened to be available the week we drove down to the beach. We bought a flat at a roadside berry stand and the kids ate almost the entire flat by the time we arrived at the beach house!
Brandon and I found a favorite spot at the top of tall outcropping of volcanic rock on Fogarty Beach. We sat for a long time, watching the waves crash and talking about how life is going to change now that he is headed off to college.Logan found a starfish in one of the tidepools.
Bailey and Paij at Fogarty Creek Beach.
Dan and I standing in a little cave, hollowed out by water and wind.
Joseph spent a long time "conducting the waves." He would bring his arms down dramatically and command the waves to crash. He said he was trying to be like Mickey on Fantasia.


The girls at the beach.
Rich and Lindsey. Rich took most of the pictures on this blog posting. He had just gotten a new camera, and took some great pictures during the trip!


On Sunday afternoon after church we drove to downtown Newport and walked along the waterfront. We stopped at an area where the sea lions congregate and watched them for awhile. They are noisy creatures!
Even though the water is freezing, the kids splashed around in it several times.
Brandon drawing in the sand, just before injuring his foot by picking what he thought was a beach ball (look closely in the right side of the picture above). It was actually a buoy, and very heavy and hard. He hyperextended and jammed his big toe. We thought he had broken bones because he was in so much pain, but he improved quickly over the next few days.
The path to the "secret beach" is pretty precarious (which is what makes it so private), so Dan and Rich had to help Brandon hop up the cliff, down the hill, through the brush and the pebble beach, and to the walking paths in Little Whale Cove, where we had borrowed a wheelchair to push him back to the beach house.

Rich and Lindsey carried their stroller up and down the steep path to secret beach so they would have a place to strap the babies while everyone played.
After returning from the beach we took Rich and Lindsey and family to see the south side of Mt. St.Helens, which is breathtakingly beautiful. We walked through the Ape Caves, which are underground lava tube caves.

Porter Reunion 2010

July 12-16, 2010 was the bi-annual Porter Reunion in Greer, Arizona. We flew to AZ a few days before the reunion and rented a home in Gilbert. This allowed us plenty of time to visit with cousins who live in the Valley while eating as much delicious Mexican food as possible. Every day, twice a day, sometimes three times as day. It was great!

The rental home was beautiful and reasonably priced. The kitchen was huge and had the largest fridge I have ever seen. The backyard was all set up for entertaining with a pool, outside bbq and bar area, fountain and waterfall, fire pit, and seating. We had a very relaxing time, and because of the pool we didn't mind the heat!
This rental home had seriously the biggest fridge I have ever seen. The left side is a freezer, the right a fridge. It is set up for catering/entertaining on a large scale.
On Sunday we attended church with Lindsey and Rich's family and then Dan drove us around Mesa for two hours. He showed the kids all the memorable places from his youth, such as the spot where he was hit by a beebee gun, the place he got into a car accident which shut down power to most of the town, where he played Little League baseball, where he attended Prom, and the location of all his schools. The kids were groaning by the end, but it was important stuff!
The best Mexican food anywhere. No question about it. My mouth waters just thinking about it!
We took Grandma and Grandpa out to dinner for Grandpa's birthday. Shellee's two oldest kids were with us, also, as she was in the hospital being monitored for pregnancy complications.

On Monday morning we drove NE to Greer, where the weather is more like it is in Vancouver, cool and rainy. We stayed in a cabin with Dave and Mimi's family, near two other cabins which housed the rest of the Porter family (except for Shellee and Curtis).

Our kids really look forward to this reunion. They say, "it's like a big huge sleepover." The older kids hang out until late, watching movies, playing games, and talking. The younger kids play together all day. It is a lot of work to pull off a reunion, but it is worth it.
Nate (all grown up!) challenged Dan to a push-up contest. Dan held his own, but Nate does clapping push-ups!
A few of the Porter girls doing crafts at the Pavilion while it rained. It rained almost every afternoon, which was a kind of fun novelty for those who live in Arizona.
Every night we had a devotional and activity. This night Grandma taught a lesson about prophets. She dressed all the little boys up as a different prophet.
The lighting in this room is horrible for pictures, but this is Brandon and Aubrey singing during the talent show. They sang a cool version of "If I Had a Hammer." Brandon played guitar and sang harmony and Aubrey sang the lead. For her talent, Bailey brought a framed copy of one of the photos she has taken. She really enjoys photography.
Brandon helped the younger girls write a song that they dedicated to Spencer (who is Brandon's age). Spencer was at Boot Camp at the Air Force Academy. The last night of the reunion, Brandon and the girls performed the song, which was taped and will be sent to Spencer.
There are some fun play structures at the campground. The kids love this "red merry-go-round." They are constantly begging for one of the older cousins to push them on it.
All the pictures from the reunion are compliments of Bailey, who snapped many photos documenting the experience. Because I knew she is so good at taking pictures, I didn't even get my camera out of the bag!