The Dance Off

Recently, my niece, Madison, came to visit us for a couple of weeks from Florida. My girls LOVE when she comes and plan everything under the sun to do together while she is here. One night as I was making dinner, the girls came down and informed me that they needed Sheldon and I to be "judges" for their "So You Think You Can Dance" contest. After spending an hour upstairs doing make-up and wardrobe, the girls came down and showcased their moves. I sent the footage I was able to get with my cell phone camera to my brother (minus Taylor's solo because it was quite lengthy and too large to download) and he made it into a private You Tube movie for me. The original songs they danced to did not record well so my brother added a Lady Gaga song. Although Sheldon probably doesn't think the same, having a house full of girls is way too much fun.

Superhero

Most of my friends who read this blog already know who Patricia is, but for those that don't, I will tell you. Patricia is my superhero.

I met Patricia three years ago when she moved from Washington to Vegas. I was serving in the Primary presidency and remember the first time she came into Primary to introduce her kids. We were always short on teachers every week (surprise, surprise) and she was always ready to take a class. We all know what happens to people like that....they get called to Primary. Patricia was called to be the CTR 5 teacher which happened to have over 10 kids in the class. Teaching a class with that many 5 yr olds and even convincing a Primary kid that hid for a whole year behind his mom while she played the piano to come to her class was already enough for Patricia to earn her "superhero" status, however, there is more.

Patricia has a very dry whit and loves Dr. Pepper, which inevitably meant we would become great friends. A few months after I met her, she talked me into waking up at a sick hour of the morning to experience Black Friday with her. I didn't realize what a sport it was and that she was a pro.

Less than one month after she and I had bolted through the stores on Black Friday, Patricia got sick, really sick. I do not know all of the medical terms, but basically, her body had started attacking its own muscular system. She couldn't walk, she couldn't open jars, and could barely lift her arms. Still to this day, she is a medical mystery to the doctors here in Vegas and also to the specialists at UCLA.

I have watched Patricia over the past 3 years be poked, tested, misdiagnosed, hospitalized, etc. and NOTHING keeps the woman down. She REFUSED to be released from her huge Primary class, never misses her kids' games, and can pretty much always be caught doing something for someone else. Recently, against her doctors orders, she decided to train for the 5k run at Boulder Dam. Last Saturday, Patricia and about 15 of her biggest fans, including myself, "Finished the Dam Race". I couldn't help but cry when I saw Patricia, who was told that she would need a walker, run the last quarter mile of the race.

Patricia is a superhero.