The Luau this year was pretty awesome....not because of anything we did, but because of the way the ward members rallied to make it a success.I've kicked myself a hundred times for not taking any pictures that night. I was busy, ok?
Anyway, picture a perfectly beautiful, warm night, the yard filled to overflow with people, a ton of great food, and Don Ho singing Island tunes softly in the background.
KC totally saved the day for me by cooking all the rice. Last year was a huge rice disaster. I tried to cook it in the big roaster pans and it turned out all crunchy. So I was telling KC about it and he said Hatsumi makes rice about every day and it's always perfect. He said he would get some rice cooking tips from her. Come to find out she has an amazing rice cooker...straight from Japan. She said we could borrow it, so KC got detailed instructions on how to use it ( since all the dials and buttons were labeled in Japanese) It made 10 cups so KC made 4 batches and it filled up the two roaster ovens Karen let me borrow. It was perfect and sticky...just the way we wanted it! Thanks Hatsumi and thank you KC!
That reminded me of how great other people were to help us out! Karen and Vicky had been on the committee last year to help with luau. They really went all out and did the most fantastic decorations, and table center pieces. Vicky and Deslie even made a Tiki bar and had the most wonderful drinks for everyone. It was really a hit. But this year...well there are no more activities committees and it was way to late in the game to call on anyone to come up with decorations, so we were just going to try to do it ourselves. Vicky and Deslie were going to be out of town the luau weekend, so the tiki hut was out. Then when I asked Karen about any left over decorations that we might use, she said she had borrowed them from where she works and that wasn't going to happen this year. I told her that was fine...not to worry about it. But if you know Karen, well she won't leave you hanging like that. She called me the next day and said she was going to do the table covers and some decorations. She has had a real busy time at work and I know she didn't have time to do this so I asked her to please not worry about it, but the next day, she had it all worked out what she was going to do. Anyway, she is amazing and would do anything for you...such a neat lady.
The day before the luau was cool and rainy but the forecast was for clearing on Saturday afternoon so we were sure praying for that. It made it so they couldn't set things up the day before though, so that made Saturday a little more hectic. The old bishopric was wonderful...Gordon and Dave helped a lot. Dave came over Friday night to help prepare the meat and helped the next day too. Gordon helped set up the tables and offered up his extra table and awesome barbecuer. Several neighbors brought over their pop up tents and barbecuers.
Then there was Rick. He has always been Kelley's right hand man when they cook the meat in the pit. He helps Kelley get the pit ready, and pretty much anything electrical that needs to happen ( which was a lot this year with the new lights in the pond and rock garden) What makes him even more extraordinary is the fact that he squeezed in doing all of this for us while he had his own family and extended family to comfort and care for. Stacey's mom passed away earlier that week. She has been watching her suffering from Alzheimer's disease for such a long time, it was a relief to them all when she was able to step to the other side of the veil.
Stacey had family coming in from all over for the funeral and they were staying at her house. I'm just sayin...they had a lot going on, and Rick was still there to help Kelley as much as he could.
Yard looked nice. These Zinnias have been slow coming on, but now they are beautiful!
KC mows the back...
(Acker's were great to have her over for the evening to play with Trey)
Kelley has been working on the hut for a while now...really has it looking good out there! And he left a big spot just for daddy's truck! We got it in there with Kelley and KC pushing and me steering...HA! I used to love to drive that old truck!
Anyway, Saturday morning, a bunch of High Priests from the ward came over with all the tables and chairs and had them set up in no time. Kelley and I took a break and went out to Nona's funeral. It was real nice ( beautiful music!) and a great tribute to her.
When we got home, KC had all the rice done and Candice was there to help me with the decorations and table covers. She was a big help to me and somehow makes me feel a little less crazy.
A bunch of KC's friends came over and ate, then a guy that looked really familiar walked up to me with KC. He said " I am Elder Rudd...KC's companion in Russia!" KC had sent pictures of the two of them...now he was going to school down at the Y. KC really thought the world of him and it sounded like the feeling was mutual. I was so glad he had come.
The BYU-Utah game was on that night, so we took the big screen outside and hooked up the cable to it. We had said that we would be showing it, so people came dressed to support their favorite team. After dinner, a lot stayed to watch the game. It made it fun to watch while everyone cleaned up. People were really great to stay and help get everything put away too. After everyone left, Kelley and I finished up the dishes and collapsed on the couch to watch the end of the game. Utah beat BYU by about 40 points. A great finish to a very good day.
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