The day my church burned down....

Last May we had Stake Conference, which was a broadcast from Salt Lake City to everyone in the Northeast. It began as a pretty normal day. There are three singles wards that met in the building and we had a couple families since our building was closer than their building. We were in the middle of the conference when suddenly the fire alarm went off. We all didn't really think much of it because how many times does an alarm go off and it's nothing. It's like the boy that cried wolf...way too many. I think it was assumed that a little kid probably pulled it.

Things started getting a little weird when we started smelling smoke. It was then determined that perhaps we ought to evacuate. Happened to be a good idea because about 30 - 60 minutes after we did, we had this:

Umm....the interior with the flames was the chapel. We couldn't believe our beautiful church was burning down. It was the first LDS church building in Massachusetts and David O. McKay dedicated it in the early 1950's.

The firefighters were there all day trying to get the fire out. It has been determined that it was an electrical fire that started in the attic...probably from a small rodent chewing on it. I came back to the church after a concert I played for at MIT (my car was parked next to the church and blocked in by the firetrucks) I was able to go with the Stake President and another fireman to see the damage that had been done to the chapel. My concern was for the big beautiful Steinway grand piano that I frequently played...and it was gone. I saw a piano leg with the finish peeling off of it through the debris. That was it. The organ was completely gone. The roof had collapsed taking everything in the chapel with it.

We were very fortunate, though. Once the fire was out and people were able to try to go in and salvage things they were able to get all the bishop's records out. The institute was also housed in the church building...on the side that didn't burn. Though the rare books were water damaged, they were salvagable. The Quakers across the lawn offered their building to store items when we were able to get them out.

There are few church in our area that offered their buildings to us for use and we have finally settled into the church across the street from our burned down church. It's quite a different experience, but it doesn't matter where the church meeting is held, as long as the spirit is there. I'm sure through this experience there will be more blessings and the community will get to know us a little bit more. We were lucky in that we were able to get everyone out without any trouble and the most important things were saved.

Southern Caribbean Cruise 2009

I'm sold! I absolutely love going on cruises. Last February, I was able to join the Oroville Cruisers for there week long excursion to the Southern Caribbean - Aruba, Curacao, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and St. John. Each island was better than the last, in my opinion, as each one was more green and lush. It beat sticking around enduring the long cold winter in Boston. I think there around 35 of us, which made it all the more fun. We sailed on the Royal Caribbean.

We rented jeeps while on Aruba and traveled the island seeing different sights....

Urrr....lovely. Just how I thought Aruba would be....all cactus! There is quite a bit of cactus on the island and it does get windy there, but the beaches are great, and in the end that's what counts! We went straight through the middle of the island to the arches. Which is something I guess is well known for that area???
The next stop was Curacao - an island close to Aruba. We didn't really do much there. Just some shopping. :) The island is part of the Netherlands...hence the bright colors!
The next three islands were the best. They were the U.S. Virgin islands and I loved how lush the islands were. Our next stop was St. Maarten where we all rented ski-doos (sp?) and road them around the island to a fabulous snorkeling spot.
Mom and dad at the ski-do place ready to go.
This is where we snorkeled. Saw amazing colorful fish...oh, and the riding the ski-do was a blast! I only threw my roommate off once, but we were definately the wild ones of the group. So much fun!
We only stayed on St. Thomas long enough to take the ferry over to St. John, which was by far my favorite island. You only have to look at the picture above to see why. Trunk Bay is considered on the of the top 10 beaches in the world by National Geographic. The water is so clear, sand very fine, the exotic fish, lush surroundings and perfect weather make me agree! We spent the afternoon at this beach just chillin' and getting burned! Oh...and sidenote...the drive on the wrong side of the road there with the steering wheel still on the left side...scary!

Visiting all the islands was wonderful, but life on the ship was great, too. There were shows/parties every night, kareoke (new favorite), putt putt, basketball court, games, and being with everyone I grew up with made it a wonderful experience.

My roommate Kathy (who flew off the ski-do) and me all dressed up for the formal dinner.

Some of the group doing 60's trivia before the party on the promenade.

Woot woot! The party!
Hmm.....for some reason, everyone really liked the Indian. :)
Valentine's Day occurred while we were on the cruise and then men always do something really cute. This year they decorated the four tables our group had with candy and little gifts. Someone in the group also heart attacked everyone's cabin doors. In return, then women gave all the men hat's that said, "I'm Loved".

All in all, a great trip! Can't wait for the next one.