Alright Already!

Let me take you back....back to July 2008.

{ring ring}

"Hello" answers the cute brown haired green eyed girl (yes this would be me)

"Sister B., the Stake President would like to meet with you this Thursday....he would like your husband to come along."

This is where I should have said no....but I didn't...I said "that would be fine." BIG MISTAKE!

When meeting with the Stake President he gave me the assignment of being the Cute Chair-Girl {I would say chairperson...but chair-girl is cuter} for the Stake float which would grace it's sparkly presence on July 24th 2009.

I think the Stake President must have lost his mind asking ME to be in charge. However he told me that all I was to do was to get a committee together and plan how it was to be done. PIECE OF CAKE Right? WRONG-O!

So last July I went to the KSL parade preview and viewed many of the sparkly wonders that "Stakes" built. I thought "how in the world will I do this?!"

FAST FORWARD

January 2009

I attended a meeting where I was given the parade theme "Utah's Pioneers...Catch the Vision."

Where then I was told that I was to come up with a theme and concept for our float and begin construction.

I gathered a small committee together and we mulled over some ideas we ended up with a concept...actually the concept was one that mom had given me prior to getting together with my committee...and they happened to like it. Our theme would be

"BEE-lieve in the Vision...Catch it!"

The concept of the float was two pioneer girls had gone out on a picnic and out to catch some bugs and butterfly's. While out they got tired and had fallen asleep and they had a dream or a "vision" if you would of all these enormous bugs and butterfly's.

We had someone from the stake sketch the concept and we turned it into the parade committee for approval. After it was approved we needed to get working on the float.

This is where the task turned into a nightmare. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH {screaming in pure frustration}

My committee fell apart one member at a time. Till I was left with one person. I tried everything. Then the High Councilor who was supposed to be over the task "couldn't do it" any longer and they had to assign a new HC. Then we couldn't find anywhere to build it...and the stake wanted us to build it in the Stake Pavilion (not going to happen). Finally a cute family stepped up and offered their big garage for the construction of the float. Then I assigned each ward with a task to do.........seriously.....Two wards out of seven followed through. I even had a few ward's chairperson (I had asked each bishop to assign a chairperson to get their wards assignment complete) told me that they didn't have time and they weren't going to do it. THEN we would ask the bishops to announce it in sacrament and I think only 2 wards did this.

We had so much work to be done and NO help.

Finally the last week and a half we had so much help we didn't have enough jobs to be done. It would have been nice if they would have all come out back in April.

However we finished the float. I didn't quit, I kept going. So many times I would go home and cry because I didn't know how I was going to do it. I would pray that some miracle would happen and that we would have the float completed. Even though I wanted to quit so many times I knew that I was asked to finish this task. The Days of 47 Parade is very important to our Prophet and he asked us to do this. Actually he said "it's not an option it's an opportunity."

With all the trials we went through to get this float done I was so excited the morning they judged the floats and we were given the Theme Award. This is one of 6 Overall awards and the 2 highest award given (or so I am told). The Theme Award was given to the float the was the best interpretation of the Theme for the Days of 47...which again was "Utah's Pioneers...Catch the Vision."

I know why we were given the award. It was because we worked hard...we built the float with no idea or clue how. We didn't have any artists working on it....we didn't have any professional help...and our stake didn't give us any extra money. But most of all we were given the award because I stuck with it....I didn't quit...and the Lord knew how hard of a job it was for such a small group of people to accomplish. I am proud of what we did...and I am thrilled that we were recognized the way we were.