Alex Keeps Everyone On Their Toes!

Hello! I'm still up tonight, so I thought I'd update my blog before I go to bed. Saturday evening we had our ward's Christmas Chalet, for the whole family. It was pretty basic this year and Melinda got to rest, 'cause she wasn't in charge! Yay for her! Kattie and Ben came too, and Justin had Josh because Ben and Linda were at his work's Christmas dinner. I'll bet that was nice for them. We had a blast having Josh at the dinner. He just sat on his chair like a little man. We had ham and baked potatoes and green beans, after the nice hors d'oeuvres, that is. And then different desserts were offered. I had coconut cake - yummy! For the entertainment, two little boys played the guitar and then the Primary kids dressed up and did the manger scene while they read about the Christmas story. And then Bro. Darrington read a story for us. No Santa this year, but it was nice how the emphasis was on Christ. I liked that. The decor was very simple, too, and they had pamphlets at the tables, written by the General Authorities on Christmas talks. They also had some pages that the kids could get to color or do a dot-to-dot Christmas tree and a quiz about Christmas. It was fun to see how much room our family took up at 2 long tables, even without Ben and Linda. Then, Sunday we had a great testimony meeting. People bore testimony to the fact that Jesus Christ lives and that He and Heavenly Father love us. Melinda and Danny bore their testimonies about their gratitude for finding Alex that a.m. and for all the help they rec'd. What?!! We hadn't heard about it, but apparently when Alex was playing downstairs. somehow he got by them and got out of the house. Tristan then asked what Alex was doing, 'cause he wasn't downstairs. They looked all over and Danny stopped in the church and told the ward council that Alex was missing. They immediately said a prayer and started looking for Alex. Other people joined in, but after a time Danny and Mel called the police. Lo and Behold, the Bolero bowling alley had called the police because a boy showed up there. In the meantime, they let him wear bowling shoes and bowl (wasn't that nice?). So Danny and Melinda were able to get Alex (who still doesn't quite understand that anything was wrong - he was right at home at the Bolero, even though it is down and across 1st St.! Thank Heaven the Sunday traffic is slow that time of day!). So they were very thankful and the people in the ward were very understanding and comforting, besides having been very helpful. When I got up to bear my testimony, I said that we hadn't known Alex was missing, and that if I'd known, I'd have gone straight to the bowling alley. Of course, I was making a joke! After the meeting, lmost everyone had a story of when their kid went missing, including me. I reminded her of how Ben and Justin were lost in the woods in Texas for 5 hours, when they were just 4 and 2. Justin was still in diapers! They had a helicopter and the worker's from Randy's job looking for them, as well as some people from the church. Finally, before dark, a worker found them. Ben was hiding, but Justin ran and the worker saw him. They were about a mile away and had crossed a small creek, and Ben said they were following 'Black Cat,' our cat, and that they walked and walked and climbed big hills and crossed water and so on. Fortunately, Justin still had his pants on. I'd been worried they'd fall down (as they often did) and he'd get scratched up. Of course, that was the least of my worries! I was so thankful to the guy who found the boys. He came to the door holding Justin, with Benjamin by the hand. They got so far away because it was so noisy that day, from the wind in the trees. The kids always played outside (we were a mile from the road), and I'd check them every little bit. That day they decided to wander and they couldn't hear me call for them. Boy, did I go weak in the knees when I couldn't find them! I went and checked all along the creek first, then ran in and called Dale Helfer, my good friend in Henderson, 7 miles away, and Randy. Everyone came on the double. The helicopter was sent from a Henderson clay co. That was very kind of them. Anyway, it's always so frightening when kids go missing! Also, Phillip went to Sister Lindsay's house as a toddler and we couldn't find him. We remember Garve Giancetta helping us that time. I also remember Abby Lloyd disappearing as a toddler for a while. Happy outcomes in both cases. Whew! Monday and Tuesday were quiet, for the most part. Time flies in December! Tonight is book club, and we're to bring our favorite children's Christmas book and something to eat. I think we meet at Mary H.'s home again. And now you're all up-to-date! Wasn't that fun? Hope you're all doing well. Hi, Phillip! We're thinking about you! Love You! xoxoxo