Red plate

A week and a half ago was our ward's Primary Program. For those that may be unfamiliar, Primary Programs happen one Sunday a year, when the Primary (children's Sunday school) is in charge of Sacrament meeting. They sing songs, recite scriptures, give talks, etc. It's fantastic. It's something I participated in while growing up, and remember watching it 4 years ago thinking, "4 years from now, Mabes will be doing her first Primary Program." It's a milestone.

She got her part a couple of months ago and quickly memorized it. I figured she'd be pretty pumped about getting up in front of the whole ward and talking into the microphone, but Mabes surprises us with the times she decides to be shy. She kept saying she'd do it, and was particularly excited that she was the very first person to go up to the microphone, so I was pretty confident she'd handle it well.

And then, the Friday night before the program, Mabes woke up in the middle of the night "wif da fro dups." Mabes has a pretty tough stomach and doesn't get sick often (thank you, Mabes, your mom and dad wouldn't handle that well!), but Dave and I sprang into action and got everything cleaned up. Aside from curbing our Friday night Costco shopping/dinner trips, I realized Mabes wouldn't be able to attend the program rehearsal the next day. And probably the program on Sunday. I kept telling myself it wasn't that big of a deal, but this was my first kid's first program. I'd been looking forward to this for years, and she was so excited!

Saturday morning, she had a fever but was surprisingly upbeat. I wanted her to rest and get better, so we pulled her mattress into the family room and told her she could watch shows and movies all day. She was thrilled. She drank her clear liquids, rested, watched TV, and then all of a sudden the fever went away and she was literally bouncing off the couch.

By Sunday morning, she was still doing great. I know the rule is fever-free for 24 hours, but she was doing so well we decided to go ahead and take her to church (with lots of hand sanitizer), since she was so excited for the program. Seeing her beaming from the podium was totally worth it. When it was her turn, she marched up to the microphone and very confidently and clearly recited, "All of us are children of the most high."

Reciting her part

Then she went back and stood with the other 4-year-olds. For the remainder of the program, she was great. Sang when she knew the words, and when she didn't, she just made "aren't I sweet" faces for the audience. I realized that at one point, she was tilting her head so the congregation could see the flower in her hair. And since that was too subtle, she then tilted her head more obviously and pointed to the gem in the flower. At least she was quiet.

One of the faces she was making

She did great the rest of the day, so we celebrated her first Primary Program by carrying on the Ostler tradition of giving her the red plate for dinner. Since we were just venturing back into solid foods, I figured a waffle was close enough to the toast part of the BRAT diet so we had breakfast for dinner that night.

Mmmmm....brinner!