Come see the Temple!

The Atlanta Georgia Temple is open to the public for one more week. Come see.



Click here for more details. http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/openhouse/
We'll try to go Wednesday night. Let us know and we can meet you there.

A grand evening

The LDS Temple in Atlanta has been under renovation for almost two years and is finally finished. We are so excited to have our temple open again! It will be rededicated in May. Prior to the dedication (or rededication) of temples, there is an "Open House" period during which the public is invited to come tour the temple. There's a link for more details in the previous post.

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to play for a special dinner group outside the temple. I didn't see the guest list but I know the governor and some senators were in attendance, as well as ecclesiastical leaders of other faiths, and Martin Luther King III.

Pretty cool.

But to be honest, I was pretty oblivious to most of the people there. However, the guy who sat closest to my seat at the piano did catch my attention. He didn't quite seem to fit at the table. He was enormous. When he stood up after the dinner was over, I gaped like an idiot. He had to be over 7 feet tall.

And, in fact, he is. After describing him to my husband later on, he accurately guessed who it was: Dikembe Mutombo. Since I am woefully ignorant of all things in the world of professional sports, this name meant nothing to me, but I did recognize his face in the picture my husband showed me. And I have since read up a little on this man and am quite favorably impressed. Which is saying something because professional athletes do not generally interest me. (did I hint at that already? Sorry.)

Dikembe Mutombo is a graduate of Georgetown in linguistics and diplomacy. He speaks a host of languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and several African dialects. He is a former NBA shot-blocker star, but you're probably already ahead of me there. He is also a great humanitarian and has done much good with his time and money in Africa, particularly in his native country, the Democratic Republic of Congo. He started the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation to improve living conditions there and has worked hard to help fight and prevent diseases. Through his foundation and personal contributions, he built a big hospital in his hometown. He and his wife have six children, including four adopted.

Doesn't he sound like a nice guy?

Dikembe is in the gray-checkered suit at the far left. The piano was right next to him. You really can't appreciate from this photo how huge he looked at the table.

And here he is about to go into the temple. The man standing next to him is a friend of my husband's family. He is quite tall. Compared to most.

So--that is my first and likely my last tribute to an NBA star. Now enough about the VIPs. Time to introduce the musicians!

Janelle on the violin
Kristin on the flute
And yours truly on the beautiful (and slightly coveted) grand

We switched off throughout the evening with a girl on the harp who was absolutely fabulous. I could have listened to her all night! Is it too late to start harp lessons?

I can't tell you what a delightful time I had practicing with these lovely ladies. It was almost like going back in time....to a former life!

And look who I bumped into! My two favorite VIPs in all the world.

March Madness

In honor of March Madness each year, the male pediatric residents at Emory band together and grow mustaches. At the end of the month, everyone in the program gets together and watches a slideshow featuring all the participants. These guys are quite creative, and the slideshow is hilarious. Then the ballots are cast, and a winner is selected. Donations are made in the winner's name to the Joe P ralley run - a 5k race to raise money and awareness for childhood cancer in honor of Joseph, the son of one of our residents who died of brain cancer - link.

Last year Erik had a lot of fun participating. The guys actually had beards for most of the month...

...and then were supposed to shave them on the last day.

This year we had a lot of family-related events happening in March, so Erik opted out of the contest. He did refrain from shaving at the very end of the month to show a little manly spirit.

So here's Erik with a few of the guys who were on call that night. I think they were going for a family portrait pose here?

I personally think Anne tops them all with her Green Monster Smoothie mustache.

Have you tried one yet?



Anne's current favorite is the blueberry-banana green monster.

• 2-3 cups spinach
• 1-1.25 cups milk
  
• 1 tablespoon flax (optional)
• 1 banana
• 1/2 cup blueberries
• ice