Texas A&M University, November 17, 1999:5pm: Every week day, a group of people would meet at the All Faith's Chapel on the campus of Texas A&M to pray. I happened to go that evening as I often did, with some friends. I remember on that very day my good friend Drew praying, "Lord, may You tear down the idols that others have in their lives. Whether it's money, grades, bonfire, others ... whatever they put in front of You, may it be removed..." How crazy that his prayer seems prophetic now.
7pm: My mom and her friend Nancy had come to College Station to take Nancy's daughter Beth and myself out to dinner. We had a great time, although I cannot tell you what restaurant we went to!
9:30pm: After dinner, we spent a while driving around campus when Mom said that she'd never seen the bonfire site, or "Stack" as we called the unlit mass of logs wired together in tiers like a wedding cake. We drove to the blue lot (parking lot) nearest Stack, and sat there for a long time just watching all the students working to build the massive structure. We noted all the students hanging from trapeze-like benches at varying heights on Stack, wiring logs together. We saw the 'red pots' running around, making sure people were doing their jobs. We saw water stations manned with other students, some trying to do a bit of studying while sitting there. It was very impressive to see.
10pm: I'm back in my dorm room, catching up with my roommate Ella. We call it a night somewhere around midnight.
November 18, 1999:
3am: The phone rings in our room. Ella and I had a policy that we didn't get up to answer phone calls in the middle of the night - after all, that's what answering machines were for! (Keep in mind, kids, that this was before text messaging, and cell phones weren't too common yet.) The phone rings and rings, and we hear our outgoing message, and then the voice of another dear friend, Kevin.
"Skeet! Skeet! (this was my nickname) Get up! I know you're there! Bonfire stack has fallen - Drew is running out there now - GET UP!!"
Before he even finished all of that, I bounded the 8 feet to the phone, and Ella had pulled open our blinds. We saw people streaming out of the dorms on our quad, all running towards the Polo Fields where Stack was located.
And then came the sirens. All day, sirens. And helicopters. So many helicopters.
10:30am: After being glued to either a TV for news coverage or holding onto a friend all morning (and informing our parents that we were OK), I was headed to class. Most professors cancelled class that day, but not this one. Campus was eerily quiet, save for those sirens and helicopters buzzing overhead. All I could do was pray for those working on the site of the collapse, as we knew at that point that 6 or 7 were presumed dead. I was torn between going out there to see what I could do to help and staying back, out of the way. So I prayed.
5pm: Another time of prayer with friends, although the meeting place today was Rudder Tower, by the fountain. Hundreds of students showed up, bowing together to pray for the fallen, their families, for the injured, for the university, for the administration, for healing. I know the Lord was near - I read later in the school's newspaper, "The Battalion", that then-president Dr. Bowen looked out his office window onto the area where we all were, and it brought tears to his eyes yet again that day. He was so moved by so many people out there praying, and you couldn't see any of the brick pavement we were on due to the sheer number of folks huddled together. There were many hearts touched for all eternity that day, as several near me chose to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior that evening. God certainly wastes no moment in time, no matter how exciting or how tragic.
The night Bonfire was to have been lit:
Several thousand people met on the Polo Fields with candles in hand, and we silently marched across campus to Kyle Field, where a candlelight vigil was held instead of a normal Yell Practice (aka pep rally). I choked back tears many times as spontaneous rounds of "Amazing Grace" could be heard throughout the stadium. It was at once beautiful and immensely sad to see all of the candles lighting up the three decks of Kyle Field. Students from the University of Texas (who we were to play the next day), Baylor, Texas Tech, and many other "rival" schools joined us that evening, and UT even cancelled their annual Hex Rally in order to hold a candlelight vigil for the 12 people who lost their lives in the bonfire collapse. Certainly a unity that transcended any rivalry existed that night, and onto the next day when UT even held up an A&M flag during their halftime show.
Today, November 18, 2009:
3pm: My memories of this day, ten years ago, have been surrounding me all day long. I sat down to write my thoughts regarding this time, and I have a great deal of trouble reconciling in my mind the fact that it was indeed TEN years ago and not just last week. My memories are still so fresh, and so crystal-clear that it doesn't make sense that the memories are already ten years old. I was a junior at A&M when the bonfire collapsed, and that day, along with the Challenger explosion (I was in 1st grade) and 9/11 (I was in my first year of teaching) are days that will forever be ingrained in my mind.
My prayers today are with the families of the 12 who lost their lives, and with the school that I think is so grand.
Some may boast of prowess bold
Of the school they think so grand
But there's a spirit that can ne'er be told
It's the Spirit of Aggieland
We are the Aggies, the Aggies are we
True to each other, as Aggies can be
...hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas, spent with family and friends. Were you able to eat all the yummy foods you could, open presents in a room full of laughter, cozy up in a blanket for a little nap, and take some time to reflect on the birth of Jesus? We enjoyed time to ourselves, then time spent with both of our parents. It was a very relaxing day, and we are so thankful for all the blessings in our lives.
Just a list of thoughts, tidbits to share, and verbal trinkets for my "online memory"...
Caleb's preschool had their Christmas Program last night, and Caleb was a camel. It was hilarious - his class, the "Seals" (3-year-olds), were the stable animals in the nativity. They sang "The Animals Sing for Jesus," complete with the animal noises shouted out, and "Go Tell It On the Mountain." 
Thankfully, even after a few tears when he was dropped off with his class before the performance last night, Caleb transformed into the star that he is and did fabulously well. He knew all the words, and was VERY loud! As long as he was with his friends Michael (on C's right) and Hunter (on his left), all was well.
The Houston area had it's earliest EVER recorded snowfall today! Some areas of town got up to four inches, but I'd be surprised if we got more than about one.
We delayed Logan's naptime this afternoon to play out in the yard. By this time, the snow had all but quit falling, and the accumulation on the ground was beginning to melt. Logan loves to play football in the yard (can you tell?) but wasn't too sure of this really cold white stuff - it kept sticking to the football, his hands, and his feet, and I think that frustrated him a bit!
This was both Caleb's and Logan's first experience with snow! I'm a lame mother who doesn't buy hats and mittens every year for my kids (what's the point down here?) so we didn't risk freezing our hands just to make a snowman. BUT, I did try to teach Caleb how to make a snow angel! He kept his knees bent, so his angel looks like it's sitting cross-legged on the ground. :) Caleb and Logan decided just after this picture that they had done enough playing in the snow to last for quite a while, so we trekked back inside where Toben was blissfully dozing in his swing (and in the warmth).
Oh my goodness, the honest truth I'm about to share! I flipped all of these pictures to black-and-white for the sole purpose of masking what I'm wearing... After seeing the shots on my computer, I made a mental note to never wear these items again! The pants are old Adidas windpants that are two sizes too big, and the jacket is my VERY OLD ski jacket that I got when I was probably 17 years old - it's super bright colored (think mid-90's infatuation with teals and purples) and HUGE. To be completely honest, everything I'm wearing today is five years old or older. Mostly older. Pshew. No idea why I shared all of that... you're welcome.
(btw... I totally left a comment to try to win the business cards as seen above...)
This one won't be coming on a Christmas card this year. BUT, it's too funny not to share anyhow!
These are called cake balls. These are also called Sara's New Addiction. I'm glad we didn't really know about these until recently, because I think I will need them for every birthday.
Of course, we had regular cake too. I suppose it's not a "real" birthday without a true cake! We celebrated Ryan's birthday this past weekend out at his parents' home.
Caleb did a fabulous job serenading his daddy, while Logan had eyes only for the cake. (Sadly, LoLo didn't get to have any cake... he didn't eat his dinner.)
