Another Grand Has Come and Gone

Another Grand Assembly has come and gone and what a great and tiring time it was.

My mom and I left Thursday night at about 7:20 pm. We made one stop on the way down to get gas. As we pulled into Springfield we had to stop at Braum’s and get some ice cream! We went to the hotel to check in…and well you should have seen the look on the face of the man at the front desk…he informs us they have over booked the hotel and they have no rooms left with two double beds. He said he could give us a king room and not charge us for the increase. We told him that was fine until Saturday night, because the third person in our room would be arriving then. So we decided to take only the minimum amount of stuff up to our room since we would be moving rooms anyway. Needless to say we crashed.

We got up Friday morning and everyone got a shower and got dressed and off we were to the convention center to help set up for Grand. When we arrived 99% of the stuff was ready, some of the people decided to set up Thursday night, because they had nothing better to do. So we got the bow put up and the ribbons measured and attached. Once we were done in the Grand Assembly room we headed back to the front desk and received our new room. So Mommy and I moved all of our stuff to the new room and finished unloading the van. Then it was finally off to breakfast! Of course we had to go to the Mud Hut (a coffee house in Springfield in walking distance from the hotel that we discovered about 5 years ago). We got our Puddles (there version of a frapichino) and I got a peach scone. Then we returned to the hotel to get our stuff organized in our room and then it was time for the Grand/State Officer’s luncheon. So I headed down to the banquet room. It was a very nice lunch and a really sweet girl from Columbia was the chairman and did an excellent job! We had a spokes person from Domesta-Pups and she talked about service Dogs and brought her dog with her.

I then returned to the room where Mommy had Christopher sound asleep! We let him rest then we were off to run errands and have some fun. First stop was Wal-Mart to pick up a birthday cake for one of the girls in our assembly. We dropped the cake off at the hotel and headed to Battlefield Mall. I found a pair of multi colored Crocks (well Payless version) and Christopher got a pair of shoes to wear with his suit and such at Grand. Then we went and got manicures. Oh did that feel good. I don’t think I have had my nails done for at least a year if not longer now.

Then it was off to dinner! There is a wonderful Japanese Sushi restaurant a few blocks from the hotel and that is were dinner was to be! Oh the food was wonderful. I had Squid Salad for the first time and it was out of this world. Even Christopher liked sushi!!

We then returned to the hotel and enjoyed the hot tub. It was Christopher’s first time swimming and he liked it very much.

Then it was Saturday. I had State Officer’s practice at 9 am….not to bad of a start time. So I went down to practice and us Flag Bearers did our thing and we rocked! Practice was under an hour long. While at practice my mom went to the Mud Hut and got us drinks. Then it was back up to the room to get ready for Banquet and get in my formal. So I went back up and redid my hair, oh my gosh I tried something new…it worked…and I loved it. So with my hair done, my make up on it was time to try the formal on. This formal I bought about a month ago and it fit good…well let’s just say now it fit WONDERFULLY!! I felt like a million bucks. Normally I don’t care for the way I looked but I will say I felt so Pretty. We went down to Grand Cross Banquet and I sat that cross table with the other State Officer’s while my mom and Christopher sat with our preceptory. Lunch was very good for a banquet meal. The funny part was, the hotel staff was not bring around tea, water or coffee so another lady and I went and got the pitchers and started refilling glasses at our table. It was great. We had our Mystic Ceremony and it went perfect. Then it was off for the real Grand Cross Session.
I carried my flag with grace and beauty…LOL there is not much to carrying a flag but I did it the best I could. The Conferring went great, they conferred 9 girls and 3 adults. Then it was election time. The weirdest and neatest thing happened. Keep in mind, I am a nobody when it comes to the State stuff. Well I actually received votes at Grand Assembly. Not enough to win or anything but people actually voted for little me. It just blew my mind.

Grand Cross ended with The State Dean giving her farewell and we received our gifts, these cute little wooden church ordainments that she made.

We all returned to our rooms while they set up for the Grand Cross installation and once the installation was over began getting ready for our Assembly party. This year our Assembly planned a Super Hero party. I was the “Super Sleeper” complete in PJ’s, and bathrobe cape. The party was very nice. Needless to say we crashed Saturday night…well everyone but Christopher he did not care for sleeping any night we were there. 3 hours was the longest he would sleep.

Sunday morning we got up and got dresses. The girls all went to the Church Service while I was at the practice for the Pledge’s. This year NKC was honored to have the State Pledge Sister and State Pledge Chaplain from our group. These girls have worked VERY hard and it showed. They did wonderful at Practice. Once practice was over it was time for Rainbow to open and do their thing. So they did opening and balloting and then it was Initiation time. This year another one of our Pledge’s was becoming a Rainbow Girl. She looks so beautiful. The Grand Officer’s did a wonderful job and Christopher was so good so I could stay and watch her become a “Big bad Rainbow Girl” as I had been telling her all day. We then broke for lunch and Mommy and I walked back to the Mud Hut for a Strawberry Field Salad!! It was fresh Spinach with mandarin oranges, strawberries, and Feta Chesse. Then we returned to the convention center for the official Grand Opening. This was the times for everyone to be all in formals, Christopher was in his suite and all was great. The Grand Officers, Grand Reps and Grand Pages did a wonderful job. The State Pledge officer’s did their Pledge Ceremony and were prefect! Then came some of the awards. NKC was named Assembly of the year!! As soon as the Supreme Deputy began reading the essay that was submitted about the Assembly I knew it was NKC…how did I know, because I wrote the essay. Two of our girls won recognition with Youth Leadership awards. We then headed to the Grand Banguet. Being the home of the Grand Worthy Advisory gave us the front tables and this year we all had little clickers to make noise with! It was a blast. This year for now the 7th time we won for most Ad Sales. Our scrapbook did not win, but I will say this year the girls had the best time making the book.

Monday came and the day began with the Mother Advisors Breakfast. It was a very nice time and we learned a lot. This year Missouri Rainbow is putting into place a Youth Protection program to make things as safe as possible for both the girls and the adults. That was a good thing!

We went over to the convention center for the Memorial Service, Greetings and Elections. Then we broke for a short lunch and returned for Appointments and Pam’s outgoing. After a small break it was time for the installation. Sam’s Installation was beautiful and we then tore everything down and head home. Of course we could not leave Springfield without another stop at Braum’s for Ice Cream to go. We drove non-stop home and arrived home about 11 pm.

So over all Grand Assembly was great this year. NKC received two Grand Appointments, both Grand Reps. After having the Grand Worthy Advisor for the past two years it was not a surprise that we would not receive any floor offices, it is time for other Assemblies to be honored and recognized with floor officers. NKC Preceptory did not receive any State Offices, again the past two years we have had a State Officer so this year it was time for others to have that honor. To be honest, I think it is great we did not receive much, I think it will be wonderful to have a quiet down year after 2 years of nonstop for NKC.