Halloween

Like everything this year Halloween was different. People

made the best of it. I always enjoy Halloween on social media. I love to see the clever costumes and spooky foods people make. This year was no exception and I enjoyed peeking in and seeing cute little baby lions, families in themes, mummy hot dogs, homemade shoots for delivering candy, and all the other fun shenanigans.

Hannah made Ezra’s cute little chicken costume and she and Sawyer were the farmer and his wife. It was nice that Rob was able to go with them to trunk

Or treat, and that he got to stay an extra day and spend it with them. 

E hasn’t cut his hair at all during covid. He made a great Bob Ross and we had a fun photo shoot. He painted the landscape this afternoon specifically  so he could take a picture with it.

Dani and Greg were Mavis and Johnny! 💕 

Grace went to Katie’s house tonight. They all dressed like M&M’s including Lincoln and they went trick or treating and then came back to her house to watch movies and hang out.

Katelyn, Katie, Grace, Phoebe, Kaylynn and Bianca🧡🧡
 

The Royal Family.  Oh my gosh Clayton made me laugh that is so funny!

Little Bub and Biggest Bub watched Ohio state play football today. E and I also watched together. But the two togethers were apart from each other 

The Brants and Johnson’s had dinner together and then went out trick or treating. Too cute!

I like Halloween, the fun dress up, festive family time, cute pumpkins and Disney specials, it’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown kind of Halloween. I don’t like scary. This was a fun but odd one. 

How to party 2020

1.Clean and decorate your home to make it inviting. 

This morning the elders came over and helped Ethan move tables to the yard and put up lights. After we took them to Toasted for lunch.

2. Choose what food to have. We had pizza and soda and donuts, chips and cookies and brownies and a cute graveyard platter. The kids brought some and we did most. I don’t think anyone was hungry after and we have tons of candy left in case anyone goes trick or treating tomorrow.  Which I wonder about.

3. Light some candles and make a spooky play list and then invite your friends over. 

Make sure they all wear masks.

Grace had a pumpkin carving party tonight. She had her flex seal friends over. Everyone brought pumpkins and they carved them.

Then they came in and ate, hung out, watched marching band stuff of YouTube and were noisy and fun🧡🧡🧡

This is the view from Grace’s bedroom window. I love it!

 

in record time

 We had a combined YM/YW activity today.  It was really a lot of fun.  We called it "pumpkin and dunkin" and we, as you may have guessed, carved pumpkins and ate donuts.  

We had a good turn out and there was lots of happy chatter, smiles behind masks and good natured ribbing.  The pumpkins turned out cute and the youth had fun.

We tried exploding a pumpkin too but it didn't explode.  

So the record is for shortest time in grad school.  2 hours.  Yesterday was my first day.  I came home looking forward to starting and looked through my classes and syllabi and mapped out how to get thru the semester.  I left the "gate" class for last.  Liberty has gates that you pass thru for graduation, to make sure you are on track, they are an orientation for each section.  That's when things went awry.  First surprise, I was admitted into the college of behavioral science but at gate 2 I would have to be accepted into the guidance counseling program. This was a suprise to me, even my acceptance letter said it was to the school counseling program.  School counseling had 2 requirements that I hadn't read about before that disqualified me without a lot of additional work.  One you had to have a statistics class in college.  Which I didn't.  I didn't have it or the prerequisites for it.  So I would have to take those before I could go thru gate 2.  Also you have to have taught school for 2 years with a permanent credential.  I taught for 3 years but I had an emergency, and then a provisional credential.  When I started teaching CA was going thru an education crisis, they quickly reduced class sizes across the state to 20 or less, and hired 1000's of teachers with bachelors degrees but no education training.  That was me.  We had 5 years to complete our credentials and I was on track, and had moved from emergency to provisional but I hadn't completed all the requirements. So clearing my credential and teaching for two years, taking the math classes and then doing the whole program I literally would be looking at being 57ish when I finished.  I withdrew and am regrouping.  There are options, I just need to figure out what will be best for me and Rob in the upcoming decade and a half until retirement. I was willing to give up all my free time for 2 years to do this, but I don't know about 5 years, or even 4.  Today I was lamenting to my coworkers and I learned that there are some options out there I wasn't aware of that may work.  I won't be able to get around the statistics class but maybe that'll be okay.  

Speaking of Rob, he's on a business trip to CA.  His flight was safe and he had lunch with a friend and he’s having dinner with Bryan and Tami.

And we stayed home and ate a huge nacho platter for dinner.  

More

 

It snowed today in Utah and in Idaho! Meanwhile we are still in the 90's and the bugs are thick and the sweat is rolling down our backs and off our foreheads whenever we are outside.  You can't have everything I guess.

Our sacrament meeting was wonderful today.  Bro. Hill gave a powerful talk, and the passing of the sacrament was a sacred and special experience.  We are so blessed to be able to live the gospel during our mortal lives.

Tonight we had our first post lock down BYD.  We met at church, and by Zoom, and our speakers were Randy and Meredith Casto, who joined us by Zoom from MD.  They did a phenomenal job and it was exactly what was needed.  They shared their conversion story and bore powerful and meaningful, relatable yet specifically unique testimonies of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.  Randy said several times that he found "more" than what he had before, and there is "more" ahead for all of us.  I loved it.  We left edified and uplifted. They were pastors when they were introduced to the restored gospel.  Randy a Lutheran and Meredith an Episcopalian priest, they gave up their jobs and even some family and friends, really all that they were used to they gave up when they got baptized.  

There was time for a couple of questions at the end and Bro Hill asked them what the greatest obstacle was for them in leaving their ministries and being baptized.  Bro Casto said "Martin Luther said "here I stand, and I can not do otherwise" when jailed, and criticized for his teachings.  He, Randy, said when he received personal revelation that this was God's church he felt the same.  "Here I stand, and I can not do otherwise.”

Meredith said that she was raised in a strongly feminist, extremely liberal house hold and thought that being a stay at home mom was the worst thing that could happen to a woman, that women don't need men, and that her career was her first priority.  Then she learned that the opposite was true.  She left a church where she was the priest and the authority to one where women can not be priests (and she added and I didn't even want to be because I now understood my role and it is so much more).  She said being in Relief Society was the best place to be because there she found the strongest, most valiant, women who knew who they were and what their purpose was. 

I know that the youth felt the spirit and felt the power of their message. I know I did.

Halloween Party

Before we get to the party let me just say I love this book. 

Tonight was our ward Halloween social. It went better than we feared. The YW were in charge of the concession stand and they worked hard handing out food and drinks. We had carnival games, a blow up screen for viewing scooby doo outside and the little kids dressed up. We had about 100 people come and everyone had a great time!

Ethan and Jackson only stopped by to show their moms their costumes. They had a different party to go to. 

 

Thursday

 

FaceTime screen shots are awful...but I don’t care. Awful pictures are my thing;) Ruby and Cora love princesses, and jewelry and crafts, and the trampoline, they are so precious and today I got to watch them spin in their gowns:)! So cute!

I also got to talk to this cute boo boo bear! Sawyer’s coworker tested positive for Covid. They were actually together in the car driving when he got the call. So Sawyer is quarantined and Hannah and Ezra have to entertain each other. 

Obviously this picture wasn’t from today.

I finished with Alma. The war chapters aren’t my favorite but soon we will be in my favorites~ 3 Nephi.  I am hoping to finish before I start school on Monday. Idk though. I’m not trying to race through I just know I’ll have a lot less time and it would be nice to have this time thru completed. 

Grace had band practice tonight. Rob worked late. Ethan and I enjoyed Gators and planned his Halloween costume. 

Grace and her friends and Lincoln are going to be M&M’s and they are already set. 

Wednesday

 

 

My journey through the Book of Mormon has been a balm and a delight. I am loving it and can hardly put it down. So here’s the take away so far:

1. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. He has the greatest capacity to love and He does. Constantly he calls to us to be redeemed, protected, justified, to partake of the mercy he freely extends to us, to be healed, to be filled, to enter into His rest, to have peace, to be blessed beyond word or measure. 

We owe him everything and in exchange for our obedience he gives us more than everything. I love him!

2. I feel so terrible, not for the people who choose not to follow him, although that is terrible and I wish I could change that; but for the many good people who want to know Him, want to follow Him but don’t have the truth. 

We had a fun mutual last night. We divided into two groups and the girls turned a fairy tale into a movie with a message, filmed it and then we watched them. Grace’s group did “Little  Red Riding Hood”. The other group did “Goldilocks”. Both were so funny and cute!

Yesterday was four months since Tanner’s passing:( We miss that guy. 

Weekend

Today Hannah and Sawyer’s friend Jenna is going to the temple for the first time, which is really special. Hannah and Ezra waited for everyone and then they all went out to dinner after. That boy is so adorable!!

We had an exciting day cleaning things. That’s not even said tongue in cheek, I love a sparkly house!

I bought my books today. Sheesh! Text books are pricey! Luckily the girls told me about Chebb and I was able to rent them for the semester for a fraction of the cost. Look at those interesting titles! I do love a good textbook!

We have a sisters text, it’s been very fun! It’s random but we love it. This morning we shared our kitchen aid picture. Except Em. I talked to her yesterday and I know they had a busy day planned so she may not have seen it yet:) Can you guess who belongs to each kitchen aide?

Yesterday Rob and I went out for dinner. Grace was at Katie’s house so I texted Ethan to see if he wanted us to bring something home. He said yes, Buffalo chicken pizza. When we got home he and Jackson were playing video games and gratefully accepted the box. Later after the finished off the pizza they went out for ice cream, and judging by the empty cheezit box and brownie crumbs I think they had a few snacks. Then this morning he told me that when I texted he and Jackson were at J’s house eating dinner with his family. Teenage boys get very hungry sometimes!!

 

Surgeries

 

Yesterday Nana went to the ER and ended up having her gallbladder removed. She is home now and resting. When I FaceTimed with her this evening she looked really good, although she is obviously still in pain and recovering. Sadly she still has another surgery scheduled this year, on her back. 

Papa had cataract surgery today. 

In other news I had my new student orientation today. 

reptiles

Tonight for YW Maya gave a reptile demonstration. I think all the girls really enjoyed it.  She wants to be a herpetologist and knows a lot about them.  She brought in several to look at and everyone learned something.

Andrea was in Utah this past weekend. Now this looks like fall! Although in Florida's defense we did see fruit bats  yesterday and there is nothing that says "halloween is almost here" like a huge fruit bat!

I've been working on my blanket.  I hope to be done soon.  It's been really fun learning all the different stitches. 

Dad is having eye surgery on Thursday.  We live too far away, I can't even visit him while he recovers.  BOM reading continues to go well.  I am loving it! 

 

Every weekend should be a 3 day

 A four day work week would be ideal. You’d have plenty of time to get work done and plenty of time to do whatever other things were important to you. 

In my case the work of being a mom. I am near retirement and it is a joy to have mom stuff to do. I spent a lot of time with Grace this weekend, more than typical somehow. Well she came to the beach on Saturday and even had fun. I literally had to pay her to come but it was worth it. She asked me today if I’d like to go again this weekend. I said yes, and did she? She said maybe if there wasn’t anything else to do. :)

And yesterday we had YW together and spent a lot of time talking. 

Today we went to animal kingdom, which was fun. Unbelievably we did some stuff we had never done. We went to the great bird show, which we both liked but hadn’t seen. We also went to Rafikis Planet Adventure...or something like that, that we had never been on or even knew about. You ride a cute train to an offsite location where there is an animal hospital, petting zoo, conservation area, art lessons and other fun things. We watched a porcupine getting operated on. So cool. 

Anyway it was lots of fun. We left around 2 and went grocery shopping and to get our nails done.

Hannah took this cute picture from the cabin that I hadn’t seen before. Tatum was pushing me:)

Welcome Welcome Sabbath morning

This morning, at 7am, in the pacific ocean (thank you covid) Deo was baptized by his dad.  Anna and Joneaux were the witnesses and we got to watch it on zoom.  How many of those things would have sounded crazy a couple of years ago? It was beautiful.  He looked radiant and excited with all the enthusiasm of an 8year old boy.  I loved watching!  What a special weekend to have two newly baptized family members.  

This is my zoom screen shot, super fuzzy but still nice. 

Everyone got to go back to church today, if they wanted.  We had to sit every other row, and wear our masks but everyone could come and it was really nice.  The Bishop spoke about the second coming and it was a very good talk.  I sat by Bub and thought about how there are just a few more weeks until he's off on his mission.  Woah! The years go by so quickly!

After church we all drove home and then YW and Priesthood had their 2nd hour. It went really well.  I have to say I felt the spirit and was so grateful to see the girls and to meet with them.  Sage, Lettie and Madison each taught a part of the lesson.  We also discussed conference talks.  One real silver lining is I think this pandemic has made us so appreciate meeting together and worshipping together. 

My conference sharing was about the prophets challenge.  I am now almost thru 2nd Nephi and I find myself drawn to pick up the book and to look for evidences of the Saviors doings for us.  They are every where! It is such a beautiful thing and brings such peace and light into my heart.

 

I am making Hawaiian Haystacks for dinner (Grace's request).  We are doing well.  We have a 3 day weekend and everyone is delighted.  Rob's three days were Fri-Sun, his usual.  Me and Grace get Sat-Mon.  We are excited.  Also in the exciting news category a show I like "The Good Witch" just released the next season on Netflix so I have been watching that.  Yay!  Also just news: Ziva is doing great at the Morgan's.  I have missed her more than I expected.  When we go on vacation somewhere or leave her for whatever reason I never miss her but being home and her not being home is sad.  I am going to chalk this up to the dumbest thing I have done in 2020.  So I texted to see how she was and to tell them that if she's too much, or her food is too expensive, or whatever we miss her and would happily take her back.  They said she was great.  They love her and she's sweet and awesome.  So there you go.  I am hoping they have sticker shock when they go to buy her food. And if they don't then I get to know that I made a poor choice. (small sigh).  I do not want any other pets though and am looking forward to all the animals moving out.  It's a mixed bag.  I made egg casserole this morning that was way too salty. Our laundry is caught up from the dryer breaking.

Saturday

Today is Penny’s baptism day. Of course I wish we were there in person but I was delighted to be able to watch it on zoom. She’s a special girl. She is so cheerful and always happy and chatty. She has a sweet singing voice and she’s smart and always up for an adventure. She loves her dolls, her friends, her little cousins, and tumbling. 

Our dryer broke. We spent last night getting fixed. Also Linc went to the vet. He has an abscess. 

Today we talked Grace into going to the beach with us. We were both pleasantly surprised that Lincoln loved playing in the water. Last time we took him he did not. It was overcast and after a couple of hours it began to rain so we didn’t stay that long. It’s not too far so we didn’t mind.

Rob went “fishing” aka standing by the water holding a fishing pole.

Andrea, Sierra and Jordyn.