Friday night, October 29, we went to the 4th annual Spooktacular at the South Davis Recreation Center. As a swim team family, we were asked to volunteer at one of the game booths for an hour. We did “mummy bowling.” Ryan and the other swimmer did such a great job, I stood back and let them do it.
When our shift was over, Kristin and Abby met us, and we spent the next couple of hours hanging out with them – games, spook alleys, and even a canoe ride through the “haunted swamp” (where Ryan swims daily).
On Saturday, October 30, Marc & Frances & Alice & Claire invited us to go to “Boo at the Zoo” with them. We had a lot of fun with them, as always! The girls dressed up as giraffes, so we enjoyed taking various pictures of them by the REAL giraffes!
We came home, did chores, and then went to Colonial Square for their Trick-or-Treating. We actually hadn’t planned on going this year, but we had a video game to return there. As we were getting ready to take it back, I remembered the Trick-or-Treating (we have attended for several years). Ryan put his costume back on and we walked around there. (Sorry, no pictures.) Since Halloween fell on Sunday this year, Saturday night was the local-culture-accepted Trick-or-Treating night. For the first time EVER, I stayed home and handed out candy. Last year we were coming home from Washington, DC, on Halloween. We ended up getting some dinner and then visiting some friends. In prior years, Ryan and I have either attended parties, or I have hung out at Rara & Papa’s house while Ryan went Trick-or-Treating with friends in their neighborhood. This year, Ryan went out with his friend, Matthew. They were gone for over three hours (in the rain), and he proudly returned with EIGHT POUNDS of candy! He was so proud!
The real Halloween was pretty quiet. We had dinner with Rara & Papa, including my favorite – red velvet cake. That was MY awesome Halloween treat!
The evening of my birthday, Rara & Papa brought dinner and coconut lime cheesecake. Yum!
Since we were preparing for our neighborhood yard sale, we spent the rest of the evening getting things together for that. Ryan gave me one of the books I asked for - “I Am a Mother” by Jane Clayson Johnson. Rara & Papa gave me the other book I asked for – “Resilience” by Elizabeth Edwards. I have been reading both of them, and LOVE THEM!
On Sunday, October 10, we celebrated together as a family. As always, we had fun with Alice & Claire. Claire was fascinated by the Sesame Street puppets stuck to Ryan’s face. Yes, you read that right.
We tickle the girls’ faces to help them relax and sleep. Alice started tickling Ryan’s face.
My candle blow-out helpers…
Thanks, my awesome family, for several days of birthday happiness!
Our session included talks by the members of the First Presidency as well as a couple of members of the Quorum of the Twelve. One of the talks was the somewhat controversial talk given by Elder Packer. I’m not going to comment on it either way, except to say that I’m disappointed that so many of my friends who were once active members of the Church are now using this particular talk to spew hateful messages themselves. For those who are arguing that it was a message of hate against a particular group, many of their comments could be defined in the same manner. With my family history, of course some of the things that Elder Packer discussed were very sensitive. However, I felt that, overall, the message was given with the spirit of love and encouragement, not hate, blame, and guilt. That’s my two cents.
Later Sunday night as we were doing Ryan’s bedtime routine, he said, “Mom, I have a new life plan. I’m going to play football for BYU, then be an engineer, then be a general authority.” Quite the aspirations! As one whose original life plan didn’t quite turn out (nor the back-up plan, nor the back-up, back-up plan), I tried to be encouraging, while still expressing that he may not necessarily be the one that makes some of those decisions. At least one of those is something that people generally can’t pursue and accomplish strictly on their own. We had a good discussion about it. I believe that Ryan is capable of many great things in his life, so it will be fun to see which “life plans” come to pass.
