Mailbox vs Sentra

When backing up to check the mail at the student home...

...because you drove past it on the way into the driveway, use caution otherwise it can be extremely hazardous TO YOUR CAR!!! 

Ok, not so bad; I can live with that.

Yeah, not so much with that!

Yes, the all metal mailbox is just fine. It was leaning a little but a slight push and pressing down on the dirt around it was all the repair needed. Our car on the other hand...it'll be going to the hospital in the near future.

So if you see Dan walking everywhere, just know he still isn't allowed to drive the car. I suppose it's a good thing I love him more than my car.

(Yes,I know that I'm behind. Planning to come at the updates from both sides and meeting in the middle so it's not so maybe posts will happen sooner.)

Fall Colors, Our Car Brutally Attacked, A Funfilled Return Home

The fall colors in our area were B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L. It was so wonderful to drive around and see the leaves change; they even seemed to last late into the season which added to the enjoyment. I took several snapshots around town to try and capture the beauty of the season.

The colors weren't just in our area either. We took a trip to the Washington DC Temple and captured colorful pictures there as well:

Earlier in the summer I noticed bird doo doo on the doors and scratches on our outside rear-view mirrors and windows. We couldn't figure it out for the longest time. One day I was upstairs and happened to look out and see a male cardinal flitting about on edge of our window attacking the competition he saw in the rear-view mirror! It was such a funny site. As time went on we caught the cardinal on the car but as I pulled out my camera, it would fly away. Finally my patience paid off and I was able to catch the bird in action by still shot and video:

We'd even try putting our car in slightly different places and it still came and attacked. We even saw it on our neighbor's vehicles a time or two. Now we have to try and figure out a way to keep the bird from breaking it's beak and our window or mirror next year. But at least we have proof for the insurance company, if the need arises.

As Thanksgiving drew closer we looked forward to having the whole break off. Since it was time for another Horrocks Thanksgiving, we purchased tickets and flew home for a visit. We spent a couple days with my sister, Lynette, and her family. One of the days the girls kept themselves busy with our camera and our iPad taking pictures of each other. As a result I have lots, I mean LOTS, of pictures similar to these:

Then there are the goofy ones we took and they took, playing around with Photo Booth on the iPad; LOTS of those as well:

While there we met a new niece, had a violin & dance performances, and saw a cutie run pose for her modeling shoot,

 

After our time with them, which included a quick trip up from the southern part of the state by my parents and lunch with my Grandma B, we headed up to Amanda & Jake's for a couple days. Sid came down for our time there and we spent our time purchasing gifts, opening a few, visiting, "befriending" Amanda & Jake's dog Chipper, helping Amanda decorate for Christmas, and a little traditional Mario Kart competition:

The gift we opened from Amanda & Jake-tickets to a Weber State/Utah State basketball game.

Chipper loved Dan, as you can see, the feeling wasn't mutual.

Ideas and help Sid and I gave Amanda for this wall.

 

Our time with Amanda & Jake quickly came to a close. Dan, Sid, & I headed up to Pocatello for Thanksgiving with Dan's siblings and their families. Dan joined Sid for part of the trip and they picked up "tarts" along the way. Then we met about half way and I joined Sid in his car and Dan finished driving our rental to Pocatello. As I was in the car alone, I had stopped for a Dr. Pepper and decided to open it as I drove; that wasn't a very good idea. I managed to spill it, all over, the rental car:

After having the same challenge driving to Girl's Camp a couple years ago you would think I learned my lesson, but no, I had to do it again and do it worse!

 

All of Dan's siblings & siblings-in-law were in attendance for Thanksgiving, as were the nieces and nephews not on missions, in Hawaii, or with in-laws. It was great to be together. There were some fun memories made playing a game of football Thanksgiving day, capturing an Idaho sunrise, playing games, visiting, watching movies, planning black Friday shopping, puzzle putting together, and eating, eating, and eating some more. So good to be together again!

 

 

 

 

So, Dan & Sid's "tarts..." The morning we left for Pocatello we all had breakfast together. As we were visiting about our food assignment, desserts, Jake suggested that we should take pies from McDonald's. The more Dan & Sid thought about it, the more they liked the idea. So as they drove up from Ogden, they stopped at 2-3 McDonald's along the way to purchase 22 of their pies (so long as they were ok with the price). In the mean time, I was at Costco purchasing REAL desserts.

 

Along with the presentation was the desire to keep talking up these fabulous "tarts" they were going to make. With a few minutes to themselves, they quickly opened all the boxes and got the set out on a cookie sheet to reheat them. Good thing the Horrocks are known for humor, everyone got a good laugh at their contribution to the Thanksgiving dessert choices. What a couple of wingnuts!

 

 

Quick as the trip was it was great to see so many loved ones. We loved our time together and look forward to the next gathering!

 

A Road Trip, Some Flooding, & Standing On Top of the World

For Conference Weekend we contacted, my sister, Ann to see if we could join her family for the weekend. We had a great time together. It was fun to reconnect with Tyler and Ann and their children. With the time difference, we were able to spend time Saturday morning at a pumpkin patch before the broadcast of General Conference began. The kids panned for gems & fossils, milked a "cow," slingshot small gourds, took a hay ride, picked pumpkins, and strolled through a corn maze:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
About a week later, our area was hit with several hours of rain. Due to all the consistent moisture, we had flooding around the area and had to remain off the roads. Before any driving bans, I ran home and discovered that we now had waterfront property:
 

 

 

 
Good thing we had more than one way in and out so I was able to drive through this mess once. I'm sure it got worse than the above pictures before the storm ended. 

Eventually the rains subsided and we had the opportunity to climb to the top of the Founder's Hall Dome on campus.
 

Picture via Penn Live

 
We made sure to take our cameras for pictures of the area:
 

Hershey Park in the distance.

 

A bird's eye view of the senior high campus.

 

 

Inside Founder's Hall

 

A different view of Founder's Hall than we usually have.

 
Dan's been struggling with his back. As we tried to figure out the best medicine for him, he decided to give some suggestions by other Houseparents a try:

 

Driving along we followed a hot air balloon which landed in a field on campus. Apparently it's a frequent sight:

Visits, Potatoes, Volleyball, Homecoming & Kisses

Amanda had a conference in Pittsburgh for work in September. Thankfully, Jake and Sid were able to join her at the end and the three of them headed our way for a long weekend. It was a short trip but we were so glad they made the effort to come.

Our agenda included a stop at the school for lunch. We were there for a couple Senior High lunch breaks and the kids were able to meet a few of the students we've interacted with in the few months we've been in Hershey.

From there we headed to Chocolate World.

Chocolate World has the largest and widest selection of Hershey chocolates you'll find anywhere. YUMMY!!! There's even a ride that tells how Hershey makes its chocolate and at the end, everyone receives some chocolate!

 

The next day we headed to Gettysburg together. We took the auto tour and since we had bought a tour on cd on our previous visit, we gathered in the same car and went from stop to stop learning more and more about the critical battles that took place there.

 

 

 

It was fun to show them around where we live and let them see more of what we are doing. Overall it was too quick of a visit but better than no visit at all.

While preparing for dinner at a student home I noticed the following:

An Idaho brand of potatoes! Then a few days later I saw this:

It was fun to have these two touches of "home" here in Pennsylvania, especially after the kids had left recently.

After attending a couple football games, we decided to support the girl's volleyball team. We managed to attend a couple of their games too. It was even more exciting and nail biting than the football games since we knew 75% of the team and were much closer to the action; we cheered ourselves hoarse.

Eventually, we spent a couple weeks at another girl's student home. There was the possibility we would be taking over for a period of time since the housefather's mother was ill. So we were  assigned there to shadow and learn the regular routine. We even ended up covering a few days that the houseparents were off which happened to fall on Homecoming weekend.

At 7:30 am the Saturday morning of Homecoming we were awakened to several of the students knocking on door letting us know that the power was out. We gathered together in the living room with pillows and blankets to visit and wait for the power to return. As the morning progressed, we began trying to figure out how we were going to eat breakfast and all get ready for the tailgate party and game. Eventually we decided on McDonald's for breakfast and by the time I returned with the first van load of girls, the power was back on. Dan took the remaining girls who had slept through the excitement and they got breakfast while we quickly got ready. The girls were troupers despite concerns about how we were going to eat breakfast and primp for the afternoon's festivities.

We made it to the decorated van contest and game with plenty of time to spare.

This game ended with a win for us! YAY!

As Dan and I left Founder's Hall, we saw this parked right outside the porte cochere:

 

Not sure why the Kissmobile was there but we decided to seize the moment.

Another fun-filled couple weeks!