Can You Say, "Close but no Cigar?"

My sister-in-law surprised me with a gift certificate for flowers from one of the national, on-line companies. Here's what the website said I ordered:

This is what arrived at my place:

Not quite the same...not even close...

I realize some of it is the local florist used and stated as such in the review I wrote (which, by the way, magically disappeared between the survey they sent and their website). Oh well, the were still pretty and nice to have even if not quite a precise replica of the image used to sell the arrangement.

The Prodigal Blogger's Departure-Part II

I just looked and I'm not nearly as far behind as I thought I was. Yay me! Before 2012 comes to a close I'll do my best to get through Thanksgiving and then post on Christmas festivities after they have come to an end. Here goes nothing...

The end of September we did a quick trip to Utah to visit with Dan's Uncle John and Aunt Norma before they left on their mission to Kentucky. We spent part of Saturday with them visiting at their home and reacquainting ourselves with our cousins on that branch of the family.

Before heading up to Poctello for more family time we stopped in South Ogden to see Amanda and Jake's new house. They closed the day before so it was now officially theirs (well, theirs after 200 +/- monthly payments to the bank). It's a cute home that needs some updating (the previous owner was the architect and he passed away in his 90's without making many updates) so they will be busy making the house their own. It's been a big project but they have enjoyed the renovation process thus far and moved in shortly after Thanksgiving.

 

While in Pocatello I borrowed a dress from my sister-in-law and then used it to put together our costumes for an upcoming Roaring 20's themed birthday party. The weekend before Halloween we stayed with four Andy & Angela's children while they were out of town to watch their oldest complete at the State Cross Country Tournament. Our ward held a Trunk-or-Treat party so we donned our costumes once again and to our nieces and nephews with us to the party. I think the highlight for them was when we walked into McDonald's for dinner all dressed in our various costumes.

Dan even did a little trick-or-treating too...

...and was given our Bishop's son, but on the condition that he eventually be returned to his parents. Bummer!

Also on our stop-over in Pocatello, we were finally able to see Neal's trophy hippo mounted on his bedroom wall:

A couple years ago he decided that hippos were cool, so cool that before he graduated from elementary school others were sporting hippo things as well. His mounted hippo was one of the birthday gifts he received earlier in the year on his 12th birthday.

October was also filled with opportunities to be involved with the Boise Temple Open House as tour guides. That carried over into November with both of us being chaperones for the young men and young women involved with the Youth Cultural Celebration. Both were such amazing events! We feel so blessed to have been asked to participate.

The Cultural Celebration was spectacular and the highlight of the Temple Dedication weekend for me. To be in the arena with over 9,200 youth was both a privilege and a blessing. They were so excited to perform the dances and songs they'd spent weeks practicing in front of our beloved prophet, President Thomas S. Monson. After, I found this quote regarding the Cultural Celebration performances: “On Sunday, Elder Bednarsaid there was enough energy during the program ‘to power every home in the United States for six months.’” (Original source) I would agree 100%!

Shortly after being asked to chaperone I received a letter describing our responsibilities. One of the things it said was to help keep the youth excited. Keep them excited?! I was more worried about keeping their excitement contained! The girls in our ward have been so excited from the moment we told them they'd be able to participate in a Cultural Celebration and the excitement returns whenever we talk about the event. It was one the the highlights of the year for them and for me. I don't know if of us will be able to participate in something similar in the future or that we'll ever forget the experience. Truly a tender mercy that I was able to be involved.

Whoa, I just might get things caught up here...Blogger, don't fail me now!!!

Monday immediately following the Youth Cultural Celebration and Sunday's Temple Rededication (see...huge events for me), my parents arrived in Boise to spend Thanksgiving with us. We had a good time visiting and being together. It was their first time in Boise so we did what we could to show them our "home town." We visited, strolled through the mall, attended the Festival of Trees, visited, watched our niece clog, visited, ate yummy food, and just enjoyed time together. Before they left we met for breakfast at Cracker Barrel. We made sure to snap a photo by in the rockers out front:

 

(The sign in the back is my maiden name and one of 5 or 6 signs they have with my maiden name on it!)

Well, except for the onesey, twosey things that might come to mind, I am saying that I am now caught up enough that I can say good-bye to the Prodigal Blogger (hopefully forever but we'll have to just see about that). Now it’s onto my final preparations for Christmas then the posts about what we finally end up doing. (I can't wait to find out what we do because we can't seem to make up our minds.)

 

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far...

Not really sure where she gets it, maybe you can help me out...?

Overgrown Juvenile Delinquent

The church across the street from us often has uplifting quotes on their sign. They change the sayings every couple months or so. Well, when Dan saw this one he began to laugh out loud.

I asked him what was so funny. He said, between laughter and giggles, "I think it would be funny to change the sign to say, 'God is Harry Potter.'" He had even quickly figured out that he'd take the missing letters from the other side (which mentioned the times of their services) to make sure he could make the phrase say what he wanted.

He laughed about it for days, almost every time we drove by.

In fact, shortly after the idea he said that if I woke up in the middle of the night and he was gone, that he was at the church changing the sign. I said that was fine but that I'd have no problem reporting that he did the vandalism. Imagine the shock on the faces of the police and church leaders to find that their culprit was a 50-year-old man.

Lucky for him (and the church), the tiles with the letters are covered by a locked case. I suppose his years of tormenting innocent people with "good, clean fun" as a teenager are still too fresh....Some people's children...

An answer, FINALLY!

Still wondering about my project I mentioned here? Everything was for Girl's Camp prep. Here are some of the pictures of the finished projects and how they looked at camp:

 

Some of the fun that week: (And, yes, amazingly, I'm saying fun.)

Packing up the borrowed truck to head off with the girls for a week.

Learning to kayak

(yep, I did this)

Learning to fly fish

(yep did this too)

"Chipmunk" fires to teach the required fire stuff.

Art basics

(Yep, did one too.)

 

One of the biggest hits all week...feeding the chipmunks!

(Yep, just watched the girls do that one.)

And of course, you can't forget the skits!

 

 

We all survived the drive (even after spilling Dr. Pepper in my lap), the food (prepped by the girls & cooked by a caterer), the rodents (all the cabins had mice, not fun), and the week away in the magical world called Girl's Camp.

The Prodigal Blogger's Departure

I'm going to attempt to do a quick update on some comings and goings so that I don't feel so far behind. Here goes...

Before planning Dan's Big Birthday Bash, we decided to do a combination Father's Day & Birthday trip to Yellowstone with Amanda, Jake, & Sid. Thankfully we had perfect weather and we all enjoyed the time together in one of our favoritest places:

Dinner together

What a SHOCK! Their favorite book store; CLOSED!

Dan sure knows how to "blend in."

(Some tourists were walking by and started laughing at his ability to hide.)

Sid kept passing this flyer back and forth to Dan. Dan stuck it in Sid's hood and Sid continued to walk around with it there for awhile.

Yay to Mark & Amy for letting us borrow their van so we could go through the Park together. It was pretty funny to watch Dan try to get out of the back seats.

 

Well, I'm out of space for pictures. So much for getting all caught up in one sitting. :(  Better these few than none at all...