Red Ribbon Week and Halloween!

We had a great time last week.  We got the walls up at the house and celebrated Red Ribbon Week and Halloween.  For Red Ribbon week the kids participated in Hat Day, Crazy Hair Day, and wear your costume to school day, which also happened to be Halloween.  They had a fun Halloween parade at school where they were able to parade through each classroom and show off their costumes.  They also went to a magic show drug free assembly that Connor really enjoyed.  On Halloween we went to trunk or treat and then went trick or treating all over town.  Kinlee loved trick or treating on "snob hill" and kept asking the next day if we could go back.  We bought Matthew a Buzz Lightyear costume that he wore to a Halloween party on Thursday, but refused to wear on Halloween, so he ended up being Captain America.  After trick or treating we went back to our house where the kids and their friends ate candy and watched Hocus Pocus.  It was such a fun week and the weather was beautiful. 

House update

We have a garage floor and basement floor and walls, yipee!  We also had our annual pumpkin carving at Derk and Deb's.  Connor was the only one to actually carve a pumpkin and I didn't even get a picture, but I got one of his awesome science project he did!  Kadee, Kinlee, and Matthew took the easy route and used stickers for their pumpkins, but they still turned out super cute!

Witchapalooza!

Our land before we started digging

Our big hole in the ground

We have had such a fun couple of weeks that I haven't taken the time to blog.  We started working on our house.  We have the walls of the basement and garage poured, window wells in, and will have basement/garage floors on Saturday.  It's been a fun, but already exhausting and expensive.

We took a break from house work and attended the Children's Justice Center Harvest Ball.  As you can see, Rory and I went as a cowboy/cowgirl.  It was a great night, we had dinner, visited with friends, and danced until our feet hurt.  All proceeds raised went to help fund the CJC, a group that helps care for kids in need.

Lastly,  Saturday we had a fun girls day to Gardner Village to Witchapalooza.  They have the most amazing shops there and there was so much I wanted to buy, but only ended up getting a pair of earrings and some hair bows for the girls.  We window shopped and checked out all the decorations and witches, then went to a lunch show called the lyin', the witch, and the warlock.  It was so cute and such a fun show!  Kadee loved it and loved having some mom time all to herself.  I sure do love spending time with that sweet girl and I love celebrating Halloween in all these fun ways.  While Kadee, Debbie, and I were at Gardner Village, Connor was camping/hunting with grandpa Derk and the boy cousins.  He hiked his little heart out.  He had such a wonderful time and was only a little disappointed that he had to come home a day earlier then the rest because I wouldn't let him miss school.  He can't wait until he's old enough to go hunting himself.

Flash floods and rainbows

So much has happened this past week it's hard to know where to begin.  My grandparents came to stay with us and the kids enjoy their company so much.  Kinlee just adores grandma Bet and insisted on sleeping by her the first night they got there.  Rory was gone hunting so we were on our own.  We went to my mom's house Friday night for dinner and got home late.  I ran over to Debbie's for something (I don't even remember what now) and was visiting with her when Kadee came in holding her chest and crying.  She said she went to plug the TV in her bedroom in and was shocked by the outlet.  Her chest was really red and blistered so I decided to take her to the ER to have her checked.  They got her right back and did an EKG to make sure the shock hadn't affected her heart in any way.  Everything looked good so they monitored her for a few hours and then sent us home.

 

Saturday evening the floods came.  It was about 11:00 pm when Debbie called me to tell me our old house (the house we sold just a month ago) and all the houses down there were flooded out.  They had to back a truck up to grandma Rhea's porch just to get her out of her house.  I couldn't sleep so I actually went to Wal Mart at 3:00 am to buy muck boots because I knew we would need to spend the next day cleaning up mud and water.  When I got down there Sunday morning I wasn't prepared for what I saw.  My former neighbors had ponds in their yards and driveways that went up to my thighs, all of their basements had at least 5 ft of water in them and the damage done by the floods was unreal. I was so discouraged on Sunday and broke down in tears, there were tons of volunteers and we had been there for hours, but I didn't know how the neighborhood would ever recover.  I decided then and there I would do whatever I could to help them get back on their feet.  I'm not trying to brag, just trying to document everything.  We cleaned for days, so many people helped, we washed pictures and were able to save 100's of photos, we washed clothes, tons of people donated food, babysitting services, blankets, towels, whatever they could.  We were able to set up an account to donate to the flood victims and all worked together to get the neighborhood cleaned up.  We were even able to get a fundraiser going at the elementary school to help the flood victims.  The kids paid a dollar a day to wear a hat to school and donated canned goods.  By Friday we had made a world of difference, I'm so grateful to live in an amazing community.  Everyone came together and supported each other and I was so impressed by the love and kindness.  There is still so much work to do, but our spirits were lifted and we could see the progress made.  Governor Herbert came to tour the damage and give the flood victims a little pep talk.  He was a very nice man and it was a pleasure to meet him.       

A few pictures of clean up.  I bought Uncle Roger Depends Underwear because he jokingly told me that was the most important thing he lost in the flood. 

Branch Family helping clean up

Sunday morning as clean up began

Gov. Herbert, me and Kadee.

Utah Jazz Dunk Team

Last Monday Connor got to participate in the 4th grade tin can cookout. We cut out a can and sent it, a Sterno, and all the supplies he would need to cook himself a delicious breakfast.  I met him there and watched as he and Chet cooked pancakes, eggs, hash browns, and sausage.  It took awhile, but they were eventually able to cook and eat everything they had brought to eat.  They had a great time and Connor is super excited because they are doing another tin can cookout at Pack meeting so he gets to try it again.

Saturday we went to Kiwanis Kids Day at the park.  Everything was absolutely free so the kids had a blast.  They got free lunch then jumped on the bouncers and did some other activities.  Matthew even won a $50 Wal-Mart gift card.  Rory sat in the dunk tank and the kids made rockets to blast off, it was fun but super exhausting. 









Saturday night was our Jazz Dunk Team Event.  Rory has been planning this for months, so we were super excited and stressed that it was finally here.  Matt Griff (Taylor's dad) is on the dunk team so several months ago we contacted him about doing an event at the high school.  He and his team were super excited and so the planning began.  We invited several dance groups to perform as well and had dinner for the dunk team and the Jeff Wood for Sheriff Committee.  It was such a fun event, they got the crowd involved and did some amazing dunks.  The stands were full and we have received so much positive feedback that we've decided to make this an annual event.  All of our hard work paid off and the kids loved meeting the dunk team (Kadee even got their autographs).   

Americorps

I began my job at Wellington Elementary as an Americorps mentor.  I'm still working at Price River Water Users, so I'm a little overwhelmed right now, but super excited to start working with the kids.  I'm going to be working with kids who are frequently absent and with kids that have behavior issues they may need to work through.  I'm also going to be working in the leveled library and doing attendance.  I attended the Americorps 20th Anniversary in Salt Lake this past weekend.  Rory and the kids came with me and stayed at the hotel while I went to the Capitol to listen to speakers.  They fed us yummy food and we were able to watch a live broadcast of President Clinton and President Obama about the Americorps program.  I met some amazing ladies that work in my area and we were able to tour the Capitol building.  It was breathtaking.  I was amazed by the architecture and attention to detail in everything.  It was a quick visit up north, but well worth it.  I am so excited to make a difference in the life of a child and I pray that I can be a positive influence in my own children's lives. 

So right now I feel like I'm at a life changing place in my life.  I've been reading a book about success and am obsessed with Maya Angelou and the impact she made on the world.  I feel myself shifting from who I used to be and I hope I'm turning into a greater version of myself.

It's beginning to look a lot like...Fall

We have had an exciting week.  We moved out of our house, the kids had mixed emotions about it (as did I).  They are excited to live across the street from grandma Debbie, but sad to leave the only home they've ever known.  Luckily they have adjusted quickly and seem to be enjoying the rental.  We have our plans and the purchase on our land will be completed soon, so we are hoping to start excavating on our new home within the next couple of weeks.  Rory took the kids up to the house one day before school last week and let them take a picture in the house one last time.  Connor said he is sad because that house is where he learned to ride his bike and got his first Xbox, but he is excited to live in the rental because it's small and will bring our family closer together. 

 

We were going to go to the lake on Labor day, but our plans fell through so Rory and I took the kids swimming to the Wellness center.  Matty is a fearless fish.  He would just jump in wherever and had no concerns whether or not there was someone there to catch him.  The whole time I kept thinking about the first time we took him there.  He was so scared and sat on the side of the pool the whole time.  What a difference a year makes.    

Kinlee had her preschool open house last week and her first day of preschool today.  She also got to be the first one to bring snack and was so excited to take cheese and crackers and raisins.  She ran right into her classroom and was so excited to be back in school.  Matthew came with us and did not want to leave.  Hopefully he will start in November when he turns 3. Kinlee has gotten so smart and has grown so much this summer.  We have practiced writing her name, counting, the alphabet, and shapes.  She is ready to learn more and show her teachers all she's learned so far.  Her favorite part of school is singing and her favorite song is Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.  Matthew loves to sing Bringing home my baby bumblebee  and is starting to talk more and more.