Lone Peak Homecoming and other happenings...

This week was Taran and Timo's high school homecoming so we spent time helping Taran and his friends plan their date for Saturday. The guys needed to not spend a ton of money but still make it nice. Us moms convinced them to do dinner at one of our homes. It was quite a bit of work Saturday but well worth it in the end. Unfortunately I did not get photos of the couples that night but I will post those once my friend (another mom) emails the ones she took.

Monday I helped in Zane and Micah's class and I even got to listen to Micah read. I had scouts that afternoon. Emily had flag football practice. For family night we played hide and seek in the dark. Timo had driving range so he missed it.

Tuesday was my turn to watch the girls so Stephanie could go to the temple. Afterward Gwen and I went shopping since we were really low on food. We also delivered her invitations to her princess party coming up this week. Can my baby be 4? Anyway, she has been so excited about this! I hope it lives up to her expectations. Micah had scouts and got to see a horned frog eat a mouse. Yep! That evening Taran went to see Anberlin in concert in Salt Lake City with friends (late night because I can't go to bed when I know my kids are that far away), Timo had a flag football game, Emily did not have play practice, Micah and Izak had soccer games. Tim and I each went to a soccer game. I went to Micah's since I was going to Izak's the next night. Micah actually scored 2 goals! I took Timo to driving range after Micah's game and my tooth started hurting out of the blue on the way home...not good.


Wednesday Gwen had preschool and I had scheduled a meeting with Taran's counselor about graduation and college stuff--at their request otherwise I may never get around to it! It was good and at least one local university will give him a full ride scholarship. She made us aware of other scholarships out there as well. I have wanted him to be doing research on this stuff but he may be more motivated now that it isn't far away. He just retook the ACT in September and got a 32 which we are really grateful for! This opens more doors for him. We'll see...he wants to go to BYU but he doesn't have money to pay for it! They probably will only give him a small scholarship. I picked up Gwen and her friend Zoe from preschool and when I dropped off Zoe her mom (Stephanie) invited us to pick apples, so we went! It was fun and fast and we have more delicious, crisp, fresh apples! I want to dry some but I haven't had a chance...maybe this week. Izak had scouts that day and then his last soccer game of fall. They controlled the game but lost, such a bummer since this was the number 1 team and they only lost by 2. I also had to pick up Emily and our neighbor who is in the musical with her, Alec, Wednesday and Thursday. Tim took the other kids to Taran and Timo's flag football game. Which they won. Timo had driving range again.

Thursday I called the dentist since I was still having trouble with my tooth. They had an opening when Gwen was going to be at her friend's. My visiting teachers came over that morning. And both brought me yummy pumpkin cookies. I dropped off Gwen and went to the dentist. I have a root that is dying, therefore I am getting a root canal and crown. Not too thrilled with that! Also the vans brakes were making weird noises and driving weird. So those need to be fixed. The mirror that needs replacing the replacement Tim ordered came in and it was broken. So we are still waiting on it. Then the washing machine broke AGAIN. I unknowingly I drove to DI (like Goodwill) and bought some stuff to paint for Halloween. I picked up the paint on the way home at Walmart. I'll post the transformation later--cool! Thursday was mellow compared to the rest of the week. I just had to stay on top of the Ibuprofen for my tooth. That night I went to Parent-Teacher Conferences, Tim was home in time so came along. It was good. The three musketeers are doing well in school which is a relief. Zane teacher had a lot of good suggestions to help him improve even though he is doing well. She's an older lady and knows her stuff! We had forgotten that Timo had his last night of range so he called Tim while we were at the school and Tim ran home. I caught a friend on her way home and she gave me a ride. When I got home Taran and his friends were finalizing their plans for the homecoming dinner and such. Tim and I gave suggestions. They decided what they could do and then I let the moms know what our assignments were. One mom said that she had some nice stuff we could use with another mom so I suggested they plan the table and let the rest of know what they need or what we can do. They did a great job and the other moms brought great stuff to contribute, it came together nicely.

Friday Gwen and went over to the church to help decorate for our ward/neighborhood Halloween Party. One of my visiting teachers is the activity chairperson and needed lots of help so we went. It was fun and Gwen was good just to sit and eat snacks and 'read' Halloween books. We went home for lunch and I asked Gwen if she wanted to go back and she said, "they are nice, but no." Check out the collage, the Halloween decor was amazing! I included only a couple of pictures. My friend Merrily should have done department store windows! The lady in charge went to her for help since her committee where all working during the day and couldn't be there. So we stayed home after lunch and I actually worked on my treat to bring which is the chocolate chip and cream cheese dip ghost. You use Smiths/Krogers graham cracker sticks to dip in it--yummy! My sister-in-law Amber brought it to a family thing and I have been dying to make it since we loved it! The kids were so excited to dress up. Gwen was Cinderella, Zane was Spiderman (our next door neighbor Spencer was him as well), Micah and Izak were BYU Football players and Emily was a Renaissance peasant thanks to our friend Linda Shattuck. The party was fun but Tim and I didn't dress up. I stayed and cleaned up after since there was so much to put away. It took 7 hours to set up and an hour to clean up! Taran and Timo went to the homecoming football game and activities. That day at school they did a spirit competition hence the picture of Taran with stuff on his face. Lone Peak won and it was a close game so super fun!

Saturday I woke up early to get things done. Homecoming preparations. I picked up parfait glasses for the yogurt parfaits I made, and shopped for other items as well. I met the couples at Walmart around 12:30 PM there group picture is in the collage. Then I did a competition--they did not know what they were going to have to do. I gave each couple $5 and they had to buy food for lunch that had a whole grain, fruit or vegetable and a protein. They had 10 minutes. The couple who got done first got 5 more dollars. The rest got a dollar! They had fun--I think and it was very interesting to see what they chose! They headed over to the duck pond park I frequently write about. They ate lunch there--I had stuck blankets and napkins etc. in the back of Taran's car so they could eat a picnic. Taran said that they fed the duck some of the bread they had bought for lunch and that was fun. They made their own marshmallow guns out of PVC pipe and had a marshmallow war. They had a lot of fun. After they dropped off their dates the boys and moms set up for dinner. It took until 5:45 PM to set up. The mom in charge of the tables borrowed Merrily's tents, and several other decorating items. The weather had turned colder so she lent us material that clips onto the the tent and made an enclosure. We put heaters in there and it was just the right temperature. We put lights around the inside, candles and Merrily's hanging light. One of the boys made a walkway with lights from the gate to the tent. Meanwhile Tim ran Emily and Izak to referee soccer, then he picked Taran's corsage, picked up Emily from her refereeing to take her to her flag football game that ended up getting forfeited! Then he went back and got Izak and went to Zane's soccer game. After the soccer game he and Izak went to the BYU vs. San Diego State football homecoming game--which they surprisingly won! Emily helped serve the food--eat little sister served her brother and his date. Originally I was not going to help with the food but in the end it was good all us moms were there to cook. They had a breakfast food theme--Tim's suggestion from a date he went to in high school. Everything was super nice and we had the cereal was in a large bowl fancy bowl with a ladle. They had crepes with several fillings, eggs, bacon, sausage, juice, milk and chocolate milk and my yogurt, strawberry and granola parfaits. The girls were in awe of the tents and set up. The food was a hit as well. They had a lot of fun at the dance and ended up in the tent after for donuts and hot chocolate. We washed all the dishes while they were gone. The boys came back after dropping of their dates and took down the tents, tables and chairs. Taran said that he didn't get home until 1:30 AM! Yikes.

Gwen has a cold so she stayed home from church. I stayed with her. Emily and Tim came home from sacrament meeting so I could go teach my class. Emily had a cold too and was just going to take Airborne and go back but ended up staying so I could have stayed and gone to RS. I would have gone back but my tooth is spaztic and hurts at random moments and I actually cry it hurts so bad--even on Ibuprofen so I thought I'd stay. I got Gwen lunch so it worked out and I wrote this. As I do I feel my mouth getting swollen. We have dinner at my mom's tonight with my dad's cousin and his wife who are here from South Africa--they were set apart by Elder Holland Thursday to be temple president and matron in the Johannesburg South African Temple. It should be a nice evening.

Hopefully we can get our van fixed, my tooth and decide on fixing or replacing the washing machine! Have a great week...we have fall break and 2 birthdays the end of the week! Fun times!