Thanksgiving 2009

We had a great Thanksgiving this year. We are always excited when we have company to share our meal with. This year the Frome's spent Thanksgiving with us on their way back from California. We also had our good friend Art with us. It was nice to have Jen helping in the kitchen. With her supervision, I was able to locate all the disgusting turkey parts they hide in the bird. Years ago, I accidentally left the gizzards in the butt cavity and Todd found them when he carved the turkey...so gross. The cousins were all very glad to be with each other. The food was very good. This year I made my first chocolate cream pie...the real stuff not the Jell-0 pudding kind. I am definately going to make that more often. After the dishes were done up, we went to the movies, which is a Frome family tradition. We really enjoyed having our family with us and have so much to be thankful for.

Todd's Trip to Georgia

In November, Todd drove back to Georgia with his dad to keep him company and help with the driving. They drove about 10 hours a day and made it back in three days. A few of the things they found on the way were "Hendrix College" in Arkansas and Elvis's birthplace in Mississippi. Todd sent me a ton of picture mails while he was gone. I thought that was cool, I was able to share in what he was seeing and doing every day. He spent the first few days at his dad's house and was able to visit his uncle and grandma. Then he went north a little bit to spend time with Eric and his kids, Sarah and Jacob. He spent several days with his mom, which he enjoyed very much. He was also able to visit his grandpa and a few aunts, uncles and cousins. One of the highlights of his trip was ordaining his nephew, Jacob, to the Aaronic Priesthood. Todd brought us all souvenirs, the kids got Atlanta braves t-shirts. I got the one thing I would never have suspected or guessed...a "Piggly Wiggly" t-shirt. Yes, there is a store in the south called the Piggly Wiggly, I have mocked that store name for 20 years. I cannot take any grocery store seriously named Piggly Wiggly...so it was a pretty funny gift. I wore it one time so he wouldn't feel bad. When the kids came home from school and found out I had worn it out in public that day, they were horrified.

GPL's visit 2009

The bathroom "before" - yes..hideous.

The bathroom "after" - much better

Todd has affectionately re-named his dad GPL which stands for Grandpa Lonny. He drove himself out here from Georgia a few weeks ago to spend some time with us. We were really glad that he came and put him right to work. I had a "honey-do" list for him since Todd couldn't take any time off work to hang out with him. I was trying to help keep him active and from being bored out of his mind. He remodeled our downstairs bathroom which included taking out the old sink, mirror and light fixture and installing new ones. (see the before and after pictures) then he changed out the girls bathroom sink and faucet. He also hung up two towel bars and two toilet paper holders. He is pretty handy. Last year when he came he installed three ceiling fans and a light fixture in the dining room. He is always happy to help. Todd, Aaron, GPL and I were able to hike at Red Rock Canyon one day, that was a lot of fun. We also went up to Cedar City one day to visit Ariel so GPL could see her and take her shopping. Aaron enjoyed playing baseball with grandpa. I enjoyed going out to eat everyday. GPL likes to eat out when he's on vacation. Todd decided to drive back to Georgia with his dad. They left on November 6th and Todd flew home on the 17th. I was glad he got to go home. It has been many years since he has been back to Georgia and I know his family misses him a lot.

Some stuff about Aaron

Aaron is a great kid. He keeps us very entertained. This year he is taking choir as his elective in school. He seems to really like it and we love hearing him practice his singing on occasion. One morning, before school, he was playing something on the keyboard. I couldn't hear what it was because he had the headphones plugged in. I asked him what he was doing. He said he was practicing a song that he had written so he could play it in choir class. Apparently, if someone performs something in class on Fridays, they don't have to take their usual test. I said, "Aaron, you don't play the piano." Nevertheless...he had written a song and it was meant to be heard. I asked him if I could hear it, he unplugged the headphones and played me his song. It was mostly played on the black keys and he used both hands so more notes could be played. When he finished, I told him it was very nice. He seemed a little frustrated and said, "I don't know why, but, it sounds different every time I play it, except this part." (Which happened to be the first few notes of the song.) After school I asked him if he played his song in class, he told me he did. I was pretty impressed. One-that he could write a song and two-that he had the guts to play piano in front of his class and with absolutely no training. I haven't had the chance to ask the teacher how it all went down...but I plan to one day.

Halloween 2009

Trunk or Treat was a "splendid affair" as it is every year. Actually, each year they get a little better. Megan and I dressed up as Pirates... I forgot to paint my fingernails black, which bummed me out a bit, but other than that it was fun to dress up. Aaron was a "business man" zombie. You can't tell too much from the pictures but his white shirt and tie were ripped up a bit, and smeared with dirt and "blood." After dinner, we went out to the parking lot to see the RS ladies perform Thriller. It wasn't half bad either...here is the link in case you want to watch. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OIVtdjKrKc Yes...I know everyone is disappointed that I am not dancing in the video but, you do get a glimpse of me a few times. I'm in the black and white skull cap filming the show. So technically, this is my "YouTube" debut. After the dance, the trunk or treating festivities began. I went to my trunk to pass out the candy. Lucky break for Todd he had a guitar student and got to stay home. I passed out candy for a while but never saw Aaron come around. I started to worry that he was pre-occupied with something and wasn't aware that the crazed candy collecting had started. So I shut the trunk and went in search of him. After a few minutes, I had a lead that he was last seen at the haunted house feature inside the church. The man who was guarding the entrance didn't know where Aaron was but, he let me cut the long line to wander through and see if I could find him. Of course I found him inside the haunted house. He is obsessed with scaring people. He had wandered through it as a guest, and enjoyed it so much he decided to become a permanent fixture. I explained to him that the kids outside were getting all the candy, and if he didn't go out there now he wouldn't get any. He said he didn't care and was staying right there. This was good news...there was going to be a lot less candy for me to have to eat. I went and checked on him one more time that night while he worked. He was laying face down on the floor holding a screaming teenage girl around the ankle with both hands. She was literally dragging him across the floor trying to get away as she yelled, "let go of me...let go of me." After I composed myself...I had to have a little chat with Aaron that rule number one of being a "haunter" - you are absolutely not allowed to TOUCH people.

At one point of the evening, I had to work a shift for our Young Women booth. For the past several years we have had the most popular booth of the carnival, the dart throwing booth. You can imagine why it is the favorite, we give sharp, dangerous objects to toddlers and tell them to throw them. Keep in mind, these are real darts and they were attempting to throw them at a bulletin board full of balloons. As the game worker, I had to stand on the inside of the tables in a semi-direct path to the bulletin board. I was to collect the darts after they had been thrown and hand them to the next child. I had a few close calls and one child actually hit me in the back of the head with a dart. Luckily, that particular child was so weak that by the time it hit my head it was more of a tap instead of the scalp puncture wound it could have been. It did, however, heighten my sense of "alertness" for the remainder of my shift.

Every Halloween night, the kids abandon us to hang out with their friends, yet they still expect the traditions that we carried out when they were younger and stayed home with us. I went ahead and got donuts for the black cats tail this year, but, next year no donuts unless they stay home with us. Grandpa Lonny was here again this year, we were glad he could visit. My friend, Mike, was in town with some of his family for the weekend. He called me up and told me had bought me a ticket to the 9:30 p.m. show of KA that night. I thought the show was pretty good, he thought it was stupid. The strip on Halloween night is a complete "freak show." Wow...that's all I can really say. It is an eye opener and there are some really strange people that are living among us. I just don't get Halloween..sorry.