Voting

Today Elder McDaniel and I went to the library to vote early. We figured that the lines on Election Day would be very long. We arrived 45 minutes before the library opened and were the fish and sixth inline. Once the library opened the voting process took very little time. We had both done our research and decided well ahead of time who we were voting for. 

This election cycle is particularly contentious, both locally and nationally. In my opinion those currently in office in El Paso politics are inept, quite a few are corrupt and we need some new blood in these offices. Now I will just have to hope that the people I voted for are elected and that they keep their campaign promises. 

It was Elder McDaniel's first time voting and he was pretty proud of himself. He said he felt like a real adult. ;)

I realized too late that he is accidentally blocking the "I Voted" sticker in both shots. 

Pumpkin Carving

On the Monday before Halloween for our FHE activity we always carve the pumpkin. The kids take out the seeds and we dry them to roast later. We listened to Halloween songs and scraped out all the "guts". Paige and Eva think it smells gross. I printed out a creepy skull that Jason traced and then cut it out. It looks really cool and we are all happy with how it turned out. 

Trunk or Treat

 Today was the Tri-Ward Trunk or Treat. It was the first time that the kids (and Jason) got to wear their costumes. I helped the girls get ready. They had picked these costume pieces out themselves at Savers a few weeks before. I put Paige's hair up, gave her some eye makeup and added little fake blood. Here is our scary vampire.

I helped Darby with her makeup and picking out some jewelry to go with her sorceress costume. She looked spooky but pretty. 

Eva loved this costume the minute she saw it. It was both nerdy and comfortable. I knew we had a sci-fi looking weapon she could use as well. She also thought it was funny that it went along with the "red shirt" joke of Star Trek. I helped he straighten her hair so it looked a little more like the show's era. 

Jason found this costume on one of our date nights. He liked it because it was easy and also had the potential to be funny. He busted out that fake mustache again and decided he looked more like Tom Skerritt in Top Gun than he did like Maverick. 

Here is the whole crew ready for some trick or treating.

I put on a glow in the dark Halloween pun shirt and a witch's hat. 

Here are a few candids before we left for the church. 

We arrived little early because the girls had to help set up the youth carnival booths for the younger kids. Jason always brings his speaker and plays Halloween songs by our car. I got some pictures of the girls dancing to it. It is a good thing he brought it this year since the girls who were supposed to bring a speaker for the cake walk did not do so. Sigh.

Darby got a picture with her seminary teacher Sister Packer, who loves Halloween. 

Sister Bandley (dressed as a Napoleon Dynamite character) sent me a picture of her and the girls as well. 

Paige's friend Samantha came as an old man and Elder McDaniel's friend Will came as Waldo. 

Our friends the Ingrams came in a family costume as Mario Brothers characters. 

The winning car decoration went to the Smiths who went all out making a Harry Potter themed car. It was pretty amazing.

It was a fun night and Jason did not have to give out any sugar packets as all trick-or-treaters were polite. One group of boys came over and almost started in on the silly comments but when one (from our ward) realized whose car it was and remembered last year I overheard him warn his friends not to do it. Haha.

Jason got to talking afterwards and so the girls waited in the car after. Apparently they took my phone and created a series of pictures. Most were silly but some are actually kind of spooky. 

Weird Week

It's been a weird week. On Tuesday Darby took the TSI (a big Texas college readiness exam) and Eva took the PSAT (which the school actually pays for solo that's kind of awesome). We should get the scores back soon-ish. Paige had an orthodontist appointment on Wednesday so Elder McDaniel had to walk home from the food distribution service opportunity. It wasn't too far, in fact, it is closer than the church where he walked from before. When we arrived at the ortho office we saw that everyone was dressed strangely and that the office was very decorated. I sensed a theme. Sure enough, the office was doing an Alice in Wonderland theme and they went ALL out. Our doctor (who is also our former bishop) was the white rabbit but we saw the Mad Hatter, Red Queen and even Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. Dr. Packer explained that today was picture day for a Halloween decorating contest they were in. So what a fun day to have her appointment!

The next day I got an email from Eva at noon telling me that school was cancelled and to please come pick her up. Moments later I was contacted by the school that that was all true. There was a "water utility issue" near the school and they had no running water. Yes, I cannot imagine holding class with over 2,000 kids and no drinking, washing or flushing. Paige was super jealous when she came home and learned that they had already been home for hours. Choir rehearsal was cancelled and Darby was ecstatic about that. 

The next day I went to pick up Eva and Darby from school and saw that they had a barricade up at the major intersection by the school and the church and water was running across the road. So they must have been still working on the water in the area but  the school and church had water. However, it was REALLY messing with traffic as that long stretch of road was closed off. It took me double the time to get the girls and I was glad that we don't live in that direction. 

Elder McDaniel went to help with another ward's Fall Festival tonight and had a great time. He enjoyed himself and others even texted me to tell me how much help he was and what a difference he made. It's so nice to hear things like that. It shows that his mission is helping with personal growth. 

 

Self Defense

For our combined YM and YW activity this month our oldest class president asked Sister Stephanie Han (who she ministers to) to come and teach us some self defense. Sister Han is a professional boxer and also trains police in combat skills. We were lucky to have her. She, along with the help of her husband as sparring partner, taught us two punches, the jab and cross, and how to do a roundhouse kick. She demonstrated them each a few times, broke down all the steps to the technique so we did them properly and then had us each practice in lines. Then when we were good at them, we broke into partners to practice. I was with Sister Belli. She is a tae kwon do blackbelt so she didn't really need much practice but she helped me. It was a fun activity and surprising active. I was sweaty by the end of it. The youth seemed to enjoy it too and were very engaged. We probably had over 40 youth and leaders there. I think Sister Han enjoyed herself too. I know it feels good to teach people who are attentive and eager to learn. 

 

Homemade Pasta

Hi, this is Eva. A week or two ago, my former seminary teacher, Sister Call, invited me over to her house to make pasta. I've gone over and cooked/baked at her house before, and I was looking forward to it. We had originally planned on doing it during break, but she got sick and had to postpone it. So she picked me up after school on Tuesday of that week and drove me to her house. Her neighbor and another boy in her ward (both about my age) were also there, and I had fun talking to them as we made the pasta. It was really fun and interesting. We learned how to make the dough, roll it, fill it, cut it, and cook it. It was quite complicated but really good. She gave us some of a batch she had made before we came over, and you could tell it was homemade. We made ravioli with two types of filling: meat and cheese. The other two didn't want any of the meat-filled ones, so I got all of them. After we finished, Mom came and drove me home. It was dark by then and I was kind of tired, but I really enjoyed it. Sister Call's so nice, and I really enjoy making food with her. I'm looking forward to it if we get to do it again!

A Date with Cats

When we went to the mall last week with the girls for the aquarium we saw that they had a place called Sun City Kitty. You can pay to play with cats. Paige decided that's what she wanted to do for her date with me. Most of the cats are adoptable and it's actually a pretty cool idea. You can "test out" a cat to see if they like you and would fit in your family. Or if you can't have pets in your living situation, you can still come play with cats. There were over a dozen cats there but they were able to go in and out of the play area when they wanted to and there were many cat houses, boxes, tunnels, pillows and toys. Most cats were sleeping when we arrived. I tried to make friends with a few and they were mostly okay with petting but one was particularly loving. This multi-colored kitty rubbed against me and Paige and obviously wanted love. He laid down for belly scratches.

There was this other older looking gray cat tabby that came to love on us as well. He even purred for Paige. She was ecstatic. But the funniest cat was this black one. I sat down and he came over, plopped himself in my lap and sat there for over 15 minutes. I guess he liked me. His name was CATastrophe. 

There were a few feisty cats that went around bothering other ones and one sad, scared three legged cat who couldn't seem to find a place where he wanted to hide.

After the kitty cafe we went to the food court and ate at a French place. Paige got a crepe that was yummy. I got a salad and then wasn't full so I also bought some tacos from another place nearby. When we came outside it was raining so we hurried to the car and drove home. It was a fun date. I like it when we do new things together.