Week 43

{October 24 - 30}

The clubhouse at the golf course received a grant from the Local Option Tax to re-do the flooring and get new carpet. The clubhouse closes down at the end of October every season, so this was the perfect time to get the project done. On Monday, Josh documented the men trying to move the heavy refrigerated drinks upright cooler, in order for the rotting floor under it to be fixed. This is Pup's last year at our golf course, after working here as the Golf Pro the past 15 years. We will miss him very much; it won't be the same at the clubhouse without him (he's on the left in the photo).

On Monday night, we took Jonah on his monthly date. He wanted to eat out at the Mexican Restaurant. He ordered 3 soft tacos; their plates are always so huge with the rice and beans they give with the meals. He also wanted to try their Xongos (fried cheesecake bites), and we were all full after dinner!

The fall colors have been so beautiful this year, as a result of the warm autumn that we've had. I took some trash to the outside garbage can on Monday after school, and was just in awe at the vibrant colors in our backyard. The palette of oranges, yellows, red, and green was like music to my soul. I stopped and stared, and just had to capture the moment!

Tuesday night was Salmon Idol. I went to the Junior show that started at 5:30, and was impressed with some of my previous' students performances. I loved watching it! Then during the Senior Show, I was the co-MC with a guy I'd never met before. This was the 10th anniversary of Salmon Idol, and there were several previous winners that performed that night. This was the first time that I was the MC for the event, and one of the only years I haven't actually performed in it. It was a super fun night, hosting with Nate was a riot, and I thoroughly enjoyed being involved with the event. The talent of the competing high schoolers was amazing, and it was a phenomenal show!


On Wednesday night, Kanyon had pack meeting at the church. They met outside in the parking lot near the road, and did activities around a campfire pit. I did not attend, however, due to a piano lesson I taught during that time instead. Ammon had the winter sports meeting that night, but he chose to go with Hannah to her Halloween Ward Party instead. He said they went on a scavenger hunt to people's homes, got sung to, and then returned to the church for dinner. He had a good time. That's another reason why Kanyon's pack meeting was probably outside (it's never happened before)--because the other ward was using the church building.

This is another tree that I park by every afternoon.
I liked how this tree was burnt orange, in
contrast to the bright yellow one that was on the
other side of my car (I took a picture of that last week)

Thursday was our Halloween day at school--although I have no idea why, because Halloween was on a Monday this year (which was a school day), and I thought it was absurd to prolong the craziness that the holiday always brings out in the students! It was also our Red Ribbon Week, and on Thursday, the dress-up day was SuperHero day. The teachers decided to dress up as SuperHeroes for their united Halloween costume this year, and most of them bought shirts that said "Super Teacher". I do not like conforming on Halloween, but I still went as a SuperHero: I dressed up as the Hulk. The students loved it, and so did I. People were feeling my muscles all day long (they were differently-sized squishy balls). I got a sub for the afternoon, and did some of my observation hours in Mrs. Centeno's 2nd/3rd grade class. Since I was at the elementary school in the afternoon, I also got to see the school's costume parade (which I would've missed, because the preschool I work at in the afternoon is a mile and a half away from the elementary). The students got to dress up at last recess in their costumes for the parade which was right after that (it was confusing to the students to have Halloween festivities on Thursday as well because a lot of them dressed up in SuperHero costumes for Red Ribbon week and then had to change costumes at last recess). Kanyon dressed up as a dementor for his costume. We've been reading the Harry Potter books together, and the dementors are the happiness-sucking guards at the Azkaban prison in the books. I hadn't planned ahead regarding my kids' costumes, and didn't purchase a single thing for them. By the time Kanyon decided what he wanted to be (two days before the Halloween festivities at school), I didn't have enough time to go out and look for something, either. Thankfully, there was a costume in our Halloween dress-up box that he felt was suitable! When the parade ended, I helped in Mrs. Centeno's room for their class party as well, which was my 2nd party for the day since I also helped in the Kindergarten room that morning during their class party. After school, I took Kanyon home to get the soup I'd made for the ward party, and to get ready for the evening's events. We went back into town to the School's Canrival. I volunteered there for an hour, while Kanyon played all the games and activities. I was in charge of the Horse Race--which I've done before in previous years. The carnival was kind of disorganized when I arrived, but after it was all set up, loads of people came and after the initial confusion, people seemed to be having fun. My favorite part was when Lance Pekus (who's daughters played in the Horse Race) came up and felt my muscles and said he was impressed with how big they were! He is the Cowboy Ninja on the TV reality competition show American Ninja Warrior. I wish I would've gotten a photo with him touching my muscles! After the carnival, we walked across the street to our ward's Halloween Party. We ate soups and chili for dinner, then the kids trick-or-treated down the halls. Josh and I each took a door to hand out candy. It was a long, exhausting, but very fun-filled day.

Hulk Smash! 

Kanyon as a dementor

I thought it was very fitting that he walked behind his friend
Aiden in the parade, because Aiden was dressed as Harry
Potter and Kanyon was the dementor following him!

The horse race at the Carnival. I was the only parent volunteer
from Kanyon's class, so they decided to combine classes to run
this booth. We did it in the hallway rather than in a classroom.

On Friday morning, I drove down to Terreton Elementary to do my final observation day at their school. It was also their Red Ribbon week, and the amount of distractions and interruptions was unbelievable that day as a result of all the festivities that the PTO had planned for it. I tried to take as many pictures as I could around the school to help remind me of my time spent there, and the fondness that I feel for the students and the school (I included two on this blog). Ammon's XC team left Salmon late in the morning to head to Pocatello for their State XC meet the following day. Josh drove the bus, and since it was an overnight trip, he had a hotel room at the same hotel as the team. I decided to join him for the night, since I was over halfway there already. So after school, I headed south instead of north. I stopped in Idaho Falls to eat dinner at Stockman's (my favorite restaurant in Idaho Falls) with my friend Kimi. I treated her to dinner as a belated birthday gift. I enjoyed the visit with her, and was so happily surprised when she told me she's pregnant! After dinner, I dropped her off at her place and drove the rest of the way to Pocatello. It was dark, and really rainy, and the roads were awful (because my car is so low to the ground, I hydroplane when there's a lot of water). I was white-knuckling it most of the way, but I made it safely and was happy to reach the hotel. It was super relaxing to have a childless night with my husband in a free hotel room!

I loved this display in the hallway made by the 4th graders of the Titanic
Ship. I loved how all the pictures were different and so colorful!

Terreton Elementary had a balloon release for Red Ribbon week. 

I ordered something different than my usual eating out meal (which is shrimp).
I got the Hawaiian Chicken 5.0: grilled chicken with caramalized pineapple,
candied pecans, and Mango blanc, with a cherry on top. It was very good!
And so were the veggies! Yummm!

I just love this girl!

On Saturday, we got to sleep in because our team's race times were later in the day. After the team left on the bus, I stayed for a while longer at the hotel until it was check-out time. I enjoyed getting ready leisurely and lazily! Our girls team ran at 2:00, and our boys team ran at 3:00 (the very last race of the day). Every year, the schedule rotates, which means next year we won't have the last times of the day. The girls race was close, and I stationed myself near the finish line to record when everyone came through. Our girls team won 2nd place by just two points, barely beating Declo. That was so exciting! Soda Springs has the been the team to beat for years, and they still got 1st place again this year.  Ammon had a hard race. He was the 3rd runner for our team, but got 45th place (Andy was 3rd and McClay finished 20th). He wasn't feeling well, he was in a lot of pain, and although he gave it his best, he was disappointed with his finish time of 19:31, which was over a minute slower than his previous time on this same course 3 weeks prior. The course was in different shape though--due to the heavy rains the previous day, and all the races that had taken place on it all day, so it was a muddy, sloppy mess. And since Ammon's coaches believe in 6-day a week practices, his body was burnt out. He peaked at the Bob Conley race (where his time was 18:21), when in reality, it would be ideal to peak at the State Meet. We know it was hard for him, but we were so proud of him for giving it his all. At least he got to run in the State Meet this year; last year he was injured and was unable to.

Our boys' team at the starting line. I like how they all got matching socks when
they were shopping in Boise. 

You can see the mud getting splashed up behind the runners

Running despite the pain

There's my handsome boy giving it his all as he came across the finish line

Our girls team with their 2nd place trophy!

We bleed orange and black!

On Sunday night, we carved our pumpkins. At our pumpkin sale, we sold all but 8. So we picked 6 out of those 8 leftover to carve! Everyone carved their own pumpkins, which was super awesome to not have to help the any of the kids this year. I love when they are independent! And they did a fabulous job! I liked seeing everybody's different personalities come through with their carving choices: I did an owl because it's my college's mascot, Josh carved the letters BSU for his favorite college team, Jonah cut out a deer, Micah made a traditional Jack-o-Lantern, Kanyon carved a Nimbus 2000 broom (what Harry Potter rides in the game of Quidditch), and Ammon made a scary Jack-o-Lantern eating a mini pumpkin head. We'd actually sold out of mini pumpkins during our sale at the Sacajawea Center, but Josh found two more growing in our pumpkin patch after our initial harvest, so Ammon used one as the inspiration for his idea.

Ammon's pumpkin

We love admiring our work with the lights out and candles glowing inside
our creations! What a fun group of pumpkins!