Evening of Excellence

One of the first things they told us when we were sustained was that the Stake Evening of Excellence was the next week.  The outgoing presidency had everything taken care of so we didn't have to worry.  It was "Ivins Got Talent" and each ward was asked to prepare a talent to share with the Stake.  Because we were new, the outgoing presidency thought it would be "fun" if we did a skit so the girls could learn more about us.  I didn't think it would be "fun" but we went along with it.  We actually made up a song to sing that told about us.  We were all terrified but went first so we got it over with and I think it went well.

Then we got to sit back and watch the talents from the wards.  There were funny ones and serious ones.  It was a great time.  At the end, they asked to take a picture of us with the outgoing presidency.  There were about 4 young women trying to take pictures and we didn't know who was taking a picture and when so I'm surprised they got a picture as good as they did.

Settlers of Catan

We usually play a family game on Sunday mornings to keep the kids occupied.  We especially like to do this when it's Fast Sunday so no one moans about being hungry.  My favorite game is Settlers of Catan,  Courtney uses all her time buying up development cards while the rest of us play that game.

Here is Courtney's development card loot at the end of the game.  She doesn't try to get any other cards except the ones that will buy her development cards and she is really good at it!

Can you tell from the huge smile who won the game?!  Yes, Ethan won Settlers for the first time ever.  He was so excited.  I had to take a picture so we can remember it!

Good job buddy!!

Boundary Changes

Our Stake underwent MAJOR ward boundary realignment.  Only one ward escaped without any changes at all.  We have been hearing since last February that our ward boundaries were going to change but then nothing happened.  Every few months rumors would start again that it was going to be in March...then in May....then in July....then in August....then at the end of September.  It was crazy and really annoying.  But no one knew for sure what was going on.

Our ward was getting really huge and something needed to be done.  We had a new subdivision that was growing fast and it seemed that all of them were members of the Church.  I was having a really hard time keeping up with all the new people.

On October 20th, the Stake executive assistant called.  I assumed he was calling to talk to Bryan, which happens, but he asked if Bryan and I could meet with the Stake President on the 22nd.  I told him we could and assumed Bryan was getting released or a new calling.

When we met with the Stake President he and Bryan talked finances for a bit and it became obvious that we weren't there for Bryan.  Yup, I was extended a new calling as the Stake Young Women's President.  I was a bit shocked because I have only served in young women's once as the camp director.  Other than that, I haven't been in young women's since I was a young woman...eons ago!  I felt very overwhelmed.  The Stake President gave me a 22 page list of the names of women in the Stake between the ages of 18-80 so I could choose my presidency.  We went home and I didn't sleep very well that night.  It took a few times of submitting names but everything finally got figured out with counselors and a secretary.

Through the process of getting counselors I figured a few things out.  The boundary realignment was going to take place on November 1st and I figured out that I wasn't switching wards because the Stake President had spoken to my bishop before extending the call.  I knew a few boundary line changes because of which bishops were being asked to approve my counselors and secretary and I also figured out the bishop of another ward.  I was too worried about my new calling to be worried about the changes to the boundaries of my own ward.

We had regular Church meetings on November 1st.  That evening we had the boundary reorganization meeting.  Courtney and I went up early to get soft seats and so we would be close enough to see the map clearly.  Stake business was conducted first so the old YW presidency was released and the new one was put in.  It was the first time I had seen my 2nd counselor and secretary. They had us sit on the stand for a few minutes so everyone could see us and the outgoing president shared her testimony and then I was asked to share mine.  There were A LOT of people at the meeting.

 Then they showed the map of the various wards.  Ours was first and there was a gasp from a lot of people because our subdivision was left together but the rest of the ward was given to another ward.  We were given another subdivision and part of a trailer park to add to our subdivision,

Here is a map of the new boundaries.  Ignore the blue line because our gps on the laptop thinks we live in Santa Clara instead of Ivins so that is the Santa Clara Stake.  Our ward is the one on the bottom right that has the icon of a church and the purple circle with a 2 in it.  Old Highway 91 goes through our ward boundaries, if that helps.  The boundary line of our stake is 400 East.  There are now 8 wards in our Stake (1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10).

When the meeting finished we went to the YW room to be set apart as a new presidency.  Then we stayed and met for a few minutes with the outgoing president.  She told us about some upcoming things we needed to be aware of and then we decided to meet up on Monday so she could train me and give me the binder.

It was a very eventful meeting.

Halloween

Some of the neighbors wanted to do a potluck dinner on Halloween to celebrate and get the kids together so they could go trick-or-treating together.  So I made some clam chowder and corn bread to share.  It was a great turn out and we had a lot of fun sitting around with our friends.  Ethan stayed for a while and then decided to go home to give candy to the trick-or-treaters that came to our door.  Courtney was all about the party.  She stayed for a long time playing and then grabbed Cameron and they went out to get candy.

We had a section of our ward that is older retired people.  One woman mentioned to me that they were afraid no one would trick-or-treat to their subdivision because they didn't know many people so I made sure to pass the info around that there would be great treats in Desert Rose subdivision.  Courtney and Cameron made their way there first and got a lot of loot!

I went home and we watched our annual tradition of "Ghostbusters" while answering the door.  I took over for Ethan after a while because he was getting tired of getting up and down with his crutches.  There were some cute costumes and some creepy ones.

Courtney came home with a ton of candy and started separating it for the Halloween Fairy and for her.  I couldn't believe how much she got!  I love when Halloween is on a Saturday.

Here is her 80's rocker look.  Everything was from her closet. ;)

Soccer game

Courtney had a Halloween soccer game.  She has been on a really fun team this year.  I think the main differences are that her coaches aren't parents of the kids and her friends are on the team with her.  She goes to practices and has a lot of fun while working hard.  She has been starting for the team which is great.

I can't remember the outcome of the game but they had fun and their coaches gave me jars with hot cocoa in it for Halloween.

Her smile says it all!

Camping in Snow Canyon

Friday afternoon I went up to Snow Canyon to set up our tent site.  We made our reservation months ago and we wanted to take the kids camping.  Our tent had gone to the great camp-out in the sky but my parents had given us their tent because they didn't need it anymore.  I didn't realize how HUGE it was until I started setting it up and it was too big for the campsite.  It took me about 45 minutes to put up by myself because it was massive.  I'm sure the people in the site next door were having a good laugh.  But I finally got it up and things put in it so it wouldn't blow away.

We had a neighborhood party for Halloween (a day early) that we went to and then we packed up and went to Snow Canyon to sit around the fire and just relax.  I saw a shooting star on my way back from the bathroom, so it was a great, relaxing time.  Ethan did a great job maneuvering his leg and didn't have any problems with his cast.

The wind blew and the tent was so huge that it threw me off, but we slept ok and were ready for a relaxing morning the next day.  Usually when we go camping we have to hurry home for a soccer game or something.  This time the soccer game wasn't until the afternoon so we had time to make a dutch oven breakfast, drink hot chocolate, make a fire and just hang out.  Ethan read a book while Courtney danced around.

When it was time to go Ethan sat reading (because he really can't help much) while we put the tent away, cleaned up camp and loaded the van.  He was so into his book that he didn't even realize we weren't anywhere around him.  I think we could have driven off and left him and he wouldn't have noticed.

We really have fun camping.  We need to do more of it!

Courtney's LAST Halloween parade

This has been a rough year for me because it's full of "lasts" for our family.  This is Courtney's LAST year in elementary school.  It was her LAST Halloween parade and LAST Halloween party at elementary.  Sniff, sniff...

Courtney decided months ago that she was going to dress up like an "80's girl."  I told her I could help her with that but she didn't believe me at all.  She kept telling me I needed to look it up to see what an 80's girl looked like.  It took quite a while to convince her that I WAS an 80's girl!

We went through her closet and, amazingly enough, found almost all the items she needed for her costume.  She was going more for the punk look and a lot of 80's things are coming back in.  She had a neon shirt, stretch pants (remember stirrup pants?) and some crazy socks.  I tried to convince her to do slouch socks and layer them but she said there was no way we really dressed like that.  If only she knew!

She let me crimp her hair and put it in a side ponytail.  She wouldn't let me do the big bangs but I nailed the hair otherwise.  We even found blue eye shadow!

Courtney's friends decided to be 80's girls too.  They turned out cute.

This is her last Halloween parade.

She was off to party!