Scarcrow Festival

I took the kids to the Scarecrow Festival at Thanksgiving point on Friday October 16th. The festival is put on by the kids at the boys and girls club who are struggling with different challenges in their lives. It is pretty pricey to get in and then you have to pay for a lot of the other activities which is a little annoying. I guess my money is going towards a good cause though. The kids had a great time. There were lots of blowup slides and games for the kids to play. Dex had a blast with his friend Jake on all the blowup's. Of course, Oci didn't want anything to do with them they were "scary!" I got her to go down one slide with me and that was it for her. Her ticket was pretty much a waste of money. Oh well what can you do!

Karate

Dexton began taking karate lessons this week. As many of you know he has been waiting all summer long to take lessons. Because it is a six month commitment I told him we had to wait until the fall. He is loving every minute of it! Yesterday he passed off some things to get his white belt. His instructor had him break a piece of wood with the back of his hand! He was so impressed by himself! He was able to bring the wood home with him, which is now in two pieces. He was trying to break one of the pieces again with his hand like he had at his lesson. I finally said, "Dexton, the wood was split a little bit in order to help you break it. I don't know if your going to be able to do that again without it being split a little." He was a little disappointed. After that, I didn't have the heart to tell the poor kid his instructor helped break the wood too!

Fast and Testimony Meeting

Last Sunday was Fast and Testimony Meeting. While I was sitting there, the thought occurred to me that I had never really discussed what that meant with Dexton. So I leaned over to him and whispered, "Today is Fast and Testimony meeting, people will be going up to the pulpit and bearing their testimonies today. Do you know what a testimony is?" He replied, "No." I tried to then explain what a testimony is as best as I could in lame mans terms. I said, "Just listen to the people going up today and you will see what I mean." After about 20 minutes Dexton looked at me and said, "I want to bear my testimony." I looked at Kevin and said, "Do you want to take him up?" Kevin told him that we should practice his testimony at family night and that way he could go up next month and do it all by himself. Dexton was disappointed and wanted to practice right then. So I started going over some things he could say. He looked at me and said, "I'm ready." I said, "No lets just wait." No sooner did those words come out of my mouth when Dexton stood up and started down the isle as fast as he could toward the pulpit. Kevin and I just looked at each other like are you going to go after him???? I took pity on the poor boy and hurried up the isle after him. I arrived at the front row of the chapel just as he arrived at the pulpit. His eyes were big, it was as if he was thinking, "What have I done!" I sat on the front row and looked up at him and helped him say the following.... "I'd like to bear my testimony, I know this church is true. I am thankful for the prophet. I am thankful for my family. I am thankful for my teachers. In the name of Jesus Christ amen." He did great! And everyone thought he did it all on his own because I wasn't standing up there behind him! I guess I have learned that I should be doing a better job teaching my children things at home during family home evening!

St. George

Our family went to St. George for Conference weekend to get out of the cold! We went to the pool to enjoy the warmth of summer one last time. The pool was a little cold though. I don't think they had turned the heater on yet! But the kids still had a fun time!





Uncle Darren flipping Dexton in the pool.



The Splash Park

St. George has this awesome water area on main street. I don't know what to call it other than a splash park. There is a fun little stream and all these red rocks for the kids to play on and a little water fall. They also have a fountain pad similar to the one at gateway for the kids to run through. The kids loved playing there.



Doing a little sunbathing (that's my girl!)



Just playing around....



Jennaca, Dexton, Jaylynn, and Jarron

The Zoo

Great Grandma and the kids have been asking to go to the zoo all summer! And all summer I have said, "No, it's too hot!" Well it finally cooled off a little last week so we went just before it got cold! We had a great time!



Great Grandma Barney and the Grand kids.



The Tiger's

This was a fun day to see the tigers. The male tiger had been separated from the baby cubs and the mother. He was just sitting in the river bathing himself, as cats do. Then he started walking around up at the top of his cage! We couldn't believe how BIG he was! We weren't able to see the baby cubs, unfortunately, because they were sleeping.



The Gorilla (which is no longer there)




The Train Ride





Great Grandma, Michelle, and Jack