Fall Dance

Our Special Needs group hosted the dance tonight.  It's the first time that we have ever decorated and I'm so glad we did.  It made it so much nicer.  One of the leaders had their young men and women come and dance with the participants and they also kept the refreshment table filled.  It was so nice having them there so that the leaders could enjoy the kids.  Tonight I dance a lot.  We danced in groups and had a great time.  It was so nice seeing some gals that use to be in our group and getting hugs from them.  It was a wonderful surprise to see Connor there as well.  Connor moved to an assisted living home and I had no idea that he would be able to come.  I love getting a big hug from Connor.  In fact, I received a few big hugs from my cute friend.

Russell Harkness was our DJ and did an awesome job.  I heard one gentleman say it was the best ever.  We had missionaries that live in Provo come and see what we were doing.  They waited around so that I could meet them.  I am thrilled that we have people getting involved with our group.  That they take time to show us that they care about us...it's cool.  We served popcorn, cookies, lemon-aid and water.  We also had bit size candy bars.  We had plenty and I thought it was pretty nice.

Homecoming....He's going!

Jared hasn't been a kid that has wanted to go to dances or on dates.  He has said that he just doesn't want a girlfriend until after his mission.  He's a smart kid.  My kids have all listened pretty good to that advice.  When Jared was a sophomore he went to Homecoming because he was one of the older kids and I think he thought it would be cool to date when so many couldn't. ☺  I don't think he has gone to a dance since, but he is going to Homecoming this year.  The other day he came home and asked me for any ideas.  For some reason this popcorn idea "popped" in my head.  He filled the bowl with some cans of pop with his initials on the bottom of the cans.  He found some "pops" suckers and topped it off with popcorn.  Super easy, fast and inexpensive.

Tonight there was a knock at the door and he got his reply.  When the girl was dropping off her reply Larry just happened to pull in and the girls were trapped.  Larry talked to them and they laughed and then they knocked.  I heard the knock but thought Jared had just hit the wall a few times so no one hurried to the door.  Larry came in and asked if we heard a knock.  So funny!

Jared's invite just said "I'm just going to POP the question....Will you go to Homecoming with Me?"  The Reply was: "I got so excited that you asked me to H.C. that I peed on your porch."

Catching Up With Beth

I haven't just sat and visited with Beth for years.  Today we decided would be a good time to do so.  I picked her up and we went to Costa Vida for lunch.  It was fun hearing about her kids and the things they are doing.  It was just nice catching up.  Beth only had three places that we could go to lunch because a few months ago after a real scar she found out she is allergic to eggs.  She had a seizure and the paramedics were called and had to work on her.  She had a list of all the medicine's that she is allergic to and one of the paramedics noticed that they all had egg in them.  Who Knew?  I seriously didn't know egg was in so many things....medicine?  Anyway it was a good thing the 'wise guy' noticed and that she can avoid eggs.

I like Beth.  Beth was my secretary when I was the Relief Society President.  She had a few major surgeries during her call and didn't show up very much but I didn't have her released...we just made things work without her.  I didn't ever want her to feel like we were giving up on her.  I'm glad that is how we handled it.  Beth is very nice and smart and I like her.

I saw a few of my friends at lunch today as well.  Kellie Cooke's grand daughter turned 3 today and it is her favorite place to eat and so her mommy, aunt, cousins and grandma all went to lunch.  (we saw Kara and her kids so many times yesterday it was crazy...so when I saw her again today I had to Laugh Out Loud)

Hooper Tomato Days

Hooper celebrates Labor Day.  It's a weekend filled with fun!  They have dinners for the town, movies in the park, breakfasts, baby contests, dog races, rodeo's,5K's,  carnival games, sporting competitions, parades and a whole lot more.  Hooper is a fun place to be on Labor Day.

My favorite part of the parade is watching the little ones I sit with.  Julie and the kids came.  Julie's sister, Jamie and another friend also came and sat with us.  The parade kind of cracks me up.  We get lots of tractors in our parade...it's actually kind of fun seeing all the different ones.  My favorite was the antique tractors and the driver was a senior lady.  A guy was walking his bull dog in the parade. The different primaries in the stake usually have a float but not always...this year I didn't notice one from our ward.  If you have a cool car you can drive it in the parade. Heck if you have a horse or miniature ponies you can be in the parade.   The missionaries usually find a boat or truck to ride on so they can be in the parade.  The DUP had a float and I was glad to be waving from the side instead from the float.  It's fun...especially with some little's around.

Larry and I spent some time walking around and visiting with people.  We were stalling until it was time for Kamryn to ride the calf.  We signed her up to ride at 6 pm but they moved her up to 1.  We weren't told of the change until Larry ran into a gal that was suppose to call me.  Kam was taking a nap when they got notified and had to be woke up to come.  She didn't last as long on the calf this year and even got stepped on.  She took 2nd though.  First place didn't fall off.  Kamryn is tough and I could tell that she really wanted to cry but she didn't.  She just held her arm for the next little while.  (I wonder if she will want to ride again next year?)

I had to take a picture of the skee-ball game that Jaydan built as part of his Eagle Scout Project.  It is still pretty nice and works great.  There is lots to do and lots to buy on Tomato Days.  I saw my friend Kathy there selling bags and her cute daughter was there selling Posh products...I bought some hand cream.  This year someone was even selling fudge.  Instead of buying any I just took a free sample. (it was a sliver but enough)  There was lots of food too....Ya gotta get a Hamburger at Tomato Days...they just taste good.  I took a bite of Larry's since we had just had a scone.  Oh I could go on and on...the Hooper Park is the place to be on Labor Day.

"Play"ing....See How They Run

Oh My Word...this play had constant action.  It was hilarious.  The gal getting punched was like a rag doll and seriously cracked me up.  I bet every single person in this play was completely exhausted by the time it was over.  They ran around so much.  It was so chaotic and busy and funny.  It's always so much fun to experience the Theater.  I pretty much love it!

The group I go with makes it fun.  Barbie, Heather, Cari, Carol and usually Natalie are pretty wonderful ladies.  Natalie was camping tonight and so Kimleighel was invited to join us. My girls enjoy the theater like I do.  It was so fun having her come "play".  I always enjoy our visits coming and going.  I have grown pretty attached to these gals and told them to count me in unless I die...then...well then I'd be dead and wouldn't need to be counted in.  I Love "Play"ing!

The Books Arrived

Woo Hoo the books arrived.  I'm pretty happy with how these books turned out.  I know a 'writer' could have made them better but for me, I am happy with them.  I compiled the stories that were shared with us in this book.  We heard of so many ripples and miracles that happened when Jared was lost.  I have so much in a 3-ring binder but decided to organize it a little better in a book so that our whole family could have a copy.  There is still so much in the binder that I wasn't sure how to share.  I hope that for my family it gives us all a better idea of what we all went through.  Our experiences were similar but unique to us.  We were asked yesterday about this experience and somehow through our talking we realized that it was probably easier on Jared than anyone else.  Jared knew he was okay.  He knew that we were looking for him and he knew he was doing the things he was taught to survive.  The rest of us didn't know those things and so is was a very different experience for everyone else.  I am just thankful for all the lessons learned.  I am thankful for all the love shown to us and everyone.  I am thankful for prayer and our Heavenly Father.  I am thankful for miracles and angels.  I am thankful that I was able to organize thoughts and stories shared with us and have them in this book.  I feel blessed.

***if you are interested in having a copy of this book it can be ordered a lulu.com.  Search for Our Lost Scout and the Ripples and it will come up.  Double check the shipping options since they automatically suggest the more expensive shipping.

Sister Wright

Sister Wright (Julia) is another former sister missionary that stopped by to see us.  Sister Wright was only here in Hooper while she waited for her visa so she could go to Brazil. (one transfer)  We kind of got attached to her too.  We were so excited and absolutely thrilled when she called us last night to see if she could come visit.  She is attending BYU.  This girl has such a wonderful spirit.  My eyes got a little teary a few times as we visited.  Her cute boyfriend, Johnny came too.  I remember her telling us about a cute boy that she had met before her mission and Johnny is that guy.  They met  on Julia's first day of school in her first class which was a dance class.  It's been three years since that time and here they are...smiling and so cute together.

We told Julia and Johnny that we would like to take them to lunch before they headed back home.  They were cute and told us they'd like to go to Burger Bar so they could get a Buffalo Burger.  We were happy to oblige.  It was so wonderful seeing Sister Wright and her visit just made our Hearts Happy!  I'd call today a tender mercy!