Red Ribbon Week

This tree was in DC. Isn't it just amazing? I tried to get some pictures of all the leaves changing color but I drove and Kirstin isn't the wiz I am at fast camera pics so this was our lone tree.

This past week was Red Ribbon Week at the schools. Red Ribbon Week is the school campaign for Just Say No to Drugs. Every day is a theme. Kirstin's school had an 80's day. I'm not quite sure what the catch phrase is but she had fun trying to look like I did in the 80's. I tried to explain to her that there were the early 80's and late 80's but it didn't really compute. I had fun doing her bangs and pegging her jeans.

Noah's look was mix and match. So we went with swim trunks and a polar fleece top. Well you get the idea. His newest camera pose is best described as droll.

This week was Emil M.'s court of Honor for Scouts. It's been a very long time since they've had one in our unit so he got 5 merit badges. He's getting ever so closer to his Eagle. He's an outstanding young man and we are very proud of him.

We had a youth temple trip on Saturday. Emil, Myself, Kirstin and Emil M. went up on Friday night and spent the night. Emil's parents were kind enough to take Noah for the weekend and spoil him royally I'm sure. We went to do some sight seeing on Saturday morning.

We wanted to go to the top of the Washington Monument but we needed tickets and they were all already taken for the day so we walked around it and then walked to the Lincoln Memorial. I cannot imagine being talented enough to carve this statue out. It was massive and just as impressive as you have seen it portrayed in countless movies. Lincoln was a truly compassionate president.

I'm thankful that we live so close to the nation's capitol and get to do fun things with the kids like this. Some of us definitely enjoy ourselves more than others. Well, at least on the outside anyway.

The weather was wonderful. It rained a bit but never very hard and the temps were most comfortable.

Kirstin's highlight was the Metro ride. She said she could have ridden it all day. The simple pleasures in life right? Kirstin and I had fun setting up this picture.

In between the Washington Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial is the WWII Memorial with this really cool fountain that I so wanted to walk right into but resisted the urge.

Kirstin and I made Emil M. stand on a lower step so we could be taller than him for once but even then we had to stand on our tiptoes!

However I did have a fun time taking some picks of the ceilings in the underground Metro stations.

I just loved the patterns. I like them better as black and whites then the true color which is very yellowish.

I thought this was a cool platform shot as well.

Come visit us. We have plenty more places we haven't seen and Kirstin will be your tour guide for the Metro!

Overview

First and foremost I'd like to ask you all to keep our dear friends Cori and Blades White and their families in your prayers this week. They lost their baby daughter Kyndal Ann on Wednesday night. She was born by cesarean section on Thursday morning but the cord had wrapped around her neck. Cori and Blades are doing amazing and our hearts are with them. They have the gospel and the peace that only the Savior can give. I know in our own trial the prayers of everyone helped immensely and so this is why I ask this favor of you.

It was hard to hear of a loss so close and brought back some powerful memories as I remembered the events we went through and knew that Cori and Blades will have to walk that same path. Though I have grown so much and the loss of Kai has brought me closer to my Savior than I ever imagined, I never would have chosen this trial, even now when I've gained so much from it, but I can take something good from it. This is one of the amazing things I have learned.

We can not always choose what life may throw at us but we can always choose how we will react to the trials we face and the lessons we learn. My deeper relationship with my Savior is one of the things I choose to take for good. The infinite love of my Heavenly Father another. The beauty of our son, the love and time we had with him and our eternal relationship is yet another. On to lighter things.

On September 25th Kirstin participated in the pre game show for the High School football game with the High School band. Every year they have a 8th Grade Night when all the 8th grade band students come play with the High School band and do a show.

Emil and Emil Michael were on a canoe camping trip where they had to canoe to their camp site and so it was just Noah and I. The night was chilly, somewhere in the upper 50's and a light drizzle was falling. I have to be honest, I was really hoping they would cancel it but no such luck. We sat with some other band families and it was fun to be at a High School football game for the first time since I played in the band my Senior year.

They did a great job and Kirstin really enjoyed herself. The HS band is relatively small. Probably only 70 kids but they give it all their heart. Kirstin's not sure if she's going to play in High School yet. Her love of sports is serious competition and unfortunately many of the sport seasons coincide with the marching band season. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

The soccer season is about half over and they've won a few games. Last Monday was a really close game. They were playing a team they haven't beaten in 15 years. They went into double over time and ended tied 0-0. It was a victory in that they tied them. Kirstin is a defender and worked really hard. All the kids did. I think I like soccer the best of all her sports. They hardly ever stop to do time outs. It's constant action.

Emil M. is busy with seminary, Scouts, Duty to God, the Great American novel and piano. He's working on some new numbers for his Christmas recital so hopefully we will have a new CD this year of some of his songs. Some are, Where are you Christmas? and the Hunchback of Notre Dame. The latter takes about 15 minutes to play in it's entirety.

The Great American Novel is just my nickname for his book he's writing and hoping to publish to fund his mission. The real name is Colonies of Achiris. Writing is a passion with him and he probably logs in about 2-3 hours a day on the computer. That is if his mother doesn't side track him with mundane things like chores. I'm glad he has such a firm resolve and interest in writing. Can I just brag a bit and say I think he get's that from his mother.

This week I canned some scuppernog grape juice. It taste really good but it's cloudy like apple cider. I'm not quite sure why it's not clear. I'm thinking it was the method I cooked the grapes to get the most juice from them before putting it in the jars. Anyway. I had a good time doing it and get a load of this 2 quart canning jar! Have you ever see one this big? Sister Snowden gave me about 8 of them a year or so ago. She found them in her garage. She's in her 80's and said they use to use them all the time when she would can things. I thought it was amazing. I've never seen one so huge!

Other than canning I've been spending a good deal of time with friends asking questions about religion. It's been so rewarding sharing the gospel. I have absolutely loved it! I've got to run. There are dogs to wash, talks to write and pizza fixing to buy. Have a great week!