12:30

This is what happens when the boys walk the girls home at 12:30 at night and come across a shopping cart.

It's like a bunk bed for shopping carts!

Fall Hike

I've been wanting to go on a hike, or have a bonfire, or anything to enjoy the crisp fall air and beautiful fall colors. I finally got my chance yesterday. It was wonderful.

There was some ice for our enjoyment...

We found an awesome little hut...

Aaron and Michael were a little weird (no surprise there)...

Aaron trying to be arrogant...

Even though most of the leaves had fallen, it was still so great to be outside enjoying the fall! I wish this season lasted a little bit longer.

Cornbelly's

I have my ideas of what perfect days for each season are. I've mentioned that a perfect summer day is the 4th of July. For fall, an evening at the cornmaze is a perfect fall evening. Tonight for the ward activity, we went to Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point. They have a huge cornmaze, haunted houses, and all sorts of activities. Like little kids, we ran around and played all night. It was slightly chilly, but we didn't care. We ran through the cornmaze, played on the toys, jumped on the big jumping bubble thing (I have no idea really what it was...just a big bubble to jump on). We went through a haunted house...totally against my desires, but I went anyways. It was a great fall evening. Nights like this remind me, once again, why I love the fall.

Preparing for Halloween

Halloween has never been high on my favorite holiday list. Lately, I have come to believe that it's because I don't really feel all that creative, and it's a holiday that requires creativity. Plus, I've never been a huge fan of scary and that's another part of Halloween. Add the two together and I've never been a huge fan of the holiday. The thing I love about Halloween is that it is a completely fall holiday. It just feels like fall and I love that. From that, I've tried to work on my attitude toward Halloween and improve it. It actually seems to be working some. Two nights this last week, I did something Halloween related and really enjoyed it. One night we carved pumpkins. I tend to struggle with this activity because I don't feel very creative, and when it comes to using a knife, I get a little nervous. It took forever, but I enjoyed it and it ended up being a great night. This is how it went...

7:44-Finally cutting it open

8:10-Cleaning it out...my FAVORITE!! (really!!)

8:50-starting to cut the face

9:22-I FINALLY finished

9:38-The final products!

A couple of nights later, in trying to come up with a good Saturday night activity, we decided on making Halloween cookies and watching Ernest Scared Stupid. The cookies were yummy and the movie was hilarious/ridiculous/silly. It was another fun Halloween related evening.

Maybe Halloween won't be so bad after all. :)

Productive Saturday

8:45 Wake up

9:30 Leave for Kaysville

10:30 Arrive in Kaysville

11:00 Start some laundry

11:15 Wash my car This always seems to take longer when little people are assisting...but they were cute little people, so I didn't complain :)

11:45 Clean out inside of car, trunk, etc.

12:00 Turn on the BYU pre-game show

12:15 Rotate laundry, back to the car

12:30 Find myself going through my cedar chest, reading old journals...pretty funny

12:50 Back to the car to finish up

1:00 Get ready for the day

2:00 Watch BYU game...nearly all productivity has stopped at this point, except that I did paint my toenails.

After the game was over, I remembered about my laundry and switched it again.

6:00 Fold some laundry
6:30 Dinner, talk with Jeanette and Sherri
8:30 Dance with the little girls...lots and lots of fun!
9:00 Little girls go to bed
More laundry, talking, turn on a movie
11:00 Finally work my way out the door to head back to Provo.
12:00 Arrive back in Provo

It was a decently productive Saturday...chances are, there won't be another one like it for a while.

Conference!!!

I love General Conference...seriously, two of my favorite weekends of the entire year are the first weekends of April and October. I love gathering around the TV listening to the leaders of our church counsel us and teach us. This conference definitely didn't disappoint me. The first talk was by Elder Scott about the Scriptures. In listening to his talk, I knew it was going to be a great weekend, and it was. President Monson announced new temples, including a 2nd in Provo built from the Old Tabernacle. It's going to be awesome!

I'm not sure which talk was my favorite, but high on my list include:

The Power of Scripture by Richard G. Scott
You Matter to Him by Dieter F. Uchtdorf
It is Better to Look Up by Carl B. Cook
A Witness by Henry B. Eyring
Waiting Upon the Lord by Robert D. Hales
Love Her Mother by Elaine S. Dalton (So CUTE!!)
Stand in Holy Places by Thomas S. Monson

Forget Me Not by Dieter F. Uchtdorf (from RS Meeting)

So, basically it was a wonderful weekend that included amazing talks, great friends, a visit with my family, yummy food (because you must have great food on conference weekend), and getting all sorts of random things...candy wrappers, a computer cable, batteries, and more...braided into my hair. For reals...just take a look...

...and it was all Aaron's creativity...

Respect

I live in an apartment complex full of young single adults. Naturally, when you get people of this age living together, there are some roommates that won't get along. This is normal, and honestly, to be expected. However, it is my opinion that even if you don't really like each other, you can still be kind and decent to one another. Unfortunately, this doesn't always happen.

Lately, I have witnessed something that has really bothered me. I have seen a great deal of disrespect among some roommates. It tipped me over the edge the other day when I saw someone that I respect and see as a very good person say something very rude about a roommate on Facebook. Now, in this particular situation, I know they aren't good friends, and don't get along at all. I would never expect them to do anything together...ever. But it is still possible to respect each other, and...I don't know, maybe not show the dislike to the Facebook world, or any world for that matter.

As I have thought about this, a quote from a movie came to mind. Really, it was this quote that helped me best word my thoughts on how we should treat each other. The movie is Remember the Titans and the quote comes from the scene at Gettysburg. In this scene, Coach Boone has taken the team to Gettysburg to remind them of the horrible battle and help them see a little perspective. He concludes his speech with this: "I don't care if you like each other or not, but you will respect each other. And maybe...I don't know, maybe we'll learn to play this game like men." That basically sums up how I feel. I simply ask: Just because you don't get along, can you still be dignified adults and respect each other?