The month of September

September started out with Labor Day weekend.  For a family trip we went to Goblin Valley camping.  The Thursday before was Back to School night.  I helped prepare a dinner for the faculty at AHS.  Then Scott and I visited with Eric and Rubie's teachers.  We then attended an all-parent meeting.  The next day it took us all day to get ready to go camping.  I had to do the shopping and we had to get some things done around the house.  Eric went over to Camden's to play as the kids had the day off of school.  It made us get out of town much later than we expected.  We thought we would leave around 1 or 2 in the afternoon, but we did not pull out of the driveway until after 5.  Then we ran into traffic problems as lots of people were also headed out of town and there was an accident on the off-ramp going from I-15 to Spanish Fork.  So as we sat there not moving we decided that we were not going to make it to Goblin Valley before dark.  We found a lovely new hotel in Price and called and got a room.  We got there around 8 o'clock.  It would have taken us until almost midnight to just get to Goblin Valley.  We called the state park to make sure they would not give our campsight away.  We had a nice time at the hotel swimming in the pool.  The beds were soft and nice.  Rubie got sick the next morning with throwing up.  She was off and on the rest of the weekend with throwing up and fever.  Poor girl.  Whenever she felt like it, she still got out to hike and play and eat when she could but also rested and by the last morning she also had diarrhea.  I was so grateful that the campground actually had showers.  I had her and Sam in those showers twice to get cleaned up.  No showers with a child throwing up and diarrhea is bad, with no showers, it's terrible.  We made a bed for her in the back of the car with all the bedding and sleeping bags to help her be more comfortable.  We really enjoyed being in Goblin Valley.  We got there Friday around lunch time and set up camp.  Then around dinner time the Jarvis' came to join us.  The only downside was the wind.  It was SUPER windy.  So windy that sand was accumulating on everything.  We had to have rocks holding down parts of the tent and tarps as we set them up.  The wind would die down at night and morning.  But then sometimes it picked up in the middle of the night.  The mornings were nice, but by the afternoon it was so windy again.  It made it really difficult to fix meals and try to play.  But we dealt with it.  Sarah and I went for a nice run on Sunday morning.  The kids could hike all around the campground on the rock formations.  Even Samuel climbed much higher than I felt comfortable with.  Karl took us on two great hikes.  Into Goblin Valley to a cave.  We stayed at the cave for at least an hour.  The kids loved playing in it.  Sam even decided to get comfortable on Scott and take a nap.  It was a hike a loved in red sand and rock formations all over that we could climb and jump all about.  Later that day we hiked into Little Wild Horse Canyon.  It has a section that becomes a pretty tight slot canyon.  It seems like a couple miles to get to it and that section does not last long, but the kids loved it.  Even Sam loved hiking through that part.  Monday morning we cleaned up and and headed home.  Instead of going through Price, Scott decided to go through Salina way.  Everything was so covered with dust it took a long time to clean up from the trip.  It took all week to get the laundry done.

The next week seemed to be a normal week.  Eric and Rubie had school pictures on that Friday.  That Saturday I finally was able to visit the salon and have Melissa do my hair.  There was a karate back to school open house.  There was a raffle for prizes being given away which the kids really wanted the cool stuff.  But Rubie got a kite and Eric got a coupon for a free party.

The next week I started volunteering in the lunchroom on Monday afternoons.  I realized they need lots of help with handing out the pizza on Mondays.  I'll probably continue to go on those days because Carlee has Sam so I can do it.  It is easy, I would rather go to the classroom, but the teachers don't have much use for me on Mondays.  Rubie also started the Junior Choir.  Mrs. Otteson leads it.  They have practice each Monday from 3:30-4:15.  Because of that she will have to go to karate on Tuesday.  Her class meets while Eric is at scouts.  I also went to the school and helped out in the science classroom interviewing the 2nd graders what they think they knew about space and the universe.  And the kids had their mid-week practice for the primary program.  That Sunday was the primary program in church.  I love that program.  The kids said their parts well.  Eric had an extra part.  Angie Wallace, the primary president, asked him to read a scripture just before singing a special song, The Miracle.  Scott had drill and Governor's Day.  He also spent the week at a military training.  He missed work and went to army.  Rubie was able to attend a very fun birthday party for Kiana.  They went to a beauty school to get their hair, makeup, and nails done.  Then they had belt promotion.  I'm proud of how well they are doing in karate.

My cousin Parker returned home from his mission and had his mission homecoming.  We went to the meeting as we had a Regional Conference and didn't have to teach Sunday School that day.  We went to Janice and Vic's house and visited with family.  It was a nice day.

This past weekend we had a ward activity.  It was a campout at Mutual Dell in AF canyon.  We packed up the car ready to camp but didn't get up there until too late.  Scott's car had some problems earlier in the week on Wednesday night.  So Thursday and Friday he had to take the car and Sam and I didn't have one.  I honestly do not like being stranded all day.  Not that I even go somewhere every day, but I like having the option.  He had to come home early to pick up Eric and Rubie.  But they got finished with the car on Friday right at closing time.  It turned out to be a simple fix.  A part for under $100 + labor.  We could afford it and it only inconvenienced us for a couple days.  But having to go get his car made us later and so we didn't want to set up the tent.  But we joined the ward at the Lodge for Dinner and a program including a sing-a-long, and a band with a wash tub, bottles, and a wash board.  It was a lot of fun.  Back to the lodge for dessert and jazz music.

Scott spent most of Saturday cleaning, straightening, and organizing the garage.  He still has half of it to go but it looks and feels so much better.  He decided to take out some shelves that had been built in to the wall.  They were just at an odd level.  We couldn't fit much on them because they were too high for me to get to.  But low enough we couldn't fit the fridge under them.  There was also some big cabinets in there and they took up more room than the storage they provided.  I wish we could have some organization like that in the house.  They Scott took Eric to a movie and stayed home with Rubie who wasn't feeling well, again.  Sunday we went to Dan and Brandee's to celebrate Catherine Millabell's (Caty Bell) 1st birthday.  Brandee had her dressed as Belle and everything with a French theme.

We are back to a mostly normal week.  I am looking forward to a mission reunion this weekend.  I am also trying to figure out someone to do a play date with Sam and provide childcare for him on Tuesdays while I participate in some field trips and maybe can keep it going so I can go to the classroom too.