Snow in the middle of Mobile?

NO not really! But for a quick second we all thought the weather had turned wacky on us! Come to find out the city of Mobile had rented a bubble machine and had it put out for the official Tree Lighting ceremony at Bienville Square. With the bright lights illuminated on the bubbles joined in with the sqeaks and squeals of excited children we thought for a brief moment that it was actually snowing! It certainly made for a fun picture!

Jessica and Kenny got to visit with Santa on his sleigh while we were at Bienville Square. Neither of them spent much time with him because all they could think of was jumping down and petting the horse at the end of the sleigh! I figured since I missed the photo op with Santa I might as well get one with the horse. Just as I was taking the picture, Santa's horse nibbled on Jessica's hair! Everyone in line giggled! And Jessica loved every minute of it!

Why isn't anyone dancing?

One interesting thing about the night of the dance was that most of the youth were sitting around visiting, laughing, talking, and joking with one another. Jessica kept asking me everytime we peeked in to see what was happening why no one was doing any actual "dancing". I told her that typical teenagers liked to just "hang out" with one another and that when a popular song came on they would all jump up and dance for a bit. Which they did.

And they continued to have fun and enjoy one another's company for the rest of the night. I guess that's what dances are all about. That....and having cute friends to rely on for all the slow dances.

Oh to be young again...

Lisa attended her very first church dance this month. She finally turned fourteen in September and thought this day would NEVER get here! Twelve youth from our Ward met us at the church and we all piled into our van to drive to Gulfport Mississippi for a combined Stake Youth Dance/Dinner. There were 72 youth in attendance at the dance. Most of them were Young Men. I think Lisa had a fun time although I do think she hoped there would have been more young men to choose from. Hopefully she realizes that there will be many more dances to attend and many more Young Men to chase in the future! (Thank goodness!)
As always, Kenny and Jessica got to be there with us but were virtually unseen as per Lisa's very strict instructions! Tucked away with a portable DVD player and earphones really helps to pass the time while they were waiting for the dance to end. Jessica and Kenny did get to come out for the very last dance and Jessica LOVED being asked to dance by one of our Priests who was cut in by the Young Men's president. Now if you didn't think Jessica wanted to grow up in a hurry before! All she can talk about now is how SHE can't wait until SHE'S fourteen!

Friends, football, and deep fried turkey...

Happy Turkey Day! I knew if we didn't get a picture BEFORE we sat down to eat we'd never get a real picture of all the hard work that was put into the days events! Here we are with some of our guests eyeing five of the turkeys we fried that day. All in all we fried Eight turkeys, mingled with 21 friends and family, fed 8 hungry missionaries, and had lots and lots of fun!
Two large pots of hot peanut oil kept us going all morning as we timed each frying perfectly! Several guests had never seen it done before and got to try their hand at the southern specialty! Kenny was the expert at reciting all the "SAFETY" rules before anyone was handed over the oven mitt and hook! Lisa was our official "TIME KEEPER" and did a very good job at calculating the 3 1/2 minute per pound rule for each turkey we fried!

Chevron Family Fun Day...

This month Chevron hosted their annual Family Fun Day. The kids had fun riding horses, jumping in blow up bounce houses, and playing for prizes at the carnival game booths. Lisa's favorite part was the rock wall although I was warned that there would be severe consequences if I took any pictures.
Kenny liked riding the horses and could've spent all afternoon at the petting zoo. Jessica liked being able to get into line just as often as she could so that she could try a different flavor at the sno cone booth. And I enjoyed catching up with old friends some of whom we knew back in Salt Lake. By the end of the day our bags were filled with stuffed animals, blow up toys, balls, bracelets, and tattoo stickers.

Cotton fields and closed beaches...

For the first time in a very long time we drove to Gulfport, Mississippi for the weekend. It has been over a year since Hurricane Katrina hit but you can still see the signs of the damage it went through and the struggles they have had trying to rebuild what use to be a very vibrant thriving community. The beaches are still closed and there are plenty of vacant lots for sale, but the people have smiles on their faces and are anxious to say hello as you enter their establishments and spend a little time with them.
The cotton fields are being harvested this week as well. It has been fun for us to watch the blossoms turn into white puffs of soft cotton fiber. It was particularly wet the morning we stopped to take this picture but last year we failed to catch a picture before the white fields were all gone and I didn't want that to happen again.

Lava lamps, ice cream, and rip tides...

Lisa had the opportunity to attend the University of South Alabama Women in Science Conference this month with several of her middle school friends. She spent the day attending workshops where she learned about the weather, crime scene investigation, and what you can learn about humans by disecting a frog.

Excellence in the making...

This month we held our Young Women In Excellence program where Lisa was able to display the project she has been working on for several months. It has been a difficult project for her to complete. One that I had hoped would help her through a difficult loss. A very dear friend of ours passed away suddenly from a stroke. Natalia was only 21 years old. She left behind a young husband and two twin boys, Logan and Mason. Lisa wanted to gather as much information and pictures as she could from friends and family of Natalia in Utah and Idaho and put together a scrapbook for the twins to read and enjoy when they got older. The twins are only 1 1/2 years old. They will never know their mother the way each of us has come to know our own mothers. But through Lisa's project we hope they have a sense of who she was and how she touched so many different lives. Especially ours. We will never forget our dear friend Natalia.

Ghosts and goblins...

I just can't get over Halloween here in the South. The weather is mild. The streets are inviting. And the tall towering 100 year old trees make for just enough mystery at night that you can sense the anticipation from each of the children as they approach the next house around the corner. Full-sized candy bars, fresh caramel dipped apples rolled in pecans, and witches and warlocks dancing to Karaoke machines hooked up to loud speakers blaring throughout the night. These are just some of the very unique things we saw this year for Halloween. Not that we are complaining mind you. Just pointing out the very unique way people here in the south celebrate Halloween.
Even as the kids get older they seem to enjoy dressing up in their favorite character costume and going door to door for candy. We met up with some Chevron friends who have two young boys who LOVE Kenny and Jessica. I didn't think they would ever slow down! And talk about candy! We'll be eating the stuff through the new year!

Wind over matter...

This month Kenny and Arnold worked on a wind powered balsa wood sail boat that Kenny raced in our annual Cub Scout Raingutter Regatta. Although the kit provided everything we needed to create the small boat, it was the breathing excercises I made Kenny do all week that proved to be the key!

Two 10 ft fiberglass gutters filled with water made up the raceway and two cub scouts competed against each other at a time. With 35 entrants that night, Kenny did great coming in Second! His boat now sits proudly in our front room complete with that shiny new ribbon and childhood memories for a lifetime!

Pirates in Mobile?

For this month's Cub Scout activity we had two pirates visit our Pack! They brought weapons and war stories and even put on a 'pretend' seige of the building! We learned interesting facts about Pirates of old. Who knew Mobile Alabama had pirates?

It finally happened...

Jessica has waited several weeks for this day to come! And what perfect timing! It all happened at school during mid-morning announcements. Everyone watched as she spit out her front tooth and proudly displayed it to the rest of the students! The tradition at school allows for any student losing a tooth during school hours to walk down to the office and pick out his or her very own plastic tooth holder and the exciting event is even broadcast over the intercom by the principal! Jessica thought that tooth would NEVER come out! Congratulations Jessica!

Down by the lake...

During our morning nature hike on our Cub Scout Family Overnighter we came across this quiet little lake. We couldn't resist another couple of pictures.
Jessica picked a few wildflowers. Kenny found a walking stick. And Lisa wished she had her iPod. Oh how nature brings out the best in all of us!

A camping we will go...

So explain how we lived in one of the most beautiful scenic places in the world for over 8 years and never managed to make it camping once while we were there and have already been twice since moving here to the South? Regardless of how senseless it seems camping with the Cub Scouts was a fun adventure for us!
Twenty five cub scouts (7 of them Bear Cubs) and their families spent an evening under the stars at our Fall Family Overnighter. The weather seemed perfect for the evening with the clear starry skies and no sign of rain in the distance. Someone said that it got down to 49 degrees the morning we all awoke. The night before as we were roasting popcorn over the open fire Kenny was excited that he could see his breath in the cool night air. Leaving Utah for the warm southern climate, we thought we'd never have that chance again. So despite the bumpy ground we slept on or the cold wet tent we took cover in, camping seems to be one of those things we've come to enjoy since moving here. Who would've guessed it?

A day at the beach...

For Jessica's first class field trip we spent the day at Dauphin Island Sea Lab. Jessica got up close and personal with everything from a starfish to a large slimety octopus! My favorite was the live Skate that Jessica got to hold while it tried to wiggle loose.
Before we boarded the buses back to the school we got to comb to the seashore for seashells. Jessica ended up with quite a few and to our surprise found some of them moving around in her bag when we got on the bus! Hermit crabs decided to catch a ride with us back home! Now they live in our fish tank out on the back porch. What a great way to spend the day together!