An Overview of October

This is our table for Rosh Hashannah, the Feast of Trumpets this year. Pictured is a round challah raisin loaf of bread which I always make, a ceasar salad, and a plate of several varieties of apples and some pomegranates. There are also three little pots of different honeys which we dip the apples in, which is a Jewish tradition. Not pictured are the cornish game hens, pomegranate Italian soda, a homemade apple pie, and our family, a friend of Spencer's and the missionaries.

We start the dinner by listening to the Shofar blasts on the internet, discuss the holy days and how the Feast of Trumpets applies to our day, 

the Book of Mormon, missionary work, and the gathering of Israel. Then we feast! It is always a memorable dinner.

We were busy this month with two Eagle 

Scout projects. Taylor did a canned food drive for the Houston Food Bank. This place is amazing! It is the central storehouse that collects, sorts and distributes food to 400 hunger relief agencies in 18 surrounding counties here in Houston. They

 feed 80,000 people each week! As part of his project, (and this was actually the end of September) Taylor sent a quick email out to the sisters in the Katy, TX stake and asked them to donate canned food when they came for the General Womens Conference. He expected to just sit for a couple of hours and get a couple of bags. We brought one of 20 boxes the food bank gave us, and after a 1/2 hour, he called and said he needed more. So I took 5 more over. The six boxes 

were all filled! This was the first leg of his project. More later.

The same night Taylor was doing his food drive, (also the end of September) Spencer was going on his first date, and it was Homecoming. He took a girl named Crystal Elliott. They went in a group and had a good time.

Damon's birthday was uneventful for our family, as Damon was testifying in a stressful court arbitration all day. He was covered 

in poison ivy from working in the front yard (how did that get here?!!) in- between sessions of General Conference the weekend before. He 

wouldn't let me take a picture.

We took a 5-day trip up to 

Dallas to participate in many events. First was a TCU/BYU womens soccer game in which

 cousin Aubriana played very well! Then there was the BYU/TCU football game which was humiliating and depressing. But at least we got to eat at Risky's BBQ, our favorite restaurant in Fort Worth! All you can eat ribs! We ate a combined 118 ribs, (the equivalent of 5 cows) A couple of days later was a combined Eagle Court for cousins Ethan and Chad, and a beautiful baptism for cousin Laura. And bonus was the primary program the next day in their ward!

We drove home on Emily's birthday. We made a birthday cake and cupcakes and she helped decorate them. She got a bike and a webkinz, a book, gif tcard and money, all of which she was so excited about!

Emily is taking English riding lessons from a girl in 

our stake and is loving it. The horse she rides is named Cisco and is an old ex-race horse. He is very gentle, but very big. She has learned to trot and post while trotting, and she is learning to canter. This last lesson, she had her first fall, which I happened to get filming. (Click on the play button to see the video) She was trying to get him to canter and he kind of shied and bucked at the lead rope her teacher was swinging at him. But she got back on and trotted a bit after the fall and was very brave, even though it hurt, it was scary and she wanted to burst into tears.

Spencer's Eagle Project was doing a clothing drive for the Goodwill of Houston. He went to the Goodwill's main campus and met with the CEO who told us all about the mission of Goodwill, and showed us around. This organization is amazing as well. They recycle used clothing in their stores for a "premium" price. The clothing is in the stores for only 2 weeks. It is then brought to the main campus and sold in big bins for a fraction of the cost. It is only in the bins for 2-3 hours, where it is bundled and sold by the pound to oversees charities. The money they generate from selling is used to employ and train people 

who have physical disablilities or other barriers to employment. They really do a wonderful service! Spencer made up a flyer talking about Goodwill to raise awareness about it and distributed it along with a note asking people to donate used clothing for his drive to about 1000 homes. Then on Saturday, October 25, he went around and gathered it up. It was fun, we had donuts and kolaches (a sausage in a blanket-type treat) and there was a lot of enthusiasm from his friends who helped.

On Halloween, in conjunction with our ward's trunk-or-treat, Taylor did another leg of his Eagle Project. He organized a service auction where the bidders bid for services donated by ward members with cans of food. The highest bid was 100 cans for 4 hours of dirt bike training. Guess who won that one? :) The auction was successful and this week, Taylor will be going to the winners of the bidding to collect the cans.

Emily was the only one who carved a pumpkin this year, as the 

boys and Dad were busy buying a car. And her pumpkin turned out darling in my personal opinion. She was the only one to dress up for Halloween too, as a 1950's girl.