random sampler

I have had a few people ask me about "Hurricane Ike", we're so far north that we really haven't been effected by any of it. We did have some rain off and on for a few days but it was really just enough to keep the lawns nice and green. I know that just a couple hours further south from us in Lubbock they had a different story. They were totally flooded just a few days ago. I took the kids down to one of the parks after school on Friday because it had been raining and they were cooped up inside for too long. The kids found a drainage area with some water in it at the park. I know I'm not usually very whimsical when it comes to getting dirty or wet but I figured what the heck and let them take off their shoes and hike up their pants. Morgan ended up having to take off her pants all together because she immediately sat right down in the water. They had a really good time playing around and splashing each other.

This is a classic Morgan look. She's telling me, "no no mama!"

On Saturday the whole family went out to the fair for a few hours. We got home late in the afternoon and half of us (including me) proceeded to get sick. I don't know what exactly did us in, if it was petting the "exotic" baby animals, eating deep fried smores, checking out the countless animals and homegrown veggies (and all the allergens that accompany them), or licking the picnic tables which housed who knows what kind of germs (ok Morgan was the only one who did this, but she was also the only one to actually throw up that night). Brooke ended up missing school today because she had developed an ear infection at some point over the weekend. I guess the moral of this story is "just because you get free admission tickets into the fair doesn't mean it's a good deal." Our "free" trip to the fair ended up costing us about $60 and our health. We knew we would have to pay for some food but DANG it was pricey. I took my camera out of my bag so I could try and document Riley's hair and then left the camera home so there will be no footage of us eating our fatty food or petting the lamas. I do however have a picture of Riley's hair that morning. You need to understand I am not really very creative with little girl hair. To my credit I do try to make their hair look nice everyday but I have never been able to master any intricate braiding or twisting. I pretty much do a standard ponytail everyday on Riley and occasionally I mix it up by braiding the ponytail. Nothing too complicated. I was up one night checking out some blogs when I found this blog. This lady has a million hair ideas so I tried one of them out and this was the outcome.

Not as cute as her example but I don't think it's too bad for a first time attempt (and considering we don't own a "parting" comb). I did it again this morning and it turned out even cuter. I think I might have found a new signature look for Riley. She LOVES it!!

Sunday was Stake Conference and I was the only one who made it. I felt pretty sick the whole time but I needed to go because I was helping with the Primary choir who was signing to, "I Am A Child of God". The kids looked great and I was happy to help. Jeremy stayed home with Morgan and Brooke who were my other two sickies and I just didn't feel like messing with the other two kids since I was sure I was just going to stay until my song was done. I ended us staying for the entire meeting because the message and spirit were both so wonderful I just couldn't leave. Isn't that usually how it works out? There was a big focus on being a member missionary as well as a theme of personal worthiness. I loved hearing from our mission president and his wife. They both seem like very kind, humble people. It really made me think of my own life and how much I would love to be able to serve a mission with Jeremy one day.