Halloween and beyond

So, the last couple of weeks have been full of activities! Zelle and I had a couple of activities to prepare for the dance our ward youth put on for special needs people in our region. We got decorations, music, refreshments ready one night, then put on the actual dance the next night. I think the kids in our ward and the special needs group really had a good time. At opening exercises when the handicapped group sang "In this very Room" you could feel very strongly that there was enough love in that room for all the tough lives and challenges there.

The next day, Zelle, Jacob, Lizzie and Suse Kearon all had their first Waterford middle-school dance - yikes! Pretty weird as a parent. It was fun to see them all in their costumes and hear the "news" of the dance. The consistent theme from the Jacob end of things is that this is one seriously in-demand sixth grader :)! Zelle said it was "boring," which means she awkwardly and shyly walked around with a couple of other shy friends the whole time - fine by me for a few years! Then after soccer games Saturday, we met at the Kearons for a spaghetti dinner before heading out to trick-or-treat. The kids got a great haul of candy, and the Kearons were wide-eyed at the amount of candy you get here in the states...it is pretty amazing. That night and the next day there was some good, old-fashioned candy trading going on. Dad would have been proud with all his posterity's negotiating skills, I'm sure :).

This past week, we had a piano recital. It was a little stressful because the girls had only had their pieces for 3-4 weeks, so Zelle's was a little rough at the end, but not for lack of trying. She practiced as much as she had time to, their teacher just tends not to give them quite enough time for recital prep as most teachers. It was a success, though. Zelle and I also got to go to the temple and do baptisms for her first time with the youth this week. It was great to be able to do that with her for the first time, and kind of help walk her through it. She said she enjoyed it, and what Mark and I noticed the most was the extra cheerfulness and how sweet she was the next morning on what could have been an especially grouchy morning. She had gotten to bed late and still had homework left that morning, but she was patient, sweet, great that morning. As I am writing this, Zelle and Abby are screaming at the top of their lungs at each other, lest I forget to report some of the realities of life on the flip side, too.

We also got to hear Zelle in her first strings concert at Waterford Friday night. It was amazing! No wonder Peel and everyone love Mrs. Morris so much. She accomplishes amazing things with middle and high-school aged kids. Saturday, Mark and I got to go to the Jazz game with some friends, which was fun. It was a great game decided in double overtime that the Jazz won - yahoo! Well, we sure love and miss you all. xoxo, the Harrises