Halloween 2021

For school the Friday before Halloween the kids could dress as their favorite book character. Clara chose Hermione and Leona chose Matilda. Clara worked hard for that wavy hair. She even agreed to sleep with her hair in small braids to get it extra crazy for the next day. Leona carried Steinbeck with her to school, but still she had to tell people who she was. I think people just don't read the classics these days, sigh, meaning Matilda, not The Grapes of Wrath.

These were the costumes that everyone chose for the ward Halloween party this year. Eliza was... a banana. Clara was Hermione. She even agreed to sleep with her hair in small braids to get it extra crazy the next day. Leona was Raya, from the movie, Raya and the Last Dragon, and I was the last dragon. Collin was a last minute pirate, when the kids realized he was going without a costume, and Timothy was an astronaut. The astronaut suit was a risky costume as Timothy was only very recently potty-trained and can't be washed in the washing machine, but it worked out.

Since Halloween was on a Sunday this year, I organized trick or treating amongst the ten families in the neighborhood who are members of our ward. It wasn't a huge route, but at least the kids got to do some real trick or treating. Everyone ended up in the court by the Stevens' house and had a dance party/candy feast.

I know they look like cardboard cutouts of children, but they were the real deal.

 

October 15-25

The Crownovers came to town and Leona and Clara had their own side party while Eliza had her birthday party.

We went to the Hebron High School Homecoming Parade and it was a lot of fun. The kids enjoyed seeing kids from the ward in the parade and also getting tons of candy.

The kids and I watch The Masked Singer when Collin has a call during dinner. This is them chanting, "Take it off." as the singer's mask was removed.

Leona and her tooth twin.

This was taken after I'd successfully- with Gma Cole's help- made the bolero portion of Leona's Halloween costume. She was Raya from the Disney movie, "Raya and the Last Dragon."

 

School Photos

 

Pumpkins 2021

From L to R: Eliza's duck, Clara's koala, and my candy.

From L to R: Dad's blank pumpkin because he chatted with the Gibson's and got distracted, Timothy's "mustache pumpkin", Leona's Harry Potter pumpkin (On the back of the pumpkin are a bunch of spiders as a reference to Hagrid's admonition to, "Follow the spiders." in the Chamber of Secrets.).

Leona made a Piggie and Gerald pumpkin to go in her school's story pumpkin patch.

 

Sayonara Ernie

Leona had to trade in Ernie for a newer model. Leona was sad to see Ernie go. She said, "Ernie looks bad, but he has a great sound." Ernie was easily a hundred years old. The new one is still probably from the 50's, but it has more plastic parts and therefore its keys don't stick as much.

 

The Snaggle Tooth

This was the tooth at night.

This was the tooth the next morning before school.

 

Timothy's Birthday

Timothy had a birthday party at the Firetruck Park with a couple of his friends from nursery. Clara and Leona came along and had a great time helping the little kids with their firetruck hunt. 

 

Great Grandma Hatch's Funeral

Great Gma Hatch passed away pretty suddenly, from a blood clot. It was sad for Gma Cole, but ultimately a happy thing for Great Gma Hatch as her dementia was really bad and she couldn't walk anymore after her first blood clots and subsequent surgery back in July. I'm sure that her parents,  siblings, and husband were happy to see her as she peacefully passed to the other side.

Her funeral was nice and family members came into town from Idaho, Arizona, and Missouri for it. The kids were especially excited because Cousin Scott and Heather stayed at our house with Scott's service dog, Sailor. Cousin Scott has Choroideremia and is totally blind. In spite of this he is unfailingly optimistic and is very independent, he even travels by himself. The kids were thrilled to have a dog in the house even if it was only temporary. They took him for walks and gave him treats.

Grandma Hatch's funeral was a chance to look back over her life and see how much she had accomplished in her 92 years on earth. Grandma Hatch has been an inspiration to me, because her life was a beautiful illustration of how the Atonement of Jesus Christ can help put a life together. 

Gma Hatch had a tough childhood. I found out at the funeral after talking to the Wilcoxes that when Gma Hatch was 9 or 10 her mother got sick (According to family history it was Valley Fever, but the symptoms sound a lot like post partum depression.) after her youngest sister, Mary Lou, was born. Her father, siblings, and herself were all sent away to live with her Aunt Claudia who was very mean, and even abusive at times. Gma Hatch was in charge of her baby sister as a 10 year old. They lived with that aunt for two years. 

Then later as a teenager everybody's favorite story of Gma. Hatch eloping to Las Vegas with Gpa Chuck happened. Gma Hatch took a day trip, with a chaperone (who ended up being the witness) to Las Vegas and got married. Then they returned home and Gma Hatch went back to her parents' house, as she had only barely turned 17. After two weeks of waiting for the right moment to tell her parents that she was a married woman, Gpa Chuck finally demanded action. Gma. Hatch waited until her mother, Gma LeSueur, was hosting a Relief Society presidency meeting at their house to spring the news of her elopement on her. 

Later after Gma Cole and her two brothers had joined the family Gma Hatch made really poor choices and ended up an alcoholic. Their family was destroyed by her drinking. Shortly after her divorce from Gpa Chuck she and her friends were out partying and were in a terrible car accident. The driver from the other car saw that Gma Hatch's friends had gotten out of the car, but Gma Hatch's pelvis had been crushed and was pinned in the car and gasoline was pouring out all around her. He had been badly injured in the accident and had to later have his knees removed, but he crawled across to the car and pulled Gma Hatch from the wreckage before the car caught on fire. 

After the accident Gma Hatch spent months in the hospital (her own personal forced rehab) and then further months living with her parents again while she learned to walk again. During this period she got her life together, cleaned herself up, and started going back to church. While she didn't see her own children as much as she should have, she did serve in the Church, get married in the Temple to Grandad George, and took care of her mother until she passed away.

It was fun to be able to live close to her for the past year, and to be able to visit with her on a regular basis. I know that she loved it every time the kids visited her and she was thrilled to get to spend time with them. She especially loved it when the girls shared their musical talents with her. As a tribute the girls all played something at the family luncheon after the funeral. Clara and Eliza played hymns on the piano and Leona played a song on the accordion. It was a fitting tribute to a woman for whom music was such an important part of her life. Gma played piano in church for over 20 years and was playing hymns the night before she went to the hospital.

Fun fact Gma Hatch had a trumpeter and an accordionist at her wedding reception. It was only fitting then that she had an accordionist at her funeral.

 

Trip to Fossil Rim and Big Rocks Park

Over Labor Day weekend we decided to take a trip down to Glen Rose, TX. We had heard great things about Fossil Rim Wildlife Center and wanted to check it out. When we got there we were given two cups up food pellets to pass out to the animals along the trail. We were told to only let the giraffes eat out of our hands, but some of the deer had their own opinions about that rule. Dropping the pellets out the window felt a little like chumming the waters for sharks. It was really fun to see the different animals; there was quite a variety. Some of the animals were more aggressive than others. Seeing the emu and ostrich up close it was easy to draw a line between them and their dinosaur ancestors. I think everybody's favorite part was the giraffes.  They were very gentle and graceful, even if they did leave a stripe of slobber on your hand.

After the Fossil Rim we drove down the road a short distance and went to Big Rocks State Park. It's essentially a creek that's been dammed to form a swimming hole.  The water was bathtub warm and not too deep.  We had a fun time wading around in it for a while before heading back home.