Fall Activity

We had a ward party this weekend to celebrate the season with a fall festival. It was held at a family's home that lives in farm country. It was a gorgeous piece of property on the river. The leaves are starting to turn and there was a chill of fall weather in the air. It was great.

The hayrides were a lot of fun. On the 2nd run, it was an extremely more bumpy ride than the first. Chuck decided to jump off to see what was going on and a tire had completely fallen off the rim. Everyone had to walk back. The nice neighbor who had loaned the tractor for the party quickly brought over another trailer so the kids could take one more ride.

The girls and I on the hayride.

Leland trying out the sack race with the help of Daddy.

The 3-legged, 3-man sack race. One person had to have both feet in the sack and the other 2 had to have one leg in the sack. Needless to say, most of them didn't make it that far except for Leland's team because they carried her the whole time.

Some of my favorite pictures that were taken during the activity.

Left: The girl on the far right was shoved by her husband right at the start. I wish the picture would have caught his hand still in the air. It was so funny.
Right: Our Stake President in the blue jacket. What a good sport. This activity was held at his home.

Left: Mid air jump during the sack race.
Right: The ever popular tree swing.
(Click on any of the pictures to enlarge)

We did a chili cook-off, but didn't have that much chili. However, we had tons of cornbread. I need to remember to always pass around a sign-up sheet for food, no matter if I don't think it is necessary. I got 2nd place in the cook-off which is always a confidence booster. It was only out of 4 choices, but I will still boast.

We made homemade Root Beer which was a huge hit. The super sweet flavor and the smoking dry ice made it a fun thing to watch. It was so easy to make, however I ruined a ton of dry ice because I stored it improperly. I guess the best thing is to buy it right when you need it. I was glad that we had plenty of root beer cause the the kids went crazy over it. We actually have 5+ gallons left over. Everyone loved the root beer floats even though it was cold.

We had about 70 people attend.

Spring Olympics

We had a Ward Activity yesterday and it went great. The theme was Lexington Spring Olympic Games. We started with creating a team name and flag. It was a great time filler as people arrived late. The Boy Scouts presented the American flag and we all said the Pledge of Allegiance. Chuck then spoke for a few minutes about the origination and meaning of Memorial Day.

At our church building there is an outdoor pavilion which was great to use. The following games were spread out in the grass and parking lot. All ages got into each game. It was a lot of fun.

Individual Events
Javelin Straws: Throw a straw as far as you can.
Shot-Put Seeds: Spit sunflower seeds as far as you can.
Discus CDs: Toss a CD at the target for points (3 throws).
Broad Jump Smile: Broadest smile end to end.

Team Events
Ice Dancing Toes: Move the most pieces of ice with your toes.
Team Body Building: Build the tallest free standing structure out of marshmallows, toothpicks, and 4 pieces of paper.

We ate lunch and had an awards ceremony. I made "gold medals" for the winner of each event. I filled clear cellophane bags with an assortment of gold wrapped candy (snickers, Reese's, caramel kisses, werther's, rolos).

Everyone that attended had a great time. I think we had about 60 people.

There are only a few small things I wish would have gone differently. I should have been more specific with those that I had asked to be judges for the individual games. We had a hard time tracking down some people's scores that weren't written on the log sheet.

Linger Longer (2)

We had our second Linger Longer on Sunday. We stay after our regular church meetings to eat lunch together as a congregation. Chuck and I are in charge of coordinating the activities so it was a busy Sunday for us. This time the Activities budget did not provide any food and it was going to be purely pot luck. I had sent around sign-up sheets for 2 weeks and called everyone on Friday to remind them of their assignment. We were nervous about having enough food and having a good variety. We panicked on Saturday night and I went to buy 2 frozen lasagnas just in case.

After the first hour of church, we decided to cook both lasagnas because it didn't look like we were going to have enough food. Well, we were pleasantly surprised by the amount of food that was provided when it came time to eat. Apparently, a lot of people had food in the car. I could not believe the spread we started to get. We could have set up a 4th table for food.

It was nice to feel the support of the members of our ward. So many people commented about how nice it is to just sit and visit with everyone. It is also fun to taste other's dishes. Next time I might provide little cards for each to write who made the dish and what it is. I heard many people asking around trying to get recipes.

The highlight of my afternoon was to watch an elderly lady with a HUGE smile on her face get her empty dishes from the kitchen. It made her so happy to see that other's liked her meat loaf and chocolate cake. She said "I can't believe everyone liked MY meat loaf so much!"

I made Andes Mint Cookies and they were a hit! (Thanks Erin) Another hit was someone brought individually wrapped PB&J and cheese sandwiches for the kids. I'm sure it took a lot of time, but I saw one on almost every kids plate.

Our next Acitivity will be in May. We have a great Yoga instructor in our ward that would like to have a Yoga morning. We are also thinking of "Spring Cleaning" our building. I would love any ideas on how to make a "Come clean the Church" activity more inticing.

Ward Christmas Party

Note: We are trying to journal everything about our holiday so there may be excessive details.

We finally had our Ward Christmas party after being postponed for a week. I was pleasantly surprised with the turn out (about 120) considering the date was changed and it was on a Friday night. The decorations were simple but very nice. Greenery with candles on the tables, icicle lights on the walls and along the stage, snowflakes on the walls, and bare Christmas trees on the stage.

The dinner was yummy and we had plenty. I could not keep the punch bowl or water pitchers full. Next time I think I will put pitchers of water on each table and assign one person to keep the punch bowl full. We also had plenty of desserts.

The picture taking spot was a hit. I think lots of people took advantage of it. The Kid's craft area should have been more supervised and it got pretty trashed. I hope kids made things but I really have no idea.

The program was wonderful. O Holy Night (Danielle S. - flute, Ayisha M - violin, Margo E - piano) O Come Emmanuel (Leslie M - guitar/sing, Margo E - sing) What Child is This? (Spencer K - sing, Derrick E - guitar, Margo E - piano) Picture a Christmas (Primary children in Nativity costume) Away in a Manger (Primary, joined by crowd for 2nd and 3rd). They all did such a great job especially the primary children.

The Bishop sat with the children at the end of the evening and told them a Christmas story and gave them each a gift bag (Nativity stickers, pencil, candy cane, and PlayDo)

I felt like I was running myself ragged the whole time and didn't get to enjoy it or sit and visit as much as would have liked, but I think it was a success because those that were there enjoyed themselves. My neighbor came which was such a blessing. She helped with my girls while Chuck and I were running around and she took Lucy home with her while we stayed to clean up.

Clean up was quick. The YW wanted the decorations for their New Year's dance so we didn't have to take any of those down. The YW also helped a lot with clearing the tables. Not as many helped with the tables and chairs as Chuck would have liked. The extra food was taken to some families in the Ward.

Postponed

As many of you may know, Chuck and I are the Activities chair for our ward. Well tonight was our big Christmas Party that has consumed my life for the last few weeks. It was postponed (to Friday 21st) due to the forecast of a major ice storm. Many of the members of our ward travel 30-40 mins to church. When you live in the rural mountains there are many windy roads and deer that can be dangerous. And for any of you that may not know - an ice storm is way worse than a snow storm. 4 wheel drive means nothing if you're driving on ice.

Chuck was relieved because he is right in the middle of finals and now he can spend the day studying instead of getting everything set up and organized for the party. Although next Friday he has his last exam from 2pm-5pm and the party starts at 6pm, so he won't be much help setting up then but will be able to enjoy the party more. Some wanted to have the party on next Sat night, but we will be gone by then and I told them it would be without us, so Friday it is.

As for me it's pretty anti-climatic. My whole week was spent preparing for this party now I have to wait another week for it to be carried out. I kept telling myself "When the party's done then I can ...send our Christmas cards, finish my shopping, prepare for our CA vacation...the list goes on and on. Now we leave for our vacation the morning after the party. Every thing's done for the party obviously except the decorating so not too much for me to worry about this week.

It better be a major storm tonight or I'll be a little bugged. My prayers have changed from "please let the weather hold off" to "bring it on!"