Trunk-or-Treat

We have been called to the Activities Committee and our first activity was the annual Trunk-or-Treat. Apparently, this is the biggest event of the year. The night included a "Chili Cook-off," games, pictures, a canned-food drive, a costume contest, and of course the decorated trunks filled with candy The Activities Commitee leader was very organized and we just did what she needed us to do. Matt was in charge of directing the parking, complete with flashing pumpkin lights, and Cami was the overseer of the chili and nachos.

The night went smoothly and most of the ward came to the party. We had about 20 different chilies in the cook-off. The best chilies received gold, silver and bronze trophies. The trophies looked like flower pots with a styrofoam ball glued to the top. Dried kidney beans were glued to the styrofoam and a spoon pushed into it. They were finished off with gold, silver, and bronze spray paint.
Most of the people dressed in costumes. The best costume prize of Cold Stone gift certificates went to "Nacho Libre and the Nun." Other good ones were a plumber (complete with a plumber's crack), a three-hole-punch (Jim from The Office), a gumball machine, and lots of little animals, super heroes, and princesses..

The Trunk-or-Treat was a hit with some very creatively decorated trunks and lots of candy for the little ones.
The night ended with a nice hot cup of hot chocolate.

Washington DC Temple

On Saturday, we went to the Washington DC Temple for our Stake Temple Day.

We were both a little worried because this was our first drive up to DC without a tour guide (Corey).

We left bright and early to get to the temple in time for the 9:30 session.

We got there, went through the session, and saw a few people from the ward.

We decided to grab lunch at the cafeteria and enjoyed a great salisbury steak with veggies and mashed potatoes.

We spent a lot of time walking around the temple, looking at all the beautiful fall leaves. The temple has some really neat doors around the back and side of the building.
We went to the visitors' center and a nearby LDS bookstore where Cami got a new set of scriptures.

We got back on the freeway and got stuck in traffic all the way to IKEA where we got a few more household items. One of which was a shelf to go over our TV. We also got some decorative platters and small caste iron chairs to put on it, but we can't decide if we really like the bright red.
So, that was our trip to Washington DC. We probably would have stayed in DC longer had we known where anything was. But don't worry, we'll be back soon.

And the winner is...

We are very proud to announce that Brian is the lucky winner of our "Guess the legs" contest. The answer to our game was coffee mugs. And for being the first to guess what the legs of our table are, he will receive a mint condition, never-been-opened full color VHS copy of the 1994 classic Legs of Steel workout video. This excellent workout will increase the definition of your quads, butt, hamstrings, and calves and is hosted by none-other-than Gilad Janklowicz. You may recognize him from other hit videos such as Abs of Steel and Arms of Steel . Gilad Jankowicz is a former decathalon champion and it has been said that "The way Gilad teaches is the best." -Arnold Schwarzenegger
Please allow 1-2 weeks for deliver of your awesome prize. Consult a physician before you begin this, or any, exercise program.

As if that wasn't a manly enough gift, we are also throwing in a $20 gift card to either The Home Depot (Most Manly), Hollywood Video (Moderately Manly), or Staples (Least Manly). The choice is yours Brian!!! (Just leave us a comment as to which gift card you want)

Who wants to win a prize?

We were finally able to get the box out of the car with no more damage (see post below), got it into the house and Matt assembled it very nicely. When we got it in, we realized our little table needed to be a little taller to hide all the electrical cords. We came up with a pretty creative alternative for furniture legs. See if you can figure out what we used. The first to figure it out will get an awesome prize and sticker from Miss Cami :) If you think you know what it is just leave a comment. Sorry the picture of the table is not very clear. All the other pictures showed too much of the legs. We'll post the clearer pictures after someone has guessed what they are.

The Problems with IKEA

It seems like everytime we go to IKEA something goes wrong. Well, this last trip tops them all. On Friday night, we decided to go to IKEA. It was raining so we had to take the car. We went in, shopping was great. We found some lights and other knick knack types of things. While picking out a decorative basket Cami broke a fingernail. We ate at the restaraunt where Matt had the meatballs and Cami had the salmon. It was really good except that they forgot to put gravy on Cami's potatoes (and we all know how much Cami loves gravies!). But it turned out to be OK because they went overboard with the gravy on Matt's plate.

The reason for going in the first place was to get a table to go under our new TV. We got the long, flat box onto the cart and went to the checkout. We got outside and started to devise a plan to get the box into the car. Matt had the idea of going through the front passenger side window to the back seat and through the hole between the back seat and the trunk. We moved all the seats forward and made it through the front seat with no problem. We got it back to the hole and found out that it was an inch too long to fit through. So then we took the headrests off the front seats and with a lot of pushing and twisting we were able to get it into the hole. The only problem was, we couldn't move the passenger seat back. The end of the box became the headrest, with the seat in a nearly upright position, leaving little leg room. This is how Cami rode during the two hour drive back to Richmond. Most of the time she had her head wedged in between the window and the box with a blanket for a pillow.

We got home late so we decided to get the small things out and worry about the big box in the morning. So the next morning we started to move the seats forward and pull the box out. We seemed to get it wedged against the window and couldn't get it out of the hole in the back. We pushed and pulled, twisted it this way and that. Matt almost got it out of the hole so he pulled it one more time and we heard a POP. We both thought it came from the frame around the hole when Cami looked at the windshield and realized how the situation went from OK to really bad. The popping sound did not come from the back of the car, it was the windshield breaking. We managed to make a nice big crack in the windshield the size of a dinner plate (8 or 9 inches in diameter). This table had just become less of a "great deal" once you add in the cost of a new windshield! Well live and learn I guess. We have definitely learned our lesson: Do not go to IKEA without the truck (or in the rain).

Here are pictures from our "fun" IKEA adventure

All those art classes finally paid off!!!

This last week I (Matt) had my first "carving competency" exam. This exam consists of carving an exact replica of a tooth. Because this is the first exam, the tooth that was carved was considered the easiest tooth to carve. The tooth carved was the maxillary central incisor (#8 and 9 according to the national tooth numbering system). For all you lay men out there these are your "buck tooth" teeth. The medium that the tooth was carved out of was a block of hard wax. We were given an assortment of carving and dental instruments, our block of wax, and three hours to carve. Our grades were posted this weekend online and my tooth passed with flying colors whereas the majority of the rest of the class failed miserably :) So Mom and Dad, all that money and time devoted to art classes has finally paid off.

Three Weeks Down

I've made it through three weeks of teaching. The class is continually getting better each day. They are understanding the routine and the rules more and more. My attitude has changed quite a bit from the first week. In my mind, I think I was expecting the kids to have the maturity of kindergarteners. I really didn't understand just how young they are and how much you have to teach them on how to work with other kids their own age. The other day we read a book I found at Barnes and Noble called Hands are not for Hitting. The next day we hardly saw any hitting or pushing. My assistant and I have decided to read this book everyday. I think that will be enough times for those kids that just don't get it.

The rest of the teachers are really nice and have helped me out a lot. There is no way I could keep all the paperwork straight without them.

We got two new kids this week. One is really good and picking up the routine quickly. The other one has no clue how to act in a classroom. It will take a little longer for him.

I've decided that I really don't like mondays all that much. You work so hard all week to get the kids on the right track and then they go home and do whatever they want for two or three days. They come back on monday and we have to re-train them. I'm really not looking forward to the day after their two week christmas break.

But, all in all, the class is going good. And I'm enjoying it, even though I still come home tired.