On Saturday morning we got out the door early and worked in the front yard together. The plants around the front pond were so overgrown!! It was great to get that done together--it made for a much faster job.
We got inside and turned on General Conference. Well, the downside of that little family project was missing the "big announcement" firsthand about the missionary age change! Thank goodness for traffic on Facebook that filled us in on that. We also had satellite issues and only heard the end of President Uchtdorf's talk. Thankfully we didn't have too much more of that the rest of the weekend and enjoyed all the wonderful messages and counsel shared.
That night some young men and their dads came over for ice cream after the priesthood session of General Conference. A smaller crowd than usual (plus me going a little overboard on toppings) meant one thing--lots of leftovers for another time! :)
We enjoyed more Conference on Sunday, and then on Columbus Day we got up early and celebrated Oscar the Dog's 1st birthday with exercise! Jason ran over 5 miles up and down this huge hill to the community college, and Rhiannon, Wade and I did close to 2 miles with Wade on his bike, Rhiannon jogging, and me being dragged by Oscar. Fun times...no, really, it was fun! :)
That evening we hosted a "Polar Bear Challenge" swim and bbq party. It was a blast--we had some old friends over and some new ones, too, to celebrate the end of summer and the glorious return of Ridgecrest's best season of the year--fall. LOTS of good food, plenty of kids running around trying to brave the cold pool, and, you guessed it, ice cream and toppings for dessert. It was a fantastic way to end the long weekend!
Last night we attended Rhiannon's fall concert for Concert Band. They played "Band Avenue March," and music from Jurassic Park and Pirates of the Caribbean. Rhiannon came across loud and crystal clear on the mallets, chimes, and bass drum. She did a great job!
Tomorrow we will say goodbye to a family member--Toby the Tortoise is moving on to bigger pastures with the Green family a few streets away. We've been thinking about him/her/it all summer and were concerned how to care for him long-term. Toby has outgrown his box on the kitchen counter and is the right size to move outdoors now, but our swimming pool and big, active dog aren't the best combination, with the in-ground pool being our biggest concern. Tortoises + pool = no more tortoise. Realistically, if Toby really wanted to get to that water, the chain-link fence wouldn't stop him. I feel bad about it, bad that we didn't think things through too well when we got him, but I'm grateful for the lessons we've learned from Toby about taking care of a pet and taking responsibility for it, even if that means finding him a better place to live. We're grateful to our friends for being willing to give him a new, bigger home!
