Tuesday Night Boys Club

Tuesday nights are busy for our family. Melissa goes to mutual, while Colin and Carson go to Scouting activities. Dylan's meets with his Cub Scout den, and Yvonne helps with the Cub Scouts.

Jason and Levi, meanwhile, are free. So Tuesday night is their night. They are the Tuesday Night Boys Club. Mostly they just hang out -- they'll do the dishes after everyone dashes off, maybe finish some laundry or clean up somewhere to help out, then play a game and watch a little television together. Sometimes Jason chooses, and sometimes Levi does.

And while Levi is generally an unabashed momma's boy, he belongs to Jason on Tuesdays -- and vice versa. And while Levi seems to act older during their time together, Jason gets younger...

Halloween!!!

Fall colors, a chill in the air, and a annual serving of sugar in one day. Time for our kids' favorite holiday...Halloween.

Our good friends Kyle and Amanda drove up from Alexandria, Va., in the afternoon. It was our first time together since we moved -- Kyle and Amanda moved to the East Coast from Las Vegas over a year ago. It was good to catch up with them during the afternoon and pizza dinner.


The kids split up for trick or treating. Melissa and her friend dressed as the Super Mario Brothers; Melissa hosted Mario and some other friends for scary movies (she was counting on some of her brothers' candy haul ending up in her hands -- and it did).


Colin, with a dark mullet, horn-rimmed glasses, soul patch, and black t-shirt, looked like a roadie from the 1977 Lynyrd Skynyrd tour. He went trick-or-treating with a friend decked out in a Ravens jersey and giant afro wig. They scored a lot of candy.


Carson dressed as a nerd. And yep, we had a lot of fun with that one. But Carson had the last laugh, going to a party with friends, then trick-or-treating with not one, not two, but six girls. I guess chicks dig nerds. He also got the most candy.


We were fortunate to get a photo of Dylan, our resident ninja. After dinner he disappeared (as ninjas tend to do) with some of his friends.


And Levi was (shhh) Batman. He got stuck trick-or-treating with Jason and Yvonne and Kyle and Amanda. It's been a long, long time since it was Jason and Yvonne with one kid. And it was a blast. Levi marched up and down the block, going to most doors on his own (unless it was scary, in which case Yvonne went with him).


At one point he was out of gas, ready to go home, but we were concerned that he hadn't gathered enough candy to sustain the four adults escorting him around.

In a scratchy voice he said, "If I just had a drink, I think I could go more." We all convinced him that a Starburst candy was as good as a drink. He chewed slowly on a cherry Starburst we luckily found in his bag, then stood up straight and announced he no longer he needed a drink -- he was ready. He got plenty of candy...

Jason and Yvonne did't dress up, sort of. Since Yvonne helped Levi/Batman, we figured she was Lord Alfred. And after Levi's long hike around the neighborhood collecting candy, Jason carried Levi home on his shoulders, making Jason...the Batmobile.

Sunday afternoon at Harpers Ferry

With the sun finally breaking through the clouds after a week of dreariness and cold (extreme cold to us desert rats, but just cold to those here who expect autumn), we decided to get out of the house and enjoy some of the fall foliage. So after church we ate lunch, changed our clothes, and headed to Harpers Ferry, W. Va.

Jason often describes Harpers Ferry National Park as one of his favorite places on earth – a picturesque and historic small town that sits nestled in the hills where the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers meet. He has visited many times, first on his mission and then at times when he was working in D.C. Fortunately for us all, it’s now only 25 miles from home.

The drive was nice, as autumn is turning the leaves to brilliant shades of crimson, orange, and yellow. Some trees appear to have burst into flames as the sun illuminates their leaves from behind – and others simply seem to glow.

When we pulled into the parking lot, we were surprised by the number of people there. Before long we realized we had stumbled into a special event: a commemoration celebrating the 150th anniversary of John Brown’s Raid -- an abolitionist's stand against slavery that was a precursor to the Civil War.

That’s one thing that is very cool about this area: important moments in American history happened all around us.

Harpers Ferry is one of those places – from being the place where Thomas Jefferson liked to go think (no visit is complete for us without a hike up the Appalachian Trail to Jefferson’s Rock) and George Washington ordered the United States Armory; to its importance in the Civil War (including Brown’s raid) and site of numerous battles and skirmishes.


We had a great time listening to the Marine Corps band play a series of patriotic numbers before a ceremony to honor the Marines who stormed Brown’s fort and captured him and his raiders.


The Park Service hosted a series of activities for the kids, including Civil War-era games, an area to put on disguises (we first thought Colin’s disguise was funny, then we thought it was hilarious when we found out a woman used that disguise to hide from federal law enforcement), and a display of Marines memorabilia (including weapons from the Revolutionary War through today).




All the while, people in period dress walked amongst us – soldiers, shopkeepers, townspeople. We enjoyed stepping back in time to the 19th Century, walking through the streets, up the hills, and across the bridges that make Harpers Ferry special.

An investment in integrity

Last Saturday we asked Melissa to run to a nearby convenience store to buy a few things we needed (she loves running errands, because that means she’s driving, so she happily agreed).

Yvonne didn’t have any cash, so she gave Melissa some money from Jason’s wallet (insert your own joke here).

At the store, Melissa made the purchase, but only received change for a payment of $10, not for the $20 bill she had given the cashier. Melissa handled it well, explaining to the cashier and store manager what happened, and they gave her the correct change from $20.

When she got home and related the story and how proud she was that she got the correct change, Yvonne and Jason looked at each other awkwardly.

Yvonne was sure it had been a $10 bill, not a $20. Jason checked his wallet. Yep, only a $10 bill was missing. She had received $10 too much in change.

Melissa, obviously, was mortified, but knew that no matter how embarrassed she was, the money had to be returned.

So back she went. When she walked in the door and approached the store manager, he smiled and said, “It was a 10, wasn’t it?”

Melissa apologized and returned the money. The manager was cool, and Melissa felt better that she made it right. It was a good reminder for all of us of how important honesty is, and that no embarrassment is worth sacrificing your integrity.

Fast forward to the next Monday. Our home sale in Las Vegas had been done since July 17, more than two months previous.

In the mail, we received a letter from our Las Vegas mortgage company dated August 3 that apparently had made quite a journey to find us. Unbeknownst to us, we were due a refund from the closing of our Las Vegas house. Enclosed in the envelope was a check for $2,300 and change. As Jason held the check and we all stood in disbelief, Yvonne looked at Melissa and said, “Well, there’s your $10.”

Isn’t God’s interest rate -- whether it's cash or other blessings -- on the principle of integrity great?

Calamine, calamine, calamine lotion

Colin and Carson both went camping with the Scouts this past weekend. The event was a five-mile canoe trip down the Potomac River, with an overnight stop during the trip.



The boys got home Saturday before the rain got going in earnest, and both said they had a great time. They noted that Carson slept in the tent, but Colin slept outside with some of the other Scouts (apparently real men sleep under the stars).

Later that afternoon, Colin started to itch.

Really itch.

And then bumps began to appear on his hands, face, and lower back.

Lots of bumps.

Evidently, when he decided to sleep outside, an all-points bulletin went out to all mosquitoes in the tri-state area that a free all-you-can-eat buffet was about to open.

Thankfully, Colin was wearing a t-shirt to bed, so the mosquitoes only got to his hands, arms, face and neck (as if that's not enough). And yes, his lower back, when sometime during the night he got too warm and opened his bag, exposing about a four-inch band above his waistband.

He wouldn’t let us take his picture for the blog, but if you know what Braille looks like, let’s just say that Colin could have been a lengthy novel.

Once the Benadryl and calamine lotion kicked in, he was ok (actually, he was too loopy to care, which was very funny). We were hoping that the Sunday school lesson would be about lepers so Colin could be the object lesson, but no such luck. He's itchin' and scratchin' today.

Carson, meanwhile, was unmarked, because he dwelt in a tent.

Just following directions

Today, while getting ready for stake conference, Levi asked if he could take some toy cars. Considering the two-hour meeting ahead, we agreed that he could take one in each pocket.

So we were sitting in church, and Levi showed us car #1. Then car #2.

And then cars 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.

We quickly realized we couldn't get mad at him for bringing so many cars.

He was wearing cargo pants -- 8 pockets.

Levi's head vs. Levi's heart

We're doing a lot of work trying to turn our new house into a home. 

Saturday was a long, busy day. After a productive morning, the afternoon found us all spread out. 

Jason was upstairs with Colin and Dylan, painting bedrooms. Yvonne and Melissa were in the garage unloading boxes. Carson was mowing the lawn.

And Levi? Evidently playing with his toys. Somewhere. Unnoticed.  

But after a while he showed up in the garage and asked Yvonne to tie his shoes. Yvonne asked where he was going.  

"I heard in my head that I should help my mom and dad and brothers," he explained.

After a pause, Levi gave us full disclosure, as he tends to do: "My heart told me not to...but I listened to my head."

Yvonne laughed and gave Levi some work  and he helped for several minutes, at which point his heart won out and he returned to the house.