I hate rats. I hate mice. I want nothing to do with them. Give me snakes and bugs any time, but keep the furry vermin away from me. I saw my fair share of giant rats in NYC (blech!), and tons of mice growing up on the farm, but I still am not able to see them without flipping out.... like shuddering, screaming, jumping on couches type of flipping out. There was one time in New York City when I saw a mouse in the kitchen and refused to go in there until Jonathon got home (7 hours later) to take care of it. I admit it is irrational, but I can't control it.
I mention all of this because one day in September our next door neighbor came over and said that she saw a rat come from under our garden shed, steal some of her dog's food, and then run back. She wanted us to know so that we could take care of the problem. Well, hearing about a rat near our house did not make me happy. I immediately sent Jonathon to take care of the problem. He searched around behind the shed, but found no evidence that there were any other rats around. Time passed, but I was a little uncomfortable that Jonathon hadn't done any more to ensure that there wouldn't be any rats.
In October, my brother Joe, came to visit. He is a wildlife biologist, so I figured he could take a look out there. He brought a big rat trap and set it out behind the shed. He put bread and nutella on the trap to entice any rat that might be out there. About a half an hour later, he went back out to check the trap, and sure enough, he caught one. Nasty! He reset the trap and waited for another 30 minutes. Rat number 2 was caught. Again he reset the trap, and again he caught a rat within 30 minutes. At this point, I was grossed out beyond reason, but so glad Joe was taking care of it. This same thing happened over and over again for 4 hours. By the end of the night he had caught 9 rats. Once he even caught two rats at a time in one trap. He had them all in a grocery bag and dumped them in the trash before he left for home. Ewww! I made Jonathon set the trap a few more times to make sure they were gone. Jonathon caught 2 more to bring the total to 11. After a few days, we didn't catch any more, so Jonathon was fairly confident that we got them all. He put rat poison behind the shed so that we wouldn't have that problem again. Yuck, Yuck, Yuck! At least all this happened with me never having to actually see a rat.
Corn Maze
While Joe and Kym's family was visiting, we decided to take all of the kids to a Corn Festival. They had corn slides, a petting zoo, a corn maze, and lots of activities for kids. We spent a few hours playing, and the kids had a great time. I love Fall and the Harvest. It is definitely my favorite time of year. The kids had a glorious time playing with their cousins. They were being so silly and sure enjoyed the last of the mild weather.
Primary Program
I was in charge of writing our ward's Primary Program again this year. This is the 3rd year I have written the Program (2 in Layton and 1 here), and I think I finally have it down! Each year is a little different because the theme for the year changes, but the overall messages are the same.
This year the theme was "I Know the Scriptures are True!" The actual program came together very quickly this year. Our music chorister challenged the children in Primary to read the scriptures every day and offered the children a reward for anyone who finished the goal. She bore a powerful testimony that reading the scriptures every day, no matter how old you are, would strengthen your testimony and help you get through challenges now and in the future. I loved this challenge and wanted to incorporate it into the program. We had three of the children who completed the challenge give a talk on their experiences reading the scriptures. I also had several children tell about their scripture heroes.
I felt great about the majority of the program, but I was really struggling with the ending. The last section was about missionary work. In my mind, I envisioned our Primary children going into the world as a great army of missionaries, changing lives and spreading the gospel because they knew the scriptures were true. I wanted it to be powerful and encourage everyone participating in the program or listening in the audience to start their own scripture challenge to know that the scriptures were true. I wanted to emphasize that you are never too young to develop a testimony of the scriptures. I searched LDS.org for quotes that mentioned this, but I came up completely empty.
I was praying to know how to end the program when General Conference rolled around. During one of the talks by Elder Gary E. Stevenson, he perfectly summarized my thoughts and feelings. He said, "I have learned that one is never too young to seek and receive a personal testimony of the Book of Mormon." His talk was full of wonderful advice about the scriptures for young men, young women, and children. It was definitely an answer to my prayers, and I immediately knew that I should incorporate it into the end of the program. Later, I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about the program. I got the impression that the Young Men and Young Women of the ward should join the Primary children in singing the last song "Search, Ponder, and Pray." After some inquiries, I was given approval to make it happen. Being in charge of the Program was stressful, but I truly felt guided and directed in what I was doing. It turned out beautifully. The children bore powerful testimonies through their speaking and their singing. It was a truly uplifting Sacrament Meeting, and I am grateful that Heavenly Father cares enough about me and about the children of our ward to help us.
BYU Football
I love going to BYU football games, but all of these 8:15 start times are killing me. Because of the late nights, it took all the way until November for us to be able to take our whole family to a game. It was actually a really lovely day. The temperatures were very mild for November, and the sun was shining bright. We were playing UMASS, which wasn't all that exciting, but probably for the best since we were very distracted trying to keep the kids happy and entertained.The first half actually passed very smoothly. Christian and Andrew were perfectly content to sit, watch the game, and eat their Cougar Tails. Hyrum, meanwhile, played "Find Cosmo" among the crowd for almost and hour. It was very enjoyable, although our team stunk it up pretty badly. By the time the third quarter finished up, everyone was ready to go. The Cougars had a great quarter and were well in the lead, so we were okay leaving just a bit early. Overall, it was a fun family event. As the kids get older, it definitely gets easier.
Fun Surprises
For Thanksgiving, my Mom decided to send my brother Ben, who is on a mission in Omaha, Nebraska, a fun turkey from all the members of our family. My mom made a paper turkey body, and each member of the family (and even some extended family) designed their own feathers that Ben could add to his turkey. It was a fun surprise for him. We made our feathers for Family Home Evening one night. Everyone did a great job, and they turned out so cute.
Later, Ben sent a picture home of his completed turkey. He loved all of the unique feathers, but he said Andrew's was his favorite. He loved the shape of it, and the picture of him dressed up as Malfoy that he included. Yay for missionaries!
And the last surprise was this milk jug that I found in the fridge. Haha! Christian decorated it on a whim. It brought a smile to my face! I sure love my cute, obsessed children.
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