October

Well, I've been waiting a while to blog because I was seeking our family Halloween pictures.  I put them somewhere, and haven't found them yet.  So, before I get any further behind, I figure "Who needs pictures!?"  and I'll continue with just words.

So, we moved into our house, and got reacquainted with our old neighbors and also met a few new neighbors who had moved in while we were away.  There is a little girl that is between Maci and Lexi in age who lives right next door.  Other than that, no other children on our street.  The 3 became instant friends.

When we moved here, the girls' new school was just coming back from potato harvest break.  I think the break is 2 weeks here.  Maci's teacher is Melanie Miller and Lexi's is Alecia Eidinger.  There is a good mix of people here.  Maci found friends quite quickly, but Lexi was a little more hesitant.  There was one boy who didn't treat her very nice at first.  But, now they have lots of friends, and that boy is even nice to Lexi.  I have been very impressed with the school here, and the capabilities of the teachers!  Within 3 weeks of moving in, Maci had completed her first power point presentation (the rest of the class had a 2 week headstart, but they all finished the same time.)  Her presentation was on peacocks--her favorite animal.

They do a program here called 'Character Counts'.  When someone does a kind deed- shares with someone, picks up garbage, is honest, etc--they get to put their name on a paper and put it into a jar.  Each week, the principal will draw out a few names and they get a prize.  Lexi has gotten chosen 4 times so far!

For Halloween, we got to go to our new ward's trunk-or-treat.  (Trick-or-treating isn't as popular as it was back in my childhood days.  So, basically everyone dresses up and also decorates their car trunk, line up, and everyone parades around getting candy.  It's still light out, and we know where the candy is coming from.)  Howard was working that day, but because we were in the county, he could come dressed-up in his uniform :), and parade around with the kids while I handed out candy.  Hadley was a ladybug, Lexi was a dark fairy, and Maci was a sorceress.  Halloween night, Lexi pulled out her first tooth!