Fire Drill and Friendship Week

The last week before fall break, Jackson had fire safety week at school. I got to attend the field trip to the local fire station with him as the culminating activity. It was an exciting week! 

Then on Sunday, someone pulled the fire alarm at church and we had  an exciting fire drill interrupt our Sacrament Meeting. It was kind of fun, to be honest! Eli made sounds as loud and as real as the fire alarm so that once we had congregated back safely to our seats, people around us thought it was going off again. It was funny. 

We had been planing to do our own home fire drill for FHE, so the very next day, we had some practices and taught the kids how to make it out of the house, where to meet, what to do, what not to do...all the things they'd need to know. It was a great run through. Eli was really afraid of the fire alarm. 

For our "Dessert Activity" we made a spooky haunted gingerbread house. It was all a very fun time. The Haunted house no longer exists, I'm sad to report. It has been eaten. I figured it would, so I'm not too bothered by it. I was just waiting for it to happen, and it happened sooner than I expected. I thought they'd pick at it slowly until it was wasted away. But no. I was taking a shower this morning and found it shredded to pieces when I made it downstairs. And the kids all had marks of orange and black frosting to prove "who dunnit" :)

This week also starts the first day of our ward friendship week. This year, we have three widows and a less active/ part-member family. We started the week of nightly gift giving by leaving some cheery fall flowers. The rest of the week has poems and gifts that go along with each night. The kids totally loved doorbell-ditching! I love this tradition because I love the feeling of helping brighten someone's day. 

 Our secret friends left the kids face masks to wear and make. The LOVED it!! Such a fun idea!

our poems: 

(Day 1: Flowers)

(Day2: given with canned peaches and recipe)

The week of Friendship has just begun,

And we hope you’ll enjoy our gifts of fun.

You may ask, “Who treats us so well?”
But that is our secret and we’ll not tell!

We’ll give you clues as to who we are,

The first one is -- we don’t live far!

Another clue, in this poem we will sneak,

To help you guess by the end of the week.

We like to camp and Dutch-oven cook,

We’ll share a recipe from our family cook book.

And so we leave you with a small gift and rhyme,

We canned these peaches just in time!

                                                               

Enjoy!

Peach cobbler

Ingredients:

½ cup butter, softened

2 cups flour

4 tsp, baking powder

1 cup milk

1 quart canned fruit

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375. Grease a 9x13 baking dish. Mix dry ingredients together and cut in butter until the mixture resembles oatmeal texture. Add milk and mix thoroughly. Spread batter evenly on the bottom of the baking dish. Add the canned fruit with juice on top. Bake for 45 minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean.

  

(Day 3: given with home-canned slasa and chips)

Although we now claim Utah our home,

Once on the plains of Texas we roamed.

If you’ve ever traveled to the heart of the South,

You’ll know what South’ners like to put in their mouth!

Preparing good food is nothing short of an art,

So for today’s gift we leave you our part.

Salsa is one thing that we love to eat,

We hope for you it’s not too much heat!

You may look for this jar in stores near and far,

But it can only be found where they fly the Lone Star.

We hope you enjoy this gift and our poem,

As we leave behind something of us in your home.

(We like it served warm, cantina style, with chips, or over eggs, in tortilla soup, nachos-- you name it!)

(Day 4: Given with bag of BYU mint candies)

We have many reasons to like BYU,

Our majors were Health and History too.

It hasn’t been long since we were students with books,

Now they collect dust in corners and nooks.

You’ve heard of the saying, “To thine own self be true,’

And that’s why we’re loyal to the white and the blue.

We’re fans of the cougars, through and through

And to the athletes who play for BYU.

Have you narrowed it down to a half dozen families at best?

If this clue doesn’t help you, just wait for the rest!

Day 5: fall basket of apples and carmel dip) 

Day 6: given with pumpkin dish filled with candies)

The man of the house has a truly ‘green thumb,’

While She is learning just how gardening is done.

We’ve grown all sorts of food in our garden,

This year, we grew lots of pumpkins for carvin’

We have plenty of pumpkins, we’d love to share,

But you’ll have to come move it yourself if you dare!

Our pumpkins are too big to move within reason,

Instead is a dish you can use through the season J

(Day 7: reveal ourselves with "last act" of box of microwave ACT popcorn) 

Our oldest boy is clever and funny

He likes to do chores and spend all his money J

Our girl is active and never a bore,

Appropriate for her age, she’s almost four!

We have a boy who just turned two,

He copies what other people can do.

Our youngest just started to solid-food eat,

He has rolls and a laugh that can’t be beat!

The man of the house works in Lindon, not far,

You might see him in a red truck- not driving a car!

His wife cooks and she cleans and gets the kids dressed,

All on less than a full-night’s sleep of rest! J

Have any clue yet as to who we are?

If you have—you’re a real shining star!