Competitions and Activities

I'm so happy I was able to do apples this year! I finished up with what was given to me the first week of October. Our neighbors gave us around 10 grocery bags full of apples total. With the apples I was able to make applesauce, apple chips, and apple pie filling. I hadn't done pie filling since 2011! (I know because I pulled out an old jar that had the info written on it). We have given a couple more jars of apple pie filling away since taking the picture below, but I think they look so good on the shelf in our pantry.

I was able to get 11 jars of apple pie filling, (we gave one away at this point). There would have been one more but that jar broke. We got 14 jars of applesauce (one had been eaten by us already when the picture was taken).

We got lots of apple chips. This is when I was finished but we had been eating some while I was making them. I just finished off eating the last apple chip yesterday. I might just have to buy some apples just for making more chips. They're a good healthy snack.

This month has been busy with band competitions. There was one every Saturday the first three weeks of October. The first one was here in Kennewick. The 2nd one was in Spokane and the third in Yakima. They did improve through the season, but Curtis and I felt that the show needed more to it to be able to get a higher score. They received 2nd place in Spokane in their division, but there were only two teams in that division. In Yakima they received 2nd place again in their division, but this time there were 4 teams. They also got best visual. It was fun to watch all of the bands perform, especially when we got to see Garrett's old high school band (Skyview) come to Spokane for that competition. We're glad the season is over this week, and we can relax a little more and get things done on Saturdays. 

As an added bonus, Jack was in a little side competition at the Cavalcade band festival in Kennewick. While the judges were tallying up scores, they did a little game where three people from each band came to march lines. They had to go from one white line to the next in the correct number of steps with their eyes closed or covered. Jack made it to the top three that won! It was fun to watch and I'm glad I got it on video.

He won some swag from the competition.

Beautiful sunset before a football game performance! The band was warming up.

Ready to perform in Spokane.

Our Aunt Vicki (Gaya's sister) and her husband Jeff came to watch with us in Spokane because they live there. It was so nice to have them there to support Jack. We hadn't seen them in a long time. They came and watched about 4 schools perform including ours before they had to leave for other family commitments. This is a big deal because they paid $40 to get into the competition. We're so grateful for them!

While we were in Spokane for the competition, the girls stayed home with Garrett, but then they had Sister Gale pick them up to attend a baptism for one of Alice's friends who is in our activity days group. I was so glad that Charlotte went along also. Alice is excited that it's almost her turn to get baptized.

Speaking of activity days. Our last activity was making fabric pumpkins. They turned out really cute! Sister Gale had sewed up the edges in a way that the girls just had to pull the threads together. They sewed one end and then stuffed it with a small bag of rice (for weight) and cotton. Then tied off the top around a stick and glued on some leaves and berries.

The girls with their pumpkins. I got a picture with them the next morning before they went to school.

Our ward had a fun activity that was family history related. Last Wednesday evening they did a chili cook off. Curtis signed up and he was so excited to do his smoked chili. They had 3 categories, "Mild", Medium" and "Wild" (spicy). His chili was a bit spicy, so we put it in the "Wild" category, and he won!  His chili got eaten so fast that he didn't get any of it. Next time we'll be making a double batch. I did get a small amount of it, and it was delicious! I also signed up to bring corn bread and I baked it into muffins so it would be easy to grab and go. My muffins were also one of the first corn breads to disappear. No awards were given for the cornbread though.

After we ate dinner, they had a small presentation where a few kids came up and talked about an ancestor and we all sang a song together. Then they had some activities. In the Young Women's room, there were a bunch of pumpkins that were donated by someone in the ward who has a farm. Everyone got to choose a pumpkin and draw something on it if they wanted. It was perfect timing because I was just telling Curtis that I wanted to make sure we got pumpkins this year. Then we got some for free at the activity! In the Relief Society room, they had a cardboard cutout of the Salt Lake Temple where you could get a picture with your face inside. They also had a family tree activity where they take a picture of themselves and see what relative or famous person they look like. I don't know if any of our kids did that activity. It was pretty popular, but I did get temple pics of 3 of them.

The people in charge of this activity sure had the right idea on how to get people to attend...food and activities! It was a hit!

Posing for a picture with our pumpkins from the activity.

Alice

Charlotte

Jack and his little buddy for the night, Walker.

And last but not least for this post, Garrett got to vote for the very first time! They do mail in ballots here in Washington instead of going in somewhere to vote. They do have specific drop boxes just for ballots, so we decided to drive our ballots over instead of chancing them in the mail system. Garrett was pretty happy to be able to vote. "Garrett Butterfield has voted" as they would say in Idaho. Let's pray the best people win for the positions voted on.