I need a Ghostbuster!

I've been decorating for fall this week. I saw a tutorial on a blog I follow on how to make ghost pictures. So after school yesterday, I made Taz and Cynjyn dress up and I took them out in the back yard and did a little photo shoot.

Then I turned the pictures into ghosts and

added some frames and overlays and effects and

uploaded them to Sam's

and voila! new Halloween décor!!

Changes

Whoever said change was necessary forgot to mention that change is hard. Only with hindsight can you look back on some changes and know what they were for and that everything worked out for the best.  Needless to say, we've had some changes in our lives.  First off an easy one: school started.  It is always hard to see summer end.  I love the freedom of it, I truly wish it could last forever.  But all good things must come to an end. On that note, that meant school started and Taz had his first CC meet.  It was bright and early on a Saturday morning.

It was rainy and humid that day.

Tanner was going to exact a big change in our lives as he was scheduled to leave for college September 12.  So before hand, he was spending time with friends.  He and Marie decided to have a paint war and invited Taz to come. 

They had fun in the park.

The day the boys got home from scout camp, our YM president asked to be released.  He was in him mid 70's and just felt like it was time for him to move on.  Shortly after this day, the Bishop came to Garry and told him that he kept having strong feelings that Garry should be the next YM president.  Now, two things happened at that point that we found out about:  Bishop Holland before he left put a bug in Bishop Tanner's ear that Garry would make an excellent YM president if the occasion should ever arise and Garry had a feeling when the new Bishop was sustained that he wouldn't be in his calling as the first counselor very long with him.  Now, when you are put in the bishopric, you expect to be in there 5-7 years, it is a long committed calling.  So, when the bishop started having these promptings, he wanted to be sure.  He did a lot of praying and fasting and went to the temple just to make sure that this was the right move.  Garry had been serving in the bishopric for only  about  2 and 1/2 years.  Garry was struggling a little with this knowledge.  The bishop didn't say much about it anymore, but Garry just had a feeling.  Well, shortly after we got home from the Grand Canyon, we got a call to meet with a member of the stake presidency and we Garry was extended his release.  We both had mixed feelings.  Garry had been an excellent counselor and he felt like he still had more to offer, on the other hand he knew at that point that he was probably going to be the new YM President, so he was very excited about that.  The night he got released, he informed the bishop and he came right over and called him as YM President.  He gave him until Sunday to turn in names to him.  Sunday came and Garry was released.  I was fine with controlling my emotions until after Sacrement meeting was over then every one kept coming up to me saying what a shock it was and I broke down crying.  The human in me almost felt like he'd been fired, but my spiritual soul knew that the Lord has a plan for him and wants him in this calling.  Sometimes it is hard for the human to let go and let the spirit of the Lord in.  I cried most of the day...don't judge, just let me mourn.  Garry had worked so hard in this calling and he was good and he became a better man because of it, so I felt I had a right to mourn.  Plus it was Tanner's last Sunday and his primary class was coming up to him and passing off their last memorizations and saying good bye.  It was just to much for me!

 

However, the next Sunday he was sustained as YM President and he is very excited and we had a long talk on the way back from taking Tanner to school and this will be good for him.  Plus, it was nice to sit next to him again during church!

 

So, the 12th was quickly approaching.  Tanner and Cynjyn sat at the table his last night at home and just talked and laughed for over an hour.  They are so close and she is really going to miss him!

 

He had been packing up his room and boxing things up for a week.  This was what he was taking to BYUI.  He's already to go the night before we leave. 

I drove with Tanner in his car and Garry drove the Civic by himself.  We were welcomed into Rexburg with this beautiful rainbow.

We spent the night in Idaho Falls on Thursday and bright and early Friday morning we headed to the dorms.  It didn't take long to unload and unpack him.  We also went and got his ID and books and walked around to all his classes. 

His dorm is so close to campus and all his classes.  I think it's just going to be a great year for him.

His dorm has three bedrooms with bunk beds in them, so he will have 5 roommates.  His actual bunk mate didn't show up until Saturday because he id a Junior RM and didn't need to be there early for orientation.  So Tanner thought for a brief moment that maybe he wasn't going to have a roommate.

There is only a little refrigerator and microwave in each room.  So since there is no oncampus food on Sunday's we bought him a few canned goods and microwavable stuff to get him through those hungry stages.  Apparently everyone else had the same idea.  Wal Mart was packed!!  So many people were buying stuff.  We saw a lot of mirrors being sold!

Tanner brought just the right amount of stuff and had room for everything.

We spent Friday together and then after dinner, we said our good byes and I didn't even cry.  I'm just so excited for him.  I have been reminiscing fondly over my college years and I just loved every minute of it. So I know that he will have the best time!!

We did make a quick jaunt up the hill to see the temple.  It is beautiful.

So, another change is that Talon will be moving back in with us.  His three roommates all are leaving and so he is moving back home.  He is going to take Tanner's room.  That will take place this weekend.  A week before school started I received a call from a lady in our ward.  Her daughter had been playing the piano for Cannon Middle school's choir teacher.  She however had just got offered a full time job and so she was looking for someone to replace her.  So she called me.  I decided to go for it.  I met with the choir teacher and she liked me and wanted me immediately.  So I applied to Clark County school district and started the process.  It took about two weeks for the application to go through and just today I was fingerprinted and got my ID picture taken.  I will go to orientation of Friday and start this next Monday.  I will be working 10-2 and have to have a 1/2 lunch there at the school.  I can only work 19 1/2 hours/week and will be making $20.00/hr.  I figure it will pay for Tanner's college.  I still have 18 piano students and we will see how I can juggle it all having to get my kids places with out my primary driver (Tanner) here.  It will all work out I'm sure and hopefully in a year I will be able to look back on all of this and know that the changes happening in our lives were for the good.

Grand Canyon: Day 2

We awoke to a beautiful morning. I snapped some pictures of the sleepers when I first woke up.

And Garry snapped a picture of sleepers on his way back from the bathroom.
This was our home sweet home.

We had a big breakfast of bacon, sausage, hash browns and eggs to start our day off.

Cynjyn was reading Divergent every chance she got.

Then we headed off to the red bus route with our friends for our day of hiking and site seeing.

The red route stopped at about 7 different areas and you could get off at each one and see a view of the canyon.  If you didn't want to ride the bus, they had a hiking trail you could hike to each bus stop too.  We hiked three of them, each about a mile and rode the rest.  Taz, Alexis, Bryan, Grady and Gavin went on a much harder hike-3 miles down then 3 miles straight back up.  But the other 19 or so of us did the red route.  So that is why Taz isn't in many of these pictures.

We hiked to an area where we could see the endangered California Condors gliding over the canyon. It was beautiful to watch.

It really was spectacular and to me it almost looks like a picture in the background, but it is really God's beautiful creation.

We spent the rest of the afternoon back at camp resting and visiting.  We decided to go watch the sunset, so we all drove back to a good spot and hiked a little ways out to see the view.

We got there early enough to enjoy visiting before the sunset came.  Cynjyn brought Divergent and read it the whole time we were in the geological center.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Selfies at Sunset:

 

 

 

It was a beautiful ending to a great day.  

 

We took some panoramic views on our phones and so I wanted to include them.

 

That evening, everyone came to our campfire again and we had desserts to share.  Some people still had S'mores, others brought cobbler, chocolate stuffed cones and dutch oven brownies to share.  We played the Do Do game for awhile and Tanner befriended Seth who is almost 8 and he and Seth played that game and talked the whole night!