DIVINE NATURE COMBINED MUTUAL!!

One thing I think I am super good at is finding an idea, copying it and making it better! But kudos to whoever started the idea originally and got the ball rolling! I was in charge of mutual tonight because it was the 5th Wednesday. I didn't just want to do stations of personal progress, I wanted to something special and meaningful. Sara Cardon came and spoke to the YW about the divine qualities we should have to go to the Temple and get married, etc and she gave each of the girls white hangers for their wedding dress with a cute little saying on it. Then we borrowed almost a dozen wedding dresses from ladies in our ward and the girls got to try them on! As we were gathering all the dresses I knew that we have girls of all sizes in our ward and I needed to make sure that each girl had a dress that would fit them - you should never leave mutual feeling bad about yourself and we especially didn't want this to happen this night. I called 10 different Deseret Industries and Goodwills until I finally found one that had a size 14 dress! I grabbed my mom (for her senior discount) and we headed there to buy it. That night I tried it on and we took pictures in it and with our Buddy the Elf dressed in his tuxedo. Each leader was supposed to be bring a pic of them from their wedding so we added me and Buddy to that table just for fun!  I was able to get Amy Isom to make a 3-tiered wedding cake for the girls, we had mints, nuts and punch - just like any Mormon wedding reception in the 90s would have had! Megan Bell did our backdrop for the pictures and Mary Scorseby rocked the cheesy wedding reception music! It was an amazing night! The girls LOVED it! We had such a good turn-out! Some came for the speaker, some came to try on dresses and some came for the wedding cake! The only thing I would have changed about the whole night would have been to have had Emma there. They called a last minute cheer practice - this girl has no luck. But I was glad that the night before she came with me to Mary, Michelle and Megan's house while I made a fool of myself! She rolled her eyes, but I know deep down she liked it! Ha ha! Seeing the girls faces light up in the dresses and having fun - I think this will be a night they will always remember!

STATE CAPITAL FIELD TRIP!

I wanted to go on the field trip with the twins - they were going to the State Capital - Government and History - yes please! We were super lucky and the day we went - Governor Doug Ducey happen to be signing a bill to tackle the rising opioid crisis. I guess he normally signs bills in his office, but for some reason on this particular day, he was signing in the capital in the rotunda. The boys didn't fully grasp what they were witnessing, but they were fighting for a good viewing spot, watch silently and respectfully and I am pretty sure Tyler clapped the longest. Even the news stations were there. After he signed the bill, we got a tour of the building. Then we went next door to the House of Representatives building and while we were getting a tour in there, Representative Coleman was there from Mesa and he invited all the kids to come down and sit at the representatives desks. Tyler and a friend booked it for the chairperson's seat and Tyson found a seat with cool toys on it. After Coleman explained what they do in there then they brought up 2 real laws that are in discussion and let the kids vote on it on the voting machines like the real reps. do. They got to vote on if school uniforms should be mandatory in public school - that vote was shot down with a NO. Then they got to vote on if it should be mandatory to learn cursive - that was voted YES. Afterwards we ate lunch and headed back to school. Then it was time for Art Masterpiece that I was in charge of - it was a hot mess - but that is neither here nor there! It was a great day - only sad part was I can no longer convince the boys to sit by me on the bus - boo!

FOOTBALL CHAMPION!

This sounds super braggy and it's not meant to be, but Eli has been in so many flag football tournaments lately - I really can't keep up! I am horrible at taking pictures these days - I just live on autopilot and somewhere along the way the photography button got deleted and I can't remember to do it anymore. Anyways - here Eli is with the championship trophy they won - sadly each team got one trophy so the Coach took it home and the boys only got a picture with it - or is it better that way?! Probably better - what am I going to do with a 5 foot tall trophy? I secretly throw them away after a year or two anyways - oops - kids don't read that last sentence. When Eli is focused and dialed in - he is unstoppable! Football makes him happy :) As a side note - we are so lucky with the twins - some how they sit through these all weekend long with us and entertain themselves - so grateful for that!! (Cody, Eli, Chase, Trey, Caleb, JD)

STATE FOOTBALL GAME!

Perry Football made it to State!! I tried all I could to get Emma to be able to cheer at the game - but AIA has very strict rules, including the amount of people allowed on the field.  Despite not being able to cheer at the game - we decided to go down to University of Arizona for the game anyways! I went down with the Gooch's and Emma went down with Sydney and Lacy and then came home with us. We ended up losing by a touch down, but it was such a great game! We all had a blast and hope to go back next year!