Rich's House

Maysen had late start today.  She left for the bus around 8:30.  A few minutes later I got a text from her saying a house was on fire.  Then a few seconds later she told me it was the Rich's house.  NOOOO!!! Sister Rich was Preston's primary teacher last year.  He LOVES her!   They are an older couple.  They served as the assistant temple president/matron in the Draper temple a few years ago.  I think they have lived here for 35 years.

Anyway, Preston hadn't left for school yet.  I was going to volunteer and take Preston with me.  Preston did not want to go to school until he knew Sister Rich was okay.  Sister Rich lives on the street behind us.   I drove to the far end of our street so we could take the secret pathway up to their street.  I saw the Nunes walking toward the smoke looking kind of confused.  I rolled down my window and told her it was the Rich's house.  Brother Nunes took off running as fast as he could. When Preston and I made it through the pathway we could see giant flames.  It was horrible.  I snapped a picture to send to Maysen.  My phone died right after that.  Later when I got home and charged my phone I found out that the picture didn't save.  Maysen and I went back tonight to get another picture.  When I snapped the first one the flames were as high as the tree.  The garage is destroyed.  Originally the garage was as high as the rest of the house.  Only one car was in the garage because Brother Rich had the other car at the church where he was practicing the organ.  Preston was so surprised that the pillars did not burn!

Rich's House

Sister Rich was standing on the street in her pajamas with a blanket and no shoes.  Preston went up to her and hugged her.  It was wonderful to see her not hurt at all.  That made Preston very relieved and happy that she was not hurt.  Heidi and Zane Christensen noticed the burning house first.  Heidi saw the smoke as they were walking to their new house.  She pointed it to her husband and he investigated. He yelled at her to run to the McHenry's and call the fire department. Zane jumped the fence and pushed in the door to the Rich's house.  He yelled over and over while clapping to see if anyone was in there.  Sister Rich was asleep.  He was able to get her up and out of the house.  Their quick acting certainly saved this house.  So glad that he went in and found Sister Rich.  She is a treasure.

Pumpkin Carving

We had a neighborhood pumpkin carving party today.  Mike and I went late at night last night and picked up three pumpkins.  Maysen didn't want to carve one.  The only problem was, all three kids wanted the same pumpkin.  Mike came up with a contest to see who got the pumpkin.  He would ask them questions, depending on the answer they could move forward one square.  For example: Step forward if you made your bed today.  It was pretty funny.  Preston ended up winning.

Preston, Stockton, Jorja

Preston surprised everyone when he picked a different pumpkin.  The game was still on.  Mike had Stockton and Jorja stand on one leg and lean forward.  It came down to whoever was willing to empty the dishwasher when we got home.  Stockton tried to convince Jorja not to fall for it.  Jorja got the pumpkin.

Stockton and Jorja  

I didn't get any pictures while we were there.  Stockton ended up winning.  There were six winners of about thirty pumpkins.  One person just carved big holes and stuck their baby in it.  It was pretty funny and their baby was adorable.  They won.  (The baby was also the grand-daughter of the judge.)  Anyway, Stockton was super happy.  Audrey came over with us.  She was sad she didn't win.  She whispered to me, "I even said a prayer that I would win."  What a sweet girl.  Such a hard thing to learn.

Art Center

Preston was so excited of the pumpkin he made at his art center in kindergarten.  He even let me take his picture in front of the red bush. Mike and Preston also finished his pumpkin while Stockton and I were at diving.  There were a lot of high school kids there tonight.  Most of them diving for the first time.  Stockton looked really good!  He also learned how to do a back-flip pike dive.  I love watching him.  I am glad he has found something he enjoys.

Preston

 Preston with his art center pumpkin

 Mike's pumpkin next to Preston's spider pumpkin

I found some pictures I had taken from last night.  Jorja LOVED carving the pumpkins.  She loved digging out the insides.  Gross!  I hate that part!

Jorja

 Maysen

 Preston

 Neighborhood pumpkins

I still need to take a picture of Stockton's pumpkin in the daylight.  He has arms sticking out of the side. It looks pretty cool, but it doesn't glow.  Today was also the last day for schools to sign up for the Scripps Spelling Bee.  Last year the middle school didn't do a spelling bee.  I called the principle last spring and asked if they could do one.  Even if Stockton gets out in the classroom portion, I want him to have a chance to try this.  Stockton studies hard for this.  It is one of the few things in school that he cares about.  Anyway, the principle assured me they would have the bee.  About a month ago, I noticed our school was not on the official list.  I sent an e-mail to the principle volunteering to pay the $100 fee and filling out the paperwork.  He wrote back saying the PTA was taking care of it.  I called the PTA president and left a message about the bee.  She said they were planning on it.  Still, as of yesterday I didn't see our school on the list.  This morning, I looked again.  Not there.  Then it dawned on me that I had been putting in my home zip code - maybe the school zip code was different.  It was.  I checked with the right zip code and it was there!  Relief!  One of my friends is in the PTA leadership.  She volunteered me to run the spelling bee.  We will see what that means later, I am just so glad Stockton has a chance to do this again.  He loves it.