Halloween Part I

I'm doing Halloween in two blog posts as opposed to one because our church's Trunk-or-Treat was postponed to Saturday due to Hurricane Sandy (no worries -- we survived the storm just fine). So you will see another post later this weekend.

For Halloween this year Hannah dressed up as a fairy/Tinker Bell.  My Mom found this costume at T.J. Maxx and since it was super cheap she purchased the costume and mailed it to us.  I was thrilled because I didn't have to worry or stress about making a Halloween costume this year. Thank you Mom!

This was the first time Hannah went trick-or-treating and she had a B.L.A.S.T!  Hannah was a little skeptical at first, but she quickly warmed up to the idea.  Nathan and I went to a few houses together with her in our cul-de-sac, but eventually he stayed home and handled the trick-or-treaters while Hannah and I continued to brave the cold, wet weather.

She was starting to say trick-or-treat halfway through the evening (though it sounded like "ik-eat") and after she received her candy she would say thank you (I admit...I cued her to say thank you, but she did say it).  After we hit the select few houses of our friends on the block we came home and Hannah really enjoyed checking out what was in her bag.  It was very entertaining to watch.

Everyday for Hannah is a new adventure with all kinds of things to discover.  Today, Hannah discovered Halloween and the glory of trick-or-treating.

October oddities

We have been super busy this month and to be honest I am looking forward to October being over with.  I took some pictures throughout the month but they are all kind of random so I decided to put them all into a blog post full of oddities instead of doing separate posts for all the photos.  That being said, let's get started.

Oddity #1
One thing that Hannah LOVES to do is to take her hair-bows out of her drawer and have me clip them to her clothes.  She'll wear them on her outfits, but she won't let me put them in her hair (which by the way is why she never wears any hair-bows in her hair).

Oddity #2
One of my responsibilities at church is that I get to work with the youth in our ward.  On October 13th there was a stake youth activity at a farm, and let me tell you...it was in the middle of nowhere.

We learned how to barn dance (which was fun), went on a hayride (a first for me), and I watched the girls roast some hot dogs.  I am not a hot dog person so I didn't roast one, but I was thoroughly entertained watching the young women roast their hot dogs and getting them too close to the ashes and ruining them.  Let's just say there were lots of hot dogs leftover because the girls got too grossed out and didn't want to cook them.

Oddity #3
We were at Lowe's last Saturday picking up some paint samples and when we came out we saw this gorgeous, double rainbow.  Everybody whipped out their cell phones and started taking pictures because it was so pretty.

Oddity #4
One of the great, and I mean GREAT advantages of living on the east coast is we get to see the beautiful fall colors.  This is what we see each time we look out our house.  AWESOME!

Well, I guess that wraps things up until the Halloween post next week.

Conference weekend

General Conference was awesome!  Hannah napped during both morning sessions so we got to watch some of conference with no interruptions.  I'm not going to lie, it was nice.

Nathan and I did horrible with our song pool -- we both got 30%.

Living on the east coast means that General Conference starts at 12:00 pm.  Hannah begged us this morning to go outside and feed the ducks so first we went for a drive to observe the beautiful fall colors, and then we went to a park to feed the ducks.  This time, Hannah actually fed the ducks and it was really cute to watch (see video below).

But what Hannah enjoyed most of all was climbing the small steps and then jumping off a little ledge.  I tell ya...this girl is fearless.

 

Thus concluded our conference weekend.

The list

Below are mine and Nathan's list of general conference songs.

For new comers (which I seem to get every year), click here.

If you would like to watch or learn more about General Conference, click here.

Rachel's list

1. #1       The Morning Breaks
2. #3       Now Let us Rejoice
3. #5       High on a Mountain Top
4. #6       Redeemer of Israel
5. #19     We Thank Thee O God For a Prophet
6. #23     We Ever Pray For Thee
7. #26     Joseph Smith's First Prayer
8. #27     Praise to the Man
9. #30     Come, Come, Ye Saints
10. #41     Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise
11. #58     Come, Ye Children of the Lord
12. #59     Come, O Thou King of Kings
13. #66     Rejoice, the Lord is King
14. #67     Glory to God on High
15. #83     Guide Us, O Thou Great Jehovah
16. #85     How Firm a Foundation
17. #98     I Need Thee Every Hour
18. #136   I Know That My Redeemer Lives
19. #141   Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee
20. #142   Sweet Hour of Prayer
21. #147   Sweet Is the Work
22. #156   Sing We Now at Parting
23. #223   Have I Done Any Good
24. #239   Choose the Right
25. #249   Called to Serve
26. #264   Hark, All Ye Nations
27. #270   I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go
28. #301   I Am A Child of God
29. #323   Rise Up, O Men of God
30. He Sent His Son

Nathan's list

1. #1       The Morning Breaks
2. #3       Now Let us Rejoice
3. #5       High on a Mountain Top
4. #6       Redeemer of Israel
5. #7       Israel, Israel, God is Calling
6. #19     We Thank Thee O God For a Prophet
7. #26     Joseph Smith's First Prayer
8. #27     Praise to the Man
9. #30     Come, Come, Ye Saints
10. #41     Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise
11. #44     Beautiful Zion, Built Above
12. #58     Come, Ye Children of the Lord
13. #59     Come, O Thou King of Kings
14. #66     Rejoice, the Lord is King
15. #67     Glory to God on High
16. #70     Sing Praise to Him
17. #83     Guide Us, O Thou Great Jehovah
18. #85     How Firm a Foundation
19. #98     I Need Thee Every Hour
20. #123   O, May My Soul Commune with Thee
21. #124   Be Still My Soul
22. #140   Did You Think to Pray
23. #142   Sweet Hour of Prayer
24. #147   Sweet is the Work
25. #156   Sing We Now At Parting
26. #165   Abide With Me; 'Tis Eventide
27. #277   As I Search the Holy Scriptures
28. #328   An Angel From on High
29. He Sent His Son
30. I Love to See the Temple

Happy Conference!

Come Listen to Living Prophet's picture courtesy of lds.org

Grandpa's Book

As the end of 2011 was coming to a close, I set a goal to try and read 3-4 books in the year of 2012.  Within the first 3 months I had accomplished this goal as I was averaging a book a month.  I re-modified my goal to read a book every month for the year 2012.  Ambitious, yet doable.

The end of August came and as I had finished my decorating book I thought about the next book I was going to read.  I looked at my wish list of what I would like to read, and decided that I should probably read the family history books my grandparent's have written over the last several years.  It seemed appropriate, especially as they are still living today.  I knew that if I put these family history books further down my list I would regret not reading them while my grandparents were still alive.  Well, when September came I started to read my Grandpa Sorenson's book Three Years in the Corps and today I finished reading his book (don't worry Grandma, I'm reading your book next!).

Typically, when I finish reading my book for the month I journal about my experience on my personal/private blog.  However, Grandpa's book had too far of an impact on me that I had to make my journal entry public.

My Grandpa decided to write his Three Years in the Corps book because he is one of the living WWII veterans still alive today.  He always figured he would write about his experiences some day, but put it off as he didn't want to "awaken the unpleasant memories" of what happened during the Battle of Iwo Jima (who can blame him).

Grandpa's book covers his 3 year term of service in the Marine Corps, starting with his reaction as a high school student of the infamous event of Pearl Harbor.  He then wrote about his experiences of enrolling in the U.S. military services, first in the Navy and then being recruited into the U.S.M.C. shortly thereafter.  He talks about his experiences of boot camp and what life was like before they went to battle.  He also wrote about his experiences traveling on the large military ships that transported thousands of troops from Hawaii to Iwo Jima.  He writes about the battle that took place on Iwo Jima and the assignments he had.  Grandpa also describes what happened after the battle was over with and his return to Japan to help rebuild that country. He concludes his book with writing about his own return to the United States.

There were several parts of this book that were very moving.  When Grandpa went into detail about his experiences of the Battle of Iwo Jima I felt like I was right there with him.  I could feel his fright and anxiety during the battle.  I could feel his sense of duty to his country. I could feel his loss of loosing his loved ones and comrades.  I could feel the bottomless pit in my stomach as he described the procedures of collecting and burying fallen soldiers, though I imagine he felt worse than I did.  I too felt an immense amount of pride as I read the story about the raising of the flag on Mount Suribachi.  And, I could see the change in Grandpa's perception of the Japanese people: first seeing them as the enemy and then as a "different people who suffered greatly because of the destruction brought to their homeland" due to WWII.

Reading this book made me realize how horrible war is. Grandpa's description of war seems to describe it best -- "war is hell!"  His book made me grateful that I have never had to experience this horror personally in my life. Reading his book has given me a deeper appreciation and respect for the men and women who have fought, and are currently fighting for our country.  They truly are heroes -- every single one of them!

Thank you Grandpa for writing about your service in the Marine Corps.  I imagine this was a difficult task to accomplish, but I am so grateful you wrote about your experiences of WWII.  I knew that you fought in the battle of Iwo Jima, but I had no idea of what you went through.  My appreciation and respect for you, along with the other WWII soldiers who served has increased immensely. Thank you for serving our country so honorably, and for fighting for my freedom.  I will be forever grateful for you.

God Bless the U.S.A.



The pictures of the book cover, boot camp pictures, and Corporal Sorenson's uniform are scanned directly from the book.
Raising of the flag on Iwo Jima picture courtesy of wikipedia.org, Joe Rosenthal/The Associated Press

Flushed with glee

Today I was journaling in our home office on Nathan's computer.  Hannah was playing by herself nicely and I could hear her go back and forth from her bedroom to the bathroom.  She often likes to do this.  She will also go into the bathroom and open and close the linen closet.  It's kind of cute because you'll hear her say "Bye.  Bye.  Bye..." as she is closing herself into the linen closet.  She is so silly.

Anyways, back to the story.  As I could hear her go in and out of the bathroom and her bedroom I just kept typing away.  This side of the house is very child proof so I know she can't get into anything too messy.  Then came the silence.  Hmm...what is she doing?  I decided that this silence was probably stemming from her reading a book in her room, which is often the case.

Then all of a sudden I hear it.  WHOOSH!  It was the flushing of the toilet.

Uh oh!  What did she just flush?  I instantly backed away from the computer, ran out of the office and into the bathroom thinking "Great...what toy did she just flush down the toilet?"  As I am running in, Hannah is running out with an ENORMOUS smile and a very gleeful laugh.  She was so proud of what she did.  I couldn't help but laugh.  After inspecting the situation, she didn't flush anything down the toilet (yet) as the lid was still closed.  Apparently she just discovered the handle and the magic involved with pushing it.

I guess the journey of Hannah and the toilet has officially begun.

For Amy

Okay Amy...this video is for you per your request.  I decided to record Hannah saying her words and doing her sounds in the bathtub so she wouldn't be so distracted by the recording light on the camera and she did fabulous!  Enjoy.

Hannah's words and sounds