Fall Happenings...and Remembering the Ward Pinewood Derby

We finally got some relief from the Texas heat this week. That's usually how it goes. Halloween time is when we start to get believe that the sun won't always scorch our faces and that perhaps a sweater will be a possibility.

We weren't too exciting on the costume front this year. Scotty and Aaron did not dress up at all. I bought a festive Halloween tee, and Annie dressed up as a character from the Stormlight Archive that she and the middle-aged men recognized...once she told them who she was. 

But Annie also worked with her friend to make a Belle costume for said friend. They had a good time on that project.

Here is Annie killing it (but not killing anybody, unlike her namesake) as Shallan Devar:

And the Belle dress: 

Annie also carved/painted a HTTYD pumpkin. This is after a squirrel ate Toothless's face off. Annie patched it.

Aaron turned 44 this year! We love him. So grateful for the awesome crustiness/kindness combo that he offers our family. Also, he is an excellent listener. I love that about him. And he's super intelligent and super good-looking, just saying.

This year we got him a puzzle board with edges and drawers. Now hopefully the dog won't chew up our puzzle pieces that slip off the table. I also wrote Aaron a poem and gave it to him. 

From Pride and Prejudice: 

“I have been used to consider poetry as 'the food of love,'" said Darcy.

"Of a fine, stout, healthy love it may. Everything nourishes what is

strong already. But if it be only a slight, thin sort of inclination, I

am convinced that one good sonnet will starve it entirely away.”

Good thing we have a fine, stout, healthy love.

Our San Antonio temple has been closed for several months, but we were able to make it to the Houston temple with our friends the Lundgrens. I love the temple!

There's a new feature on Google Photos that cartoonifies your pictures. We played with it, and this one was my favorite:

What will they think of next??

The kids and I and two of our friends helped with a Special Olympics pickle ball tournament. It was super fun! The Texas Cowboys, a service/spirit organization from UT was also there. So every normal volunteer got paired with a Texas Cowboy. What could be more Texan than that?

At the end of August, our ward had a pinewood derby activity planned and hosted by the Elders Quorum. It was awesome, but I never blogged about it. Of course there was an open category where you could do any silly thing you wanted to get your car to win. Aaron and Scotty had the idea to attach a measuring tape to their car and stretch the measuring tape out over the finish line and thus win before the race had even started.

That idea morphed into taking the ruler out of the measuring tape and replacing it with string which they attached to their car (affectionately named "Blocky"). They then stretched the string to the finish line. When they race started, they released Blocky who was pulled down the track via the measuring tape mechanism. Hmm...that's a little difficult to explain. I'll attach the video. 

As you can see, we smashed the competition. But then things got a little interesting:

The wheels were demolished by the car's high speeds, and so it flew off the track. We were disqualified because we "didn't actually cross the finish line." Ah well! We all knew which car was the fastest. And Aaron and Scotty earned the "Judge's Favorite" award. It was a really fun night. Awesome ward activity. 

We had Blocky. Do you also see "Rocky"?