Odds and Ends

Just thought I would throw in a few pictures that didn't actually go together but were fun anyway. This is Dallin on 80's day for Heritage HS. Not easy in a household were things not used or of sentimental value are given away. He asked hey dad you have any 80's clothes and this is the best we could come up with. The hair was borrowed from a neighbor. He was pretty excited about the way he looked.

A couple of weeks ago we had a little philmont for the four stakes in the area. It was an adult meeting but the main speaker President Gibson from the general YM presidency asked for two youth to help him out that night. Todd volunteered Hunter. It was a great experience and Hunter was beaming the whole time. Pres. Gibson gave each of the boys a really neat coin that had the whole armor of God on it, in addition to that he got a really cool wooden tie slide thing.
This is Alaina in one of her many pouting poses. I just had to get the picture. I thought it would bring her out of her pout as well but no such luck.

FHE Halloween prep

The annual Halloween pumpkin carving FHE. They worked hard and scary jack o lanterns eventually arrived.

Our beautiful rooster

He was the man, afraid of nothing but the lead hen. Chickens and humans really are not that different.

Wet Willies

Mason told me today that Alaina climbed up on his bed this morning to wake him up. He was already awake however and was watching her threw slitted eyes. He said that she proceeded to put her pinkie finger in her mouth and when she pulled it out promptly stuck it in his ear. How is that for a three year old with five older brothers. Some of the things she does seem so out of character for a little girl.

The other day she informed me that she really likes bugs but not spiders. That is thanks to the influence of her 10 year old brother. She wrestles with Gavin and other boys her age. One time while wrestling with a boy in our ward that was her age I saw her hit her head hard and expected her to start crying but she acted like nothing happened. Then about a minute later the boy became interested in playing with someone else and she came and sat on my lap and cried quietly.

A couple of weeks ago I had a friend come over and chat and she brought her five year old son with her. The second Alaina was introduced to him she said, "I have cool lego guys you want to see?"

Even with all those brothers she still is all girl. She likes her nails painted and her hair pretty and loves to hang out with her aunts and girl cousins. She loves to go shopping and put on pretty clothes. I find it so much fun to watch her interactions in our family.

Pumpkin Patch

One of my favorite things to do during October is to go to the pumpkin patch. We have always had the rule that the kids could pick any pumpkin they just had to be sure to be able to carry them. It has been fun over the years to watch them struggle with the biggest pumpkins they could manage. Gavin and Alaina are two of our children that have realized small pumpkins are better because they are not that hard to carry. This year she looked at me and said, "Mom I want a small one."

Here is all the Kestner cousins, around here anyway, with their pumkins. Not a bad haul.
I didn't want to put every child's picture with their pumpkin but had to put this one in because it really is a beautiful pumpkin. Plus you can see that our older boys can easily walk away from the pumpkin patch with the biggest pumpkin. Boy they grow up fast.
Our children's six pumpkins.
Just thought this was a cool picture. At the time I was frustrated because you can't see my kids but after I got it home I liked it. The only one that is mine in the picture is Hunter. He is standing up top in the middle.

Relatives in town

We were fortunate to be able to spend four fun days with Aunt Kitty, Aunt Heidi, grandma Kestner and cousin Karen. It was a very enjoyable and relaxing visit.

A Simple Swing

Isn't it amazing how something that should be so simple can turn into such a nightmare. About a month ago Todd took all the boys on their annual boys camp. That left just Alaina and I to do something fun for a couple of days. To end our fun weekend I bought a swing that is meant for inside. She was really excited and I got the hardware to install it downstairs.

Now the swing was for Alaina but I knew it would be too much to ask for the boys to stay off of it, so with that in mind I went to Lowes and asked them what would be best. They gave me their advice and I headed home to screw in the bolts. I screwed in the six inch 1/4 inch bolts almost all the way in when one by one they broke off. To my horror I now had four holes with metal stuck in them.

Frustrated I went back to Lowes and explained my dilemma. They suggested a longer drill bit and walked me over there and helped me pick out the right one. Sure this would work I headed home to put in the swing. Alas the same thing happened and I now had 8 holes in the ceiling beam with pieces of bolts forever lodged in them.

At this point I am not proud to say I gave up. However a week or so later I explained my dilemma to my handyman father. Something I should have done in the beginning. He said to get a bigger, not longer, drill bit. I explained to him that the Lowes employees had informed me that in order for it to hold the weight I needed it to hold, not to get a bit that was more then half the size of the bolt. He reassured me it would work and so I went back to buy my second drill bit.

Interestingly enough this time when I went back to buy a new bit I got a different man to help me and this guy asked me what kind of material I was drilling into. When I told him a wood beam he directed me to some different bits. Turns out the last guy hand picked a cement bit for me to use. Turns out those just burn through wood. Anyway to make an end to a long story this time it worked. We now have a swing in the basement that Alaina can not get enough of, and so far it has held the weight of all of my boys.

I also have the hardware to put up another hook to hold the punching bag we bought almost 6 years ago but has never been put up. This family needs it hung up, so they don't use each other as a punching bag. I figured I would give myself a week before attempting to bolt another thing to the beam however.

Amazingly you can't see the holes in this picture but they are there between the two hooks. Eight ugly holes I must now patch and paint. It will probably get done sometime in the next three years.
She now watches tv from her swing. That is what she is looking at in this picture.