Time Flies

Wow! So much has happened since my last post!

GOOD KIDS:
I love my kids. This is what I woke up to the other morning.

I love that. Thanks Andrew! Ashley also made this fun game that the kids enjoy playing on Sunday mornings before Church. It's called "food-opoly". She even made all of the "mortgage" cards for each individual space on the board including the cost of rent, the cost to build a food stand (house) and the cost of a grocery store (hotel). She included each of the four food groups: Meats, Vegetables, Fruits, and Grains. She even cut up her own money! I love it when they create.



THANKSGIVING:
We had a wonderful holiday beginning with the annual Pie Pig-Out at my mom's house a couple of days before Thanksgiving. The idea is that because you're so "full" after Thanksgiving dinner and have no room for pie, we have a "pie only" night just before Thanksgiving! We have a few minor appetizers, and pie, pie, pie. Love this tradition! For Thanksgiving day, we headed to John's sister's home where she hosted 46 (!) of us for a wonderful dinner! It was so great to be there with everyone, laughing and sharing memories. Then we followed up with our traditional viewing of "White Christmas" with Bing Crosby. What a great night! (Oh, and I DID have enough room for pie as it was :0

BLACK FRIDAY:
Well, I did it again, but this year, I was smarter. I slept in until 5:30, and arrived at the stores around 6:00 to avoid the "standing in line in the freezing cold" thing. I got some AMAZING deals at Toys 'r' us, and of course, WALMART! Half-way through my shopping spree, John called me to tell me to be careful, because a Walmart employee was trampled and killed in New York. How sad. I didn't get to WalMart until the rush was over, so I didn't trample anyone that I know of, but still got 90% of my shopping completed! I dragged Carrie out later that day to Walmart (a different one in Sandy) and had the humiliating experience of getting my card declined! (John had put in a transfer that morning, and I guess it hadn't registered yet!) Fortunately, I wrote a check for the bounty, and we were on our way!

ANNIVERSARY:
I don't know if 13 is a lucky number or not, but all I can say is our anniversary was unbelievably MAGICAL! Of course, it didn't hurt that my fabulous lifetime friend, Suzie, gave us a "getaway" package to the Little America hotel that we were able to use! We were given an amazingly HUGE room at the hotel, and a wonderful gift certificate that we could use anywhere in the hotel. We ended up having steak and salmon in their very romantic restaurant.

The rest of the celebration was just that: a celebration of 13 years of being the luckiest girl on the planet! Even one week later, I can't believe how our little get-away has affected my mood! I've been walking on air since we got home! I feel like I'm engaged again! John, you're amazing, wonderful, and well, PERFECT for me. Thanks again to Suzie, and of course, to John! I love you!

CHRISTMAS DECORATING!
We always put the nativity up first. Maybe I shouldn't allow it, but my kids play with it like they do a dollhouse. I love that. Every day that I come in, the figures are placed in a new position. I guess as long as nothing gets broken...

Got the tree up just after Thanksgiving. I did a major overhaul on the tree this year and went RED RED RED! I'm so grateful for Tai-pan Trading!

Then last night the kids got to decorate "their" tree. They were so cute! They kept saying "this is beautiful. We need to enter it in a tree-decorating contest!"

I was laughing a little under my breath, at the hap-hazarly placed ornaments all crusted the front-only of the tree leaving the sides and top mostly empty, but they were proud of themselves, and I LOVE that they were enjoying themselves.

We've already had our first school Christmas pageant! Here's little Matthew as a shepherd. I LOVE having my kids in a school where they can actually celebrate CHRIST'S BIRTH as the center of the holiday! Matthew has been singing "Far Far Away on Judea's Plains" all around the house for the last two weeks! YAY!

I'm excited for the rest of the season. I LOVE Christmas! I'm looking for ways to create "magic" in some unsuspecting people's lives, and that is probably my favorite part of the season! Merry Christmas!!!!