Natalie got to go to a mini Thanksgiving horse camp on Monday and Tuesday morning and had a wonderful time. We are so grateful for the owner and all she does to help the children make great memories.
Amidst doctor, dentist, orthodontist and chiropractor appointments we watched plenty of movies to relax and recover from all the cleaning out and moving of furniture we had done upstairs. (I estimate we got rid of about half the books in the play room!) Lots of Star Wars, the first two episodes of Hawkeye, the four part mini series The Canterville Ghost on BYUtv, and when my parents came over the newest Home Alone movie. My mom offered to get our meal from the local grocery store and we supplemented with smoked whole chickens, GF DF pumpkin spice cake, and more pie. We had a lovely meal and fun with grandparents playing pie face before the movie. It was also decided my boy is officially taller than I am.
We also had a great little photo shoot at a studio I had rented. We didn’t manage to get a good photo of just the four children for my in-laws walk back in 2019 and I didn’t feel up to do a professional photo shoot this year. Here are a few of them but I’m saving the best for our Christmas card and my in-laws.
Once again Danny proved he had a knack for finding the best Christmas tree of the bunch and fast. And check out my middle children lifting the tree into the truck all by themselves. That was a surreal moment to just stand back and watch. They are growing up so fast. On Black Friday we got the entire house decorated for Christmas, Hubby and I went for a 6 mile bike ride, and we went ice skating! Since Danny has been spending so much time playing basketball with friends at the rec center and we were excited to go skating, we purchased a family membership to the local rec center which will also allow us to go to our favorite outdoor pool next summer as well. Kate decided to go with friends instead and then poor Danny stepped on a glass shard that same day we were going to go. The Christmas tree had fallen over and the one and only glass ornament we had on there broke and when he rushed over to help me even the socks he was wearing wasn’t enough to keep a piece from going in his foot. He felt better after a couple of days but definitely didn’t go ice skating. I was impressed with how well Michelle and Natalie took to the ice considering it has been so many months since the last time they were there. PSA: remember to wear tall socks when you go!
On Saturday Hubby and I got to have a date to go look at exterior paint colors and eat lunch at Cafe Rio. We celebrated Hanukkah by having the missionaries over (photo courtesy of Sister Teague) and Danny’s friend, H, and the next door neighbor, A. over for getting out the menorah, serving latkes and beef brisket with applesauce and plenty of sour cream and some green beans (just to make it look more healthy) and even had jelly donuts from Dunkin’ Donuts. I found it kind of hilarious how excited the kids were to play dreidel and then how quickly they got bored with it. This year, after listening to a podcast with Jewish people talking about Hanukkah, I made sure to emphasize what they did - that Hanukkah celebrates resisting forsaking your own culture for someone else’s ideas - instead of my usual emphasis on the miracle itself. But of course the oil lasting eight days instead of one still has a tendency to steal the conversation. (We also talked about Hanukkah and played dreidel and danced the hora at Activity Days along with reading The Legend of the Candy Cane and passing out candy canes for our December 1st activity.)
Sunday morning Natalie was feeling soooo tired that we worried she might be ill so Hubby stayed home with the children except for Michelle and she and I went to Church. Brother B gave an amazing talk about not being able to be an Airborne Ranger and centered it so well on the Savior and then I got to enjoy telling my (Michelle’s) Primary class about the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. I was so grateful for my experiences visiting Carthage Jail in the past and it made me wish I could take at the students there. I also pointed out something Don’t Miss This did: Joseph was willing to die so that the Saints in Illinois would not experience the same level of persecution they had faced in Missouri. After Church Michelle and I changed clothes and went on a four mile hike pretty near the Church up in the foothills. The weather was amazing, especial for the end of November, and we had a wonderful time talking about things like books series together. It was the last thing on our wish list for the break and I’m so grateful we could go. Bonus: the puzzle Hubby and I completed on Sunday (he did 90% of this one that is harder than it looks). It was absolutely wonderful to spend so much time with family, relax, get things done, and have fun. I guess what I’m saying is, I’m super thankful for Thanksgiving this year!
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