Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was unusual this year.  My sister Emily came to town and wanted to have Thanksgiving ON Thanksgiving day.  Usually we have Thanksgiving with my family on the Friday after Thanksgiving.  I had told my in laws that we could do Thanksgiving at our house because my mother in laws kitchen is being remodeled right now.  My in laws were nice enough to understand and they went to Gordon's Aunt Cathy's.  So the Saturday before everyone started to come into town.  David had bought football tickets for everyone to go to a BYU football game together.  I was in Salt Lake with Amy and Adaline but went up to my parents after for dinner.  Mark and Emily's families came from far away.  It is wonderful to have everyone come (we missed Athena- she was the only sibling not here.).  We are quite an over whelming group.  I tried to not overwhelm Amy too much with my family.  She would come to some things and would choose to stay home other times.  Sunday we had a big dinner at my mom's.  Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we would go up and hang out during the days.  Wednesday I did get out my Christmas decorations.  Adeline teases me that I put my Thanksgiving decorations away before Thanksgiving.  Then there were the sleepovers....

I have no clue where people slept or how many we had here most nights.  That is one of my favorite parts of having family in town is switching kids and letting them have sleepovers.  Wednesday night I got a call from Emily saying that she was sick- really sick.  She had the flu and stayed on the couch the rest of the weekend.  Everyone else had gotten the flu shot and did not get the flu- so next year I will receive my flu shot with a little more gratitude seeing how sick Emily was and still is.  Thanksgiving was of course hectic- and wonderful.  Groups of people left to shop that night, but not us.  I got online Friday morning and ordered Christmas in my p.j.'s.  Saturday morning everyone left.  Having everyone here gets me excited for Christmas!  I can't wait!  

Brick oven

One night while my family was here I got a call right after Amy and I had just put a full dinner in the oven- Meatloaf, potatoes, cobbler.  They wanted the adults to go to Brick oven for dinner.  Brick oven is a special place for our family.  It is where my parents fell in love.  My mom was so poor in college that for a while the only reason she went out with him was because he would feed her and one of those places was Brick oven.  Then when I was young we would go there.  I remember eating there and not being able to eat a whole piece- I must have been so small.  I remember M&M cookies under pillow from Brick oven when I was little.
Gordon and I were officially engaged in the paring lot of Brick oven- romantic huh?  We had decided to get Married the night before Easter 1994 and then we looked for rings, scheduled the temple.  Then on May 12th,  Gordon's birthday I was going to take him to Brick oven.  He called me that day to see if I was ready and if we could go early.  I was almost ready so I picked him up a little early (around 6:30 instead of the scheduled 7).  I should have known something was up because he was sitting on the steps of his parents house when I drove up.  He hopped in and we drove to Brick oven.  We had just gotten out of the car when he pulled out the ring.  I thought "Oh no!  He's going to propose to me in the parking lot!  Make it stop.  There's dumpsters, oil spots, in a parking lot!  How could this be happening right here, right now?"  All I could get out was "Aren't you going to ask me?"  So he asked me to marry him.  No down on one knee in a meadow surrounded by wildflowers with a picnic.  I just laugh about it now.  We went in to the restaurant and ordered food but I was so excited that we boxed up our untouched food and went to show my parents.
So you see any opportunity to go to Brick oven is an opportunity to relive those memories.  So I pulled the food out of the oven.  Sent Matthew to Little Caesars and Gordon, Amy and I went to Brick oven to eat with my family.

The nutcracker

When I has anticipating Amy coming to visit us I wanted to plan some fun things to do with her.  My cousin's children were in a ballet performance of the Nutcracker- with a live orchestra.  She was able to get us some tickets to the Friday night performance.  Amy, Adeline and I left about 4 pm Friday afternoon to have enough time to sit down and eat before the show.  Traffic was bad and we ended up grabbing Greek food and shoveling the food into our mouths in the car right before dashing into the ballet.
The show was beautiful!  The snow falling, the costumes, everything was perfect.  After the show we stayed the night at Circe's.  It was fun to see her kids come home from their performance with the excitement on their faces of having just performed.  I love that glow.  It was fun to stay up talking to Circe.  She and I were never close growing up but because of blogging we have become close.  She is a wonderful person and a great example to me.
The next day Adaline, Amy and I headed to City Creek.  We did stop by my Nana's.  She is such a sweet soul (she's 98 and still lives alone)!
I didn't want to stifle Amy's shopping style so we told her we would meet her at 1 pm at the Cheesecake Factory.  I did need to get Christmas shopping done for Adeline.  She's finally growing up.  She asked for clothes for Christmas.  I knew this would come and I am glad we held off this long but Adeline is growing up.  She finally cares about how she looks.  So she wanted clothes.  But that means no surprises Adeline for Christmas.  She and I have very different tastes in style of clothing so I knew I couldn't just go buy her anything.  We set aside a certain amount of money and bought what we could.  Then we met Amy for lunch.
Lunch was of course delicious.  It is so fun introducing someone to something for the first time.  I love seeing that look in their face of discovery and excitement.  Then we shopped for a couple more hours and then headed to my parents for dinner and to see all my siblings that had come to town for Thanksgiving.  
It was a wonderful weekend with wonderful company.

Profile of Eleanor and Isaac

Eleanor is my only child at home during the day.  Some days she helps me out others she hides in her room and plays.  She has been a great last child.  She hardly complains when I drag her to volunteer at the school twice a week- it's a little much I must admit.  She is a great sport when we go shopping. She rarely complains about our lists of things to accomplish.  I will miss her next year.

Isaac had his SEP last night.  I found out he will be getting moved because he loves to talk to his neighbors that he's sitting by (he finishes early so he helps them with their work.)  He will explain difficult concepts to the class that the teacher is having a hard time explaining- he compared place values to the solar system.  He is not turning in his reading calendar or his spelling assignment- if he's getting 100% on the assignment why should he have to turn in the assignment?  Oh well we will conform.    He is in a special math class that at the end of the year will take a test that will make him eligible to skip 7th grade math and take 8th grade math in 7th grade.  His piano teacher says that he is a dream student.  He has excelled with his piano playing.  It has been so fun to hear him play grown up songs.  He would wear shorts to school every day of the year if I let him.  I told him when there is snow on the ground he needs to wear pants.  His mind is constantly going 100 miles an hour- that sometimes gets him in trouble around the house.  He is a great kid and we love him.

Isaac with his Egypt day make up on.

Eleanor and I helping out at the school.

Partied out

We have had two parties here the past two days.  I am tired but happy they went well.  Monday night was Adeline and Matthew's piano recital.  The teacher lives right behind us and asked if we would be willing to do it at our house.  No problem.  I love having things at my house.  It forces me to tidy up piles I have been ignoring for too long.  We pulled in chairs and set the room up.  Adeline played a hymn and Matthew played something from Pirates of the Caribbean and Baby Shakespeare (every time he play the piece I could see the animals sliding down the slide on the video).   There were other pianists but it only lasted about 40 mins.  It was perfect.  Then we had doughnuts and cider.
Last night was a bridal shower that my mom got me into- not that I'm complaining.  I just am not sensitive enough to see the need and offer help.  She saw need and offered my house (because the ladies all live in my neighborhood.)  Trying to tell Amy, our Chinese teacher who's living with us, that it was not a real shower was funny.  It was for a girl I taught when she was 11 years old.  I must be getting old.  I visit taught Susie, her mother, for years.  Now Susie helps me and my mom around our houses so we are both close to her.
After invitations were out I couldn't believe how many people texted me asking if they could help.  I took them up on the offer and asked them to bring 2 dozen of their favorite treat.  We had some great food.  My mom also brought tons of good food.  The table looked perfect and the food was a work of art (my mom never does anything half way).  Lots of women came and it was nice to see the people that I no longer see because we are in another ward.  After everyone left I had a great feeling of satisfaction that both events were a success.    

Family

Saturday we got a call from David that said he and his family were up at my parents for the day.  So we finished our jobs and headed up to my parents for the day.  It was so fun.  It is so nice to have family close.  My kids love their cousins.  It is nice for them to be able to spent the time with them.  We watched old family slides, made cookies, ate, and visited by the fire.  Adeline and I tried on old hats and I organized my mom's kitchen cabinets.  The boys watched the BYU game and then we headed home.  It makes me happy to see my kids so excited to see and spend time with their cousins.  It makes me really excited for other family members to come for Thanksgiving.  It will be a blast to see them.  Thanksgiving is going to be great.

Putting the Christ in Christmas

This morning I had the most interesting conversation with Amy about Christmas.  Christmas in China is celebrated by going to work and then shopping late into the night.  The malls stay open extra late and have great deals so that you can shop till you drop.  She had no idea that the reason we celebrated  Christmas was to celebrate the birth of our Savior.
It got me thinking of the lights, Christmas trees, presents, food, and Santa Clause.  If that was all you saw I could see how you would have a hard time seeing what this holiday was all about- Jesus Christ.  She had questions about how Santa ties into Jesus Christ.  We talked about celebrating the birth at Christmas and the death and rerurrection at Easter.  It was a great conversation and I love talking to her and answering her honest questions.
I hope that I am teaching my kids about the true meaning of Christmas.  I hope they know that when we celebrate Christmas we are celebrating the birth of our King.  I am not going to change anything too radical this year- I love Santa and all the goodness that he represents.  He is everything that Jesus is.  I love the lights, decorations and food.  But I hope this year we can focus on the Why we have a Christmas tree, why we give gifts, why we have decorations in our home.  I hope that when my children see these things that they will know that those things testify that Jesus is the Christ.  That he was sent here by a loving Father in Heaven.  And that Jesus selflessly gave his life so that we can live again.  That is the Why of Christmas.

Me with my favorite Santa, James.

Bridie passes off her lists

In first grade they have site reading lists that they pass off and then get a new list.  There are 25 lists and Bridie passed off her lists.  I was so proud of her.  She worked really hard and practiced every night.  When they pass off all their lists the teacher has all the kids cheer for them and then they get a prize (playdoh).  It's been a little tough having Bridie come after 2 geniuses (seriously).  I forget kids have to practice spelling words before a test.  Luckily Bridie can hold her own and has an incredible work ethic.  When she sets her mind to something there is no stopping her.  I am sure Bridie passed off her lists before Jacob did simply because she worked so hard.  I am so proud of Bridie and what a wonderful person she is.

First snow of the year and first world problems

This morning was my last boot camp class.  I was all dressed and ready for my friend to come pick me up when she called and told me that she had an emergency and what I thought was "would be late picking me up."  I should have told her I would just drive myself but I waited and then I released she wasn't coming so I called her- she had headed straight there.  I got in Gordon's car and dashed to my last class.  I came out feeling great and noticed that Gordon's car was gone but he had come and switched cars and my van was in the parking spot.  That is usually no problem except that my purse and cell phone were in the trunk of Gordon's car.  Who care's about the purse?  I need that cell phone!  It is crazy how dependent I am on that silly device.  It is my calendar, my phone with all my contact info (which I don't keep anywhere else.)  I had to use the paper ward list this morning!  Usually I use the LDS app.  My life is in my phone I discovered today.  When I called Gordon about the mix up I didn't even get mad- the obsessive compulsive part of me was very proud of myself.  And do you know what?  Not having my phone or purse for 4 hours didn't kill me.  I survived.  Luckily my friend had a child going to Provo so she picked it up and brought it home for me so I wouldn't have to make a special trip to Provo.
While the phone and purse were MIA we helped at the school, did visiting teaching and then Eleanor and I did puzzles in front of the fire again today- that is becoming one of our favorite activities.  Something about cold weather- especially snow makes me want to hunker down and stay home.  I love it when I actually get to stay home.  After finishing a puzzle Eleanor looked out the window and saw the beautiful flakes falling.  She wanted to get her snow clothes on and go outside to play.  So I got her all bundled up in snow pants, hat, coat and knit gloves.  Well the gloves didn't hold out like she had hopped so she came in and in disgust said "Look at what the snow did to me?"  I looked and din't see anything to which she said "It got my hands cold."  I told her that's what snow does.  It's cold.  I love watching her walk around the backyard making tracks usually with Jasmine trotting along beside her.  I am ready for snow and winter now but in February it'll be a different story- I'll be booking a trip to sunny, warm Florida.

Hot chocolate in front of the fire

Today Eleanor and I got our errands done early so we sat in front of the fire wrapping James' Christmas presents while listening to Christmas music.  We decided to crack out the christmas music just for the occasion.   It was so fun to sit there with Eleanor.  We both had a great time!
Today has been the first really cold day of the year- it has been such a nice fall.  We are now ready for snow.  I am ready for the holidays- but first I have got to get James' packages off.  One for his birthday and one for Christmas.  It's been tricky knowing what to send him (especially since our only communication takes place once a week).  I posted my dilemma on Facebook and got several ideas for gifts.  Facebook is amazing.  On the theme of James we got a mission tracker for him.  As of yesterday he has been out 70 days!  Can you believe it?  Wow!  70 days is a long time and luckily it's picking up speed.  I think we will have a little celebration at 100 days.  

Stay at home day

Yesterday was the best day.  I got to stay at home all day while the kids were gone.  That never happens but when it does it is so nice.  I had time to do laundry, clean up the house, put away the strangling Halloween costumes, and even wipe down bathrooms.  That is when I discovered what a mess the downstairs bathroom was.  On our way down Eleanor told me that the downstairs bathroom is gross.  And it was.  Matthew had cleaned it just a couple of days before but it never got dejunked since James left.  They had about 20 bottles of shampoo and conditioner in their tub.  Under the sink was disgusting.  Empty bottles of cleaning products, trash that needed to be empty, etc.  And then there was all the things that James left.  It all got cleaned up and now maybe people won't be so scared to use that bathroom.  Eleanor and I had such a great day that she was so disappointed that we had a huge list of errands to do today.  She just wanted to stay home.  So did I.

Making cookies and cake

Sunday we had dinner at Christina's.  We were assigned to bring drinks and dessert.  Amy, the Chinese teacher who is living with us, has never made cookies or cakes.  They do not have ovens in their houses so they buy cakes and cookies at the bakery.  She really wanted to learn how to make them so Saturday night we made both.  Adaline is the world's best chocolate chip cookie maker so she taught Amy how to make them and then Amy and I made a box cake for Sunday dinner.  We took pictures and had a blast.  It is so fun living with someone who is discovering and doing things for their first time.  Amy is so positive and optimistic.  It is so fun to teach her things.  She embraces everything.  Her cookies turned out incredible (with Adeline they always turn out perfect) and the cake turned out perfect.  I figured that since we make a box cake we should make the frosting from scratch- so we did.

New member of the family and Sadie Hawkins

We have had a Chinese woman, Xu Ying, living with us for 6 days now.  People have asked us how it is going.. I tell them she is an absolute joy to have in our home.  She is kind, helpful, and a very positive and upbeat person.  She is staying in Isaac's room in the attic up by Adeline.  I thought it would be nice for her to have her own bathroom.
She is afraid of the dogs so the dogs spend a lot of the afternoon in the study.  She loves chocolate and chips.  She is a good sport about all the food I make.  I get the sense that she loves America and the freedom that it represents because of some of her comments.  She wanted to go to the boys piano recital last night and then to pack meeting.  She really is up for just about anything (although she doesn't like sports or anything too physical.)  We have 3 more weeks with her here and it is going to be really hard to have her leave because by then she will be a part of our family.
Matthew went to Sadie Hawkins with Chelsea Flake. They had a small group and had a great time.  They went to Bianca Bardsley's house for dinner then the dance and then to Chelsea's house for games.  Chelsea's dad, Cannon, is so much fun!  He had a great time.  In China girls and boys don't date until they are older so Amy was dying laughing at the American mom taking pictures of her son with a girl.

Talking to James

Today James left the MTC for Korea.  He could call from the airport so at 10 he told me he would call my cell phone.  all the kids wanted to talk to him so some went to school for part of the day and then came home- others slept in.  Then we drove up to Gordon's office to let him talk to James.  We sat in Gordon's office and the kids ate lunches we had bought at days and listened to him talk.  It was great to hear his voice.  This morning before we left the kids rounded up every electronic device we have and played minecraft.  It was hilarious!  James is so excited.  It will be a wonderful adventure for him!

Sunday

Amy has come to live with us for the month of November.  She is sweet and I love having her around but the poor thing is frightened of dogs.  And we have 2.  She says her goal is to take a picture of her with the dogs at the end of the month.  Saturday she asked if we would go to church for 3 hours on Sunday.  I told her we would.  She asked about the dogs (I joked with her that the dogs wouldn't be going to church.)  She said she would come to church with us because she did not want to be left alone with the dogs.  So she came to church with me.  She has already been a blessing in my life.  I have had a little anxiety knowing that James would be leaving the MTC and going half a world away.  She lived the last 6 months in South Korea and has been such a comfort to me.  She reassures me that Koreans love Americans and that they will be kind to my son.  That evening we had Gordon's parents over for dinner because my mother-in-laws kitchen is torn out.  My mother-in-law brought 2 cakes so we put candles in one cake for Bridie and one for Jacob.  Then Matthew took the camera and had fun with the settings.  He is taking a photography class at school.

Birdie and Jacob's Birthday Parties

Bridie and Jacob had their birthday parties on the same day.  Bridi0's was from 1-2 and Jacob's was from 3-4.  Their parties were small and simple but it got the job done!  I'm really glad to have them over.  Throwing a party for those ages can be hard.  They really want to be entertained.  The boys did silly string and shot spongy balls at the chickens that had gotten out.  The girls painted banks and decorated cupcakes.

Halloween

Eleanor and I helped in Isaac's class reading a story and making bloody bandaids.  When the kids got home from school Matthew and Isaac went up to Tina's for the evening.  Is there anything better than having a holiday on a Friday night?  It was so much fun!  The rest of os plus Grace went to the ward trunk or treat to have dinner- hot dogs and chili.  Then Gordon took Jacob, Bridie and Eleanor trick or treating in the neighborhood and Grace, Adeline and I watched The Man From Snowy River while we handed out candy.  Adeline had never seen the movie before!  It's a classic.  About 11 we texted Matthew to see when he was coming home.  He texted back that he was on his way home- the one thing he forgot to mention was that he was bringing all the boy cousins.  I laughed so hard when Matthew, Ryan, Anthony, Michael, and Parker walked in the door.  The only problem is that they forgot to bring home Isaac.  He was stuck in Provo until Christina brought him home the next day.  So the next day Amy (our Chinese student teacher) came to stay with us we had a house full.  She is a great sport.  She came with us to run errands.  We went to the dollar store to pick up stuff for the 2 birthday parties later that day.  She kept saying "everything is just one dollar?".

Bridie with her Cinderella hair.

Isaac was a scientist with an explosion.

Eleanor and I ready to help in Isaac's class.

Carving pumpkins after school on Halloween.