November/December Happenings...
We celebrated Brian's birthday at Sunday dinner with a cake that had half German chocolate and half cream cheese frosting...
And got to enjoy these cute grandkids!
All of a sudden, Wesley is talking so much!
This little guy has loads of personality!!!
The ward council asked the Sunday school presidency to be in charge of the ward Christmas party this year - along with their wives -ha!
We were in charge of the program, Drapers were in charge of food and they were able to have it catered this year since there was extra money in the budget, and Warburtons did the decorations.
We decided to reenact the nativity using an adaptation from the Family Home Evening manual, 1966. "Oh Come, Let Us Adore Him!"
Getting a little nativity inspiration on our morning walks around the neighborhood...
Tim built and painted this manger for it...
The kids loved it!
We asked adults to play the parts of Mary, Joseph, the angels, shepherds and wisemen...
Everyone was given a script beforehand, but there wasn't a chance to practice...
It came together nicely!
Lincoln turned 5 and we celebrated with a ninja party!
Lincoln turns 5!
Kelsee's sisters and grandparents came for a dinner of Lincoln's choosing:
Baked chicken, broccoli, salad, baked potatoes, rolls, strawberries and blueberries
Growing fast!
This year we got tickets to Luminaria at Thanksgiving Point
It did not disappoint!
What a magical place!
Luke loved it!
We will definitely plan to go again next year!!!
A family from Japan stayed with us in the basement in November and part of December...
They have a cute 20 month old that our grandkids loved!
They made a yummy dinner of gyoza, oyaku-dori and rice.
Trips to the airport
For Thanksgiving this year, I had reserved the Stake Property Building back in January which gave us lots of room to spread out. It was the first big family gathering since before the pandemic and everyone was craving the chance to catch up...
Rachel and Cindy did a spectacular job with the table settings and decorations...
GAMES
The kids played games with Leland and with the extra balloons that Aunt Cindy put out for them to play with and we had a few musical numbers from Isaac playing the Banjo, and May sang...
We were beyond delighted that we had such a great turn out!
Everyone pitched in and there was tons of delicious food
Preston brought one of the turkeys. He smoked it himself!
The next day, we took a little trip to Oklahoma for Alyssa's wedding
Luke loved riding in the airplane
He did pretty well until the end, when he was tired of wearing a mask
He tore several up and I was grateful we had decided to rent a car and drive back to get home.
Grateful we got to be there in person with our loved ones for this amazing event! It was beautiful!
We went to Empire slice Pizza in Oklahoma City and it really was amazing! David, Amanda and Tanner met us there (they came from Wisconsin) and we enjoyed catching up with them. We ordered the "Fungus Among Us" which had portobello mushrooms-oh, so good!!!
We stayed at a hotel in Seminole which worked out really well because Tim had mountains of progress reports to write and he also had to check the other foreign language teacher's progress reports, so he stayed with Luke while I met my sisters and brother for brunch and then for the Memorial museum trip.
Someone at special needs mutual told me that a "must see" thing to do in Oklahoma is to visit the Oklahoma City Memorial and I thought since I am from Oklahoma, and we had some time, I really should visit the place! It was extremely poignant and very well done...
Grateful that I got to go with some of my family...
In 1996 when it happened, Carol was only two blocks from the bombing, working as a legal secretary. The window where she was sitting blew in and her face and arms were badly hurt.
She came to the museum with us and told us of her experience...
Also on April 19, 1995, my brother Jim was working just 5 blocks from the bombing location and the windows of his pickup truck cracked and were quite damaged.
They did a really good job at the museum explaining the events, showing what happened and also teaching ethics behind some of the choices that were made.
There was a tall building with 9:00 am and then a reflecting pool and then another tall building with 9:03 am. In between there were 168 chairs on a slight hill next to the reflecting pool with the names of each person who was killed on that day and a light under the chair of each one.
I'm glad we got to go.
Carol, Linda and I went to Carol's house and took a walk around a neat trail near her house.
Kayla and Devon stayed with us for a bit just before and just after the Christmas break
Lunch trip to Asa Ramen in Orem. We LOVE that place!
Took the grandkids to the Children's Museum at Thanksgiving Point
Night games in the backyard, grandkid fun!
The Stake Relief Society Presidency visited the RS Christmas parties for each of the wards in the stake
Each one I visited was unique! I got some great ideas visiting 7th ward, 6th ward and 5th ward's parties.
Fun in the kitchen with Amy and Kayla
Sunday dinners...
Our stake put on a fancy Ho Down activity with BBQ, coleslaw, pumpkin and apple pie, lots of fun games and a dance-everything was amazing!
Trips to the temple...
I never tire of the sunrises and sunsets...
Our grandkids are one of the very best parts of life. Each has our hearts!
Uncle Dick passed away and Trevor kindly asked Tim to say the closing prayer at the funeral in Idaho Falls, and for me to lead the music (How Great Thou Art was one of the songs)...
Amy agreed to come down from Rexburg and watch Luke for us.
She took him out for food and for walks on that beautiful trail around the Idaho Falls River -
the Idaho Falls temple is where my parents were married...
Eric came with us and we had wonderful talks on the way there and back...
So many cousins came. Every one of my mom's sibling's families were represented some how and we agreed that we need to have a family reunion soon...
We have another family wedding coming up soon on Tim's side of the family...
There was a great turnout at Eilee's bridal shower
Leland found a great deal on flights to Venice and couldn't resist taking a trip to Italy and France! Love how my kids inherited the travel bug. Amy also took a trip to NYC.
Enjoying frozen yogurt runs with Luke...
Tim got a new calling-Stake Sunday School presidency.
He will do a great job!
