Catch up

 

Jacob working on a soldier project in Kindergarten.

 

The school welcomed veterans for a special program and I love the patriotism the kids learn. Jake has an awesome teacher this year!

 

This is a picture Jake's teacher took from their Halloween letterland parade.

 

The day before Halloween was basically a party since the kids are so excited anyways.

 

They had a ton of fun projects and brought home a painted pumpkin.

 

Jake combs his hair by himself. He is sure handsome :)

 

 

The Great Leaf Project. We had so many leaves in our backyard it's insane. Fortunately the kids are old enough that they can rake for a long time and be a huge help! I draw a line and they rake all of the leaves onto the tarp from that line back. Little by little the yard was cleared.

 

Diana's Thanksgiving lunch at preschool! I loved seeing how she understood and followed the routine of the classroom. Such good things for a busy girl to learn!

 

She loved the food and juice boxes. She also made sure to sample all of the desserts. She was really curious about a mushroom and it was hilarious to see how the thing didn't even make it into her mouth, all it took was her tongue to touch it and the desire to eat it was gone.

 

Katy loved being in Diana's classroom and seeing all of the big kids. She ate tons of pretzels and cheese and loved running around the class.

 

 

Thanksgiving was awesome. Daniel and Benjamin flew in, the weather was gorgeous, and the food was amazing! Marian hosted this year and we had a wonderful time.

 

 

I was pretty tired after baking all the pies and rolls. Mike noticed and made this note for me. "Hey Mom! Do you know what? Great job doing all the baking! I can't imagine that! Wow! I can't believe this! Wow." He is so hilarious, thoughtful and sweet it makes my heart sing. What a blessing he is to me!

 

 

Thanksgiving morning football. The weather was awesome. My favorite story of the morning was when Daniel was trying to get open for a pass, but the stake president shoved him out of bounds so he couldn't get the pass. I don't think Daniel was expecting that :) I loved watching Jim, Daniel and Benjamin playing while the kids ran around the park.

 

Jake chillin on the spiderweb at the park. Shorts and a super warm hat. We have style in spades!

 

We got to help a little with Marian and Brandon's wall (which is finished now and looks INCREDIBLE). They did most of the work themselves, but everyone was able to shovel dirt from huge mounds in the back to fill in behind the gravel that backs up to the wall.

 

The day after Thanksgiving we started putting up decorations. Michael got all excited when I told everyone what we were doing and ran to the kitchen to draw something. He then posted it on the front door. "Dear family, Christmas is about the love that we share and it's about the birthday of Jesus Christ."

 

As fall weather came (and left again- we've had weather in the 70s for days and it will hang around for most of the week!) and the grass started to fade, all of a sudden our grass looked like a giant brain. It's got to be grubs but the weird thing was that it didn't happen gradually, it was like overnight! Oh well, we have the coolest looking lawn!

Jim has opened a new office and we've spent a lot of time getting it ready. Still doing that, but have made lots of progress. I feel like we've been running since we got back from Utah! Jim spent 23 hours volunteering at our local nativity this weekend, and one night the Koffords saved him by bringing him food when he hadn't eaten since lunch and it was 8pm (and he wasn't done until midnight). Jim says they saved him from certain death. Marian and I are coaching our older girls' basketball team and have two practices a week. Coaching is fun, I love helping my sister! I also made a book of Jim's mission and that took forever but is finally done. It has all of the letters he sent and his family sent him as well as tons of pictures so it really tells the story of his mission, his family's life and of the amazing supportive mom he has :) I had a blast putting it together and getting to know more about his mission. I've been making lots of fudge for Jim's work sources and I also gave a talk in church today. So I guess I haven't taken a lot of pictures or posted because it feels like we've been going nonstop since we got back from Utah. Tonight the kids sang Christmas hymns with me, we had candy canes as we watched the Music and the Spoken Word and it felt so peaceful. There is something extra special about sharing the joy of Christmas with my kids as they get older and understand how special the birth of Christ is.