Last day of November

Finally posting this a few weeks into December . . . .

Wow. December tomorrow. I have to say that we are already headlong into the Christmas season and enjoying reveling in the season. Our stockings are hung by our chimney with care, plus we decorated the rest of the house when Bailey was home for Thanksgiving last week.  Yesterday I added more lights to bushes and trees outside. We are usually boring Christmas light people, with just one colored strand across the front of our house, but I was feeling especially festive and want the house to look inviting when all our kids come home in a few weeks!  Dan and I did some serious black Friday shopping and completed our lists, and we have been playing Christmas music since Halloween. I wrapped presents yesterday while watching a Christmas show, which is one of my all-time favorite things to do.

Other things we have been doing in November:

Lots of church work 

As part of being on the High Council, Dan teaches Mission Prep to a great group of kids in the stake every week. He says it might be his favorite calling ever.

I held a fun informal discussion meeting for primary presidencies in the stake. I promised them we would be out in an hour and we were done in 55 minutes!

 Somehow I was in charge of two different dinners this month too. Definitely out of my comfort zone. I coordinated a big dinner for the visiting authority to our stake conference, stake presidency, and lot of other people. Everything turned out great, largely due to the advice and decorating help from my good friend Cami, and I hope that I'm not asked to do something like that for a long while!

Aubrey was in charge of a big Book of Mormon mystery dinner for all the Laurels and Priests in two wards. She did a great job organizing and leading the fun dinner!

Enjoying this beautiful world

The colors this fall were just amazing, as always. This was my view leaving our neighborhood one day and so I had Joseph duck down and I took a picture.  And the sunsets . . . wow. Because of all our clouds and trees, it's hard to see the sunsets sometimes, so when we enjoy a good one, we really revel in it.

Helping others

I was so proud of my Aubrey girl. We have been helping a friend of ours, a boy who was our Trek "son" a year ago last summer. He talks to us frequently and lets us know when he needs something. He is a senior and really wanted a senior picture for the yearbook. So Aubrey found a sweet girl from her art school who is focusing in photography who was willing to take and edit our friend's pictures for free.  Aubrey was the photography helper, and she did a great job suggesting poses and jumping around to get him to smile.  We had our own little weather miracle, too. Rain every day for weeks, but that day the sun came out and we got some great pictures in the fall leaves after school.

Painting 20 shades of greige on the wall

 It took me forever to decide on the right color for the re-do of our family room and kitchen, to coordinate better with our painted cabinets and to update the look.

The paint color winner is on the right.

Pampering

Dan and I attended a fun couple's date night at which one of the women (who used to work at a spa) led us in soaking, exfoliating, moisturizing, and paraffin waxing our feet and hands. The husbands were good sports!

 Decorating for Christmas

We just couldn't resist. The second week of December we put up the Christmas tree. We waited until Bailey arrived to decorate, but Joseph and I slept in the living room with the lit Christmas tree on the first night it was up. Great memories with my sweet boy! 

I sent this snapshot from my phone to Bailey on November 1st to show that I had fully embraced Christmas music.  

Bailey is home!

Bailey got home on Monday, the 21st. It was great to have her around! Here, I caught her teaching Joseph the latest dance craze. I have a fun video of their performance later on.

 Hot chocolate with my girls

 Black Friday shopping

I loved the Black Friday deals, specifically the online bargains. Dan talked me into going out on Thanksgiving evening to Target to get a specific awesome deal for Joseph. We waited in the cold rain for 35 minutes, were one of the first 40 people in the building, and the thing we wanted was already gone off the shelves. SOOOO not worth it. Next year I am only doing online shopping! 

 Turkey Bowl

Brandon and Dan joined the Kartchners and other friends for a Turkey morning football game. It was POURING rain and was really freezing. Joseph came back soaked to the bone, but he had a great time!

 Thanksgiving Day Photo Fail

We traditionally take pictures on Thanksgiving Day, but this particular year was so wet and gloomy that we couldn't venture past the front porch. We tried in vain to capture a little bit of non-existent natural light. Plus, Joseph was an unwilling participant in the picture taking. So, oh well.

 Joseph is almost as tall as Aubrey!

 These girls had so much fun together during the break, watching Hallmark Christmas movies and talking about boys.

Thanksgiving Dinner

We made a point to have something on the table that everyone likes to eat. Only Dan wanted turkey, so we DIDN'T cook a whole turkey (gasp!).  Instead, we got some sliced turkey for Dan, cooked a ham, and made other requested items.

 After the dinner . . . . SO full!

Decorating the Tree

After dinner we blasted Christmas music and decorated our beautiful tree!

 And I found this hilarious note in a box titled "My Gift to Jesus."  Joseph must have written it at about age 7.  His gift to Jesus is to play more with his best friend!  Ha ha . . . .

 Party all the time

We make an exception to our "no sleepover rule" for "fuzzins" like the Kartchners. Joseph and Alex had a very fun sleepover over the break.

 We also went with the family and Aubrey's friend to Moana.

 Goodbye to Bailey for 3 weeks!

We took Bailey to the airport for a few more weeks of school before Christmas break. That night I helped pull off a 70th birthday surprise party for a friend.

 Creativity overload

Joseph made this cool Lego Mindstorms robot on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

Other non-pictured November events:
I helped edit college essays for quite a few high school seniors and I helped paint sets for Aubrey's play, Elf.  I will do a different post devoted to her play!

And that wraps up November!