Silent Night

"At the focal point of all human history, a point illuminated by a new star in the heavens revealed for such a purpose, probably no other mortal watched - none but a poor young carpenter, a beautiful virgin mother, and silent stabled animals who had not the power to utter the sacredness they had seen. Shepherds would soon arrive and later, wise men from the East. Later yet, the memory of that night would bring Santa Claus and Frosty and Rudolph - and all would be welcome. But first and forever there was just a little family, without toys or trees or tinsel. With a baby - that's how Christmas began."


-Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

You Know Your 5 Year Old Goes To Public School when...

... you ask him to please sing the REAL lyrics to Jingle Bells, and all he can come up with is, "Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg..."

It's Great to Be 8!

Elliot turned 8 right before Thanksgiving. He looked so cool in his new jeans and Beatles (his favorite band) t-shirt.






The day before his birthday, he invited Riley and William to join us at the Classic Fun Center. They played in the Bounce Zone, the Blast Zone and even squeezed in a game of Laser Tag. It looked like they had a ton of fun.


On his birthday, Sommer's family came over to have cake and ice cream.





And then, last Saturday, was baptism day. It ended up being a busy and eventful day for Elliot. He had his first Jr. Jazz game early in the morning. He was a little unsure of himself at first, but he found his confidence near the end of the game. He was an incredible defender - he never left the man he was guarding (even when his team had the ball!) I wish I could post the video I took because he made a beautiful jumpshot that I was lucky to capture on film.


The baptism was great. I was a little bummed that I didn't really get to see Elliot until he actually entered the font, but it was awesome watching Nathan baptize his first son.












Lots of hugs afterwards - Sommer and Jeremy brought their kids, and Riley and William came to support Elliot as well. Elliot was especially excited that Nana and Papa were able to come from AZ to enjoy this wonderful weekend with us.








We love you Elliot and we're so proud of you! Hooray for turning 8!

Thanksgiving

Again, this year, Thanksgiving was low key - just the way we like it. We slept in (except for Nathan, who was in charge of this year's ward Turkey Bowl), watched the Macy's parade on TV, and had a quiet morning. I was impressed when Gillian decided to entertain the boys with a couple of cute projects. I love that about her.

We had dinner, which was delicious, at Sommer and Jeremy's house. I was in charge of the centerpiece.

We spent the rest of the evening browsing through Black Friday ads and eating pie. The next morning, Nathan and I crawled out of bed at 4:30 am to join the other crazy people looking for a good deal. Later, we took the kids Christmas shopping, to a movie and then to the new In-n-Out that just opened by our house. Overall, it was another successful and satisfying Thanksgiving weekend. Now, looking forward to Christmas..........

First Snow

7th Grade Choir

Samantha had her first choir performance last week. They sang only four songs. Henry was grateful we were outta there in twenty minutes!

Halloween '09

Here's our spooks!

The kids dressed up three different times this year. They had a costume parade at school, our ward Trunk-or-Treat and actual Halloween night. Let the candy trading begin!

Stud

Nathan picked up my camera one Sunday to snap a photo of Elliot. I see why. I can't believe my little man is about to turn 8!

Our Violinist

Gillian has recently taken up the violin to join her school orchestra and has already had her first performance. She's actually pretty good. I thought that when we got her the violin, that we would have to get everyone some earplugs as well to endure the squeaky noises that I was positive would come out of that instrument. Not the case. She's excited for her Christmas concert in December at the South Towne Expo. Go Gilly!

St. George Getaway

A few weeks ago, Nathan and I were lucky enough to get a break from the kids and go on a couples getaway in southern Utah. The Summerhays were kind enough to invite us and two other fun couples in our ward to stay in their family's vacation home in St. George. It was such a blast! While most of us would probably agree that we spent most of our time eating, we managed to sqeeze in a bunch of other worthwhile activities. The guys played a round of golf while the girls enjoyed a little shopping. We attended a play at the Tuachan, a beautiful outdoor theater nestled in the red rock. We checked out a really cool "narrow" and climbed around the rocks, and even fit in a session at the St. George Temple. It was really fun to spend time with some of the couples in our ward and get to know them better - although there are some things better left unknown! I know, right?

Thanks for the great weekend Greg and Andrea!