Where did November (and half of December) go?!

Time is flying!  If my kids didn’t LOVE reading the book I make each year, compiling my blog entries, I may stop blogging.  But since it serves as our family journal here I am to share some of the events and details of November. 

One thing that contributed to November passing so quickly was having the Coombs in town.  My sister Cathie, her husband Keith and their six children are relocating from Alaska to New Mexico.  They spent three weeks, mid-move here in Utah.  It was awesome for us.  My kids love having their cousins around.  It made life crazier than usual, but it was totally worthwhile.  I didn’t take many pictures, but there was a lot of playing, tackle football in the basement, board games, soccer, Barbie’s, running around, and craziness.  There were big family dinners and visiting.  One special outing we did was spending a day at Boondocks.  I had no idea the kids would love it so much.  We were there for 9 hours.  Admittedly I really like the laser tag myself. 

We usually stay home for the holidays since both Josh’s family and mine are local.  That gives us some extra time to play here in Cache Valley.  Call me crazy, but I took the kids ice skating the day before Thanksgiving.  Josh has had a really heave workload lately and I have to get out every day or I go a little crazy.  The kids loved it.  Ali even caught on eventually.  She had to watch for about an hour (after getting her skates on) before she decided to give it a good try.

Thanksgiving was really low key this year.  It was just us, Lonn and Sharon, April and Ethen and my mom.  I am making the tradition of having an essential oil booth at Novemberfest the two days after Thanksgiving.  It seems to be an event that is worth the effort. It keeps me busy while Josh enjoys some time with the kids.

Rec basketball is in November and December.  This year we have two boys playing.  Caleb is so tall that he has a lot of potential, but he isn't a super aggressive player. He loves sports so much and wants to be great, but he'd rather not do hard practice or push himself during games.  

Andy is playing on a kindergarden team.  They play first graders and there is apparently a lot of progress in coordination in that year.  His team doesn't often win, but he really enjoys it.  He especially loves playing on a team with some of his best friends. 

Cara had her first ballet recital.  She seems to have enjoyed ballet this semester, but the week before the recital she became very apprehensive.  She was really nervous about dancing in front of people.  She decided she wanted to quit just before the recital.  She pulled herself together and did it, but she has now decided Ballet isn't her thing.  She is in the smallest class at Cache Civic ballet.  Most of the classes have 10-12 and hers only has 4 so I'm going to keep her in for one more semester just to build a little more confidence.  For the recital they did parts of the nutcracker.  Cara and her class were the flowers.  Adorable!

I told Cara that she has to choose something extra curricular to practice and work on.  She just wants to play with her friends.  She doesn't want to do anything that is hard or cuts into play time which makes everything unattractive.  She did say she is most interested in becoming a chef.  I told her she is more than welcome to help with dinner every night and we can teach her how to cook, but she needs to be actively developing her talents.  It will be fun to see what she decides to focus on.  I'm hoping she will become actively involved with the orchestra and start violin again or another instrument next year.  

The Christmas festivities continue even though the weather has been warm and beautiful. The kids love the tradition of sleeping under the Christmas tree on Friday nights in December.  

Our neighborhood Christmas party and our ward party are both behind us.  The ward party was Grinch themed and was probably the most detailed and beautiful ward party I have ever attended.  

I may be business than I've very been with my calling and my business, but I'm enjoying my little clan.  Here they are lined up waiting for tithing settlement.  It is a wonderful time of the year.

For many years I have done some sort of 12 days of Christmas count down.  This year I am doing one that helps us remember Christ as we try to focus on the true meaning of the season, the lights, the giving, the trees, etc.  This is one worth filing and doing again.  I have adapted what is here:  http://family-home-fun.blogspot.com/2011/12/christ-centered-12-days-of-christmas.html  Each day we are opening a gift that helps us to remember the things Jesus has given us.  The gifts are inexpensive, but always exciting to open.  Having a Christ centered discussion each evening is a blessing.