Trevor Gets His Arrow of Light

Trevor is 11 now and that means no more cub scouts. It's bitter sweet. Boston came in the day Trevor went out and you should see Boston's enthusiasim for cub scouts. He is on fire trying to pass off as much as possible and I hope he doesn't burn out. At pack meeting on Thursday, Trevor earned his Arrow of Light award, his Webelo, and said good bye to cubs. He has a large group of boys his age and a majority of them have birthdays in the fall and December, so he was able to be with most of them the entire time. They are such a great group of boys and I am grateful he has them for examples. And, that he is such a great example to Boston too.

Meeting Santa (again) and Preschool Party

That Santa (or his helpers) are everywhere this time of year. Gage and Mallory got to talk with him again at Gage's Preschool Party on Tuesday. The mom putting on the class party made aprons for each of the boys in the class and had all sorts of fun going on.  Ms. Bobbie, Gage's teacher, had gifts galore for the kids and their moms. It was a great way to start off a three week break! 

Meeting Santa

Boston was excited and was one of the first in line at the ward Christmas Party to meet the big guy. Gage found another family in the ward to stand in line with and made himself at home with them. Gage showed Santa our elf and thanked him for sending him to us.  Mallory ran away afraid, but came back for the candy cane that was offered.  And, Trevor...well, Trevor is 11 and just hung out with his friends.  

Boston's Baptism

It was sweet and simple. It is nice to have a second one to plan because you realize after going through the first one (Trevor's) that really it's about the spirit that is there and not a big program. Trevor gave a talk/testimony on Baptism and Zane spoke about the Holy Ghost. We just had a few friends there, Grandma Betty and Papa Ben along with the Bishop. Boston was smiling the whole time and liked that the water was warm.

Giving Thanks

I wish I had a picture of us all dressed up in our Sunday Best for Thanksgiving Dinner. It really did happen, but there is a good reason for it. It wasn't what I would have initially picked for an ideal Thanksgiving, but it turned out to be a perfect meal in practically every way. We are kind of sparse on family out here. We haven't always been, but with my mother in law selling her house and traveling around to visit her children for the holidays, my brother and his family moving to Spain for a few years, and with Zane's grandma moving to the Mesonic Home for seniors, there remains my father in law and his wife. They don't like to do much for the holidays, but we asked if they would like to join us for Thanksgiving Dinner. They had a better idea that involved us joining them at the Galt House (a beautiful downtown hotel on the River) for dinner. My father in law said it was Sunday dress and my kids groaned a bit. But, it turned out to be such a treat. It was at the Rivu, one of those fancy white table cloth restaurants. The menu was a traditional Thanksgiving menu which was served family style and we even got sent home with the leftovers. The best part of all - my kids were well behaved. That was a lovely sweet miracle that I am grateful for. I am grateful for so many things this year besides children that sat still for a nano second, but on that day, that was enough.