The end of November and beginning of December...

So can I tell you HOW relieved I am this week is over? Lots of good stuff but it was a lot and I am glad to begin my holiday celebrations wholeheartedly! Monday Tim stayed home from work because he was ill. I went to my parents and dad wasn't up to much. I did some little things here and there for my mom but she didn't leave. Gwen had dance later that day and went--yeah! Then after Izak went to scouts and Gwen and I ran errands. Emily had the last night of the Night in Bethlehem. She signed up to help again next year! For Family Home Evening we watched the short movie Madagascar Pequins holiday adventure and then Joy to the World about Jesus DVD. We had peppermint ice cream with chocolate syrup. I had tried to make these brownie waffles I found on Pinterest . According to the info the waffler needs a setting possibility of low which ours has just one setting. So we had a huge brownie mess which I cleaned up and made the rest of the batter in a pan.

Tuesday Tim stayed home again...he had a fever so I wouldn't let him go to work. I went to the temple first thing and made it back for my YW meeting at 10 AM. Then Emily called during the meeting so I went and got her out of school after my YW Presidency Meeting. After lunch she went to bed. She seemed to feel a lot better when she woke up! That night was Pack Meeting and it was Zane's first since he JUST turned 8. He was very excited and he was in the skit which was really cute. They branded him a CUB. I videoed that part. Micah's group had treats so I made some chocolate cookie bars. I ran to Old Navy that night and got socks for each of young women for next year's birthday gift--60 of them! But it was buy one ($2.50) get one 75% off.

Wednesday I drove Gwen and Luke to preschool. And then I tried to get my house back together. It was in complete disarray with all the running around. Gwen and I went shopping for some Christmas things after we dropped Luke off. That night was a Court of Honor with an Eagle Court of Honor afterward. Timo was busy with the Madrigal Feaste at the high school.
Izak got his Tenderfoot and 2nd Class awards as well as some Merit Badges, five, I think. They did a slideshow of the 11 year old scouts and it was so neat it made me emotional at the end when they thanked me and said that they would miss me. Then they gave a candle and some treats as a thank you which made me cry. It was weird to be there but not a leader but I am beginning to feel more comfortable in Young Womens.

Thursday a guy came by to appraise our house we are refinancing to a lower rate, we never thought we'd do it again but we should end up on the same schedule we were on only paying less monthly nice! It was stressful for me because I have not been doing well on keeping up with stuff but it was okay when he came except for the teenagers' rooms and my craft room. Owell, I live here right? I picked up Gwen and Luke and worked on a candy advent. I used to make them all the time but the kids would forget to cut off a candy each day so I stopped. Gwen has been bugging me about WHEN is Christmas so I thought now is the time to reinstate it! So far so good! Gwen and I wrapped presents for Hans and Griffin so we could mail them Friday. That afternoon I went to high school to help do dinner prep for the Madrigal Feaste that night. Timo worked there after I left. There were so many students we didn't have a ton to do. I got my Young Women handouts finished that night. I wanted everything done before Saturday.

Friday Gwen and I went to Anna's and watched June. It was fun. Emily wasn't feeling well but went to school because she had a test. I had told her I would come get her after watching June. She ended up feeling better and telling me she didn't need to come home. So Gwen and I ran errands--got stuff for Zane's baptism on Saturday. Emily and a friend who magically showed up after school went to Grandma Pew's to help set her Christmas Village. Nate took them and Maddie since I had to take Zane to a party that was out of the neighborhood. Gwen and I mailed the package after we dropped Zane off. I started making dinner when we got back and cookies. I made 3 batches of cookies. One I realized too late I had only put half as much sugar! Oops! I was getting ready for the baptism on Saturday. I finished at about 10 PM.

Saturday I went early to get my eyebrows waxed and made it home with plenty of time to get ready for the baptism. I wanted it to be fast prep after so I had it all on the counter ready to go but covered it and hot chocolate in the crock pots. Since it was not during a meal this was the plan. It was a nice baptism service. Tim and Emily sang his favorite song I Have Faith, it sounded nice even though they both barely had voices because of their colds earlier in the week. Micah gave a talk on Baptism. Timo baptized Zane and Tim confirmed him and Taran got to help him as well. What a neat experience! Almost all the extended family members came which was really nice and some of Zane's friends were able to come as well. After the celebrating was over Tim took the 3 boys and Gwen to his parents' to watch the BYU vs Hawaii football game. BYU won so it was fun for them! Meanwhile I did a little Christmas shopping then watched While You Were Sleeping while doing my Christmas cards. I started falling asleep so I went to bed so I still need to finish that! I still need to decorate our tree downstairs but it will happen now that the biggest stressors are over!

Today was testimony meeting and Tim, Timo and I bore our testimonies. I taught YW and got a lot of positive feedback. Even Emily said that I did well! I had such an overwhelming strong impression to do the things I did I really hope it helped inspire them! Now we need to eat before the Christmas devotional tonight! I leave you with recent photos of Taran and his crazy roommates! Happy Holidays and remember it's not about the presents but HIS presence. Clever, I saw it somewhere!