Hello all,
This month seems to have not been quite so busy as last. Sadly I think I got less done personally than I got done in October when I was so busy. It seems funny that the busier we are with other things the more we get done with what we need to do. I find this true in many instances. It’s almost like we feel a greater need to accomplish our own agenda when we are busy working on other agendas. The month began with a bang if you will. Andrew came home and announced his manager had been fired. In the automotive industry this is always a scary thing because generally speaking they eventually lay off about half of the current staff as well. I’m not really sure why that is, but that’s the way it goes. We were on pins and needles for a few weeks, but now we are starting to relax. We still don’t know if his job is safe, but we are doing all we can for him to find a new job. We are leaving the rest in the Lord’s hands. For now things are still the same as they were on that particular front.
We had a leadership training meeting the next weekend and I was released from Activities Committee Chair. The Church has ended that part of the administration effort. The Ward or Branch Council will essentially decide what activities to hold. The actual committee for each of the activities will change. Since I had already planning the Christmas party I will be finishing that effort up. That will be on December 18th at 6pm. As always, I’d love to see you there. There were lots of other changes that were announced in that training session. It will be very interesting to see how they all play out.
The same weekend was also Stake Conference. Elder Dallin H. Oaks from the Quorum of the Twelve came and spoke to us. I guess it has never happened in the history of the stake to have a member of the Twelve come and speak to us. It was really inspiring. He had come to a Stake Conference we had back in AZ not too long before we moved here, maybe a year or so. I think it’s very interesting that he was at both of these conferences and I can’t help but think that maybe there was something I should have taken away. I tried to figure that out and am hoping I got it right, but boy am I curious to know if I really did so or not.
We had a youth service project and also had YW in Excellence this month. The service project was done to help a couple get their property ready to be foster parents for some horses. I don’t know if they have the horses yet or not, but I think we got them ready for it. At YW in Excellence we had a royal theme. We talked about how life is like a fairy tale and in between Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After every princess has her share of trials, heartaches and disappointment. It all turned out in the end for each of them and it will for us too if we hold onto our faith in Jesus Christ. This went quite well with a talk by Brother Young today. He said that whoever accepts the Son (of God) get it all. We get everything when we choose our Savior. We simply have to make that choice to put Him first and all else will follow.
Thanksgiving was interesting at our house this year. It was just the three of us. We had wanted the Elder’s to come over, but they had already been invited by another family. We had a smaller than usual turkey and didn’t end up eating until around 7pm because it took so long for the thing to cook! Next year we will go with a regular sized turkey and cook the way we usually do. I didn’t like having dinner so late. I like it around 2pm or so, then we can play games and eat again around 7pm when we are ready to. We started off the day as always watching the Macy’s parade. I have always watched it. I’m not sure why I like it so much, but I really enjoy it. This year Megan took a great interest in watching the bands. She loves to see a flute being played during anything. She has a great love for the flute.
Now that Thanksgiving has passed Christmas season is upon us. We put up some of our Christmas decorations, but not all. We were sad to see that one of our blow-up characters, Frosty the Snowman, will no longer blow up all the way. We took him back down. We have really scaled back from what we normally do for decoration. I think I prefer it this way. I was so excited to put out all my nativities. I have eleven and then I bought another. I have twelve now. I had to buy the one I saw this year, it was Charlie Brown and simply too cute to pass up. Plus it was on a pretty big sale. Normally $25, I paid $15. It was good. I guess I’m somewhat a collector of them. It’s what the season is really all about anyway. I’m hoping that eventually I will be able to put a nice one out in the front yard, but for now all we have is the Peanuts gang and the Pooh gang. Sadly, Snoopy, Woodstock and Marci all missing from the Peanuts group because they were stolen a few years ago. We bought some wood to make new ones, but they haven’t been made yet. They are quite an undertaking. I think this year we will get them made and painted, but I also need to repaint all the ones I have already made. They are starting to show their age. I’m nearly done with the Christmas cards. I like to get them off early.
Tomorrow is the Christmas parade here in town and I look forward to that. I guess it’s supposed to rain, so we’ll take our umbrellas, dress warmly and take something warm to drink as well. I think we’ll need it. Next Sunday, the 5th is the First Presidency Christmas devotional. I love to listen to that and watch it of course. It will be at 8pm local time. You can come to the building and watch it or if you prefer, you can watch it online at either the Church’s website or BYU will also carry it I’m sure. They will have video archive within a week on the Church’s website if you want to watch it later when it’s more convenient for you.
I guess that’s it. I’m always surprised by how much I have to say. I really enjoy sharing this with you each month and I hope that you enjoy hearing from me as well.
