Snow

So it started snowing last night, and hasn't really stopped. I got up and delivered newspapers in the snow, and decided it was a good thing I knew how to drive in the snow. I had to rock the car multiple times when I couldn't just pull out after stopping to deliver to a house. I think when I was delivering there was only about 6 inches, but it was all new snow and there were no tire tracks on the residential streets that I deliver on. When I went out to shovel the walks a few hours later I measured 6.5 inches and it was still coming down. A lady across the street didn't shovel the snow from her driveway where the snow plows had put the snow from the street and she got stuck. So I went across the street to see if I could help. Luckily 2 men stopped and helped get her out.

The boys have been enjoying the snow immensely. Tristan loves to eat it, and Drake just loves playing in it.

The snow is up past the first step on our porch.

We don't have any hills but the boys have been playing on the sled anyways. Drake pulls Tristan around and they both try to go down the snow piles that I made while shoveling. Snow can be really fun when you are young, and not having to drive in it.

Shane's Birthday

We celebrated Shane's birthday on Sunday, since he works all day on his birthday. He had bean and cheese enchiladas, with rice for his birthday dinner. When I asked him what he wanted for dessert he said lemon bars. So we had birthday candles in lemon bars. He opened his presents and got chocolate covered cherries, and The Christmas Sweater from his Mom and Dad. He got a yellow polo shirt from my parents, and from us he got tickets to the Glenn Beck Christmas Sweater show in Salt Lake.

Breakfast with Santa

On Saturday, December 13, we had our ward Christmas party. This year we had breakfast with Santa. It was nice to have a change from the typical dinner. For breakfast the activities commitee made crepes. They were really good. They had a bunch of different pie fillings (apple, blueberry, strawberry, and cherry) for toppings, as well as powdered sugar, whipped cream, syrup and butter. They also served ham with them and had juice to drink.
After eating that wonderful breakfast, they had crafts and cookies to decorate. Drake and Tristan both decorated picture frames to put their pictures with Santa in. They also deocrated cookies and enjoyed eating them.



















Then came sitting on Santa's lap. Tristan acted a little intimidated by Santa, but I think that a lot of that was because the little boy infront of him was scared. I got him to go up and sit on Santa's lap so we could get a picture of him.









Drake was next, and he had a hard time remembering what it was that he was going to ask Santa for. He finally remembered to ask for lots of dragon things.

Glenn Beck

So Drake and I got to meet Glenn Beck today. It was a really neat experience. We showed up at the store 3 hours early. He was scheduled to be there from 6-7pm, and we were there around 3. We were the first to get in line. There was a guy who had been at the mall all day and was just waiting for someone else to get in line before he did, but we were still first. So the waiting began. Drake was really good, we talked, played some hand games and just waited. Talking to some of the other people in line was really fun. One of the people we talked to was a soldier. He and his brother made a sign to mock Steven King who said that soldiers were stupid and couldn't read, that is why they were soldiers. It was very funny. Finally they brought us into the store. Drake liked to go see where the end of the line was, and it stretched all the way down the mall hallway. We waited for him to come out, and he was very nice saying hi to everyone as he went to the place where he was going to sign books. We had to have our books ready so that he could sign quickly. I asked another person there to take our picture as we shook his hand. The picture isn't the best, because there were so many people and we were moving fast. But here we are after meeting Glenn.

The first picture is us, the next two are just better pictures of Glenn. It was an extremely neat experience and I am so glad that I got to meet him and that Drake did.

Temple Square, Glenn Beck, and the Christmas Devotional

We had a busy first weekend of December. On Saturday we headed down to Salt Lake to see the lights on Temple Square with Shane's family. It is a new tradition for us to get tickets for the First Presidency Christmas Devotional, and see the lights. We met Shane's parents and Rachel's kids at temple square and enjoyed looking at the lights. The displays that are on Temple Square are so beautiful and peaceful, even with all the people there. I am sure that is because of the wonderful spirit that is always present at Temple Square, and at places where the Savior is so wonderfully represented.

Shane and I left the boys with Nani and Bompi and headed off to the E Center to watch Glenn Beck's Christmas show, The Christmas Sweater. What a wonderful experience it was. We had seats on the floor, pretty close to the stage. He is such a good story teller and the story was so amazing. We have been to his other Christmas shows in the past, and they were completely different from this. The Christmas Sweater show has a live orchestra, and a wonderful vocalist, along with pictures and Glenn's wonderful ability to tell a story. The story is very moving, and if you have the chance to read Glenn's new book (which the show is a live telling of) I beg you to buy it and read it. It really helps to reinforce the meaning of Christmas and why we celebrate it.

We picked up the boys and spent the night at Shane's cousin's house. On Sunday, we went to church with Shane's aunt and then headed to the Devotional. I am so excited that Drake gets to attend the devotional with us next year, he was sad that he couldn't go this year but understood that he needed to be 8 to attend. The First Presidency Christmas Devotional is such a wonderful thing, and to experience it live is amazing. The spirit that is present there is so wonderful it is hard to describe. We had amazing seats last year, sitting so close we could General Authority watch. Last year we watched all of the Twelve come in with their families, it was so neat! This year we had great seats again. We were in about the same row back, but on the opposite side of the stage. It was harder to find the GAs, because they weren't walking in front of us. I love to listen to our leaders speak, and this was the first time I have heard President Monson speak in person since he became our prophet. As I watched, I was filled with a wonderful knowledge that he is truly a prophet of God.

One of my goals is to someday be part of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and to see them in person is so amazing. After the broadcast, as we were waiting to leave, I spotted a man with what looked like a choir folder. After making sure that it was a choir folder, I tapped him on the shoulder and asked him if he sang with the choir. He said he did, and I proceeded to talk to him a bit about my hope of one day joining. He encouraged me to try, and said that he hoped to see me up there one day.

What a wonderful weekend! I am so excited for the Christmas season, and the opportunities it gives us to serve and to be with family. May you all have a wonderful holiday season!

November Programs, Parties and Parades

November was a pretty busy month. On the 7th Drake had a school program. The title of the program was "We are all nuts" and the theme had to do with how a plant goes from seed to full grown plant. The whole program was very cute, with the kids dressed up as animals, or plants, and lots of singing. Drake did a really good job and his favorite song was "Big, Bad Squirrels".





Sorry about the video, it was really hard to time when to push record on the camera, and not be holding on to Tristan making sure he was not running away.

The next day, the 8th, we had Tristan's Birthday party. He wanted a Scooby Doo cupcake cake, and a Disney's Cars Mack truck. He got lots of cars, a sock monkey, pajamas, books, and lots of other things. We had lots of fun having a full house and family in town.





Our ward had their Primary program on the ninth, with Drake doing well on his lines, and me on the piano. Tristan had lots of fun sitting with Nani, Bompi, Grandma, Grandpa, and his cousins.
Shane and I went to our first movies in a long time in November. The new James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, came out on the 14th and we went to see it. Then the next weekend Twilight came out and we went to see it Friday and Saturday. I stood in line outside the theater on Friday to get in, even though I was an hour early. On Saturday we went with Shane's sister, and sister-in-law. We had Thanksgiving dinner with Shane's family on the 22nd, and went to his cousin's mission return talk the next day. It was nice to see the family that was there.
The week of Thanksgiving was a flurry of activity, with pie making at my moms, and cooking for the weekend dinner. My mom has never made her traditional meat pies so late before, but we got them done before Thanksgiving (which is what counts because they are a traditional breakfast for our family on Thanksgiving). I know, some of you are scratching your heads thinking "meat pie?" but it is really good. It has ground pork, mashed potatoes, onions, and lots of spices in it. We always eat it with cranberry sauce on top, but Shane likes his with hot sauce on it. That night, we had a nice dinner with all my family that is in town and my Aunts Jolene and Charlotte.
On Friday, Shane worked and the rest of us relaxed. We went to the Holiday light parade that night and got lots of candy. It was fun to sit by our family and enjoy the lighted floats. Luckily it wasn't too cold. The wind was cold when it blew, but for the most part it wasn't too bad.


We had the Hunsaker family Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday. That was an eventful day. We got to the church half an hour early expecting to set up chairs and tables for the dinner to find out that they had double booked the building. The family that was there had already set things up and were filling serving platters in the kitchen. They were expecting 40 people, and we were expecting 80, so sharing the building would have been difficult. We started on a hunt to find a building we could have access to that wasn't being used. I went to our primary president's house and called all the building schedulers in our stake, but all our buildings were busy, my uncle tried his building but it was busy. Finally my sister was able to secure use of her building for us, and we headed her way. By then the turkey was cold, and everyone was there ready to eat. We nuked some turkey to get people started and sat down to have fun. It was great to see so many family members there. We got to visit and play games and catch up with people that we haven't seen in a long time.