weekly picture post

Tina (Anthony's mom) sent us a Finnish Christmas Advent that we've been doing this month. We've enjoyed it and look forward to making it a tradition in years to come. Each Sunday in December has a theme (hope, peace, joy and love) and you light a candle and read scriptures and sing a Christmas hymn that focuses on that topic. This Sunday was the Sunday of peace and we read scriptures about the messages of peace the angles brought foretelling Christ's birth. Here Anthony is accompanying us as we sing "Angels We Have Heard on High."

No, Anthony doesn't have two wives. A few months back he lost his wedding ring. We looked for it all over the place, but couldn't find it. Eventually we decided to buy a new ring. Then a few weeks ago that ring went missing. Again, we looked and looked, and hadn't been able to find it. It had been missing long enough that we were starting to talk about getting him a second replacement ring, but hadn't gotten around to actually doing it yet. Monday evening while we were cleaning up dinner Will walks in to the kitchen with one of the rings he found in the couch and within a few minutes Anthony finds the other ring in a pocket of his jeans.

December 11--I admit. I forgot to take a picture this day. The biggest event of this day would have to be that Will fell asleep on the way home from Costco at 5pm and we could not get him to wake up. While it was nice to have the extra quiet in the evening, he was up, energetic and very hungry at 6:30 the next morning. I did not go to bed early enough to feel good about this wake up time.

 

We are currently in the market for more efficient storage, and my friend Stephanie recommended this bench/storage unit, so we bought one. TJ put it together for me while we watched Friday Night Lights. He even had to go rogue (stray from the instructions) and sand down one side because the pieces didn't match up perfectly.

Thursday was book club and the book we read this month was called 7. The author identified seven areas of excess in her life, and over the course of seven months tried to cut back in each area for one month. While I had a few issues with the book, I was especially moved (for lack of a better word) by her chapter on waste. Reading that chapter brought things I had already been thinking to the front of my mind. I hope I can have the discipline to follow through with the changes I want to make in my life.

On Friday our friends the Zysks were in town so we spent the morning with them at Crown Center. We did everything--Union Station Holiday Express, Santa, Kaliedescope, Hallmark Visitor's Center, and lunch at the Crayola Cafe. We had a great time, but were so tired some of the kids barely made it to the car when we were done.

Saturday morning we took the kids to the aquarium for an early birthday treat. Of all the many things we saw, the scuba Santa and elf were what stuck out to Will the most. Makes me feel really good about forking over a lot of money for Will to see a variety of sea life when all he talks about is the Santa that blows bubbles and wears a mask.