2023 :: week 50

December 10

Our stake is wanting to make Sacrament Meeting more engaging for youth and primary aged kids. Anthony has been taking our kids on his high council speaking assignments. This month he brought Lauren with him to Hickory Hills. She spoke about  gospel principles found in movie Elf, which include: 1-Family First, 2-Give Your All, 3-Choose to Spread Cheer, and 4-Know Who You Are. Lauren did a great job! Tony spoke about the scriptural admonition to become childlike.

December 11

This year I am doing my best to stay on top of gift wrapping. A few years ago I spent a long time wrapping on Christmas Eve and was so miserable and frustrated I vowed to never let that happen again. I do most of it on our kitchen island so I don't have to sit on the ground and hurt my back. Man am I getting old! Miles likes to "supervise," aka attempt to sneak a peek. Lauren is a big help with wrapping too. We haven't set our tree up yet, so I have laundry baskets full of presents in my room. It is much easier for me once the presents are wrapped because I don't have to worry about keeping them hidden.

December 12

Lauren and her friends have been horsing around on this adaptive swing when they play at the park after school. It looks wildly uncomfortable to me, but they spend time on it regularly, so they must not think so.

December 13

My dad was traveling this week and I stayed overnight Monday and Tuesday evenings with my mom. He got back late Wednesday evening so we had dinner with my mom after attending Elliott's flag football game. I left the game early to pick up CFA, but the kids had fun running on the field after with Townes and Theron. Joi sent me this picture of the kids being cute together. After we ate dinner and vacuumed up our many crumbs Tony took the kids home and my mom and I watched a Hallmark movie together. I left at bedtime, and my dad got back around midnight.

December 14

After 1.5 long years Will and I finally finished reading the Old Testament together. We started reading it in April 2022. Since February 2020 Will and I have read all for our the standard works together. We did it in an unconventional order (Book of Mormon, New Testament, Doctrine & Covenants, Old Testament). I have really loved spending this time with Will, and I feel very proud of us.

December 15

Friday morning I took Miles to the Candy Cane Hunt at the Lenexa Community Center. He was excited to go, but terrified when we got close to Santa. He allowed me to hold him for this photo, but this was as close as he was willing to get. We stayed for part of the program, but Miles got a bit bored so we left early. We had plenty of things to do, including buying supplies for smash burgers. Friday evening Knox came over for dinner and then Tony took him and Will to the SMS basketball game.

December 16

Saturday was a very musical day. In the morning we met up with a few families in our ward and sang Christmas carols for the residents of a nursing home. In the afternoon we went to the Neighborhood Church for Lauren & Will's piano recital. Will and Lauren performed "Angels We Have Heard on High" together. Lauren performed "Carol of the Bells" with Breña. Both performances were great! That evening we headed to the Stake Center for the Oak Park Ward Christmas party. During the clean up period Will and Lauren played their song and got invited to play their duet in Sacrament meeting on December 31.