Dear Family and Friends,

Our non-stop sleet and drizzle turned to a really good snowstorm yesterday. Around 6 inches has stuck to the ground but we have shoveled a lot more than that. The temperatures rose enough to melt the streets and any shoveled driveways today. Our kids are ecstatic to see all the white stuff.

Monday the girls and I took Lauri to get her daffo for her foot. She is still working up to wearing it all the time but it helps her foot not drag so badly. Afterwards Robyn helped me clean her kitchen for a while. It didn't really click with me till last week that if Lauri can't walk very well than sweeping, mopping, picking up stuff off the floor is almost impossible for her to do. Probably a little dangerous for Robyn to be exploring while I clean but she found lots of candy stashes for me!

Tuesday night was our ward adult Christmas dinner. Our kids thought it was great to stay up and watch a movie with a sitter till we got back. It was a party week as Saturday morning we had our ward Christmas breakfast. Kids chowed down on eggs and pancakes and then made an ornament and visited with Santa. Spencer asked for a wii, and Allison for an easy bake. Robyn was just screaming while standing in line because she saw the candy canes and didn't understand why she would need to wait. Robyn was a sticky mess by the end of the morning!






Jason and Kelly's family are going out to CA this year for Christmas so we had a Hall Christmas get together Saturday afternoon/evening. We met down at 7 peaks in Provo to go ice skating. It was one of those events that reminds you of the sudden ups and downs of parenting. Loading 6 people, a stroller and 2 wheelchairs into the car, driving through slush and then unloading in a heavy snow storm was a down. Watching kids jump up and down excited to go on the ice was an up. Having kids complaining that shoes didn't fit right, laces were too long etc was a down. Going out with Robyn in mini-ice skates between my legs was a big up as she just kept saying wee! Having Spencer 1 minutes after getting on the ice, being cut off, spinning around and landing teeth first was a big down. (Bloody nose, skinned off lower lip and a fat lip and big blood blister on the inside of his mouth). Having Allison yanking on Jeremy's arm and worrying about falling was a down but then her deciding it didn't hurt to fall and she could skate without taking out her partner was an up. You get the idea. It was fun and really tired kids out. Getting home through the bad roads we then spent the evening making nachos, eating fudge and watching movies. (I have a new recipe for fudge that is really good - from the test kitchen cookbook)

Thursday my friends Kate and Allison came over with their kids and we worked on making those glass plates I had mentioned earlier. It was a sad morning for Allison as Crystal sneaked out the door and must have broken her neck. I saw her in the morning and then when we checked an hour later we noticed she was gone. Allison found her behind the door, still warm and was very distressed. She and her friends buried her by a rose bush. (That afternoon she would be dug up one more time as Allison wanted to hold her again) Many tears. Then they all came inside to eat suckers and have hot chocolate.

The plates took most of the day to make. We made a big glass jar that said Mrs Muir's Munchies on it and drew clip art pictures of every kid in Allison's class. We're going to fill it full of suckers and give it to Allison's teacher.

On Friday Spencer saw the psychiatrist again. He recommended Spencer go back into the hospital or at least the day program but understood why we didn't want to. They can change medication more aggressively if they do it inpatient. So Spencer is off of Lithium and started on Depakote and then brought the Seroquel up to the max. We all hope it helps. He has to get his blood drawn in a week and then will see the doctor in two to see how he is doing. This weekend has been a little rough as he iss off of the lithium and we wait for the depakote to have any effect. This last week though Spencer has really had a hard time with life, around as bad as he was two months ago. So it was definitely time for a change.

Jeremy finished up the football videos this week and has been glad to cross that off of his to do list. He made these really nice cases for him and put in a lot of time on it.

Friday afternoon I helped Spencer's class make gingerbread houses. Lots of frosting, we were all covered. My frosting was too thin and my groups houses kept falling apart. Nothing that lots of candy couldn't fix. This week I go in to help Allison's class make gingerbread ornaments so I should be a pro by then.

Jeremy's best friend from high school now lives in Utah so he is coming over for dinner tonight. He hasn't seen him for a while so it should be fun.

Robyn is busy caring for her babies and loves to take them for walks. She loves the CD Peter and Kathrine made (thank-you). I want a hippopotamous for Christmas is Allison's favorite song and we didn't have it. So almost every night finds girls dancing in the family room.

We are enjoying the holiday season and trying to remember to leave time to just be. It amazes me how many neat things are out there to do so I am trying to be better at not trying to to everything. Love to you all, Heather