Dear Friends and Family,

Snow has finally come with a vengeance.  We woke up to a world of white and it is still coming down mixed with pockets of rain/slush when a warm wind comes through.   Kids were excited about their primary program today but when they saw the snow dreams of snowball fights and making snow men took over.  We hosted choir practice at our house today after church and while Allison and I sang, Spencer and Robyn suitably decked out were having a "snow warrior" school in the backyard.  Not sure what that entailed besides trying to hit targets on the playhouse in a true "snow warrior" fashion.

Jeremy yesterday morning quickly got our Christmas lights up before the snow came down.  It seemed like our whole neighborhood had the same idea.  Putting up lights in snow and ice is miserable and a great incentive to get your lights up early.  Jeremy had a full day yesterday spending the day in a photo class with a photographer he admires and then the night at a boys night of UFC watching.  So he really enjoyed his weekend.

This week was the school spelling bee.  Allison was very excited to be the girl representative for her class.  I showed up Friday and she was the first one up.  Those spelling bees are high pressure and pretty rigid in their format.  And I was crossing my fingers as she spelled gnash "n-a-s-h" and was out.  But then all the third graders got out on their first words.  So they had to stay at the end after the school champion won for a third grade tie breaker.  And then Allison won which she was thrilled for.  And then she had her 5th grade math test where she is getting As.  (She is doing well in 5th grade math all by herself.  Spencer is in 7th grade math and requires 30-60 minutes a night of me helping to correct his homework to keep his grades up).  And then choir practice and then home and off to her piano recital.   We really started wondering about the pressures we put on her.  Throw in running to help Taylor every time he has a seizure and living with Spencer which isn't always easy and you have the possibilities of ulcers on the horizon.  But she seems to love it all so far.

Piano recital with both kids was really enjoyable to listen to now.  They used to be an exercise in endurance and your cheeks started to ache from trying to keep a smile on your face.  Now its just nice to listen to all the Christmas music.  And afterward to celebrate we all went out to 5 guys for hamburgers.  Allison got a hot dog with bacon and American cheese on it.  She thought it was the best thing ever.  I almost gagged looking at it.  Robyn told me that after that dinner we better skip dessert and just have fruit to make up for all the junk food!  Stuffed with french fries no one even complained when we stopped to clean the office.

The papers sticking out of Spencer's pocket are his sheets of music just in case he had a case of amnesia when facing the grand piano.

Yesterday afternoon I was able to go attend the sealing of Jeremy's cousin up at the Bountiful Temple.  Dirk reminds me of Santa Clause, complete with the big belly and long curly hair and beard.  This is their second marriage and after 12 years they were sealed.  It was neat to be there.  Coming up to the middle of a snowstorm and literally sliding down a mountain guided by policemen and a snow plow was not so fun.  I was praying hard and used up any blessings from attending the temple.

The rest of the week was full of all the day to day errands and trivia - church meetings, school, classes, getting fabric to make our bench cushion etc.  Robyn "helped" me wrap up some Christmas presents.  Watching Allison get Taylor all fitted out in bibs and feed him a candy bar.  Cutting down dead plants in a rare afternoon of warmth and kids racing bikes up and down the street before the sun disappeared.  Running with a large group of women from our ward along Linden's running trail.  Spencer reading the Hunger Games trilogy any chance he can get.  Being shocked to find out how much Allison's jazz dance shoes are.  Just our basic life which I am always grateful for.

Hope you are enjoying the Thanksgiving season,

Heather