Things of Note

Glasses, reflections, snow and Thanksgiving.  What do they have in common?  

All occurred in November.

We have entered the realm of poor eyesight. I was hoping that none of my kids would inherit this particular degenerate gene from the Taggart side but alas it has happened. My handsome little devil, Ethan is the proud new owner of pair of designer eyewear.

 Okay, they aren't actually designer but they sure are cute! 

And the trophy you ask?  Well that is the trophy Ethan won for his reflections
entry in photography.

Here's the winning shot.

 The reflections theme for this year was "Together We Can. . ."

His interpretation was "Together was can explore" and he took this picture of some of his friends digging up treasure in our backyard. Is the picture a little blurry?  Yes. Was it taken in full sun? Yes, but it was definitely the most creative of the other 3 entries that moved up to the next round with him.

The first big snowstorms of the season have blown in and my kids couldn't be happier.  The first one came in on a Sunday and although we do not encourage playing on Sundays we just couldn't keep the kids inside with all that glorious white stuff outside.  They suited up and played for hours, no friends just each other.  I love days like that.  They are few and far between these days.  Friends are pretty important to my kids right now so to have them play together for an extended period of time was a good mommy moment.  JayDee and I couldn't just stand and observe and let all that great packing snow go to waste so we may have started a snowball fight.  I couldn't be happier for snow on Sundays now!

First snow

And since this first snow we've had a couple more good storms roll in.  After each storm the kids check the status of our growing "mountain" in the front yard.  We live in a kind of sued o-cul-de-sac, the road goes through but causes a pretty deep bend in the road.  Our house sits in that deep bend and every year as the snow accumulates on the road the plows will push it to the same spot right in front of our house and by mid-winter we have a mountain of snow in our front yard that kids dig forts into and sled down.  Although the kids absolutely love the snow, JayDee does not.  Every year it gets worse.  As the snow increases, JayDee's good mood decreases. :)  One of the things he does that does not help his mood is putting the Christmas lights on the house.  It's a testament to how much he really loves me because it's just not Christmas for me without lights.  So every year he trudges up on the rooftop and puts them up for me.  Most years he doesn't get around to it until after those first few storms hit so his life is in peril (as he says) but this year he was thinking and got the lights hung before any snow!  He even made it a family affair and took Ethan and Hannah up to help. That was a first!  And you know that may have been just the way to do it, he's been in good spirits ever since!

 

And you can't note November without noting Thanksgiving.  I've already noted some of the things I'm thankful for but the list really is endless.  I'll just end with a couple of blessings that I need recorded.

In 2010 I'm thankful for (not in any particular order):

*My family

*Health

*A worthy priesthood holder for a husband

*A warm house to come home to

*The gospel of Jesus Christ

*2 counselors and 1 secretary that ease my burdens and make serving a joy

*Smiles and laughter

*Great friends who chase away the mundane

*A computer that runs properly

*Kisses, hugs and snuggles

*A good book

*And wonderful extended family that enrich my life and my children's lives