Blessings

I really don't want to start listing my blessings...this post would never end.

My greatest blessings are the gospel of Jesus Christ and my family and friends. There are many other blessings I have that are wonderful and I appreciate them (roof over our head, health, employment...), but they wouldn't mean the same without the church and the people in my life. It really comes down to God and people.

Yesterday I was blessed to be able to talk to my sister, my parents...and I was surprised to find out my brother Kyle was also at my sister's and I got to talk with him! That was a big deal because I rarely get to talk to him and ever more rarely do I get to see him...it's been years since I've seen him. Even more years since I've seen my brother Scott (Glen hasn't even met him yet and we'll be celebrating our 21st anniversary this January). So, it was really neat...and as soon as Kyle said he had a facebook account, I just knew I had to give in and get one too. So, I'm looking forward to keeping up with him.

Yesterday we were blessed to spend the day with most of Glen's family over at his sister's house. Food galore, games, football, visiting, more food...it was wonderful.

Today I was blessed to be able to attend (I think) my first ever experience with black Friday. Glen and I didn't set our alarms, but when I woke up, I woke Glen up and we were at Walmart by 6 am and on our way home by 7am. We got each other MP3 players for $29 (instead of $45) leaving only 1 left on the shelf, got the last card table with 4 chairs set for $24 (our current one has only one chair left to go with it), and bought electric blankets for everybody. The crowd wasn't too bad and was in a good mood, and when we got home the only one who was up and even knew we had left was Alex.

I got Andrew's Christmas packages in the mail today. My sister-in-law gave me the idea to make Andrew a stocking from an old, small church shirt that's too small for Alex now. I sewed a piece of felt to the back. Eric helped me make a name tag (OK, he did everything but hit the print button)...too bad our printer wouldn't print black but only gray, but I still really like it. Santa's gonna put stuff like deodorant, dental floss, toothbrush, breath mints, a chocolate orange, hand warmers, etc. Nothing too exciting.

Part of his package included gingerbread cookies... the traditional men as well as the Angel Moroni... what else would you send a missionary? (though I doubt any Moronis will still have their trumpets attached by the time Andrew gets his box!)

I sent frosting and decorations. He won't be here for our traditional gingerbread house making, so decorating cookies will just have to do.

He was just transferred to Sioux City, Iowa and has already been snowed on there. He seems to be doing very well and, though we miss him, are very happy that he is where he is this holiday season.

My folks, Eric, Alex, and Eric

My parents came on Thursday and left on Saturday as they were just passing through on their way to spend Thanksgiving with my sister and her family. They will spend Christmas here.

While they were here, they got to celebrate Eric's 18th birthday with us! They also got to see him...and Hannah...perform in "Annie" that night...the "penultimate" night of the play, as Eric put it in his bio.

Now, my parents occasionally pass through and get to see one of Glen's productions. Mom has seen more than dad as she's here more often. I don't know how many they've really seen, but my dad doesn't like musicals...and he's had to watch several.

He actually really liked "Annie!" He says it's the best production of Glen's he's seen. I kind of laugh and joke that they hear more from Eric when he's on stage than they have in "real" life. I'm so glad they got to see the performance and that they liked it so much.

I must admit...I don't dislike it as much as I used to...I might even say I like it. When I woke up this morning "It's a Hard Knock Life" was running through my head for a few hours (briefly spelled by "Tomorrow")...including the visual of seeing Hannah thumping her pail on the stage.

And can I just say how glad I am that Annie is over? Will I get to see more of my family? Maybe a little bit. But next up is "A Christmas Carol." Alex is going to play Tiny Tim! I can't wait to see that! Mark your calendars...December 3-5.

And Eric. Wow. An adult. Wow. Unreal. Mind boggling. Wow.

Eric and Hannah

Well, I saw the musical "Annie" last night. Hannah plays an orphan with a bad attitude named "Duffy." Eric has 3 roles...the best being President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Can I just say that my kids are so talented? I don't like "Annie" (never have), but it was sure fun watching my kids...and everyone else's. What a talented bunch of kids. It was fantastic.

And can I also just say what a great set-builder my husband is? Some of the set design is just amazing.

Great job everyone!

Now, back to Eric. We won't mention his self-written bio in the playbill (or even Hannah's for that matter) but I will mention I just got his ACT scores...

...let me explain.

So, he takes the ACT and then afterwards finds out he was taking it as if it were the SAT. On the SAT you are penalized for wrong answers. On the ACT you are not and are encouraged to guess. Eric only answered the questions he "knew for sure." We didn't know how that would translate into a score (and especially since we were wondering if his Aspergers would rear its head and he would be "thrown off his game" by noise or other disturbances while testing), so he is signed up to take the ACT in December, just in case he did poorly the first time around.

Well, besides math (which he hasn't had lately as he filled all his graduation requirements early on in his high school career), he did really well! I'm so excited. For those who don't remember, a 36 is the highest you can get.

Composite score was a 28.
English was a 33. (18 is considered college ready)
Math was a 21. (22 is college ready)
Reading was a 31. (21 is college ready)
Science was a 28. (24 is college ready)

On the Writing part he only made a 7 out of 12. That made his combined English/writing score a 29. He is such an excellent writer (his English teacher has told us several times over the past 2 years that Eric's work has brought tears to his eyes it's so good) that I wonder what happened there.

So, I'm quite happy. Way to go Eric!

sigh of relief

My sigh of relief is actually 3 sighs...

Thursday was our Primary Sacrament Meeting Program practice. Now that that's over with it feels like the work is done. Tomorrow we just get to enjoy the children singing and giving their parts (of course our pianist and chorister aren't ready to breathe a sigh relief yet, but I am).

Then on Friday I bought a new fridge and Glen brought it home and it is in place and in use. No more frozen milk or half-thawed things in the freezer.

Then this morning I went to Reno bright and early, took my "Nevada School Law" test and was able to only be 15 minutes late to my 10 am Stake Auxiliary Training Meeting at church (I thought I was going to miss the meeting all together). They let us start the test as soon as we were seated, so I was done before the 9 am "start" time. It was a great blessing, because I had really felt bad about missing my stake meeting. Now, if I can just manage to not have caught whatever germ was making the lady right next to me hack and sniffle through the test, I'll be really happy.

The funny thing was, I bumped into my sister-in-law at the test...we didn't know the other was taking the test. I feel pretty good about the test. I seemed to know a lot of the answers...of course there were also a couple that when I read the question I was happy because I knew the case and thought I wouldn't have a problem answering the question...and then when I read my choices, none of them fit what I knew about the law or lawsuit in question. Won't have the results for a few weeks.

Which brings up my Praxis test. I took it over 2 months ago and still haven't received my results, but when I went on the Nevada Teachers' Licensure site, it lists my Praxis provisional as being taken care of in September, so I must have passed!

If I passed this test this morning, all the provisionals on my subbing license have been taken care of and I won't have to worry about any of that again. That'll be nice.