Eric's birthday and some Christmas YouTube videos

First off, Eric got to sign up for his winter semester classes at BYU-I at 5 am Wednesday. Tuesday we spent awhile trying to figure out what he wanted and needed to take. There was one art class he really needed because it was a requirement for other classes...that were requirements for more classes. There were only 3 seats available on Tuesday when we were looking, but only one at 5 am Wednesday. I'm happy to say, he snapped it up and his schedule looks good. Phew.

Friday was his 24th birthday. He requested something using the won ton wrappers we had in the fridge, so we had stir-fry and cream cheese won tons for his birthday dinner. He wanted lemon bars instead of cake, and we had homemade berry frozen yogurt. Happy Birthday Eric!

We are so excited for Thanksgiving this week as everyone will be here! There's nothing better than being together and especially for a holiday. We are so blessed.

Now, I know some don't like starting on Christmas before Thanksgiving is over...but I'm not averse to starting things early. I'm already listening to Christmas music and wanted to share some of my favorites here.


This is now one of my favorite Christmas songs. It's from an A Capella group named Eclipse. The YouTube video is mainly just sound, but this was the only version I could find.

"Angels We Have Heard on High"  This is the video where over 1,000 people (including The Piano Guys, the Studio C gang, Alex Boyé, and others) gathered in Provo for the filming to make it into the Guiness Book of World Records. Gorgeous.
 

Then there's The Piano Guys version of "Angels We Have Heard On High." Love the video.

Another song that Eclipse sings (and this clip does have a cute video to go with it) is Three Kings.

One more Christmas video and song that I like is from Alex Boyé and it's called "Newborn." It's from the perspective of one of the wise men.

 I'm ending the Christmas section with 2 versions of my favorite Christmas hymn: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel by The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and The Piano Guys:

And since I'm posting YouTube videos, I might as well add "Glorious" from Meet the Mormons, sung by David Archuleta

And here's another version of "Glorious"

In case you don't know what Meet the Mormons is:

"Meet the Mormons is a feature-length documentary that examines the very diverse lives of six devout members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Filmed on location and across the globe, Meet the Mormons takes viewers on a journey into the day-to-day realities of individuals living in the U.S., Costa Rica, Nepal and beyond. From their individual passions to their daily struggles, each story paints a picture as rich and unique as the next while challenging the stereotypes that surround the Mormon faith. All net proceeds from the film goes to charity."
 

...the ides of November...

Well, the month is half over and we have Eric's, Hannah's, and my birthdays, Thanksgiving, the end of the semester, and Christmas looming ahead.

Hanukkah, too. I bought a mini-menorah. And some dreidels for my seminary class. And some chocolate coins, too (though I haven't learned yet what they have to do with Hanukkah). Since I'm teaching the Old Testament I'm really feeling the desire to get into Jewish holidays. My seminary class will not be getting a gift every day for 8 days, however...hmm. I might rethink that. Their last gift can be a Christmas tree ornament. I like it.

Back to November, we've had some snow, for which we are very grateful.

can you see the snow on the mountains in the background?

Alex and Thomas had their tennis banquet to end the season.

Hannah started working at the movie theater and says she now hates popcorn--a previous love--since she has to sweep so much of it up. But she's happy to be employed.

Glen's students put on the play Our Town. It was excellent (even if the photo isn't)

Emily in the cemetery scene

We've been playing games. This round of Apples to Apples was funny because the word was "Glitzy: flashy, showy, gaudy" and the choices were so similar (Flipper--my contribution, Goldfish, Sharks, and then the "one of these things is not like the other" card Hiroshima-1945), it made us laugh.

On Sunday at church, the Bishop invited us to join him in a challenge he had for the ward. He wants us to pretend that there has been some kind of emergency and that the store's shelves are bare. We are to try and live this week without grocery shopping.

Hannah and I just turned to each other and smiled. We live on a dairy. Milk will not be a problem since it looks like we don't have to pretend the cows are dead. Maybe the next time, the Bishop will cover that area, but for this go-round, we have milk. I had just bought 3 loaves of bread on Saturday (though I do have the ingredients to make bread if needed). We are set.

We do have the missionaries coming over for dinner on Tuesday, so I guess no fresh salad for them. Or ice cream on Eric's birthday on Friday...but we have a plan for that. We will make frozen yogurt and have that instead of ice cream. It almost seems too easy.

But I know it's not a game and preparedness is important.This will help us think about it more. With all that goes on in the nation and the world, we could use a little more preparedness.

Trick or Treat

Trick or Treat? Definitely a treat.

Henry's first Halloween! Heather is Superwoman, Henry is Superman, and Andrew is Linguini from the movie Ratatouille. Andrew said his students told him he looked like Linguini, though he can't see it himself. I can.

 

Trick or Treat?

Alex, about 10 minutes before it was time to go to church for trunk or treat, was still looking for a costume. So, quick and easy, he/we came up with this:

Glen was dressed up as Ebenezer Scrooge for a class he was taking at the local museum.

Trick or Treat?

Ryan called the other day. He had just gotten a calculus test back. When he had taken it, there had been a few things he wasn't totally sure about. The teacher said that the average score was about a 77 and the high score was 99. Ryan thought that maybe he had gotten the average score. Nope. He was the high score! He was not the best student in elementary school or at the junior high. He started caring about his grades in high school and slowly improved them. So, this was definitely a "treat" to this mother's ears. Congratulations Ryan! Keep up the good work.

Treat or Treat?

Grandma and Grandpa P brought over a pumpkin pie for us. A pumpkin pizza pie, that is. It was delicious.

OK. I guess there aren't any tricks this Halloween, just a bunch of treats.

So excited for November. Andrew, Heather, Henry, and Ryan will be here with us for Thanksgiving!