wonderful week together, H's bday, and temporary retirement...

Thanksgiving Break

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with everyone coming home. Ryan got in Tuesday night with no problems. Andrew had to teach on Wednesday, so they wound up literally driving all night long in the snow, getting in at 5:45 am, but they made it safely.

We had a wonderful time while they were here. Henry isn't quite crawling yet (which made life easy for us as we didn't have to baby-proof the house!), though he scoots around in a circle. And he definitely says "Mama." Andrew says he also says "Dada," but I didn't get to hear that.

Thanksgiving dinner was at Mom and Dad's with games at Kathy's the next day. Hannah, Heather, and I did just a little bit of Black Friday shopping in Reno. Hobby Lobby is such a fun store, especially during the holidays. I am now mostly done with my Christmas shopping. I think the last time I was done this early is the year Eric wound up in the hospital for almost 2 weeks with a burst appendix. Hoping I just get to enjoy being done...

Anyway, we took some family photos to send out with our Christmas cards, since Hannah wasn't pleased with the ones we took this summer. Don't know yet which we'll use.

Henry got to open his Christmas gifts since he won't be here then

Eric's classes

We signed Eric up for his classes, and then the college sent us a list of how the classes Eric took at WNC match what he needs. We were able to drop 2 of the classes he had signed up for and add others because it turns out that he only needs his art classes for his major and the required religion classes. That means he might be done in 5 semesters, so we are happy about that.


Only one teenager left in the house

Hannah had her 20th birthday on Tuesday. However, she was in Reno most of the day for classes, so we haven't really celebrated it yet. Seems our family is rarely all together these days, but we'll have cake and ice cream soon...I hope.


Forced temporary retirement

My subbing license is about to expire. I turned in my renewal one month ahead of time, but the Nevada Dept of Ed is running 1 1/2-2 months behind. They are currently working on applications for 3 weeks before I submitted mine. I won't be able to sub from Monday on until they renew my license...which looks like it will be right around when Christmas break starts. Although the money would be nice at Christmas time, I'm actually happy to have more time at home so I can enjoy the holidays more.

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."