November's Notables

Grandma and Dalanie showed up in coordinating outfits at church.  This was right after finding out that Grandma had breast cancer.

Early morning cartoons.

This girl can sniff out the chocolate chips.  She's got one sweet tooth.

I got to accompany Dalanie's class up to the Museum of Idaho.

Lean on me.  Catching some zzzzz's after a long day in town.

She knicked her lip messing around with scissors.  I think she's a bandaid addict.

Dropping something in the mail for Miss Millie.

Dalanie planned an outing to the mini bazaar since her primary teacher, Sister Hardy, had been talking about it.

Thanks for Thanksgiving

As usual, there is much to anticipate and enjoy about Thanksgiving in Burley.  Lincoln and Ruby adore each other.  During their time together they 'did a deal' pledging to be BFFs.

Brent, the kids, and I spent a little time preparing to run in the the annual Turkey Trot.  It paid off.

Ruby and Lincoln were Grandma's buddies and got to ride in the firetruck on the way back from the first corner.

 We manage to squeeze in Dalanie's bike so she could ride alongside me.  She was a trooper and never quit.

Hudson pushed himself to run a major of the course and finished strong.  So much so, I feared he would run out of steam before he crossed the finish line but he didn't.

There was a house full for Thanksgiving dinner.  At first the BIL's felt like their territory was being invaded but it was fun to see family from both sides.

Here's the boys table.  Looks like trouble to me.

And the girls table.

People were excited to participate in Dad's legendary Top Shot.

Brent got to teach Dalanie how to shoot spit wads.

Since Ruby's birthday was that Sunday, we had all the grandkids decorate monster birthday cookies.

The babies from the fearsome foursome are growing right up.  High chairs are a hot commodity, so it's best to bring  your own.

Spaghetti was ordered by the birthday girl before blowing out candles and heading to watch Despicable Me 2 at the theatre.  Grandma kept the kids busy that afternoon wrapping pennies to buy their concessions.

The boys sported their Minion hats Grandma had crocheted.  Sadly, Dalanie and I fell asleep shortly after the previews ended.  :)

RS Activities

Much of my service as the Relief Society President has gone undocumented.  I have been serving in this capacity for two years now.  The opportunity has blessed my life and the lives of our family.  I have become more aware of the love our Heavenly Father has for his daughters.  I enjoy visiting, teaching, and working alongside the sisters.  

This fall we put together a drive in visiting teaching interview.  We pushed to get it done before the weather turned, but we were blessed with gorgeous weather.  My counselors and I enjoyed the activity.  Sisters would pull in, we would hand them a survey, and then we would wash their windows.  Once we were finished washing we would hop in the passenger seat and discuss any of their concerns.  I also put together little goodie bags for them.  It was fun for everyone involved!

 

We have an amazing RS activity committee:  Anna Newman, Dana Case, and Amber Peterson.  They are always planning meaningful activities.  Instead of a Super Saturday, we had a Superbowl of Service.  We tied quilts, made I Spy bags, made freezer meals for the Alvey family, sewed baby hats, assembled blessing bags, made polar fleece blankets, and even had a halftime show put on by our YW. 

Late this summer, Cherise Alvey was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer.  It has been a faith promoting experience and blessing to be involved with her.   Their have been numerous tender mercies, miracles for sure.  I was inspired to ask Cindy Steffler to help Cherise with her personal history.  It was far more than a good idea, I know the Lord wanted it done.  Cindy accepted and spent countless hours visiting/recording Cherise and then transcribing to create a 60 page book.  As soon as Cindy finished recording,  Cherise lost all desire to talk (her ribs were really hurting.)  The nurse said that she could wear a corsette or wrap around her ribs with ace bandages.  Nancy went home to get some white bandages that she had (corsettes were awful expensive.)  There with her bandages was a corsette.  She did not know where it came from.  While she was making some alterations, she saw the name Deschamps.  It was Rocky's mother's, who died when Rocky was 14 years old.  How it ended up there was a miracle.   I know that God lives.  He is mindful of us and our situations, afterall we are his children.  As is the case most often, Cherise and her family have offered strength and peace to others as they have coped and experienced this experience in dying.

And because of my attendance in Ward Council, I helped Marsha Ivie put together a ward service auction that benefitted the YM/YW.  Jerry Ivie and Todd Hilder were the auctioneers and they kept things fun.  I never knew that Jerry really had auctioneering skills.

 Karl and Evelyn Frandsen sat by us and they each ended up with their own pie.

 Here the youth are bidding against each other.  Food was the best seller of the night, especially for Alan.

Delsie

In the blink of an eye, my baby has turned into a little girl at 10 months.  Sadly, she's suffering from the 4th child syndrome with less pictures and posts than the other kids.  In my defense though, this age is very tricky to photograph.  They mostly want held and if you put them down, they crawl right up to the camera. 

She has become such a joy to our family.  She is such a patient little girl.  Most mornings we'll plop her in her seat while I pack lunches and get breakfast and kids ready.  She waits until breakfast is served, just happy to be there most of the time.  She babbles and exudes happiness. 

I think my girls are pretty lucky.  Not only do they have a great big brother, they have best friends.  I love to watch the older kids take such good care of Delsie.  Although I'm pretty sure Dalanie will have back problems later on from carrying her around so much (she sure can stick out her hip and hold up Delsie with it.)

I love her 2 little teeth.  They sprouted rather uneventfully, almost overnight.

She can sit a look at books for quite a while.  I am impressed with the dexterity of her little hands as she thumbs through the pages.  I love to listen to her 'read.' 

She is busy, busy exploring and figuring things out.  Just follow the mess she leaves in her wake, she will be at the end of it.  A favorite is definitely the bow drawer in the bathroom.