Let It Snow Let It Snow Let It Snow

This weekend we started taking out the Christmas decorations and getting ready for the Main Event. The kids have been so excited for Christmas for the past few weeks, and loved opening boxes and pulling out decorations. It was especially fun since we haven't seen these things in two years. I found a bunch of Christmas piano music on line for Colton and he has been practicing every day in preparation for a Christmas eve concert. Information on ticket sales is coming. The kids all played together with legos. Nicely. For a whole half an hour. Wow.


We had another Thanksgiving dinner at Christy's house Saturday night and all I can say is, That girl can cook!!! She brined a turkey and it was scrumdeliumptious. She is kinda like a cooking King Midas: everything she touches turns delicious. I picked up Jaxon Saturday night from his campout. Remember how I thought they were going to be camping in a cabin? WRONG!! My son turned mountain man for the night and braved the sub freezing temperatures in a sleeping bag and tent. Take that Bear Grylls!! Needless to say, Jaxon's teeth were still chattering when I picked him up. But, he had a great time, got to take down the flags at Patton's gravesite, and saw the Battle of the Bulge site. He is destined for a tweed jacket with elbow patches with all this history he's been soaking in.
On Sunday, we all slept in. Yes, even me. And it was GLORIOUS!!!!! I can't remember the last time I slept in til 8:30, but it was fabulous. I just need to keep the kids out late eating Christy's yummy food in order to lull them into a food induced sweet slumber.
Church was good, my first week in young women's and it will be wonderful getting to know these amazing ladies a bit better over the next few weeks.
Monday morning was a SHOCK!! We woke up to some serious white powder, EVERYWHERE!! The snow was falling when we awoke and didn't stop all day. Here's Excited Mason as we got in the car to take the kids to the bus stop:


I drove Sean's car, which was a big mistake, since the Durango has rear wheel drive. Can you say "Fishtail?" Can you say, "Slip and Slide?" Well, that's what I did as I drove Mason to the Bishop's house so his sweet wife could watch him during my German lesson. I can't count the many prayers I offered up this afternoon as I drove to and from German class. I thought, wouldn't it be ironic, as soon as I get the minivan back from the repair shop, I need to take the Durango for repairs thanks to the wonderful snowy road conditions. The kids were soooo excited about the snow when I picked them up. Their number one wish is that school will be delayed tomorrow, since their teachers were talking about this possibility in the afternoon. Mason started eating the snow as soon as we got home, and I quickly reinforced the number one snow eating rule:
DON'T EAT YELLOW SNOW.
All the kids played outside in the snow, throwing snow balls (at me through the window), making snow angels, and sledding down the street. Between you and me, I am a bit shocked that it is snowing already. It's only November. We are in for a LONG winter. But, I say, BRING IT ON!!! I'm ready with gloves, scarves, boots, chocolate chip cookies and hot chocolate.




For FHE we talked about the four foundation stones of our religion: The First Vision, The Book Of Mormon, Temples, and the Priesthood. Then we built a gingerbread house. Each wall of the house stood for one of the four foundation blocks. We are big into recycling here in Germany, so we pulled out our leftover Halloween candy to finish decorating our Knusperhaus, which, I must say, turned out fabulous. If I was Gretel, I definitely would have been tempted by this one: