But the day was beautiful and we were able to get 15 bags of leaves raked up. Nick mowed for the last time. Sprinklers are off. I pulled all the perennials. But look how the trees are still FULL! We've got lots more work cut out for us.
Sunday I had 2 baptism programs to watch (including ours! Go Nick! His part was, "I feel the spirit when we read scriptures together as a family.") and a ward conference where we taught sharing time.
That evening we went to Grandpa's house for Family Home Evening. Dad (Grandpa) had assigned everyone parts -- prayers, play a hymn, lead a hymn, share a scripture or share a thought. It was fun to all get together and have all the kids participate in a more structured program. What a sweet spirit.
Sheree shared from a talk about Experimenting on the Word -- something I've been thinking about lately. And also how her testimony developed. Something I think about all. the. time. as I'm in the throes of raising teenagers. It's pretty cool for our kids to hear testimony from other family members -- not just mom and dad all the time.
Dad shared from the OT and Elijah (or Elisha? I always get confused) and how his servant came running in fear because a huge army was waiting for them on top of the hill outside their city. Elijah wasn't worried because his eyes were "open." He prayed that his servant's eyes would also be "open" and it was then that the servant saw armies of angels ready to protect Elijah. Dad has a great way of relating scripture stories in a way that everyone understands and of course he throws in a joke here and there and captures everyone's attention.
In typical Dad fashion, before FHE he: #1 went to buy pizza for dinner for all of us. On Sunday. #2 got to chatting with a guy who held the door open for him and looked familiar. #3 realized it was a BYU football player who now is an announcer on a sports program on TV. #4 Invited him to come to FHE.
The guy actually came. He was cute, had a huge smile, charmed the kids and the sports fans and was so fun to get to know and have him with us. At the end, also in typical Dad fashion, he invited this guy (I can't remember his name) to share his testimony or a mission experience or something. He shared about a football player who struggled in church after they lost a football game. Everyone would want to talk about it and dissect it and criticize. Soon he went less and less. Not it's been 8 months since the last time he went to church. And then today, he held open a door for an old man at Little Caesar's Pizza, and the old guy invited him to Family Home Evening.
We were all a bit stunned (except Marty -- he said he saw it coming). His testimony is that God never gives up on us. He's going to keep trying to give us experiences and opportunities and people in our path that remind us of his love for us. Super cool.
Monday Chris & Marty went to their first Strength & Agility clinic for lacrosse. Right after was Chris' piano recital. And then we went to Training Table. Marty was figuring out how old Nick and Chris will be when he comes home from his mission. Nick will be in 8th grade and Chris will be a Senior.
Tuesday was Reality Town at the Jr. High. AND, it was snowing when we woke up! Reality Town is super fun to be involved with because it's easy and you get to see the kids in their "natural habitat" with their friends. I was at the Pet Store where the more serious kids contemplated if they had enough for a pet and others bought two of everything. It was hilarious.
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| Before the Jr. High'ers arrived. All is calm. |
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| Chris' school picture -- he's really excited he pulled off the Thug look. |
Plus I was looking forward to going home, sitting by the fire and getting more of my Book of Mormon reading in. And bonus, Chris ended up getting 10 extra credit points for being in 7th period.
Tuesday night Chris and Marty had Parkour again and I had book club. And Dan was out of town. Nick was by himself for 30 minutes at night, but didn't seem worried.
Our book club book was Just Mercy -- a true story written by a lawyer defending men who are unjustly on Death Row. Some are just children. At first I wanted to stop reading and not believe this could really happen. But I kept reading. It was a great book. Very eye-opening and lending itself to the longest Book Club discussion I think we've ever had that's actually about the book.
For Veteran's Day I got my permanent crown on. So glad that's over. Counting down the 7-10 days until it won't be sensitive anymore. Marty & Chris had Strength & Agility again and then a Veteran's Day program and dessert for Young Men's with Veterans of all ages in the neighborhood. Marty played America the Beautiful on the violin. They got to sit with the Lynch's and loved getting to talk to them. Laura was blown away that Marty is 18 -- she didn't even recognize him. It's probably been 5 years since she saw him regularly!
We had a long meeting to finalize construction drawings yesterday and I think they're getting submitted to the city today! Tear-down begins around Thanksgiving!
Our Stake Primary Training was last night on Teaching by the Spirit. And Nick had his first basketball practice!
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| Nick's on Flag Duty! |
KT and I went hiking today. It was cold and the snow was compacted and icy in many places. A bit treacherous in spots, but worth it to get to exercise, chat and hike together!
Currently Nick is on a Scouts field trip to the fire station! He's wondering if they still have fire poles. And if they use them. And if it hurts their hands.
He's home: Yes. Yes. No (they mostly use their legs!)
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