Welcome Christmas Season

We’re now getting into the holiday season. Rachel has been excellent at maintaining fun Christmas traditions for the family. So far we’ve taken the kids to Winter Wonderland at Tilles Park, where they have thousands upon thousands of Christmas lights decorating the park. Walter even enjoyed looking at all the lights.

Then the kids enjoyed St. Nick’s Day, where they leave their Christmas wish lists in their boots by the front door, and Santa comes by to pick up their wish lists, replacing them with boots full of candy. It’s quite adorable when they are so eager to show us the treats St. Nick has left them.

Still to come is the ward Christmas party, and although it’s not related to Christmas, Rachel’s birthday is nigh approaching. We’ll also be holding our own family Christmas party as well as it gets closer. 

In other news, with Rachel’s  new calling into the primary presidency and mine in the bishopric now, we felt the need to get a 2nd vehicle. So recently we got a 2008 Honda Civic hybrid for me to be able use without tying up the car, or inconveniencing Rachel with unnecessarily loading all the kids for early morning meetings, just to drop me off. We both hope and pray it will end up being as reliable as the Pilot has been.

First Loose Tooth

Happy Thanksgiving! The hectic mess of the last few weeks, particularly on the weekends, has made it quite difficult to leave an update. But today is Thanksgiving, & it's time to bring things up to speed.

A couple weeks ago we got family pictures taken, & I was pleasantly surprised how well behaved all the kids were. We're sending out Christmas cards with them on it, which is another reason we took them. Rachel, as always, was great at getting the appointment and our clothing well organized.

Annalyn finally lost her first tooth! From what I've been told she's a bit late in losing her first tooth, but who cares. I'm sure she'll still lose them all before too long.

We had to encourage her to wiggle it more once we saw that the new one had already erupted behind it. Once it was close enough Rachel tried a couple of times to give it a good yank, but t no avail. Finally, when Annalyn was brace enough to let her daddy try, it finally came. She got to put it in her tooth necklace and show it off to friends at school. And the tooth fairy brought her a couple hair toys and some chocolate coins.

Crazy Declan...Rachel thought she heard the microwave running downstairs one day so she ran down to see if her middle child had been playing with it. Sure enough, Declan had filled it with paper towels and fired it up. Luckily she heard it and was able to intervene before the house potentially burned to the ground.

 Now to add more drama to poor Rachel's life: she recently got rear-ended while driving home from helping me at work with our annual security check. Luckily it wasn't anything serious, but they exchanged information any way. She was a nice lady and felt extra bad once she realized the kids were in the car too. Rachel ended up with a miserable case of whiplash that evening, which persisted for a couple of days, but she seems to be over it now...maybe I should ask her...

Annalyn's progress report from school came in and we're so happy with how well she's doing. She's well over 90% in all subjects, with several being 100%. She's made great improvement in her reading and writing, and her math skills have always been strong.

And this past Sunday I received another new calling - the 4th within the last 3 months: I'm now the 2nd counselor in the bishopric, replacing Bro. Richardson, who recently moved out for work. As a result, I'm being released from being a Sunday school teacher, 2nd counselor in the stake Sunday School presidency, and I'll no longer be able to serve as an ordinance worker in the temple. 

Rachel also received a new calling: she's the new secretary in the primary presidency. The president, Sis. Horn, has already been greatly impressed at the volume of work that Rachel's put in, and has been so grateful to have her help.

Now, it is time to get up, and enjoy our Thankgiving holiday!

Super Trunk or Treat

We were able to go to Sullivan Farms for Family Home Evening while Rachel's mom was still out before she had to leave on Wednesday (Rachel also treated her with a trip to the fabric store before she left). It was Walter's first time where he could enjoy himself, and did he ever! He loved the train ride and the wagons most of all.

On Saturday we went to the stake (yes, stake) Trunk or Treat. I have never been to one so large before. It was estimated that about 500 people showed up for it, despite how cold it ended up being. 

The kids had a bit of a hard time with the cold when we were outside, and with the length of time before they actually started it. The numerous games set up were lots of fun, but it was all still a bit too overwhelming for them.

Finally the time came to go out for the Trunk or Treat. All the kids, including Walter, had a blast. But again, it was so large, that they got cold and tired enough to want to stop before they had even finished. They all took in a pretty good haul though. By the time we got home, they were beat.

Also, Rachel and I both got new callings this week. She was made the secretary in the primary presidency, and I'm the new 2nd counselor in the stake Sunday School presidency. Looks like our schedules are about to get quite busy, to put it mildly.

Party Like a Mormon Millennial

Rachel's mom, Brenda,  flew out on Tuesday evening to visit for a week. Everyone has been looking forward to it. She has always been fun for the kids and helpful around the house. Rachel prepared so well for her arrival while I've been at work, despite the kids' best efforts to continually plunge the house into disarray.

They've already been able to visit the botanical gardens & Grant's Farm, with plans to see Sullivan Farms and more this coming week before she leaves Wednesday evening. 

Yesterday we cleaned and prepped all day for the youth I teach in Sunday School to come over for a barbecue. We ended up having: Sam Horn; Hans, Emma & Lilli Larsen; Rowan, Iris & William Wilson; Mike, Adair, Jacob, Hannah, Jordan & Rebecca Von Hall; Kevin, Carmen, Dallin & Gracie Lake; Reva, Brandon & Melissa Gomes; & Ashleigh Judd. Everyone seemed to have a great time, enjoying the barbecue, the fire, the s'mores, the basement (younger kids) and the company. 

Tonight is a temple training that I need to attend for a few hours. Luckily Rachel's mom is here to be able to help put the kids to bed. I'll miss them - family has become more precious as I've been serving in the temple each Friday evening.

Wiggly Tooth & Indian Summer

So the weather has had a couple of dips into the 50's & 60's, but it keeps coming right back up, hanging on to near 90 temperatures - and October is half way over! We only have tree that's beginning to change. This morning is plenty cool, which is nice. But by this weekend we'll still be looking at almost 80 degrees. Rachel and I assume that the contestant fluctuation is the reason behind Walter's mild cold that he's come down with.  Hopefully is clears up soon, so he can enjoy the fall season with better nights' sleep.

Annalyn has her first loose tooth! It's looking like it's still a ways away before it comes out, but she is so ecstatic. She had been reading about how Fancy Nancy had lost her tooth and she was dying to loose a tooth herself. Well Annalyn, the time has finally come! 

Serving in the temple continues to be a blessing for me self, as well and the family. I've gotten to the point where I've done almost everything in the temple, and feel comfortable with the wording. Each week I look forward to Friday nights. It's the best way to start off the weekend.

Rachel and I enjoyed a fun evening out for our date last night. We went to Kobe, a Japanese steakhouse and enjoyed quite the show. Our chef was very lively and funny! We laughed, enjoyed great food, and created happy memories that will last a very long time. Plus, Rachel was finally able to catch a shrimp in her mouth!

Conference Weekend

We enjoyed watching General Conference this weekend. Probably the most memorable aspect of this conference was that Elder Hales passed away between the Sunday Sessions. Elder Andersen gave a great talk at the conclusion of the conference with part of Elder Hales talk that he had written, had his health permitted him to speak. It was very touching.

We finally got rid of a nasty yellow jacket nest along the back of our house, so we got to get back outside and get the yard cleaned up - and get eaten alive by mosquitos. It always has to be something...

Autumn should hopefully arriving soon, along with Rachel's mom, who is coming out to visit for a week. We're looking forward to Brookdale farms again and all the other fun fall activities we can do as a family.

Dolphins, Dinosaurs & Lincoln

We made it back from Chicago! We all had a crazy, great time visiting the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Natural History Museum, and Springfield, Illinois to see Abraham Lincoln's home, tomb and a museum about him.

We decided to split up the stops in Springfield to some on the way up, and some on the way back. On our way up on Monday we visited Lincoln's home and tomb. We've seen them before, but something about his tomb I still find very venerational.

Upon our arrival to Chicago, we first went to the aquarium and the kids had an absolute blast. Their favorite part by far was the dolphin show. So, of course, we had to stop by the dolphin show gift shop right next to it to get a fuzzy pink dolphin for Annalyn and a shark for Declan.

After lunch there, we headed over to the Field Museum to catch a special exhibit of Jurassic World, we they had state-of-art dinosaur animatronics that turned out to be quite impressive.

 

They had at least 7 full scale dinosaurs moving around, as well as a replica of the creation lab from the movies that had real props that we could get our hands on. Declan ate it up. Annalyn still got scared a few times. And of course - another gift shop. 

And then I got sick...

On the way back we stopped to visit the Lincoln Museum, once again in Springfield. One of the most enjoyable parts is a small live theatre stage that involves ghostly special effects. He talks about the importance of studying the past to help us understand who and where we are today. 

The slandering they did to Lincoln during his campaign seemed surprisingly familiar to what is still done today by the public and the media. It really made me feel that there really is no piety in politics - if there is, it's only political. On the other hand. The depiction of what he went through in the Civil War and with signing the Emancipation Proclamation, really helped bring a sense of reverence to his death, as they displayed a replica of his casket in the capital.

Overall, it was a wonderful trip, and we made it home safely. Now it's just a matter of shaking off the last bit of this cold...