Tersa's first babysitting job

Tersa had her first babysitting job on Sat. night. It seems that the couple didn't realize how young she was until they came home and were talking to her and found out she just turned 11. (Even though I did tell her that when she called.) She did a great job and the kids really enjoyed having her there. But the parents were a little nervous about her being that young so I don't think she will be doing this again until she is 12. Which is fine with me and more than fine with Joel!!

Ice Skating in Vegas

Despite the fact that it has gotten up to around 70 degrees several times this week, it has gotten quite cold during the night. So, when people water their lawns and the water runs down into the gutter, it freezes. And the south sides of the streets in our neighborhood don't get the sun exposure that we do (great for summer, not so great for winter!) Thereby making a fabulous little ice rink just across the street! Ya take what you can get. OOOPS!

Decorating the tree

On the first Family Night of December, we decorate our tree. So, I spent the end of last week decorating the house and got the tree up. Last night we decorated it. Joel unwrapped ornaments, the girls hung them and I tried to get pictures in the low Chritmas lighting. Not an easy task with children moving all the time. But I got a few. Our living room and a wall in the kitchen are looking quite festive. But for some it is just not enough. Several times this week Keddi has told me that when she gets big she is going to decorate inside AND outside. (I'm actually all for more decorations but no place to store them!) We hope your entire month can be filled with the Christmas Spirit and will continue with you throughout the coming year!

Tersa's Concert

Can you find Tersa? I'm kind of taking a while to get through our Thanksgiving week but this is the end of it! We went to Tersa's concert (which was outside and I didn't know!) and we had to round up some blankets for people to wrap up in because some of us left without coats or jackets. We saw friends from our ward there and Joel and Jed Spendlove made "comments" about the myriad of songs sung about Hanukkah, Kawanza and some traditional Christmas songs. But there were no songs about the birth of Christ. (The Hanukkah song was about the miracle of the oil that burned for 8 days.) I think Tersa told me that their concert on the 12th will include Joy to the World. We will have to see what that concert will be like. The kids did pretty well and Tersa knew all the words of every song. She has quite a talent for singing.


We celebrated Joel's birthday friday! One of his co-workers brought in a cherry pie to celebrate and he came home early. (While we were wrapping his presents.) Luckily I was just finishing the last one and he didn't see anything! I made a requested dinner and right when we finished, our friends the Wilson's (who join us for each birthday because they are our family away from family!) came for cookies and ice cream. We like cake, but usually only for birthdays and the leftovers sit around until I finally throw it away. The Wilsons are the same way so I made a big cookie and it was all good! Then we left Tersa in charge and the Wilsons took their boys to a friends while we went to a movie with them. The new James Bond movie. Joel said he enjoyed his birthday.

More bowling

I thought this one turned out so cute so I posted a couple more pictures from our bowling outing. Matthias isn't comparing his belly to the ball, he's "airing." He discovered the fan that allows one to dry a sweaty hand before bowling and it was just right for belly blowing! Before leaving, we stopped at the arcade area and Shinara found this game where you ride motorcycles. Umm....scary!
After bowling, Lolly, Randy, Lindsay and Matthias and I went shopping. We made two mall stops and got home in time for Lolly and Lee to go back to their hotel and prepare to leave. So we said goodbye to them and packed everyone up in the car to go to the Ethel M chocolate factory. Tersa's school choir group gave two concerts there that night. Everyone left after the first concert except for Tersa's friend Rachel, Tersa, Lindsay and I. We had a good visit on the way home. Once we got home we had some time for the adults to sit and chat before Lindsay, Randall and the boys headed back to the hotel. We said our goodbyes because they were to leave straight from the hotel very early the next morning. It was great to get a short note from Lindsay this week that expressed their enjoyment of the visit. But especially satisfying was to hear that the boys really enjoyed it too! Thanks for coming we loved having you!