Thankful

As we drove home tonight after a wonderful afternoon and evening spent with the SMTs, enjoying a superb Thanksgiving meal and some play time with the five little kids, we noticed a packed Walmart parking lot and a long line of people waiting outside the doors in anticipation of a great deal.

I got to thinking about the best deal I could get tonight for this holiday season. And it doesn't involve standing in line or rushing to a store or trying to 'save' money by spending it on the latest and greatest whatever.

I got my best deal, just now, as I performed my nightly routine of quietly going into the boys' room to check on them and make sure they were warm, covered, and comfortable. They were. I then went into baby Emmie's room (she's hardly a 'baby' anymore it seems!) and found her just where I left her only an hour ago, still wrapped up nicely in her big warm brown blanket, breathing gently and quietly, sleeping soundly.

I just now lay down in my own bed with fresh clean sheets, Suzanna about to crawl in next to me. It's not even quite 10:00 pm yet, and I didn't have to wait out in the cold or spend a dime for the best deal available: each of my family members tucked safely into their warm beds, sleeping soundly with full tummies.

You can't buy that on Black Friday.

Luke, a couple of different times I've snapped a photo of him when checking on him at bedtime. 

Logan, when he fell asleep next to me on my bed recently.

I don't dare take a photo of Emmie while she's sleeping, and Suzanna didn't approve of the photo I recently took of her while she was napping, but you can take my word for it: they look peaceful when they're sleeping, too. 

msh

Tithing

Tonight we had our annual tithing settlement meeting with the bishop of our ward. We for to declare to him whether or not we are full tithe payers. This is the first year that we've 'paid' the boys an allowance, and they've been putting their money away into a little three-section savings tin with a section for tithing, another for their mission fund, and a third for fun. Tonight we emptied the tithing section for each boy, counted up the coins, and filled out a tithing slip. The boys then handed their tithing envelopes to the bishop, who thanked them and asked them if they knew what the money was used for ('beautiful buildings and temples' in his words). Luke was especially talkative and engaged when conversing with the bishop, both of which really pleased us since he is generally really shy around people he doesn't know well. When we got in the car to come home, he said to us, "I want to keep paying my tithing. I want to pay it every week. And I want to get more yellow slips" (the carbon copy you keep). We arrived home and he set about gathering pens and paper. He wrote each of our names on separate pieces of paper and said we could glue all our yellow slips there. I thought it was really cool to see him get so enthusiastic about something, and I'm glad to see his testimony of tithing developing.

In other news, Logan got his stitches out today at a clinic on Mill Plain called ZoomCare. He was really good and even got a flu shot before leaving. So he ended up with two band aids now! I took him for a frosty waffle cone at Wendys because he was a good and brave boy.

Logan, post stitches. Brave kid.

Logan and his frosty waffle cone.

I love these boys. 

msh

Daylight Saving?

More like 'Daylight Losing'! I think Daylight Saving time should be kept in place year-round. Kids don't care that we get an 'extra' hour to sleep one Saturday night in the fall, and after changing our clocks back an hour, this is what it looked like at 5:05 and 5:20 tonight.

And it's still going to get darker earlier for another month and a half!

Anyway, in other news, Emmie is growing up a and changing so quickly! Lately she's been 'lounging' in her high chair, pulling her foot up and sticking it over the edge. She cracks me up. See pictures below.

Whenever I ask Luke who he thinks he looks like more (Suzanna or me), he responds that he looks more like Emmie. They really do look a lot alike, and it's super cute to see how much he loves her and enjoys playing with her and talking to her. Tonight he picked her up and set her on the couch next to him. The lighting was terrible, but I still got a halfway decent picture of the two of them. The resemblance is striking. 

msh