Getting ready for Christmas

This week we wrapped up a lot of our Christmas to do's which is nice. We had a goal to get our shopping done by Thanksgiving. We did for the most part. When you have to take out the kids to do shopping it is so much easier to do it online. Devin and I did do one store on Black Friday. It wasn't that bad, no ramming carts or violent acts were witnessed. Now that we are done shopping we have to remember that and not buy anymore! We are really scaling back this year and hopefully focusing on being with family and our Savior.

The kids have been doing an act of service everyday and it's really cute to see them get excited about serving. Conrad helped me make breakfast one morning. They made snowflakes for Devin and I. Traeden has been singing Christmas songs that he learned from friends and then he comes up to me and asks me if he can sing them or if it's bad. "Jingle Bells, batman smells, Robbin lays an egg" I told him it was probably OK unless he is suppose to sing the right lyrics for school or church.

We went to the Live Nativity in Nibley with Greg and Deonne's family on Friday. They had real donkeys, sheep, goats and even a camel. The boys tried to feed the camel, Alex did a great job of that. It really makes you appreciate the circumstances of the humble birth of our Savior. If the Savior was born today, where do you think he would be born? I can't imagine in a busy city. I see something similar, in a barn or country home.

Conrad and Abi after the Nativity

Camel and the kids

Petting the donkey

My first apple pie I made with a friend with Devin's parents apples this week. It was a really yummy pie. You cook the pie in a brown paper bag.

Today we are fasting and praying for my uncle Gary who was in a snowmobile accident yesterday. A neighbor found him unconscious and called 911. He busted his knee and has some serious head wounds. Last night when we heard about it from my mom he was still unconscious. I just talked to my mom who is at the hospital now and said he is now awake. They will be doing a series of surgeries to reconstruct his jaw and one of his eyes. We are hoping he will pull through. We would appreciate your prayers in his behalf.