Relief Society Work

I've been serving as the Relief Society First Counselor for over a year now and it is one of my favorite callings to date.  It helps that we live in an incredible ward and I work with a hard working presidency.  I love my calling and I dread being released.  That being said, it also is quite a bit of work.  Whenever I come across spare time I instantly think of something I could be doing for Relief Society and that typically gobbles up my time.  But I love the sisters in our ward and the different strengths they have to offer.  

I'm over all our activities and we have a lot of them.  We have several different things to choose from each month so that each sister has her options.  For our big official RS meeting in February, we were able to organize meal prep for 250 homeless people living in Durham.  We combined with the YW to help our efforts and it was done so quickly I couldn't believe it.  Everyone was doing something.  There weren't many people just standing on the sidelines.  That is one of the many reasons why I adore this ward.  I love our ward members so much Ben and I genuinely consider them our second family.

Freedom!!!

Our family's schedule is busy to say the least.  We literally have obligations Monday through Friday and many Saturdays and Sundays as well.  Even though my parents only live 35 minutes away, we don't get much of a chance to go and visit them because of our crazy schedule.  But my parents missed the kids and asked if they could come over for a sleepover.  I dropped them off after our homeschool co-op finished on a Friday and didn't see them until dinner time the next day.

I love my kids, but I didn't miss them.  LOL.  Ben and I had a blast with our 24 hour date.

First we went out to The Cheesecake Factory and then to the movies to see The Greatest Showman.  We loved it!  Great movie.  We've bought the soundtrack and the kids know all the songs even though they haven't seen the movie yet.  We stayed out late and enjoyed thinking about how much money we were saving by not hiring a babysitter for our uberly long date.

The next morning we slept in and went to a local donuts and biscuits place we hadn't tried yet.  We shared everything and it was so fun!  We never go out to breakfast.

We came home and what exciting thing did I do since I didn't have kids at home?  I took a long pregnancy nap.  It was fabulous.

Then we went out to lunch at a southern BBQ place we hadn't tried yet but had heard rave reviews for months about.  It was delicious.

**Side story** In first grade my class celebrated Thanksgiving together by having a big pot luck.  One of the dishes that was brought in was Brunswick Stew.  I literally thought the pilgrims ate Brunswick Stew until I was a teenager and finally realized Brunswick Stew was just a Southern dish.  

Scripture Stories by Thad and Ella

About once a week we don't read straight out of the scriptures and we just tell scripture stories instead.  Ella and Thad always insist on telling their own versions of scripture stories they "know."  They've come a long ways.  Back in the day, Thad used to always tell us the story of the Lamanites walking the plank, which naturally always included lava and snakes.

Noah and the Ark

Thad: "... and it comed with a leaf..."

Ella whispering:  "No it didn't!  It came back with nothing!"

Adam and Eve

Christmas

Coming down Christmas morning in the jammies they opened on Christmas Eve.  The girls had a Peanuts them and the boys had a Star Wars them.  I bought them online and didn't realize Thad's jammies were actually Halloween until they arrived.  I was too lazy to return them.  Welcome to my crazy pregnant life.

Santa came!!!!

I can't believe how happy the kids were getting their beanie boos and mini beanie boos.  I told Ben the kids probably would have been happy if we would have just given them a bunch of beanie boos for Christmas.

As a kid, my sisters and I would make signs with our names on them so that Santa would know where to leave our presents.  That way we wouldn't confuse our gifts with someone else's.  The kids made their own little signs and Lily added a sweet little note to Santa.

Skyler's starting to question Santa's existence and it's killing me a little bit.  Lily still 100% believes.  It'll be strange if we have to explain things to Skyler before Lily.

It's nice when you've finally gotten to the point in adulthood where you can ask for presents you want and not necessarily things you need.  This year I asked my parents for a specific tea set.  I love it.  Naturally we made my favorite Very Cherry Berry tea during Christmas lunch.  For breakfast we had breakfast casserole with fruit.  Someone in the family who happens to be pregnant thought that the idea of breakfast casserole on a croissant sounded like an ideal breakfast sandwich.  It did not disappoint.  For lunch we had avocado, bacon, and tomato sandwiches on croissants -- one of our favorites.

The kids have been asking for us to throw them a gender reveal party since before I was even pregnant.  They have been on a long journey with us through all these pregnancies and still ask me on an almost daily basis if the baby is still alive in my tummy.  I think all these miscarriages have really made them appreciate the idea of having a baby.  We made them go on a hunt around the house for clues as to where the gender reveal gifts were.  Here is the video of the reveal.

The Nativity

My mom really wanted a special nativity this year and so she made a project out of putting together legit costumes.  

Joseph and Mary

Angel Gabriel, a shepherd, and his lamb.

Gabriel visits Mary

Mary and Joseph get married.

They go to Bethlehem to pay taxes while Mary rides a donkey.  Joseph's not sure how he feels about the whole situation.  He's probably exhausted from never getting a chance to ride the donkey...

Jesus was born and they wrapped him in swaddling clothes and lay him in a manger.

An angel visited the shepherds.

The shepherds visited Jesus and brought him a little pomeranian lamb on a leash as a gift.

Some very bearded wise men in the East saw a new star in the sky and knew that a king was born.

They brought gifts of plastic gold, real frankincense, and imaginary myrrh.  

Visiting Santa

I will never stop being thankful to live in a neighborhood where Santa comes to visit our club house each year.  I love being able to visit him for free, not have to drive far, and not have to brave crowds. Plus they have activities for the kids to do while you're waiting.  We waited for about 30 minutes before it was our turn.   

Thad wanted a his own scooter.

Ella wanted an American Girl trundle bed with doll.

Skyler wanted LEGOs.

Lily also wanted LEGOs and a beanie boo.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a much needed break.  We celebrated a week early because Becca and Preston were going to be in NC that week anyway.  

It was a fun day with family and delicious food!  We have so much to be thankful for!