A Skate with Kate

 Kaitlyn's elementary class enjoyed an ice skating field trip during a beautiful snowfall today. Kaitlyn fell many times at first (most of which seemed on purpose to me), but became more confident and smooth by the end of the hour and a half. And, against her mother's wishes, she ate handfuls of snow.

Happiness

David O. McKay, 9th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, taught these Ten Rules of Happiness. I love them, and believe I need to read them daily.

1. Develop yourself by self-discipline.
2. Joy comes through creation- sorrow through destruction. Every living thing can grow: use the world wisely to realize soul growth.
3. Do things which are hard to do.
4. Entertain upbuilding thoughts. What you think about when you do not have to think shows what you really are.
5. Do your best this hour, and you will do better the next.
6. Be true to those who trust you.
7. Pray for wisdom, courage, and a kind heart.
8. Give heed to God's messages throught inspiration. If self-indulgence, jealousy, avarice, or worry have deadened your response, pray to the Lord to wipe out these impediments.
9. True friends enrich life. If you would have friends, be one.
10. Faith is the foundation of all things--including happiness.

"Gingerbread" Houses

Another Christmastime tradition: our graham cracker house decorating party.
This year the Vigil and Muldowney Families joined us.
Everyone enjoyed the night made some pretty impressive candy houses!

Time to Decorate

The Monday after Thanksgiving, with Christmas music to accompany us,
we decorated the house and tree for Family Home Evening.

Annual Tree Cutting

The day after Thanksgiving we drove to Buffalo for our annual Christmas tree cutting event. Grandma and Grandpa Bass visited this year and decided to cut a tree too, and drive it back to Utah. I guess Wyoming has the best trees! They did find a nice looking one...even if it took three men to get it back to their truck. Uncle Mark and his family came too. We didn't freeze this year, kept the children fairly close to the vehicles (no challenging treks back), and even remembered hot chocolate.

Hunter's New Face

It took Hunter a couple of weeks to talk me into taking him to get an eye exam. He told me he wanted to get some contacts. I put him off. Well, I wasn't sure he really needed any, AND we just signed up for vision health insurance (which will start in January). Yes, I am a miser.

When Hunter came home from school two days in a row with small headaches because he was using a friend's glasses, I realized I needed to take his request more seriously. Our optometrist had an opening in two days. We discovered Hunter definitely needed glasses and I felt humbled once again as a mother. We walked into the office at 4:30 PM and left at 5:30 PM a little poorer, but with a pair of glasses on a bright-eyed, smiling boy.

What is early?

Being the last week of school, Naomi and I have attended concerts, talent shows, and classroom open houses. One day my plan to walk to the school didn't work out, so we drove and arrived ahead of schedule. Naomi asked a frequent question, "Mom, are we late?" I replied, "No, we are early." She wondered aloud, "what is EARLY?" I explained, then laughed to myself...'my daughter is four and at last knows what the word early means'.