It’s December

*written December 7 and working backwards

The saga of the basement continues. Brian (in yellow) just got home from his mission and he and Chris came over to help. We’re so close to being done. Doors are painted and waiting to be hung. Hinges and doorknobs and screws have been painted and are waiting to be attached to doors. All the frames except for Christians are painted. And the only walls left to do are the ledge, under the stairs closet (Addie did a first coat yesterday), and the stairs. We had a tile estimate yesterday and another coming today. I am SO excited to be finished and hoping/praying/begging for it to be done soon!

This chic had a terrible dental checkup. She had a baby molar extracted because the cavity was so bad, and yesterday had several more fillings done. Oh the life of a girl with bad teeth. 😕 we had lunch together beforehand and grabbed a milkshake after and she was a total trooper. Addie is growing into such an amazing little lady. She’s kind, compassionate, generous, smart, responsible, and just a little bit judgey (of popular kids that hang out in big groups, she prefers smaller groups).

I’ve never had laughing gas, but I wish I could try it!

Ruby loves to draw during tutor breaks and today we drew Elf’s on the Shelf. For a girl that can’t draw worth a darn, I thought my Elfie was cute. Just don’t look at the hands or legs. 

Yesterday was St. Nicholas Day, and the girls were excited to put out their boots!

That face. I can’t even. 

“Let’s find the biggest shoes we can, k guys?!”

I am running, running, running. Sometimes I run so fast I smear my mascara and walk around a hot mess all day. I’m working hard to be grateful for all I’ve got to do (because I am!) and to keep Christ at the center of it (because He is!) Also, A Second a Day videos are going strong. 

On top of regular December business, we also get to do Ministering Interviews. These are such a blessing, I just wish we had more time. We came up with the idea to have a day of Ministering Interviews at the church complete with pretty decor and treats. It was a crazy day with lots of challenges, including family pressures and what we thought was a gas leak - there was much running around and working to persuade people not to call the fire dept, especially since none of our keys worked for the electrical rooms. I called half the ward trying to figure out the problem and /or get a key to the electrical room. Three brothers came to help and assisted with different ideas. We ended up turning the gas to the building off complelty. Thankfully we had each brought space heaters, so we didn’t totally freeze. The problem, which was discovered the next day, was that we’d run out of propane. Oh this building. This humble, humble building. :/

Lana came to town! After a celebratory lunch we were able to get pedicures and stretch our visiting time as long as we could. She was such a wonderful neighbor and example to me, I miss her! (and all my LG friends!)