Fabulous Four Months and Christmas

Has it really been four months since I posted? I just finished reading my friend's Alyssa's most recent post, she felt bad for not posting for five days. I thought I should really post something on my blog since its been much longer than five days, I had no idea it had been four months!

We had a busy four months.  It was full of school, homework, piano, dance, basketball, scouts and work for Lou.  Its hard to believe I am finished with my first full semester back at school. I absolutely loved it even though it made me so much busier than I prefer to be. I feel like I did well.  I got all A's. Only one of my grades has posted and it was an A+. I didn't even know that was possible haha. My other classes I am either averaging 99% or over 100% so yay. I am confident Heavenly Father is lending a helping hand. I know he wants me to become a teacher.

I finished my last final on Tuesday. I have absolutely loved the last five days.  I am excited about the next two weeks that the kids will be home from school.  I don't start school again until January 14th. I wish Lou had weeks off like we do. We have hardly seen Lou since before Thanksgiving. I honestly think we have seen him (aside from Sundays and sleeping) maybe 20 hours total since Thanksgiving. His work has been crazy, its been hard on all of us.

Some highlights of the last four months:

Lou and I went on a field trip with Josh back in October

We went as a family to see Meet the Mormons. It was incredible. I can't wait till its released on DVD.

My friend Rachelle and her son Daniel came to visit us in October. It was so fun! It definitely wasn't long enough. I love Rachelle and the kids just love Daniel. We are so happy they made it up here. 

We went to the BYU football fireside when BYU football played Boise State. The fireside is very popular in Boise. They decided to broadcast it in stake centers throughout Idaho and parts of Oregon because they can't possibly hold all the people who want to attend in a single stake center. It was great!  I love to see that side of my favorite football team.

Lou and I went to the BYU/Boise St game. Nana came to watch the kids.  Nana bought me that fun BYU scarf and Y stickers to wear to the game. I have been wearing it a lot since then too :)  Kira looks tots adorbs in it with my BYU hat.

 While Nana was here we went to a pumpkin patch. It was a little farm in Kuna, Idaho. It was a perfect fall activity. I don't even know how to describe how it was just perfect. It was free (lots of pumpkin patches aren't). We got to enjoy a hayride out to the pumpkin patch. After picking pumpkins we got to pick apples. We had so much fun.

Kira had a piano recital when Nana was here. She played Hedwigs Theme from Harry Potter and a song called Spooktacular that Kira wrote. It is a great song. Its impressive that Kira can compose songs! 

Kira had a sonatina festival in October and a hymn festival in November. For her sonatina festival she received a Superior ranking and was ranked as an honorable mention for her level. There were probably at least 75 kids that competed at her level. So to be a top 5 is pretty amazing.  With her hymn festival there were no rankings (like 1st place or honorable mentions) but she did receive another Superior ranking! Kira is very talented at the piano.

Kira and Josh both did basketball this year. Kira through the school and Josh through the YMCA. They had a lot fun. It kept us super busy with all the practices and games, but it was so worth it. They enjoyed it so much. Josh's basketball finished yesterday.

We spent Thanksgiving in Boise. It was our second Thanksgiving with just our family of four. We had a lovely time. I think our meal turned out even better than last year. Leann and Jeff sent us these lovely flowers letting us know they were missing us. 

Thanksgiving brought our second annual Christmas box. It was just as fun this year even though it wasn't a surprise like last Thanksgiving.  They received fun shirts, ornaments, movies and candy. 

Josh's awesome Yoda Christmas shirt. 

Kira's dance studio put on different numbers from the Nutcracker. Kira did so well! It was fun and got us into the Christmas spirit. 

Josh and I waiting for her recital to begin. Josh asked if I knew what a photobomb was. He said mom quick take a selfie and let me show you. He is such a funny boy.

We have gone to Boise Towne Square mall a few times this Christmas season. Kira fell in love with these wind things. She especially loved that they had a BYU one.  Boise Town Square mall is really nice. It has fun stores and is always clean. 

Sometimes we wake up the kids in the "middle of the night" just for fun, for a few minutes. They are always so funny and go right back to sleep. Usually annoyed that we woke them up. We woke up the kids one at a time to show them the new Star Wars preview.  Josh had a hard time waking up for it. The next day he asked if we brought him down to watch Star Wars or if it was a dream haha. We showed him and Kira the preview again. They loved it. 

I have been trying to do fun Christmas stuff all month. I haven't wanted the excuse of school to get in the way. This last Saturday (13th) while Lou worked all day, the kids and I made my mom's sugar cookies. We delivered some to a few of our neighbors. We watched Disney's Christmas sing-a-long when baking the cookies. It was a blast.  Every night we have been reading scriptures about Christ from this advent calendar. We also watch Christmas videos/clips from these Christmas topic links at lds.org and the Mormon Channel. (Click them for great Christmas videos) It has added a lot to our Christmas season. It has helped us get excited for Christmas but also keep in the true spirit of Christmas. 

Now we have just a few days before Christmas. We are so excited to spend it with each other. I love my sweet family.