December 30th - So Glad to Have the Grandkids Back Home!

I got myself up and going pretty early this morning.  Actually, I just woke up and didn't feel like sleeping anymore.  It meant that I was able to take off early to run to Target and to the grocery store.  Both places were quiet with no crowds, so that was great.  I got what we need for New Year's, so now I can be lazy the rest of the week!  I love it!

I had only been home a few minutes when Lisa called and wondered if they could come over.  She wanted to do some grocery shopping, too, and the kids wanted to come to Grandma's house.  Needless to say that I was thrilled to have them come over!

We talked for a while, getting caught up on the last three weeks, then she went off to the grocery store.  Just before she left, Bill got home.  He had just a quick repair, so it was a short day for him.  Ashby and Brooks were so excited that Grandpa was here, too.  They kept him playing with them for the next couple of hours.  Grandma doesn't get down on the floor so much, so it is more fun to play with Legos with Grandpa.  On the other hand, Grandma is better for cuddling with.  And I totally loved all the cuddles!

It turned out to be a great day.  We had really missed seeing them so we loved having them back.

December 29th - New Car, Temporarily!

This morning we had to take the car to the body shop to repair the damage done when that lady backed into the side of my car in the parking lot.  It happened back in November, but they had scheduled the repair to begin today.  They think it will take a couple of weeks.  Fortunately, they also provide a rental car.  I was afraid we would get some little sub-compact, but they gave us a full-size VW Passat.  It is brand new and very nice.  I guess since our car is a full-sized model, they had to provide a similar car.  So, for a couple of weeks, I will be driving a new car. 

After getting the car stuff settled, I headed back home and spent the rest of the day there.  I kept pretty busy all day, too.  Among other tasks, I got the gifts for the grandchildren wrapped, worked on my Power Point presentation (huge learning curve for me on that one!), worked on my stake class for January, plus a bunch of other little things.

December 28th - Yeah, they are back home!

This started out pretty much like every other Sunday morning, except that it is the last one of the year and next week we go back to 9:00 church.  That means we will have to get up and go, but we both still prefer morning. 

Bill had not planned to go to church today, as he was heading to the airport to pick up Lisa and family.  However, their plane was delayed leaving by a couple of hours, so he was able to go with me.  I had my class, so had not planned to go with him.  As it turned out, we left after my class, had just enough time to stop at home and change clothes and then get to the airport.

We were so excited to see everyone, especially Ashby and Brooks.  They were both so excited, as well.  I think Ashby chattered almost non-stop all the way from the airport to their house.  They were particularly excited when we turned the corner onto their street.  They had a wonderful time in Colorado with all the cousins and aunts and uncles, but they also loved getting home and seeing all their own toys and their own beds again.

We will get together on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, I think.  We will do our Christmas presents on one of those days.  It is just nice to have them back home!

December 27th - Saturday........

I think I am already back in my usual rut - that is not a complaint, but it sure does make it hard to write a daily blog!

I did a few things, like a load of laundry, some dusting, straightening, etc., but not all that much.  Mostly I just ----  wait for the drumroll! ---- worked on family history.  Big surprise there!  I continued what I had started yesterday, but still didn't get it done.  I also spent quite a while working on my lesson for tomorrow.  I needed to make sure I had everything in place to teach them more about sources.  Turned out it is a good thing I took the time.  Now my lesson will be productive and not use up unnecessary time because I have it all figured out!

Bill helped with a youth service project this morning, which ended up taking less than two hours.  The rest of the day he was as lazy as I was!  He did get the van all set up to go to the airport tomorrow to pick up Lisa and family.  We are excited to have them back tomorrow!

December 26th - Just Another Friday!

With all the Christmas relaxing yesterday, I didn't do any laundry, which is usually a Thursday activity.  So, I had to tackle that chore today - 4 loads!  But, besides the laundry, I pretty much buried myself in family history. 

Bill had a quick job this morning and then met up with his nephew to spend the afternoon playing golf.  That left me at home alone - which was fine with me.  I spent the day getting my notes updated on the family that I have been working on.  It is the same family that I got the email about and I didn't want to send the family group sheet until I was sure all the notes were complete.  It turned out that I have been a little lax, so it is taking a little longer than I had expected.  It is good, though, to get everything updated.  I had added notes, but they were not complete and no one but I would have known what it meant.  I will finish up the last little bit tomorrow and then send the copies on.

By evening, my eyes had quit being able to see much on my computer screen - I think I overdid it!  So, when Bill got home from golf, I was cuddled in the big chair watching Blue Bloods.  What a great day we both had!

December 25th - Merry Christmas!

We had a totally quiet and relaxed Christmas Day.  We slept in - Bill more than me, of course.  I was working on some family history (got an email from someone interested in sharing information on the Cantrell family I have been working on).

Then about noon, we headed out to the movie to see "Unbroken."  Our timing was perfect, as we got there before it got too busy and had a good seat, but it ended up being a sell-out.  We both enjoyed the movie a lot.  Obviously much of what was in the book had to be left out in the movie, but they actually did quite a good job of capturing the story.  It did end with him returning home and then just used summary text to tell the rest of the story about his post traumatic stress and then turning his life around.  Anyway, we enjoyed it.

Back home, we were lazy some more.  I was immersed in the family history and Bill was watching something on TV.  I think it was The Christmas Story which was running over and over for like 24 hours!  Eventually, we were ready for dinner and had talked about going out, but we both preferred to just stay home.  We found some minute steaks and fried those up with potatoes and onions and some frozen corn.  It is one of Bill's favorite meals, so he was thrilled.  I like it, too, so we were both satisfied.

So, we enjoyed our quiet Christmas, while missing the kids.  We are looking forward to our late Christmas with them next week. 

Most important is remembering the birth of the Savior and what that means for us.  I am grateful for all these blessings.

December 24th - Christmas Eve

We spent the day getting ready for Christmas Eve with the family.  Bill went out and did the grocery shopping.  Then while he ran a few more errands, I got the Tex-Mex dip made.  I got my gifts wrapped.  Then I had to help Bill get his wrapped.  He makes it so hard - who can figure. The rest of the day, we just relaxed. 

Then we headed over to Greg's house for the family Christmas Eve celebration.  It was a little smaller group this year, just Joyce, Leroy and their kids and grandkids.  Hazel and John are on a cruise with Joy.  Martha is in Florida.  Lisa and family are in Colorado.  But, we had a great time anyway!

The home-made tacos were good, as well as all the sides to go with them.  Desserts were fabulous.  I really enjoyed spending some time with Taylor and hearing about his trip to India.  He was there for seven weeks, taking classes and touring the country.  He had some interesting experiences to share!  I also had a little time to catch up with Chris and what he is doing.  I didn't realize he was working in the bakery at Kroger and writing the names on birthday cakes.  Fun.

Between dinner and dessert, we opened the gifts for each other.  Julie had my name and gave me a leather purse.  It is very nice and a good size.  I think I will get plenty of use out of it.  I had Alonzo's name and bought him Elder Holland's new book.  I am hoping he will enjoy it.

Eventually, we all headed to the basement to do the gag gifts.  As usual, we had plenty to laugh about there!  Let's see, I ended up with a gadget to clean wax out of your ears.  If it works, I think I will actually use it!  Ha!

Then we got started on family stories and just about laughed ourselves silly.  One of the best things with family is when the old stories come out.  They seem to get better every time they are retold!

It was a wonderful Christmas Eve.

December 23rd - Another Rainy Day!

It rained all day again today - how dreary is that?  We even had a pretty good thunderstorm in the evening.  And I did curl up in the chair for a little while, but not as much as yesterday.  In fact, I got totally absorbed in some family history stuff and the day simply disappeared!

I also had a member contact me wanting some help, so that took a bit of my time, as well.  I do love helping people, so it brightened my day.

When Bill got home, we decided to go out for dinner, so we headed to our favorite Mexican place.  It was early, so we didn't have to wait and the food was really good.  (I hate having to wait when we go out - one of the reasons I don't like eating out, actually!)

I also dug all the gifts out of the closet to make an evaluation of where I stand.  All I really need right now is my gift for the family exchange and the gag gift.  I have both, so I won't worry too much about the rest until next week.  Even so, it is looking pretty good, at least for the grandchildren.  I think we need one more thing for Brooks.  But, I haven't gotten Bill anything.  Nor, do we have gifts for Lisa, David, or Billy.  I think they may end up getting cash or gift cards since we just can't come up with anything!  Hopefully, we can buy some things on sale next week, since we will be doing Christmas with them on New Years.

December 22nd - Rainy Monday - Me, Too!

Today has been a dark and rainy day all day long and I have let my mood match.  I did a few things, like change the sheets, etc., but I didn't do all that much.  I had a long list of things to be done, but most got moved to tomorrow!

By afternoon, I had such a bad sinus headache that I just curled up in the big chair and rested and watched some TV.  I am into Blue Blood right now - a police drama set in New York and starring Tom Selleck.  It isn't quite Law and Order, but I am enjoying it.

I seem to be a lazy rut.  I guess I should get myself out of it, but it feels kind of nice being lazy for a while.  If the headache goes away, maybe I will get a little more done tomorrow!

December 21st - A Wonderful, but Rather Quiet, Sunday

We will be changing to morning schedule for church in January, so we are down to the last couple of Sundays to have a relaxed morning.  We took advantage of it today.  (Actually, we prefer the morning schedule, so we are looking forward to the change.)

The choir presented the program in Sacrament Meeting, along with a nice narrative, some special musical numbers, and a great talk by the bishop.  All very well done.  My class went great.  We are working on finding sources now and they got into the death certificate and gravestone that we worked on today. 

Back at home, we fixed a quick stir fry for dinner and then relaxed the rest of the day.  It has been a very nice sabbath, although we do miss the kids being here.  They are having a great time in Colorado, though, so we are happy about that.

December 20th - Getting into the Holiday Spirit!

This started as a typical Saturday morning - a little laundry, etc. 

This afternoon, we went with two other couples to the Aurora Theater to see their Christmas Canteen, a holiday music show.  It was delightful and it really helped get us more into the holiday spirit.  After the play, we walked across the street to Cosmos Pizza and had some dinner.  It is fun being in downtown Lawrenceville in the late afternoon. 

December 19th - Another Rather Quiet Day

I love being home and doing whatever strikes me at the moment, so I enjoyed the day today.  It was pretty much the same as yesterday and I loved it. 

I did make a run to the library to return some things that were due yesterday.  They had all been renewed as many times as allowed and one I still had a bit to finish, so I took it in to renew.  Since all three things were a day late, I mentioned that I knew I would owe a fine, but it turns out that a senior card gives you a few extra days without any fines.  My comment was that it was certainly nice that the library understood that old people just forget a lot!  Brought a smile to everyone's face.

When I got back home, Bill was there.  It seems he just has a repair job today and it is just down the street, so while the gelcoat was setting up, he came back home.  Nice surprise to have him home at lunch time.  Then he had to go back and finish up the job.

I mostly worked on my family history and I think I have the chart all finished and filled in properly.  It will be the second case study in my presentation.  I have a few more things to finish it up, but getting this done is a big step.

I actually cooked a little dinner this evening - big surprise!  I felt like eating a little more than usual, so that was all it took.  It wasn't much, but at least we had food.  I usually eat lunch and then very little at dinnertime. 

December 18th - Quiet Thursday

I spent today mostly recovering from being so tired yesterday!  Well, I did do a bunch of laundry and a few other house things.  I also worked on my family history some more.  I just didn't feel like doing much of anything else, so I didn't! 

Hmmm,  that sounds like a pretty lazy day.  Funny, it didn't seem lazy, but I guess it was! 

December 17th - Genealogy Study Group

Today was mostly taken up with the Genealogy Study Group.  I was at the church early to get some things set up.  It was primarily a social today, so we had snacks and plenty of time to just visit and get better acquainted with each other.  We also had everyone do a survey to get some feedback on the direction that they want the group to go for the next year.  Everyone seemed to have a good time and I heard some comments about what a fun morning it was. 

We then had our steering committee meeting, which took a little while since we did not have a program planned for January yet.  We got the next three or four months outlined, so we felt like we had accomplished a lot.

One of the workers for the afternoon at the Family History Center was not there, and there was a patron, so I stayed with her, so she would not be alone.  It was one of the members of the Study Group who wanted to take advantage of the center being open after the meeting.  I helped him with some Fold3 stuff.  I love helping patrons.  It did make for a long day, though!

When I finally got home, I had some light lunch (I had eaten plenty of snacks earlier!)  I worked a little more on my presentation.  Then, since I was so tired again, I decided to watch some episodes of Broadchurch.  I ended up watching the last 3 episodes so the murder mystery was solved!

December 16th - Quiet Tuesday

Well, it was mostly quiet.  I did as little as possible at home, although I did have to run out to the grocery store to pick up some brownies and a few other things for tomorrow's meeting.  The rest of the day, I worked on family history - still trying to get my exhibits done for my presentation.

I must admit that I gave up and took a short nap, too.  Some days I am just so tired!  Naps are good, though. 

December 15th - Monday, Not Much Going On

Since the kids were not here yesterday, there wasn't much straightening to do.  That meant I was able to pretty much spend my day at the computer.  I worked on my presentation on timelines and got quite a bit more worked out.  Of course, I ran into a snag.  I guess that is OK since that is the point of teaching them to do timelines, but it does slow me down!

That was pretty much all I did all day long.  Well, other than when I got tired and relaxed and watch a show or two on the TV.  I did not take a nap, though. 

Bill went in this morning and got the stitches taken out and then went on to a job.  He didn't get home until kind of late because of it.  The healing looks good.  I don't there will be much of scar on either site once the healing is complete.

December 14th - A Great Stake Conference

We had stake conference this morning and it was a good one.  They are always good, but sometimes there is just a special spirit that is stronger and that was the case today.  Excellent talks.  We really enjoyed hearing the new mission president and his wife speak for the first time.  To tell the truth - they were all good!

Once we got home, we threw together a quick stir-fry for dinner and then spent the rest of the day relaxing.  In fact, I took a long Sunday afternoon nap.  It felt so good!  We really missed the kids, though, but they are having fun in Colorado.

Our home teachers came by this evening and we enjoyed our visit with them, as well.  It has been a great Sunday!

December 13th - Made It Through My Talk!

Saturday today, so that meant doing some laundry, changing the sheets, and as few other things as I could get by with.  I worked on my presentation and made more progress.  I read through my talk for this evening a time or two to make sure it was finished.

When Bill got back from a job he had scheduled for this morning, we headed out to Steak and Shake for lunch.  Then back home to finish up the chores and take a nap.  What a stressful day!

This evening was the adult session of stake conference and I had to do my talk.  It went well, I think.  I talked about hastening the work and how that applies to family history.  The Saturday sessions are always good.

December 12th - What a Boring Day - But I Enjoyed It!

I had another stay-at-home day and enjoyed every minute of it - doing nothing of great value, but accomplishing lots of stuff.

Besides the expected routine, I worked intensely on my Timeline presentation and got a lot done.  I got an outline completed of what will be in the presentation and a rough pencil draft of what I will do on the Power Point.  I still have some things to do to get the exhibits ready, but I am making progress.  The challenge, which I keep putting off, is learning to use Power Point properly, so the pictures will look as great as I have imagined them!  I sometimes tend to think a little too big.  We will see what happens. 

I didn't even touch the other presentation.  I was disappointed that a book I had ordered from Amazon had not come and they can't find it, so they refunded my money.  That was good customer service, but I really wanted the book!  I guess I will have to reorder it.  I wanted some of that information for my presentation.  Sure is a good thing I have until May to get it finished!  I am glad I started early.

I also finalized my talk for conference Saturday night.  It was pretty much done, but I tweaked it just a bit and I am finished now - no more tweaks!  I had to send a copy to one of the members of the high council so they could prepare the Spanish translation. 

December 11th - Happy 87th Birthday, Dad!

I talked to Dad on the phone today to wish him happy birthday and to check up on him.  He sounded good.  He was on his way to Red Lobster to have a lobster lunch with Tammy.  Glad someone is helping him celebrate!

The rest of the day I was at home.  I did four loads of laundry.  In between, I worked on my timeline presentation.  I am using two case studies and I have a lot of work to get the case studies just how I want them.  I did make a good bit of progress, though.  I think it is going to work out really well.  At least, I hope so!

Bill went out with the missionaries this evening, and I was tired from being at the computer all day long, so I just sat and watched a couple of episodes of Blue Blood while eating some popcorn.  Best way to relax at the end of a day!

December 10th - Family History Day

The week is mostly back to normal today - finally!  I spent the morning at the Family History Center.  Unfortunately, we didn't have any patrons, but we enjoyed ourselves, nonetheless.  I worked on the family that I am using for my Sunday class on sources.  I will use one of the brothers for my class for the consultants in January.  They had chosen to have the class on sources, so it should be pretty easy.

The rest of the day was pretty much routine:  a few things around the house and then at the computer.

Bill only worked for a while.  He had not scheduled any actual work - just estimates, etc.  The doctor warned him about the dust, so he is not taking any chances on the sutures in the nose getting any infection.  He did go home teaching this evening, while I rested in the big chair!

December 9th - Bill Doing Great

Bill is doing great with his nose and neck procedures.  He took pain pills to sleep, but hasn't had any pain today.  He even made a list of errands and was gone for a couple of hours doing them.  This afternoon, he was able to remove the bandages, clean the sutures, and then leave them uncovered to heal.  He is a little distraught over the nose, but actually she did a great job with the stitches.  Once they are removed and it finishes healing, I doubt there will be much of a scar, if at all.

I did a few things around the house, as usual, but not any more than I thought I had to do!  I spent the rest of my day mostly at the computer.  I worked on my talk a bit.  I spent quite a bit of time working on one of my presentations.  Plus, just the ordinary things I am always doing.

December 7th - Remember Pearl Harbor!

Oops - forgot to post.

Today was another great Sunday.  Testimony meeting was especially good today.  My class went well.  They are loving getting into actual documents and seeing what can be learned.  It is new to some of them and they got so excited.

Back home, the kids came over for dinner.  We just had an old Iowa farm dinner - fried pork chops, boiled potatoes, and corn.  It must have been good, because everyone ate really well - even the little ones.  We so enjoy our relaxing time with them.  The children are so entertaining and it is nice to have grown-up talk, too.

December 8th - Day at the Dermatologist's Office

Today Bill had the two spots removed - one from his nose and one from his neck.  They were diagnosed a few months ago and we finally got in to get the surgery done.  All went well, although it took a good hunk of the day.  The one on his nose required a second cut to get it all, so that added a couple of hours to the day.  But, now both are clean and he is bandaged and feeling good.  He did get some pain meds, as there will probably be some pain with the nose one.  I went with him, so we both spent the day there.

On our way home, we stopped and had a big lunch/dinner.  It was after 2:30 and we were both very hungry!  We also stopped and dropped off the prescriptions, which I went back later to pick up.

A friend of ours who is a plumber, stopped by to fix something for us.  Josh had stayed with us for several months a few years ago, so it was fun to have a chance to sit and chat and get all caught up.

And that was pretty much our day!

December 6th - Art Show and Piano Recital

We started the day with having to deal with plumbing issues.  Last night, the toilets both started gurgling and wouldn't flush properly.  We called a plumber and made arrangements for them to come this morning to check out the problem.  It appeared to be in the main line and that is what he found.  It seems the main line in our front yard has had roots get into it.  It will have to be dug up and replaced.  Fortunately, he was able to clear it enough that we will be OK for a short while.  It always seems to be one thing after another!

I did manage to get a couple of loads of laundry done once the plumber finished.  Other than that, I worked on family history most of the day.  I had to finish my prep for my Sunday lesson.  We will be doing research and I wanted to make sure everything was ready with the person I will be using as my example.  It turned out that I needed to do a bit of updating on the RootsMagic file, so that took a while.

Mid-afternoon, we headed over to Lisa's church to set up the art show.  We had a display of all the art that Ashby and Abby have done this semester.  Lisa's piano and voice students had their recital, so we were able to set it up at the back of the chapel.  Ashby was very proud!  The recital was fun, too.  Her students are making great progress.  It was all Christmas music, so that added to the holiday feeling.

On the way home, we stopped and ordered a pizza, then did a bit of grocery shopping.  We managed to get most of our chores done that we had planned. 

December 5th - Another Stay at Home Day

Today was pretty much a rerun of yesterday, I guess.  I didn't get out - didn't want to, actually.  I had a couple of errands I should have run, but.........

I did a little dusting, some more laundry, etc., around the house.  I also worked on the computer quite a bit.  I finished up the stuff on the family history for my friend in Utah and got that ready to mail to her.  I worked on my talk a little more.  I worked on my presentation a little.  Just more of that kind of stuff. 

However, I got so tired by mid-afternoon that I finally gave up and took the first nap of the week.  It wasn't a very long one, but it sure felt good!

Bill was late again this evening.  He has been overworking this week, I think.  Wish I could get him to slow down. 

December 4th - At Home Day

So, I needed to recover from being so busy yesterday (yes, that's my excuse for being lazy!) so I stayed home.  I did accomplish a few things, though.  I did several loads of laundry, sent some invoices for Bill, talked to the insurance company about repairing the car, got a first draft done on my talk, worked on one of my presentations.  Plus, there were a few other things. 

I must admit, though, that I also was tired, so I took some time to relax in the big chair with the TV on.  What can I say?  I like being lazy!

December 3rd - Busy Day!

I was able to work at the Family History Center this morning, as usual.  It was great to have some patrons.  I helped an interesting man and woman.  They had written a book about the man's great uncle who lived to over 100 years of age.  They are now in the process of writing a book about another story from the family - a murder!  They were at the center to look up newspapers and other sources to get more details.  It was certainly a little different - but quite fun, especially when they found some newspaper articles that gave them some details that they were not aware of yet.

From there, I headed back home.  After getting some lunch and resting for a few minutes, I went up to the art room to tackle the art show projects.  I needed to get the pictures mounted in some way.  I had also made labels, but they needed to be mounted, as well.  It took me a couple of hours, but they all look good.  The art show will be Saturday during Lisa's piano recital.  I think the girls will be excited!  I could use a few more easels, though, so I will need to check with Lisa to see if she has any.  Otherwise, since I don't want to buy anymore, I will just lay some of the pictures flat on the table.

December 2nd - Joy School Dinosaur Party!

I headed over to Lisa's this morning to help out with Joy School.  They are studying dinosaurs this week and today was Brooks' birthday celebration.  It turned out that I didn't need to do much, although I took a few pictures.  There were seven pre-schoolers and they all loved the dinosaurs.  It was a fun and exciting morning.  Lisa had fixed a cake in the shape of a dinosaur, so that was the perfect highlight to a fun birthday for Brooks.

Once I got home, had some lunch and relaxed a few minutes, I was mostly involved in all of my usual stuff.  I worked some more on my talk and I think I have it pretty much figured out.  I just need to write it out now, to make sure I am in the 10 minute limit!

I had a friend come by and borrow my fondue set.  She is having a party on Saturday and wants to dip some chocolate.  Sounds fun.  It is about time we did fondue again!

Bill had to go to the youth activity this evening.  They went roller skating.  Fortunately, Bill chose to just watch and not to try to skate.  They had a good turnout and the youth had a great time, according to Bill.  I, on the other hand, watched a little TV while I had some popcorn and spent a little more time at the computer, before snuggling up with my book. 

I lead such a boring life - but today, with all those dinosaurs, it was definitely NOT boring!  Love that boy and he is so excited to be four years old!!

December 1st - Happy Birthday, Brooks!!

The birthday boy is four years old today.  He has been so excited about his birthday.  I think this is the first year that he has some real understanding about birthdays.  He is so proud to be 4!  We went over this evening to have home made pizza and birthday cake to celebrate his birthday.  What a fun evening!

The rest of the day was pretty much mundane Monday.  I had a good bit of house straightening to do after the decorating party last night.  I got most of that put in order.  I stripped and washed the sheets.  I worked on the talk that I have to give for stake conference.  And several of the other ordinary Monday tasks.

But, ending with a birthday party certainly turned a mundane day into a happy and exciting day!

November 30th - Decorating Chaos!

We had our regular Sunday schedule - last minute preparing for lessons, a little family history, etc.  Church meetings were good.  My class went well.  We are starting on researching sources online, which will be our last segment.  It will take us 3 or 4 weeks to get through it all, though.

When we got home, I got dinner going.  Lisa and family got here shortly after we got home.  Bill had gotten the tree out and had it set up.  It is the artificial we bought last year.  I love that it is pre-lit!  So, it was standing there with the lights on, but nothing else.  Needless to say, the kids were really excited that they got to put on the decorations.  And then chaos broke out!  They did all the decorating, but it was funny watching them.  They each have their favorite things, so they couldn't wait to find those things.  And Brooks was fascinated with all the foam boxes that things are packed in.  I believe he managed to destroy several of them, because it looked like popcorn when he crumbled it!  I guess I will be repacking some things in tissue this year.  LOL!  There seems to be a box or two still missing, so Bill is going to have to do another climb to the attic.  After all, we must have the stockings to hang! 

After the decorating and dinner, the kids decided we needed to be entertained.  They sang a little and danced some, as well.  It really was quite entertaining!  When it was time for them to go home, they were not ready.  It is always good to leave Grandma and Grandpa's house still wanting to stay - they will be anxious to come again!

The rest of our evening was quiet.  Tomorrow I will have a good bit of straightening up to do.  The decorations are still rather chaotic!  I am glad the kids had so much fun, though.  I am afraid that if it was left to me, I would probably not put anything out!

I got a call from one of the stake presidency this evening, too.  We have stake conference in December and he wanted me to speak at the Saturday evening session.  So, I guess that is one more thing that I will have to prepare!  I don't really mind speaking, so it shouldn't be a problem.  And the topic is about family history, so that should really be easy - as long as I can keep from being boring!