Lincoln's First Birthday

November involved taking several more Foundations classes for foster care.

I was asked to bring a meal to an inactive member of the church who had a newborn.  It turns out Vicki Hubbard had been in Young Women's with Debbie Hardy (Grandma) as a leader several years before.  So she recognized my name!  Not a coincidence, definitely the Lord is in the details.

We voted!

We started house shopping, I'm still not so sure about moving.

Dillan lost his second front tooth!

We replaced our 2 30-year-old aluminum sliding doors with one regular "energy efficient" new one.  While prepping the space for the new door Kyle messed up his back and was useless the rest of the day (and the next 2 days until he saw a chiropractor).  We had asked Josh (his brother) to come help lift it into place.  Josh and I (Kellie) ended up installing the door while Kyle laid on the floor.  

After a few visits to the chiropractor and a few weeks of rest Kyle was able to get the door just right.

 I wish I had something clever to say about this awesomeness.

 Dillan's creation

A cozy Saturday morning by the fire.

We had a crazy freeze.  School was cancelled.  Our front and side yard are shaded so the ice stayed for days longer than anywhere else.  They loved using cookie sheets as sleds and a skateboard without wheels as a snowboard.

We were excited to take the kids to go see the musical the local high school drama department was putting on: The Wizard of Oz.  It was cancelled due to the ice!  We were able to go the next weekend though, and it was a pretty special experience for the kids.  I'm impressed by how professional their productions are.

We had a 50 lb. box of apples and Hazel unloaded half the box onto the couch. I wonder why

 Dillan took some paper into his room to do art during rest time, this is what greeted me when I went into his room!  It flies really nicely.

 By Dillan

 Happy Birthday Lincoln!  I'm amazed and excited and surprised and little sad that you are one.  You are calm and curious and fun and loved by your family and neighbors.

 We drove the kids crazy by letting Lincoln unwrap his presents at his own pace.  They could not hold back their knowledge and enthusiasm for opening presents.  Lincoln got a lot of "help."

 At Red Robin for Lincoln's birthday.

 Red Robin

A few weeks ago we started Saxophone Sundays.  It's a hit with the kids.  I'm surprised that on their first day they could get the sound to come out right.  Their little hands and short arms aren't long enough to reach all the keys.

We made my Great Grandma Hugo's famous apple pie for Thanksgiving and enjoyed our meal at the Nagle's house because the Hardy Grandparents were out of town.

I informed Kyle that I didn't want to be stressed about Christmas this year.  He told me I didn't have to be.  So we ordered most of our stuff online and shopped in stores on Black Friday and that covered most of it.  Then I was free to follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost for ways we could give during the rest of the Christmas season.  (More to come in December's post)

 Lincoln enjoyed the lights!

We put up our Christmas decorations on the Saturday after Thanksgiving to enjoy it all as long as possible.  We chose a tree that had been overlooking the creek on the Christmas tree farm; it was a happy tree!

This is the first year we went to Gresham's Christmas Tree Lighting at the Arts Plaza downtown.  It was pretty lame, I don't think we'll go again in years to come.