Grateful Friday

 We have had such a nice time!  Wednesday we spent lots of time just being together.  I decided to take advantage of helpers and get a jump on Christmas. QE was thrilled at the prospect of decorating the tree.  Mark and Braeden hauled boxes and Adam and Mark set up the tree and Mark went up on the ladder and did the high stuff on the shelf before the tree was placed.

Basically we can't have Christmas without Mark.

Adam cooked all the meals and said, "Go sit down," if I ventured into the kitchen.

Basically we wouldn't have anything without Adam.

I loved the very concentrated band of ornaments just at QE's level.

Also, she saw this Coke Zero ornament that I think Geri gave Adam once upon a time.  She pretended to take a swig from it and said, "I'm a man!"

For context, Braeden drinks soda and Anna never does.  I guess it feels masculine to QE.  She is a constant delight.

Everyone except Emma and QE and I went to the grocery story for last minute supplies and I loved watching my two best girls play together.  QE had a stethoscope and was being very dramatic and making Emma giggle.  I thought, this is something I always want to remember, just the sheer delight of them being together.

Later, while everyone else was doing other things, (Adam, cooking), QE and I finished decorating the tree.  This time I thought, I will always remember this.  I think it is a new core memory.  I loved it so much.  She chatted about placement and asked me questions about where the ornaments were from.

I showed QE some Rudolph figurines I have and she was enamored with them, but didn't know the story.  When I was telling her the story, I couldn't remember the name of the doe who was Rudolph's girlfriend.  I said, "Faline?  Or is that from Bambi?"

Braeden said, "I think it's Clarice"

I said, "Oh, that's right."

QE was hanging on every word.

We decided to watch the movie.  She snuggled into my side which I loved.  She refused to accept that Clarice was not Faline, however.

For the rest of the evening, she kept asking us the deer's name.  We would say Clarice and she would say, "No, it's Faline."

Braeden told her to stop asking if she didn't want the answer.  I admired her commitment.  If you ask me, she really can do no wrong.

In the evening we had Pikkujoulu.  Adam made clam chowder and Trader Joe's made the treats.  Emma and Mark sang and Braeden read stories.  Adam did his scripture reading.

We had one more night with everyone under one roof and that is about the coziest feeling there is.

Yesterday morning Adam and I drove our guests to Anna's parents' house.  We had a brief and nice visit with them and then went to Emma's apartment, because she forgot her mashed potatoes shirt!

In anticipation of Thanksgiving, I asked everyone what their most important dish was.  I was looking at shirts for Christmas gifts on Life is Good and I saw they had Thanksgiving shirts with what everyone had requested.  (Adam's pick was based on the shirt.)

Before we ate, we took pictures of everyone with their favorite dish:

I would like the record to show that Adam got that out of the cupboard for the picture and we had a different gravy boat for our actual gravy.

After we ate, we listened to "Dave Cook's the Turkey" then I took a glorious nap.  Later we played bank and ate pie and leftovers.  We watched The Great Escaper which was on PBS.  It was excellent.

We have much to be grateful for.  I loved being together.  I loved the delicious food.  I loved showing the Christmas bears to QE and remembering all the goodness of our shared lives.  

When I consider how much I love being together, I feel even more grateful for temple covenants that bind us.  I am grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I am grateful for the ways that God's love and the Atonement of Jesus Christ bless my life.

I know that all the people who are so very kind to me, are reflecting the light of Jesus Christ.  They want to be more like Him and I am the lucky recipient of such goodness.

Today, the tree is mingling with autumnal decorations and I am ready to paint the entire town (house, and not paint, but you get the idea) red.