Do we go trick or treating? Do we go full pagan on the Lord's Day?
I don't really know the answer to any of those questions.
I just know that parenting is hard and a total mystery.
We opted for pumpkin carving with the Flynns and trick or treating inside our own house.
When the pumkins were lit and put out front, we let the kids run around and "trick or treat" at different doors and stations in the house. It was SOOO fast and completely anticlimactic.
Dad still collected his snicker tax.
And the girls had fun handing out candy to the neighbor kids.
On the bright side, it was good to have someone to guard our severed foot. It's been in the family for many years. We'd be sad if it was stolen by unsavory youths.
The Peterson's invited us to go out to see the Oliver Cowdery memorial in Richmond, Missouri. We held our own quick sacrament meeting at the house and then changed into cooler clothes and headed out. There is no shirts and ties in this kind of humidity...that is not smart. We know Heavenly Father loves us and doesn't want us to die of heat exhaustion.
The girls are so excited to get out of the house!
Rob Peterson prepared some history and led the discussion. It was so interesting. We were in the shade and the breeze was so lovely. It was neat to be there and it really made me think about what it might have been like to be a part of the church in the early days. I have so much sympathy for those early saints and the monumental faith they must have had in order to leave their lives and come out here. I can imagine that it wasn't a perfect path for any of them.
Kylie is freshly home from her mission and has loads of experience doing church history tours on temple square...so she did some reading from the memorial. I had no idea that he was buried here.
We took the time to look around at some of the other graves and headstones.
This one broke my heart.
A group photo...
Just like these happy folks from 1911.
We popped down the street to a park and ate our packed lunches. It all felt so...2019. You know, when this was a normal thing to do instead of slightly on the illlegal/reckless side. How dare we sit next to one another!
Life is so weird these days.
And, yes, I have mixed feelings about it. I'm sure I've made that abundantly clear.
After lunch we stopped at the city cemetery to find David Whitmer's grave.
Before I opened my eyes this morning, I was taking deep breaths and walking myself through the intense litany of Sabbath events colliding with Christmas merrymaking...peppered with random scouting committees and Coming of Age events.
Up early.
Choir practice.
Church.
Home to feed the troops
Quartet performances
Choir practice (that's right...again)
Mathew's Eagle Board of Review
Laney's temple prep fireside
Collapse in exhaustion
We got the kids up and started to beat them into submission...a weekly occurrence. And just about the very moment we had all put on our shiny uncomfortable Sunday shoes...we got the call.
Church is cancelled! But wait....there is still sacrament meeting being held at the Stake Center nearby. We're already dressed so we resolve to go.
But wait! They cancel that meeting too. We get out of those church clothes in record time. Looks like we're gonna have a snow day, folks.
Doesn't take much to scare Kansans into staying home. And I love them for it.
Even Sophie seemed ecstatic.
Just a quick swapparoo in the advent calendar and we were doing our gingerbread houses! If there's one thing I've learned as a mom...when the opportunity presents itself and you've got some time....take advantage. It's probably not gonna happen again.
This year: mini houses!
Precision is key.
Mathew didn't get the memo to change out of church clothes...unfortunate.
Knife skills! We're preparing our kids for adulthood.
Furrowed brow indicates concentration.
The little gingerstructures are drying. That takes only 4 hours or so.
Seems like a good time to walk to the fence and back. It's what teenagers like to do.
The string quartet decided to brave the snow and come through for the rest homes we were scheduled to play at. We felt heroic, I'm not going to lie. I pictured their disappointment when they thought we wouldn't be coming because of the icy roads....in reality, they were a little ticked that we came in the middle of the Chiefs game. We apologized and played our Christmas songs as quickly as possible. Luckily the Chiefs won and the residents were in a forgiving mood.
Meanwhile, back at the casa....Anna had set out all the decorations and sprinkles she could find in the pantry. I love big kids.
In other news....Megan's official learner's permit came in the mail! This girl is street legal.
She always makes this face.
Then I make her smile for me.
And if that's not enough for one day. We had our candlelight dinner! Too bad I forgot to buy the long skinny candles, they finally melted down to nubs after using the same ones for the last several years.
We borrowed a couple from Ethan and scavenged a few from the cupboards where we put thing that don't have a home and VIOLA!
