It's Christmas time!

I feel a little pressure to update the blog. So, here it goes. These past few months have been busy, but really great. I so loved having my sister and brother in law here with us for 2 weeks...and I miss them terribly. I always have the hardest time in the few weeks after family leaves, but thankfully I had enough distractions this time around to keep my mind off of my Scotland home.

A group of girls from my ward and I started a preschool co-op. There are six of us involved and so far it's going fairly well. The children are beginning to adjust to the structure of it and getting along with each other pretty good for the most part. It's so nice to have a little more one on one with with Peter for a couple of hours twice a week and I actually quite enjoyed preparing for the short lessons when it was my turn to teach. It's reminding me of my teaching days and even though I thought for a minute "aww I kinda miss this", I really don't and I'm much happier at home with the wee ones.

For Thanksgiving this year, we were invited by Ryan's aunt and uncle to come out to Reno,Nevada. Their son, Jake, was getting ready to go on his mission to the West Indies and they thought it would be nice to gather the family for the holiday before he headed into the MTC.

I dreaded the thought of the 10+ hour drive out there, but we broke it up on the way out and stopped in Medford for a night(5 hours away) before tackling the remaining 5 or so hours the following morning. Peter hates his car seat and always has, so he successfully made the trip to Medford miserable for everyone, but thankfully he slept most of the morning/afternoon the following day. We didn't hit any major snowfall which made for a smooth trip all around. We had had to get some things fixed on our trusty old Buick le sebre before we left and a couple of new tires, but she didn't die on us which I consider a small miracle.

It was a really brilliant trip despite the tight sleeping quarters(17 of us under one roof!). The wee ones had loads of people fussing over them which meant I got a lovely break, plus I didn't really have to do much cooking either...always fantastic. On Friday we went wedding dress shopping with Callie. She ordered a really beautiful dress...here's a wee peek. She's going to have a different jacket that Liz will make.

A few photies of Jack...you'd think it was still Halloween at our house and not almost Christmas. Right after Halloween I went out and bought a couple of cheap costumes for him to play with and he has not stopped wearing them. He thinks he's pretty cool, and Peter couldn't agree more.

SPIDERMAN

DASH INCREDIBLE

When we got back from Thanksgiving in Reno we continued with our new tradition of going out and cutting down our own tree. Later that night we decorated it and then had some delicious hot chocolate. The wee ones loved staying up a little later than usual. Jack is really excited about Christmas this year...he has a REALLY long list of toys he wants.

Liz came back to ours after Thanksgiving and has been here with us for a week...she leaves tomorrow and I know it's going to break wee Jack's heart when she goes.

Lastly, just for the record I have to include these photos of Peter. This kid is obsessed with Buzz Lightyear. He walks around with these toys most of the day "making them fly" as shown in the picture below (of course, there is a whooshing sound that accompanies the flying) , and kissing them fairly frequently. It's hysterical.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!