Parentheticals

It snowed multiple times this week. We didn't get a ton of snow, but it was enough. The kids skated on a frozen pond one day at nature group. They enjoyed that quite a bit. We made half and half barley and wheat bread this week. Other than with Sara, it was well received. Because Sara didn't like it we probably won't make it again. Most of the week we have been doing Christmas things. It feels like we have most everything ready, which is nice. Alison reminds me that we still have seven more things to do... Friday we went with Amy and Dave to The Last Jedi. It was pretty funny, and the characters seemed to develop into deeper characters throughout the movie. I won't spoil it, but generally we liked it. The kids were babysat by Loren and his family while we were there. It is sort of funny to Mike that Alison is in contact with them more than he is, but that is what home schooling does. On Saturday we went to a performance of the nutcracker. The kids enjoyed it,

Oh man, we started up a blog post last weekend, and somehow never completed it. I am posting this late, because better late than never. Timmy's arm brace is now off. His thumb is still a little bit tender, but he is taking it manfully. On Wednesday of last week we went to the library as part of Rea's date night to see Santa. The kids enjoyed it. On Friday we went to Star Ward Christmas at the Off Broadway Theatre. It was pretty funny. There was this part where a character was dressed up in a small person costume (because he was supposed to be far away from the audience, not because he was supposed to be an actual little person.), and he was trying to move a large rock, which ended up being very funny. Gideon is talking a lot this week. He mimics quite well, and he is so cute. We decided to strip the minerals off of our cloth diapers this week. It is an amazingly huge task. It took hours spread over the course of two days. Now that it is done, the diapers are softer, a

Apparently we forgot to post about the trip to California. We went for the entire week of Thanksgiving. It was fun, however we mostly all got sick and were throwing up the last half of the week. Timmy was the only person that remained immune to the sickness. Mike even got it (Gideon smearing vomit on his face probably was the deciding factor). The kids were pretty good on the drive there, but Gideon screamed for hours on the drive back. We spent the last week mostly trying to get back into the swing of things. The kids suffered from grandparent withdraw, and the after effects of the sickness made it difficult for the adults as well. On last Sunday the Peruvian Park ward tithing settlements began. Mike was gone for hours, and he will be up until about Christmas Sunday. It is the hardest part of his calling, but it only happens once a year, so the calling is still a relatively easy one. This week Mike also finished his Ion Award submissions - this year he was able to prepare thre