.Happy Morning!

The sun is coming up later and later in the morning. Just like every year. For a while we’d leave to seminary in the dark and come out of class and see the sun! But lately the sun has been waiting for us to drive home from seminary.

I love this because we get to see some BEAUTIFUL sunrises!

It’s a gift.

Seeing these pictures of the sun coming up is making me think of this hilarious Tube video I saw recently:

In other news:

Air finally got to try out KFC’s “Double Down” burger. It basically has two chicken breasts instead of a bun with bacon inside.

He wasn’t too impressed.

Also, our seminary kids are pretty much the best kids you can find. Anywhere.

I love teaching them.

Do you like my picture of the armor of God on the board? I thought It turned out pretty cute! hehe

.Thanks

Thanksgiving came early this year! What? Nobody told you??
Just a'kiddin'... it was just Canadian Thanksgiving of course ;)

Air's family went up to Cherry Grove to see the cousins for the long weekend so we decided to make our own feast for the first time. It. Was. Amazing.





I think that cooking his first turkey by himself made Air feel more manly… This random video I found may have attributed to that theory:

And who better to share such a wonderful feast with than family?

Speaking of family and Thanksgiving…
I am eternally thankful for my family. Canadians and Americans alike. I couldn’t be happier with the people I got stuck with. I only wish I could see them all a whole lot more!



Yes, we ate in the living room… and yes I need to clean my oven. So sue me!

Anyone want some leftover yucky pie?

.pie!

Mom,

Remember when I called you the other day for your banana nut bread recipe? Well, I made it and it was WAY BETTER than the recipe I used last time! It was so delicious! Thanks!

{I used chocolate chips instead of nuts though. I hope you aren’t disappointed.}

Also,

I made my first apple pie!

Sure I just went to an enrichment “pie making” activity and a bunch of Relief Society women basically "micro-managed" as I put it together, but it turned out GREAT! And now I (kinda) know how to make pie!

So I'm making some pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving tomorrow! And Air and I are making an entire Thanksgiving meal all by ourselves. Turkey, potatoes, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, rolls... everything! I am so excited!

Wish us luck!

.tender mercy

On Friday, Air skipped his class and I didn't work (my work schedule is less predictable than the weather). So we went for a drive to look at houses and fall colors. We love to do this.

We were driving through a nearby neighborhood of little older homes and clean streets with kids skipping around in the yards. It was beautiful. Everything looks more beautiful in the fall. I saw a 'FOR SALE' sign in front of a house and made Aaron turn around and go down that street. We pulled up in front of the house and noticed it was empty, so we walked up and looked in the big front window. I instantly fell in love with the place. We walked around to see the back yard. It was fantastic too.

Believe it or not, we are a little weary of this basement we live in. Yes, we have had a great two years here, and it's been such a blessing to have a place; but sometimes we feel like a change would be good. We just have no idea how we can do that. We really just can't. But when I saw this house my brain couldn't stop trying to figure out a way to have it!

That is... until we were sitting in the car about to pull away from the house and Air looked out my window across the street and said these three words: "Hey, there's Andy"

{Background: Andy is one of the handicapped kids who Air works with. You may have heard him tell stories about Andy--he's a really funny kid. But basically he is one of the more dangerous kids in the company too. Pretty much a danger to society, really. Of course it's not his fault--he has brain damage. But he is dangerous none-the-less.}

As it turns out, Andy was recently moved to this new group home, and it just happened to be right across the street from my dream home--which is actually for sale!

I can't even begin to describe all of the problems we'd have if we were to live across the street from Andy. He loves LOVES Air and wouldn't be able to stay away if we were so close.

My dream died right there.

But that's where the tender mercy part of this post comes in, because at least I let the dream go willingly this way... I might not be so lucky with the next house I fall in love with.

.The Spoken Word

Conference weekend was a beaut!

I can't express to you how much I love being a member of the church and having things like conference and meetings and callings to keep my busy and feeling fulfilled. Life would seem so pointless and dreary to me without these things. I love to know so much about where I come from, where I'm going, and what I'm supposed to be doing with my time. This is where I find peace.

My love and I watched the first session on Saturday at home together and then headed down to be with the family for the rest of the weekend. Air, Josh and his Dad went to priesthood session and then to a BNO (boys night out) with a bunch of their xbox buddies from the ward.

I went wedding dress shopping for Tam with the girls: Air's Mom, Tam, Tara and Tessa. After we shopped our hearts out, we came home and had GNO! We all did facials and then I introduced them to North and South. I was so pleased that they actually loved it!

The lady at this dress shop told me I couldn’t take pictures of the dresses (dumb rule) so I took pictures of our expressions as we saw the dresses on Tam…. and then I got a few accidental shots of Tam in the mirror! :)

Tam is going to be a beautiful bride!!

Sunday's conference sessions were amazing! My favorite talk was about the Holy Ghost. I can't remember the name of the speaker; but the words he spoke keep running through my mind. The way he explained that everything we do in our church: scriptures, praying, fasting, attending, serving, etc. are all there in order to have the Spirit with us. They aren't all separate things, unrelated and diverse. They all share the same purpose. God organized his gospel and he created all of these commandments so that we could keep ourselves closer to Him, and to his Spirit.

Conference is a great gift and reminder... I hope you enjoyed it as well!