Black Friday

 I didn't stay up late shopping this year, nor did I get up at the crack of dawn (although we did our fair share of online shopping).  On Black Friday we went shopping for new shoes at the Outlets, out to dinner and then we went to watch a performance of A Christmas Carol that people from our ward were involved with. 

 We went to a school to watch it, and the heater broke so they passed out blankets if you wanted to wrap up and stay warm.  It was a fun, chilly night :)

Giving Thanks

 This was our first Thanksgiving in our new home and we broke it in well!  We had three other families over from our ward and Grandpa Tom was with us.  We ate well!

 All the kids from the Field, Sorensen, Coburn and Murray families.

 The best of desserts.  We are so thankful for our many blessings, most of all the blessings of the people in our lives and the gift of our Savior Jesus Christ.  Hope your Thanksgiving was blessed!

First Snow

 Our first snow of the season fell today and the kids were pretty excited.  The boys went bowling in the morning with kids from the ward then walked over to our church for some games in the gym and pie.  My friend Tiffany made all the pies and organized the event.  She is such a good mom!

 They didn't want to leave the church because the snow was so fun.

Honor Roll Assembly

 I'm super proud of both Spencer and James who were recently honored at their team's honor roll assemblies for being on the A/B Honor Roll.  I first went to Spencer's assembly and sat through the assembly wondering where Spencer was.  He never heard the announcement for his team to come to the cafeteria for his assembly. Glad I was there for all those kids I didn't know :)  I went to James' assembly and he did show up at his assembly so we got to take an embarrassing picture.

The assembly was nothing like we were used to at their school in Australia, but I guess it was OK.  Way to go boys!

Visitors

 We have been super excited about our visitors who have stayed with us this month.  Ashley, Jerry and Tyler from Australia stayed with us a few nights so they could see DC.  Too bad it was colder than usual while they were here.  We loved seeing them and miss them heaps!

We forgot to take a picture when we were all together so this is as good as it gets :)

Star of the Week

 Faith was the Star of the Week, and she was so excited.  She made this poster all about her.

 As the star she chose someone to come into the class and read her favorite story.  She chose Hope and me and we read The Very Cranky Bear.

 She got to bring home the class pet, Fluffy the Teddy Bear. 

 She took Fluffy to the dentist with her.

 We even got to take Fluffy to the school's BINGO night.  He must be a good luck charm because the girls both won major prizes.

Their winnings.  They don't look overly excited, but they were!

It was a good week for stars!

American Education Week

 Hope and I got to visit Faith's classroom today as part of American Education Week.  Hope loves to visit.  The girls made place mats for Thanksgiving.

 They also made macaroni necklaces.

We always love to visit Faith at school.

A Magical Night

 We got to hang out at the boys' school tonight for their big fund raiser, "A Magical Night."  It is so hard to get pictures of Spencer and James these days, but especially at their school.  I guess that screams nerd if you have a mom trying to take your picture at school.  We never did get a picture of James tonight, but we he was there.  We started in the auditorium for the magic show.  A guy who did magic on America's Got Talent came and performed.  The kids loved it.

After the magic show we went to the cafeteria for dinner and wandered the school looking at the activities.  We didn't do a lot because it all cost money.  It was a fun Friday night out!

Frozen Santa

 While we were at the mall with the Leefes today we noticed Santa has already made his appearance at the mall.  It's not even Thanksgiving!  Since we were here and he was here, we decided to pay a visit.  Santa was in a Frozen themed room.

They asked Santa for unicorns this year.  I hope they meant the stuffed variety :)

Sad Times

 We knew it would only be four days, but for four days we got to pretend that we didn't live 10,000 miles away from the Leefes.  Having them here was wonderful!! It was like they brought Australia to us, and all of our wonderful memories and friends came with their visit.

 Margaret loves to shop as much as I do, so on our last day with them we went to the mall to help them buy a car top carrier for their rental van so they could fit all of their purchases.

So here we are in the mall car park saying goodbye and bawling our eyes out. 

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."  A.A. Milne

It's been amazing having a piece of Australia with us.  How I miss them!