We had a fun, busy 3rd week of November. Monday, November 16th we had quite a few Zoom meetings. First at 3:30pm Nyles and I had a Zoom meeting w/ Kyle (our Primary President) and the kids from his Primary class. They discussed their topic about baptism for our Primary Program. Kyle put their poster together w/ what they each said about their question on the topic of baptism. Nyles had this question: What did Alma do to prepare himself for baptism? (Mosiah 17:2-4, 18:1). He said, "To prepare for baptism, Alma first recognized his wickedness and mistakes, then he repented of his sins, then he started teaching others about Abinadi's teachings so they could do the same."
Then at 4:30pm Nyles had his last art Zoom class for the term (offered by the district).
Carter also joined in on the fun.
Then at 6:30pm we had a Zoom meeting w/ the Elders in our area. They are both serving in our area until their "real" ones open up. One is supposed to go to Taiwan and the other to Brazil. They gave us a great message from Helaman 5:12 about having Christ as our Rock and Foundation. Nyles thought it was awesome to have a message from them and use his scriptures. He read the scripture all by himself and thought talking to the Elders was pretty cool. He said he'd like to have another meeting w/ them soon :)
Then at 9pm after the kids went to bed, I got on Zoom w/ Barb, Pauline and Dexter to chit chat. I invited the whole family, but not all of us made it on. We haven't seen each other much this year due to Covid, so I thought it would be fun to see each other and chat for a while. It was great. We'll have to do it again soon.
Here are some other highlights from the week.
Steve talked me into getting a new TV during the Black Friday sales happening this month. The new TV in the back compared to the old one in the front. It's definitely bigger than our last one!
It's a Roku TV, so the remote operates everything in one menu, which is great!
Cute baby Hudson has found his hands. They're his new favorite things.
Cute Carter snuggled up w/ Piper. He does this almost every day.
Carter, Hudson and I went to the library and played at the park while Steve took Nyles to Kumon. Carter LOVES going to the library to check out DVDs and books. He checked out Paw Patrol DVDs and Pet the Cat books this time.
I cooked up our pumpkins we decorated for Halloween. I cooked them in the Instant Pot in small chunks, then blended them for a minute, and then put them in freezer bags. Now we'll have more pumpkin to enjoy later. This was my first time doing this, but it worked out great! Thanks for the tips Barb and Mom :)
Cute baby Hudson kicked off his socks (typical) and is eating his bib. He is drooling like crazy these days. Hopefully we have a while until he gets any teeth in though.
My dad hit a rock while riding his motorcycle and fell off.
He had to get stitches on his head and broke his wrist. Poor guy!
Cute Carter worked on this puzzle and finished it all by himself!
He's getting really good at them.
Silly Piper couldn't wait for her dog food. Steve refilled the bucket up from downstairs, but she couldn't wait for him to bring it up before eating some.
On Friday, after Nyles got his homework done for the day (they do Friday's at home), Steve and the boys went w/ Dave out to the dump. The boys like to help throw the garbage.
Carter helping throw garbage out.
Nyles helping too.
The boys watching the loader smash the garbage.
Cute Hudson likes to blow bubbles in his spit.
We have lots of free channels on the new TV. We found a free kid's yoga class, which the kids think is pretty fun. Nyles and Carter doing different poses while Piper licks them.
Carter and I worked on making towers w/ the blocks one day.
Hudson just sucking on a burp cloth.
Piper loves to lay on the blankets any chance she gets.
We went walking around at Scheels and the boys had to look at the cute stuffed animals.
Hudson is now 3 months old! We love having him in our family! He is a happy baby and lights up the room. He has a super cute giggle too. His hair is starting to come in. We call it his "duck fuzz." He's been in 3-6 months clothes since 2 months and size 2 diapers. He did 7 hour stretches one week, but it back to 3 to 5 hours now. He's definitely growing though.
I took a quick picture and used an app to make it look like school pictures.
Nyles 2nd grade at Altara Elementary, age 8.
Carter in preschool at New Castle Preschool, age 4.
Steve and I.
Playing "Pencil Nose" for family night.
Carter's turn.
Cute pictures of Hudson.
Sunday I met the other members of our Primary Presidency and we set up the posters in the foyer for the ward members to see after Sacrament Meeting. Nyles came with me, then Steve brought Carter and Hudson and we stayed for church (Sacrament Meeting). We haven't been in person as a family since back in March, so we thought it was time. Though the Covid cases are still increasing quite dramatically, we felt precautions are being taken at church to keep us safe (masks, sanitizing, distancing, etc). It's convenient to be able to watch it at home via Zoom, but there is something special about being together w/ others during the service.
Then at 4pm we had a Zoom meeting for tithing settlement. Then at 5pm we met w/ the 1st counselor to renew our Temple recommends. Since we haven't been to the temple since March, we haven't looked at our recommends and we accidently let them lapse. Ours expired at the end of October, so we quickly signed up for a meeting to get them renewed. Even though we can't attend the temple right now, we definitely still want to have a current valid temple recommend.
At 7pm we had a family prayer via Zoom w/ Steve's family. Most fasted and prayed for help and strength for many members of the family. It was great to be united in this purpose.
Then at 9pm I set up a Zoom w/ my family and we played a game of "Blank Slate." It's a fun easy game where you fill in the blank, such as the word down___. Then you write a word that you think goes after the word down. If only 1 person writes the same word you get 3 points, if more than 1 person has it you get 1 point, and if no one has it you get no points. Rose and Sophia, Pauline, Barb, Rich and Abby, and my parents joined plus Steve and I. It was a lot of fun. Again though we can't get together in person to play games, it's fun we can do something like Zoom (a video call) to see and interact w/ one another. We'll have to play again soon! I'm thankful for technology to allow us to connect still as a family and other ways. It's definitely come in handy.
Great quote.
I love this picture.
Here is a short testimony of mine I included for our Primary Program--- I'm so grateful we have been able to read and study the Book of Mormon this year, especially as a family. Not only can we learn from the stories in the book, but more importantly we can feel the Spirit speak to us about its truthfulness. It's primary purpose of the Book of Mormon is to teach us about our Savior Jesus Christ and how we can return to live with him and our Heavenly Father someday. As I read its pages my testimony is strengthened. I know the Book of Mormon was written and preserved for our day. It can help bring us hope and happiness in these latter days. I know Joseph Smith was the prophet of the restoration, and through God's help he was able to translate the Book of Mormon for us today. I know that we also have a living prophet today, President Russell M. Nelson, who leads and guides us, if we will follow him. I know Jesus is the Christ. I testify that these things are true, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Here is the video that we put together in place of our primary program. https://vimeo.com/481933174. The password is: primary3rd
