Fun!

Yes, the season is a busy one, and yes, this week in particular is NUTS, but in all honestly I LOVE this time of year and even the hustle and bustle it brings. It just adds to the excitement and magic. I am a busy body, and I love this time of year, so most of the time, I don't mind the madness and I almost welcome it. As long as I get some sleep at night, and some breaks here and there, I am good to go. I am sure that I must have been an elf in the past life...Ben agrees. ;)

We have had some fun family time these past few weeks, and I regretfully haven't posted anything about them. Here is a brief summary.

We went to our first movie as a family. We saw Despicable Me and laughed our heads off. It was great. The kids loved it and I loved watching them love it. Ben hung on as long as he could, but he was snoring by the end, with a sleeping William in his arms.

Before that we went to a huge animal adoption fair in Salt Lake. We really Really REALLY want a dog, but we are being very picky this time. No hole diggers, and it has to be "fixed" and house trained. We fell in love with an absolutely gorgeous dog, but they said that we would have to pay for her training classes on top of the adoption fee, which was a crazy amount of $$. They also said she was very hyper. It was a no-go, but it was so fun to look at all of the animals there. We will find our dog soon. I have my eye on a few already. ;)

We took the kids to the mall to see Santa on Monday after FHE. I love having kids that are old enough to believe and get all excited. It is great. I waited in line with William in the stroller and Ben took the kids to play on the toys until I got to the front of the line. I have been to see many a Santa, but I must say that this one was truly awesome! He made the kids feel so happy and excited and he even made Ben and I feel good. He took time with us and it made the HUGE wait well worth it.
On the way home in the car, Mary "saw" Santa's sleigh flying him back to the North Pole. She was giggling from excitement and had her face plastered to the window the whole way home. Priceless.

We decided to place an empty manger amidst our other decorations, and the kids are slowing filling it with one piece of straw at a time, when they do a good deed. The goal is to have the bed soft enough for Jesus to arrive in it Christmas morning. It has been a great way to keep the focus of the holiday where it should be.

We truly do find joy in being together as a family, and Ben and I have re-committed ourselves to make sure we do more fun outings and just hang out more as a family.

Oh, and speaking of fun, guess what I got done yesterday.

Yup, that mole under my left eye....GONE!
I thought I was going in for a consultation, and walked out the door with this big, nasty, bright orange, bandaid under my eye. And yes, the Relief Society Christmas Dinner was that night, and yes, I was in the musical number. Awesome. I think I only had to explain the bandaid about, oh, 500 times!
Aside from the needle going right under my eye, smelling the Dr. burning my skin around the mole, the awesome swelling today, my big orange bandaid, and the great stinging sensation, I am thrilled. NO MORE MOLE! Few.

p.s. I took the bandaid off last night, after the R.S. Dinner, to assess the damage, and there is hardly anything under it! It looks great! Too bad I didn't take it off before the dinner, but then I would not get the great experience of walking around with a big ugly bandaid under my eye, and I wouldn't be me without experiences like those.

Speaking of the dinner though, I actually made a food for a church activity that people went nuts over! I make a lot of food for church stuff, and it usually gets eaten, but I have never had people completely freak out over something. Cooking is not that fun to me, so I don't care if people don't go crazy over it. I made this killer pudding, berry, jello, whip cream, thingy and it was unbelievable. I made a gigantic bowl of it, thinking my family could have the leftovers, but it was gone..all gone. The women ranted and raved over it. It was pretty fun and a little embarrassing. I am not a fan of that much attention. My mom made it for Thanksgiving and it was the first thing gone there too. It is incredible. It is also a very pretty Christmas dish to serve. The layers make it look festive and fun. I will post the recipe soon. Sorry, no picture.

So there you have it. Another rambling post about the joys of the season. We are looking forward to Ben's MBA Graduation party (it is an open house...anyone is welcome) and Mary's 6th Birthday Party next week. Rock on!