Football, Turkey, etc.

Before I start this post, I need to ask you something. Have you ever been to a tiny dance recital? As in, tiny little girls just barely old enough to understand that they're at a dance recital, up on the stage following their teacher's hints in the front row? I hope you have. If you're my parents, you went to way too many of those. 

And if you have been to one, do you remember the little girls who forget some of their tiny dance, look around, realize what is supposed to be happening, and then they go into fast forward mode because they will not let any move they've learned go un-danced? Rather than just catch up to where the group is at, they have to speed through the entire portion of the routine that they zoned out for, before finally catching back up with their neighbors. Those girls are in every group, and thank goodness for that, because every eye on the audience is usually watching them with a big grin.

My point is, that's how I'm running my blog during these busy months that always feel like a sprint to the end of the year. I could just look around and realize that what's passed is passed, and I should tell you about today. BUT. No. First I'm going to go in fast forward mode and speed through all the happenings that have gone un-blogged as of late. Here.we.go.

BYU vs. Notre Dame - what a day. The best part was having Michael's friend/old roommate/old mission companion/tandem bike buddy (story for another day) visiting us for the game. We miss our Utah friends! We just loved having him here and catching up with him.

Enough about the best part...let's talk about the worst. Ooooh my goodness, people, those temperatures. I have never been so cold in so many layers of clothing. It was a record cold game for that Notre Dame stadium. We were so grateful we could be there for that monumental moment. .... 

Really though, it was actually pretty fun. Survival mode was entertaining, and we made friends with the fun Notre Dame fans all around us. I mean, they couldn't hate us too much, right? (Scoreboard.)

We went up early that day and had fun exploring campus. We saw a bagpipes concert, the players' walk through the crowd, a lecture about Mitt Romney and the effect Mormonism had on his campaign, and ate lunch at The Huddle. We met up with another one of Michael's friends from Evansville for part of the day, and we all loved seeing the beautiful campus. 

Thanksgiving finally came around this year (wrong week, am I right?) and we were so happy to head down to Evansville for some family time. Rachel came in from Colorado and Katie from DC, and Diana's family from Iowa. We even got to see Michael's grandparents, who were visiting from Utah. I love being with family! Nothing is more refueling than that. That could also be due to the amount of food we ate. So, so much food. I don't think we were ever hungry for 6 days straight.

Then it was home to this little guy! Our tree is just tiny small, and pretty simple, and I am in love with it. I stare it so often. Christmas trees bring such a sweet spirit into homes, and I love having our own small version of those things. Homes, Christmases, family... just our size.

The last few weeks winter has been raging. Single-digit temperatures with wind chills stealing even the few degrees we have. Humidity really does a number with cold weather. I now believe that no one can own too many pairs of slipper socks. They must be kept on at.all.times. 

Also, I'm currently accepting applications for a Christmas present wrapper. I'll pay you in English Toffee and good conversation.