October left our heads spinning with our rash of bad luck, but it's over too. Our home was broken into, the windshield cracked while washing the car (in 85 degree weather mind you), Nathan got a ticket from a constable(!) and we were told that our loan that we signed to have the work done wasn't at all what we thought we were signing. In fact, what we signed was a bunch of papers that said if we didn't have $33,000 worth of proceeds from the house when we sell (in approx. 2.5 years) that they'd foreclose on the house. Anyway, lots of prayers later, the city softened a little and offered a compromise that isn't fair, but better than the mess we were in. Thank heavens!!! Truly, we couldn't have gotten through this trial without the love of our friends and family. It was a really bad few weeks for all of us but the love and support we felt from those who checked in on us really meant alot. You know who you are. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
We do have to add that we had a very nice Halloween. Kassi was a diva cat, Trevor was a pirate and Ashlee was a cute pumpkin! Nathan went as a washing machine and I was a few loads of laundry. We had fun! The weather was perfect for "trunk or treating" and we enjoyed our traditional Chili's dinner afterwards!
But, on to the good stuff. Life is good. We're happy and continue to try and pull through the commitments we've taken on! Last week the kids had the week off of school for the Thanksgiving holiday. We celebrated well! That weekend, Mom and Dad were in town. They sacrificed a lot (a nice 39th anniversary and 61st birthday) to be here to support Nathan and I through the end of the housing debacle. I kept telling them that it was a really busy time to come, but boy am I glad they were here. One of the things that meant the most to me was that I was so sick to my stomach on the day of the Housing and Human Services board meeting that I just couldn't/didn't want to go. Thankfully I didn't have to because Dad took my place and went with Nathan. On the same day we had Enrichment and they were a huge help to me getting ready for it that night. Seriously, it wouldn't have gotten pulled of on time if they weren't there to help me. Oh, and Mom's just the best. When she went to pick Kassi up from school on Thursday at 3:00 p.m., she found out that Kassi needed a turkey shirt by 6:45 that night. Yes, another thing that night! Anyway, boy did Mom pull through. Kassi was the best (not because she was the only) turkey in the program. Her teacher got the biggest kick out of Kassi's shirt. Thanks Mom!!!
Trevor had his first talk in Church on Dad's birthday. Dad wrote the talk and Trev nailed it on Sunday. He was really excited to do a good job for Grammy and Wawa. Both Kassi and Trev were excited because they got to sing a happy birthday song to Wawa in primary. The sad part was later that day when we had to say good-bye. They hate it when visitors leave. So do I, though. It's so nice to have someone come visit you and bring a special presence to your home.On Monday we went to the drive-in. It's always fun to go. We saw Mr. Magorium's Magic Emporium and Fred Claus. Both movies are okay.
On Wednesday we got great prices (not seats!) to Disney on Ice "Finding Nemo". It was a lot of fun. Our friends, the Astles went too. I think the kids had more fun playing with them after the show then actually watching the show - but hey, we're good parents to pay money (for the tickets) to have them be excited about something that's always free (playing with friends). I mean, who normally gets to play with their friends in an arena? Come on! Totally worth it! (YEAH RIGHT!!!) Okay, so I'm exaggerating a bit. The kids really liked the show and we all had lots of fun finding Nemo!
On Thursday, we had been invited to a family's home who live in our ward. They made everyone comfortable and we all had a lovely time. Dinner was great. We were about 45 minutes late (we called to warn them) because Ashlee wasn't feeling well and it slowed our progress on our dishes. I'm sure they didn't believe us though. When we got there she perked right up and ran around with the rest of them. After dinner, it snowed for a bit so we let the kids run outside for a few minutes (like 2 - it was freezing!) and took a few pictures. It's always makes your heart sing when you see snow fall from the sky. There's just something special about it....
Later that night the kids had a sleep-over at our house. Caroline, Elliot and Mei spent the night. We also had a sitter spend the night so that Nathan and I could go shopping the next morning. It was a fantastic idea to have the sitter and I'm totally doing it again next year!
On to BLACK FRIDAY--
It was a blast! I went last year with friends and it was great. I went this year with Nathan and it was wonderful! We conquered the sales! The only disappointment was Kohls. They opened at 4:00 a.m. and we got there at 4:02. The stuff that I wanted was gone, already!! We did, however, save $50.00 on a knife set! We haven't gotten knives since we were married 9 years ago! I better watch my chubby fingers!
So we left around 3:45 a.m. and got back home at 12:00 p.m. We hit Kohls, WalMart, Target, had breakfast at IHOP with the Astles, then off to Costco and Toys-R-Us. We had a great, great time. The only hitch, which didn't end up being a big deal, was that Ashlee had to come with us. She spiked a fever about midnight the night before. When we went to give her medicine before we left, she woke up and wouldn't go back to sleep. Let's just hope she doesn't remember what we bought come Christmas morning *wink,wink!*
If you've got a second, click to see the York kid's elved!
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9606164060
