What November Looked Like

Our dishwasher has had issues over the last couple of years.

Sometimes we have to slam it several times before it will start.

Or hold the entire control panel down while we press the button.

It has been an adventure.

But this month, it finally bit the dust.

I had to dishes BY HAND for eight days.

The horror!

Now we have this beauty.

And we hope it lasts a LONG time.

In April 2016 General Conference, 

our church leaders encouraged us to serve

refugees in our communities.

I attempted to contact three different agencies in my city.

It was a slow, lengthy process, but I finally got in touch

with Church World Services.

After doing an orientation training with them,

I was ready to start serving!

It's not quite what I expected.

I was hoping to have meaningful personal experiences.

Instead, I'm helping set up apartments for

newly-arriving refugees and never actually meet them. :)

I've gotten very adept at moving furniture and

building twin bed frames.

Fall band concert

Wear your costume to school day.

C and her "Copy-Cat" teacher

Stake Day of Service:

We raked leaves for a couple of families.

Lots and lots of leaves.

It was a beautiful day.

It felt good to work together as a family and with

our ward family.

We took a day trip to Charlotte to meet Destinee and her kids.

We hadn't seem them in FOREVER.

Love this family!

Just wish we could've visited longer.

My friend, Michelle, fosters kittens.

My girls were in HEAVEN when we went to visit.

Oh, the cuteness.

After cleaning up other people's leaves, I figured

I should probably do something about OUR leaves.

It was easier this year with my new heavy duty blower/vacuum.

Good thing C is a tough girl.

This is what a face plant in the pool looks like.

This is what 42 looks like.

Celebratory lunch with the Adams Farm tennis team.

We took third in the standings, but were voted

to WIN the Sportsmanship award by the

other teams in the league. Sweet!

Wacky-tacky day

One of Whit's pieces in her school art show.

Thanksgiving prep!

I made an apple pie from scratch for the first time.

So yummy!

So were these pumpkin cheesecake bars.

Andrew rocked the turkey like he does every year.

Chris and Tiffany hosted us again this year,

Ben and April joined us.

Lots of great food,

yummy pies,
and a super fun football game.

The girls and I took a trip to the science center

over Thanksgiving break.

We liked our apple pie so much that Whit

decided to make us ANOTHER one.

with a lattice top.

It was delicious AND beautiful!

Some snippets from our Gratitude Wall:

B made second chair euphonium in All-County Band.

We love listening to these kids. They rock!

Celebratory treats at Sheetz.