Long, but not long enough...

Last week was our long Thanksgiving Break, and it was so great :). On Wednesday night, we all played games with grandma and Jamie until way late at night. The next morning we did get some really bad news...someone had broken into my parents house and stole a computer, 2 cash registers (my parents own a few businesses), a DVD burner, and all of Spencer's lacrosse gear. To be honest, the most expensive thing they took was Spencer's gear...that kind of put a damper on the day because my parents felt really violated and paranoid; however, it turned out to be okay. After a cold, but yummy breakfast, we went to see BOLT. It is so hysterical! I loved it! The little hampster was the best! We then went to dinner at Maddylnn's, which was okay, I don't think we'll go there next year. After dinner, Joel and I went over to his parents house for a few hours to hang out. It was really fun! The food was really good, and we enjoyed ourselves. We then went back to my parents house and played Civilization for hours...This is basically what we did the rest of the weekend...We network a game between four of us, and it is soooo much fun! LOVE IT!

On Saturday, everyone knew about a surprise for me for an early birthday present and I had absolutely no idea. We all were going out to eat together, but Joel said he forgot his wallet at the house, so we all took a side stop at the house...*drumroll*...They bought me a new stove! I'm so so happy! If you would have only seen my old one. It had sat in that basement for about 7 years without being used. Imagine inches of dirt caked on the walls of the oven and what used to be a white stovetop. Not pretty. It's really awesome now! I was so excited about it that I made cookies on Sunday :) .

On Sunday, I had to teach sharing time in primary, and I think it went well. I taught about Shadrack, Meshack, and Abed-nego. I thought it would be one that the jr. primary wouldn't know about, and I think it went better than I thought it would. I just have to say that I have the most intuitive sunbeams in the world! My lesson that day was on being grateful for our bodies, and I first asked the kids for what they were grateful. They all said things like pizza, clothes, toys, and then it came to my little Parker. He said, "I'm grateful for my body". What? What little 3 year old thinks about being grateful for their body. I said, "Parker, why are you grateful for your body?" and he said, "Because Heavenly Father gave it to me". Oh my...so adorable. I couldn't believe it! Perfect lead in to the lesson...When we were finished I asked them what they wanted for Christmas and they all seemed to want a Batman kit. When they were done, Isaac looked at me and said, "Teacher? What do you want for Christmas?" and George said, "I know! I know! A BABY!" HAHA so cute. I love them!

Monday, dad and I went Ultimate Christmas Shopping! We planned on going to all these stores, and ended up being at Mervyn's for 3 hours...they are going out of business and everything is at least 50% off. I got the rest of Joel's christmas except for his shoes! Oh my...amazing! Then for family night that night Joel and I and his family went to see the lights at temple square. BEAUTIFUL! Afterward, we went to Red Robin and little Oli was so cute *like that is out of the ordinary, please* She saw one of those claw machines that have stuffed animals and wanted to be picked up to see them. I picked her up and there was a mirror on the back of the machine so I said, " Oli, quien es?" I was pointing to her but she says, " Mmmm... TIA!" So so cute! That is the first time that she has recognized me as her aunt without telling her! I was so happy :) She is the cutest little girl in the world!