* Such a fun month full of memory making experiences!!
* Mom and the kids headed out to Nebraska on December 15th and returned home on January 2, 2018
* Dad drove in on December 22nd and then he and Ben drove back home on December 26th
* We saw 3 movies - Star Wars, Jumanji and The Greatest Showman
* Grandma and Mom took the kids (and cousins) to the Children's museum
* Decorated Christmas Cookies
* LOTS of cooking!! LOTS of meal prep! LOTS of grocery shopping!
* LOTS of shopping - mainly at the mall and on Amazon!
* LOTS of gift wrapping!
* LOTS of laughing and smiles!
* Nightly routine of watching a Hallmark Christmas movie
* Made a couple trips down to Lincoln (for Grandpa's Dr. appointments)... one of those trips we got snowed in down there and had to stay an extra day! Mom also took Jared and Hope's family photos on one of the trips
* Another magical, wonderful and awesome Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa Carlson's house! JR, Lori & Family and Jared, Hope and Family were all there!
* Christmas Skype with Seth in Nicaragua! It was wonderful, fabulous and we loved every minute of it!
* Lots of Video gaming for the kids
* Ben attended a New Years Eve dance in Billings and dad had drive him in a blizzard to get there! We're just glad they were safe!
* Celebrated August's 21st Birthday!
* Rang in the New Year!! We had Birthday cake, lots of snacks and treats, watched the new Beauty and the Beast movie, Celebrated grandma and Grandpa's Anniversary of the first time they met (at a Stake New Years Eve Dance in Burley, Idaho 49 years ago!)
* Got some family pics before Church on Christmas Eve
Seth Spotlight...
* Finished up his time in La Trinidad
* Had a double Baptism
* Said Goodbye to the famiy's he met there (one even made him a "Going Away" cake)
* Mission Christmas Party... during which they had a Soccer competition that Seth's Zone won
* several Zone and Multi Zone conferences
* Was transferred to Chinandega and got a new companion - Elder Santizo
* Chinandega is the hottest city of the country so he's been a bit on the warm side
* Burned scarecrows on New Years Eve (as is the tradition in Nicaragua) with a family that will be attending the Temple for the first time this week!
* Working hard each day and being a great Missionary!
Spiritually Speaking...
What a marvelous month to look back upon our blessings - the Tender Mercies from the Lord, and really take notice at how much He blesses us (even with tiny things that we often just take for granted!) Some of those blessings that came to us this month were:
* Great weather and dry roads for mom and the kids as they drove to and from Nebraska
* Decent weather for John (since he left earlier than originally planned to beat the snow!) and made it safely without incident!
* Both vehicles having no troubles and being reliable (and starting without issue is -20 weather!)
* August being hired on at 2 places and having schedules work out
* Everything being kept well at our home in MT as we were away
* Technology to be able to talk and video chat with Seth! It was a beautiful time for our family to hear all about his Mission and how things are going there.
* Speaking of Missions... Ben had an experience where he acted upon a prompting. He had been talking on the phone with his friend and he said that he kept feeling like he was supposed to invite this friend to come to church with him - but he was scared and didn't want this friend to think that he was pushing our religion on him... but the feeling persisted and grew more intense. So, with courage, he asked the friend to come to church with us and felt so happy inside when he accepted! Not only that, Ben then also felt prompted to ask this friend if he'd like a copy of the Book of Mormon - to which he again said that he'd like to read it! Ben finished his conversation by bearing his testimony of the scriptures and the gospel. What an incredible example he is to me! It's hard to open your mouth when impressions come... it's hard to have the courage to then act on those impressions! He will make a wonderful Missionary one day soon! He relies upon the Lord and the Holy Ghost to direct his paths and is learning the most essential skill in this life - receiving personal revelation! Ben also finished the Book of Mormon this month! He's been reading 3 chapters a day and always does that first thing in the morning before starting in on any school work or fun. Yes, he is an incredible example to me!
* The ability to all be together for Christmas! There's just something so magical when the house is bustling with so much family! Excitement is in the air and you can't help but just be so happy! It was really wonderful to be with grandma and grandpa, JR, Lori and their kids and Jared, Hope and their kids! We were certainly busting at the seams, but what a way to be!
* Finding amazing deals on the gifts we were going to buy! Seriously good deals! For instance, grandma and I had been out with the girls shopping for their Christmas dresses and store after store we just weren't finding what we loved. We then decided to head over to JC Penny and off by itself we saw one (very small) clearance rack. There just happened to be 2 beautiful dresses on this rack... that just happened to be in the exact 2 sizes we needed for the girls... that just happened to fit perfectly! Originally priced at $78, we were able to purchase them for $9! Not only that, but the little cream sweater shrugs were there (also in the exact size we needed) marked down to $2 from $38 and then...at another store we just happened to find new dress shoes (the style that we liked best) and they were the only ones marked down to $9! Again, in the exact sizes we needed! So Head to toe Christmas Dresses for $20! Talk about blessings! This scenario happened over and over and we were able to get such wonderful things for a fraction of the price! I have a firm testimony that this is a direct blessing from paying a full 10% tithe each month. When we give faithfully to the Lord, he makes the rest of our money go so much further! So much that there "won't be room enough to receive it" as the scriptures teach us.
* It was also wonderful a wonderful time to focus on the Savior. We started the month out great by following the church's "Light The World" campaign (that gives a scripture each day of the month leading up to Christmas along with ideas and suggestions of things we can do/acts of service to Light the World for others). We wrote letters to friends and family, we made sure to smile at people when we were out, we helped those in need (lent a portable heater to a friend who's heat wasn't working properly along with gifts for her kids for Christmas) and gave to those less fortunate (like when the boys decided to give the single mom the rest of the Batman toys!) Since we sort of lost the momentum during the month (ooops!) I have thought that this would be something wonderful to actually do each month during 2018. Why must we wait until December to try and Light the World with our good works? I know this will bring us closer to Christ all throughout the year (plus it's all laid out for us and such a easy thing to incorporate!)
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