It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Even though this was our first Thanksgiving away from most of our family, we had a great celebration with Grandpa and Grandma Paige, as well as the Lindsey family (who work at Challenger Homes). 

Last night, we began the Christmas preparation around the house: the tree was set up and decorated, the Christmas chest was raided for garlands and lights, and the nativity was assembled. I didn't get any pictures, as the camera was not charged. I'll take some this afternoon and post them once we get back from our family library trip...

Christmas is just around the corner!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I didn't post an update this weekend, so now is as good a time as any...

Exciting News From Last Week:

Friday morning, Dad, Mom, and I drove to the DMV. I took the driver's license test...
... and passed! That is a huge burden lifted from Mom, as I can now drive Katie and myself
and from school. So, Friday afternoon, Katie and I took the maiden voyage without an adult
 in the car. And I'm here to tell about it! ;)

Saturday, the healthy members of the family drove to Wal-Mart to do our annual Operation Christmas
Child shoebox shopping. A neat thing about this year is the option to track your box. That way, we'll be able to find what country our gift goes to!

Today, Katie and I did not have to go to DCC for school, as we have the entire week off from school! But, we do have some work from home, and the other kids will have school through tomorrow. Grandpa and Grandma Paige arrive on Wednesday for Thanksgiving! We'll also celebrate an early Christmas with them, as they'll be spending the official Christmastime in Florida while we're in Indy.

So, have a Happy Thanksgiving!  Salvation; freedom to worship God in this country; family; friends; the Church body; and the provision of shelter, food, and modern medicine are just a few things we have to be grateful for. May you take this time to thank our Heavenly Father for all that we have been blessed with.

Saturday Update

Well, the mountain biking this morning was exhilarating... and windy. The gusts had to be around 40-50 mph. It was so windy that we were able to coast up the first big hill (I'll put up a picture that looks down from the top). I then was blindsided by an eastward-rocketing tumbleweed. Tonight we had homemade pizzas for Christie's birthday dinner with Dairy Queen cake for dessert! I'll also put up some pictures of Christie's birthday breakfast... 

The Weekend!

 Finally... the weekend is here; with it comes some special events:
Today is Christie's 14th birthday! We had the bagel breakfast this morning before school, (The dominant flavor, of course, being chocolate chip!) and we'll celebrate with her birthday dinner tomorrow night. Tonight, she gets to go to a church retreat with one of her friends; the fun will keep happening all week.
Tomorrow morning, Dad, Luke, and I are planning on mountain biking at Ute Valley. You can bet that there'll be an update for that!
But wait! There's more... on Monday, Becca turns 11! So, Sunday night, for a joint birthday meal, the Tribe is heading to one of our favorites: Texas Roadhouse. (I'm getting excited just thinking about the steak, rolls, and cinnamon butter. Mmmmm.)
School has been busy, and the workload hasn't showed any sign of slowing down, but only one week remains until our Thanksgiving break! Katie and I have the whole week off, and we'll enjoy every minute of the total 9 days... AND, Christmas is just around the corner.

Quote of the the Week + Pictures

I forgot to mention this, but Will had the quote of the week. We were trick-or-treating, and we had gone to about 10 houses. Will turned to Christie and asked, "Wait... do we get to keep this candy?"

I've posted the pictures of our costumes, too!

Yahoooooooooo!!!!!!!

I can't believe it. This is my first snow day ever. (Surprisingly, school was still in session for homeschool, even in horrible weather...) :) So, today I get to stay at home and work on revising some papers and not tack on more homework. YAY!!!!! I may just go back to bed for a while...

Blizzard?! We'll see...

If the forecast is correct (but how often is it?), then we are in for some snow of generous proportions. Three to five inches are predicted tonight and two to four could come tomorrow. This past Saturday was Becca, Anna, and Ben's last soccer game for their season. They had a good time playing this fall, as it was unexpected that they would have the chance. Yesterday, for Halloween, our family decided to do something different (since we couldn't go to Castleview's Fall Festival). After taking the kids trick-or-treating in the neighborhood, on our front porch we set up a table complete with candy and hot chocolate (for the chilly parents). We also handed out Gospel tracts with the candy and tried to be a light in a holiday that has such huge connotations with evil and darkness. It is our hope that God will choose to work in the lives of the people that visited our house on "All Saints Evening". School seems to be going well for all, and we've seemed to settle in to our respective academic surroundings. Continued prayer for our church search would be greatly appreciated. We love you all and are thankful for your prayers!