Those of you who read this who aren't family members may not know that we do a semi-monthly family letter in my family. My mom has betting putting one together at least 10 times a year ever since Scott and I got married (over 16 years now!) Anyway, since I started this blog my mom has just taken my family letter from it, and guess what - - I am way behind! So here's the catch up.
The highlight of November (and of the whole year, really) was going to the temple so that Meredith could be sealed to us. We went to the Twin Falls temple (my first time there) because Scott's dad is a sealer there and could perform the ceremony. Mom got to be the person who dressed in white and held Meredith, and Dad and Scott's brother Blair were witnesses. So everyone in the family was involved, it was very special. Meredith looked so beautiful in her long white dress, and she was a perfect angel. In fact, during the ceremony itself she held perfectly still and seemed very intent on what was happening. Ethan and Noah got to attend as well, which is a pretty unusual occurrence and was very special for them. I was especially glad for Ethan because he's old enough to remember, and to plan for attending the temple himself and being sealed there someday. We spent a lot of time talking to Noah about proper temple behavior beforehand. We had family prayer before we left the house and Noah asked to say it. It was so funny - - in the prayer he said, "running, no no, talking no no" - - he knew how he should act. And he was very reverent. He loved the end best of all when everyone got to hug everyone else.
After the temple we went to a nearby restaurant for lunch. It was so fun to have so much family there, Heidi and Devan and their kids (and we finally got to meet Rowan!) and Beebs and Scott, and lots of Scott's family. Also cousin LeeAnn, who watched Heidi's kids while she was at the temple. We especially appreciated those who had traveled long distances just to come. We went back to Scott's folks' house and talked for several hours before people had to leave. And then we left the next morning. It was a short trip, but oh, how wonderful! We are so grateful for the sealing power of the priesthood! And for adoption, which made this possible for us. (Amazing, by the way, how much there is about adoption in the scriptures!)
Only a week after we got back to Chicago Scott and Ethan left on a "trip around the world" with Scott's friend Gary. I'll let them post about their adventures. Scott knew that he couldn't just leave me here with Noah and Meredith and no company, so Mom and Dad and Kyle and Linzi and Evy all came for Thanksgiving! Mom and Dad stayed a whole week, and it was so fun to see them! We went shopping and hung out and talked and of course read books. Noah and Meredith were thrilled to have their Omi and Opa all to themselves. (Noah sometimes calls Dad "Poopa".) Kyle and his family came later and it was awesome! We played games and made sketches of eachother and laughed and laughed. I enjoyed getting to know Linzi better (we went shopping with Mom on black Friday!) and it was fun for Noah to get to know Evy. Evy seemed very taken with Meredith and was very sweet to her. We had a very nice Thanksgiving Dinner with all the trimmings. I made way too many brussel sprouts (they're good cooked with bacon, but I over-steamed them a little). Also my jello just would not set, so we ended up with tasty strawberry soup :) Anyway it was lots of fun, and though we missed Ethan and Scott, they had a good time too.
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