It's Beginning.....

..... to look a lot like Christmas!!

 

I love this time of year. We went to see the lights display at the Mesa temple on Monday. The kids seemed to enjoy it. It was early enough in the season that it wasn't very crowded, so Abby was able to walk a lot. We didn't even bring her wheel chair with us, hoping that would be the case. (I've discovered recently that when I mention on this blog that Abby can't walk, most people are not aware that she actually can walk with assistance - holding our hands. She knows how to walk, she just can't do it independently. This isn't anything new, although she is getting a little quicker at it. Maybe one day I will post a video so you can see for yourself. Just thought I would clarify.) 

 

We have a visitor in our home this month. This is Buddy.

 

Buddy is our Christmas Elf. Every day he silently watches to see if the kids are naughty or nice. Then he reports back to Santa each night. In the morning he is hiding in a new spot and the kids have to find him. I am so surprised at how much Spencer has caught on to the idea. This morning as he was drinking his milk, he remembered about Buddy and was frantically trying to find him. It was so cute. You should have seen his face when he finally did find him. Priceless. Buddy has been a good influence on Spencer too. As soon as he starts to whine about something I just say, "Buddy's watching" and he instantly calms down and looks over at the elf. We'll see how long that magic lasts......Abby is at least aware of Buddy. She knows where he is. We read Buddy's "Elf on the Shelf" book two times in a row yesterday. I guess she liked it :)

 

We had a very nice Thanksgiving. We spent the long weekend with family and I failed to even take one picture. Terrible, I know. I had good intentions, they just didn't quite materialize. Oh well, maybe next year.