We had Thanksgiving dinner that evening with the Cranes. We took sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and a pumpkin pie. I made the pumpkin pie with a pumpkin from our garden. I've never used fresh pumpkin before so I was glad it turned out well. All of the food was delicious and we enjoyed playing games with prizes after dinner.
Minnie, Eileen (Nile's mom), blurry Jumble
Scott, Rushell, Jumble, Lauren, Sarah
Lauren playing with Connect 4 after dinner. Lauren is starting to feel more comfortable and outgoing around us, but, sadly, I couldn't get anywhere near her because I had the remains of a lingering cold with an annoying cough.
Sarah was here from Texas. She's survived approximately 6 months in the Teach for America program. She's doing an amazing job!
The next day all the Pews gathered at my house for dinner. Erick and Liz were visiting from Idaho. Liz made her traditional turkey jello:
My mom bought the turkey but I cooked it in my oven that morning along with the stuffing. I also made a lemon meringue pie along with another pumpkin pie. Everyone else brought tons of yummy food and pies--we were not wanting for food:
Everyone serves themselves:
Giovanni is sitting on my early Christmas present--two storage ottomans. All of the kids' backpacks and musical instruments fit inside. Hooray!!
That night Niles held down the fort with all the cousins with some help from Emily and Minnie while Shellie, Tim & Rachelle, and I went to the 10-year memorial of Keith & Nancy's death with the extended Johnson and Wiltbank families. (Erick, Liz, and Erin went too, but they didn't leave any kids behind at our house.) It was great to remember the amazing couple that Keith and Nancy were and to see all their kids doing so well. Clint played and sang a lot of music, and they had a few slide shows that Alyse put together. The siblings and parents shared some memories and stories. Then Lane & Marcia and all of their kids and some of the spouses and Keith and Nancy's kids sang some songs together:
It was a special evening and we are glad we were able to participate. Clint entered the MTC this week to serve his mission to Eugene Oregon. He has had a rough time with depression since the accident so it is wonderful to see him doing so well. That meant a lot to me after what we've been going through with Jumble since her traumatic bus accident. Of course there were some tears that evening, but more smiles and laughter. I'm grateful for the knowledge we have of the reality of eternal families. I don't know how you get through something like this without that.
Now we are on to Christmas time. I was teaching a lesson on the Cultural Arts in YW last week and was having trouble finding time to prepare it because I was busy attending cultural arts events! On Friday night Minnie and I went to the annual Messiah Sing-In that is held at the Alpine Tabernacle in American Fork. That is my idea of heaven! Then the next afternoon Niles and I went to the BYU choir and orchestra Christmas concert. It was amazing as always.
This week Jumble and Minnie both had their Christmas band concerts. Minnie actually had two--one on Tuesday night with her Woodwind Choir (she plays oboe for that) and one on Thursday with Symphonic Band (she plays flute for that.) We didn't go to the one on Tuesday because Niles had a work meeting and I had Relief Society and she was playing the same thing with the Woodwind Choir again on Thursday. But we misunderstood what she said and didn't realize that the Woodwind Choir was only playing prelude for the Thursday concert so we sadly missed her playing the oboe in the Woodwind Choir altogether. We arrived just as they were finishing. Anyway, here she is playing the flute with Symphonic Band on Thursday:
Wednesday night was Jumble's concert with the high school Symphonic Band. She's the one you can see on the right:
Santa comes at the end of this concert and they serve cookies. This is Jumble enjoying a cookie while talking to me:
And this is Atom sitting on Santa's lap:
Last week I took Atom to the eye doctor because he failed the eye test at school. Sure enough, he needs glasses. His left eye is pretty good 20/30, but his right eye is 20/80. He has lazy eye--the doctor said his right eye has probably never been good since birth and has "given up" and let the left eye do all the work. He has to go back in 3 months and if the right eye hasn't improved enough, they will have to patch the left eye to force the right eye to work and train his brain. So his glasses came in yesterday and we think he looks adorable in them:
Two other interesting things that have happened:
One day last week I got a call from the Jr. High reporting that Minnie had passed out during English class! They were reading a book called "Phineus Gage: The Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science" and I guess it was gruesome enough to make her feel unwell. She got up to leave and couldn't see but groped her way to the front of the room before passing out cold. She hit the floor face first and scraped up her chin but thankfully the floor was carpeted and that cushioned her fall enough that she wasn't seriously hurt. Her jaw hurt a little for a few days but hasn't troubled her since then so it appears to be o.k. I thought for sure she would want me to come get her, but she wanted to stay. She had foods class next and that is one of her favorite classes so she didn't want to miss it!
The weekend of Thanksgiving break Jumble went on a date with a boy from her Preference Dance group--not the boy she asked out, but one of her friend's dates. She insisted they are just friends and her friend wouldn't be bothered by it. She seemed to have a great time with him. The next week a boy from marching band turned 16 and promptly asked her out for a date that weekend. They were in the same section (bass clarinet) when Jumble was a sophomore and he was a rookie freshman. They have been great friends all this time and Jumble started a tradition of taking him a treat before every competition. She said she wanted to ask him out for Preference but he wasn't 16 yet so she was happy to go out with him, too. So three dates with three different boys in three weeks! That's quite an accomplishment. We are glad she is having a good time.
2 comments:
How sad--I didn't even know Liz had a tradition to make turkey jello! I agree that Atom looks adorable in his glasses! And way to go Janna--three dates with three different boys in three weeks! Look out!
the glasses are very cute! fun times for Jumble! I think I got asked out once my junior year.
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