What a week!

Lots of events have taken place over this weekend and part of last week!

We put up our Christmas tree and decorations on Monday, making everything look so festive! I love this time of year and love the "cozy look of home" during December.

Duane had a checkup in Tucson with his heart surgeon Thursday so I took the day off to go with him and keep him company. He got a clean bill of health! Everything looks good and he doesn't have to see him again until next fall. Very good news!

We made a stop at Costco for a few items, then met Mom for lunch at Olive Garden before heading up the mountain. In the parking lot at Costco while we loaded our stuff in the truck, a lady next to us, doing the same thing, started to sing........."It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas..." We didn't know her, but she was so happy! Tucson was overcast and slightly rainy and she obviously loved its weather. It's nice to meet up with happy people in such a stressed out world! We arrived home in Show Low around 5:30 p.m. I'm glad we got home when we did - it snowed Thursday night and dumped 2 feet of the white, fluffy, cold stuff on us, which caused there to be no school Friday. I know, as a teacher, I should be saying something like...."oh, darn, no school! There's so much to be done!" Instead, I'm saying,........"YES - a break from the kids! I can handle this!" Lol! Fortunately, we own a Toyota Tacoma, 4-wheel-drive which is awesome in the snow! We found ourselves at KMart, getting snow boots for Andrea and Dallas - what? You can't just SQUEeze your feet into them even though they're two sizes too small?? Sheesh!


Saturday was busy - I was chosen as the designated driver (because of my 4-wheel-drive) to take the Relief Society presidency to Snowflake and attend a funeral. This was a new experience for me, not the funeral part, but that is was for the dad of one of my students, who is also in my ward. The mom and dad are divorced, but the mom and children are in my ward. Such a sad thing to lose a parent at the young age of 6, 10, and 11. The man was originally from Guatemala and had a lot of Spanish-speaking relatives attending, so the service was in English and in Spanish. There were some beautiful messages shared by church leaders, which made for an enlightening Saturday morning.

Saturday night, I took my friend Hilda, secretary in our RS presidency, to the high school's Feast of Carols. What fond memories it brought on of when Rachelle was in high school and participated in these programs. It was terrific and well-performed, and evening well spent. There were also tears in many eyes as they gave Mr. Gentry a farewell gift as he is retiring after 30+ years in the district. He and his wife were awarded a plaque and an Alaskan cruise! Wow!

We put on a visiting teaching conference during Relief Society today. I was part of a skit and there were three speakers. Excellent day and week!