Dylan's Update (written by Dylan)

I am liking it in my new school in 2nd grade. My teacher is Mrs. Blackmer, my room number is d4, and my desk is next to the door. We take timed tests and I am great at adding.

Ah, the Holidays! The best part of this week was all of the time we got to spend together. Also, this week we were uber blessed beyond measure. Firstly, thanksgiving was simple and delicious. I'm back to being vegetarian until the images of turkey preparation leaves me. I tend to not like to eat meat to begin with but whenever I have to basically mutilate an animal carcase for consumption, I simply can't eat it. Don't get me wrong, I'm always grateful for the animal who's life is now sustaining my family, but I'd really rather not. I made the best pumpkin pie I've ever made (cooking school is paying off it seems), Dylan took a really great picture of the table (which is in the collage), and Owen, well, he watched football. After dinner, we drove up to Saguaro Lake and enjoyed the pleasant weather and beautiful landscape. When we got home, we decided to head over to the Mesa temple to take in the Christmas lights and international nativity scene display. Dylan and I decided that it felt like we were in an enchanted forest as we walked along. Lovely day. On Friday, some of our petitions to the Lord for mercy were answered by way of grad school transcripts in the mail. Owen can now apply for and presumably get licensure here in the great state of Arizona! Now maybe he can utilize his training by working. YAY! Friday we also decorated the Christmas tree which was fun. Okay, it was messy, frustrating and many 8 year old tears were shed either caused by rage or hurt feelings. We like our tree and I believe we would all agree it was worth the drama in the end. This weekend I also made a wedding cake. It was labor intensive (8 hours worth) and I'm still not sure that the Bride approved (she has severe OCD and can I say that's a stressful person to try and cater to) but I feel good that I put forth my best effort to please her. On the way home from doing laundry, we happened upon a white leather couch that had been thrown onto the side of the road. Owen and I used Dylan's scooter to roll it into our house. HOORAY for free furniture! We've been sitting on folding chairs (and grateful to do so) for 5 months so to have an actual couch was a blessing. It took quite a bit of effort from me to get it to the acceptable level of clean that I would let my baby sit on it (I know he's 8 but he's still my baby and I'm still a mama bear) but it's actually quite a good couch and in good condition despite being initially dirtier than dirt. I shed tears of gratitude while I defunked the thing! The picture this week is a collage of the last weekend sans the tree and couch. Also, no pictures of Dylan in his scouting uniform yet. Hopefully this week.

Y'all take care and enjoy the beginning of the Christmas season.

-Rebecca

Week 2

This past week the highlight for our family was Dylan starting cub scouts. It's crazy really;I never understood it when my brothers were doing it but now I find having Dylan affiliated with the program quite awesome. Dylan is really loving it too even though the first activity we did was to hand out fliers around the neighborhood for an upcoming turkey trot/ turkey collection activity for our stake. Dylan can't wait to get his uniform (which is a B.S.A. equivalent to blue and gold mint! Holy cow, they charge a lot for stuff at the scout store!) and loves his new Den Leader Sister Huston. I have been recruited as assistant Den Leader (and expected as much.) and have begun the training involved. Owen continues to try to maneuver through the quagmire he calls "life" and we all continue to refine our austere lifestyle. It's good. I'm looking forward to all of the cooking and friends that will be happening at our house this week as we celebrate Thanksgiving. This weekend I'm also making my first "for money" wedding cake for someone. I hope it turns out as awesome as I've planned it to be. The picture this week is Dylan sneaking a cookie from the cookie jar right before bed. (I hope to post the little man in his scout uniform next week.)
Happy Gobble Gobble Folks! I hope you are filled with as much gratitude for all that life gives us as I am.
Bon Appetit!
Rebecca

A New Goal

I realized as I spent some time reading through older posts how valuable blogging can be as a family history tool. I have resolved to sit down once a week and share a bit of our lives. This past week was not particularly interesting but good. I started a new session at school, Dylan continues in second grade and Owen said this past week for him was "lame". We continue to search and struggle and live life day in and day out. We enjoyed a really great regional conference this weekend as well as a very long party that our neighbors threw (I'm not kidding, we're talking 12 straight hours of party). We discovered that Crisco shortening is the greatest treatment known to man for severe eczema, Arizona is possibly the best place to live if you hate cold and love sun, and having a "winter lawn" is just plain awesome. The picture in this post is from Owen's 36th birthday (or the departure on the down slope to 40.)
Regards and Best Wishes,
Rebecca