Shopping's done, scrapbooking's done, lights are finished, goodies delivered, neighbors visited, party's are over (well, halfway), and most importantly, Cameron's birthday is over. Once we get past that most important event, we can focus on Christmas. She is a 'real 6-year-old' as she told me. We've been counting down since July, you know. She & my mom did pedicures on Wednesday, we saw the Princess and the Frog on Thursday with cousins, her real birthday was on Friday so she got presents then, Friday night was a birthday/sleepover with the Arnett cousins, and then she went to lunch with my dad on Saturday. What in the world was this all about? I can't believe we let it get that out of hand. I hardly get a lunch squeezed in on my birthday let alone pedicures, movies, and the works. She loved every second of it.
I feel like we are really a part of our neighborhood now that we've visited our neighbors. Every house that we went to said the same thing, "You know, this isn't the friendliest neighborhood, but we are SO glad somebody is making the effort." I guess they're not used to having warm neighbors. Sad but true. I hope that can change. There's still not any families with young kids around but we're working on changing that. Any house that goes up for sale, we're calling every one we know to get them over here. But we're loving our ward, we love Gilbert, we're excited for what lays ahead for us.
We had a fun night last night at my in-laws. Every year, Chet & Joy put on a very nice dinner for us - just the adults. It's fun to be together without the kids and laugh and relax. John's grandma Norma used to do this with her kids and their spouses so Joy wanted to continue that tradition with us. These pictures don't show how much fun we had but I promise it was a good time.
(Isn't is such a pretty setup?)
So now that we checked off everything in order to be ready for Christmas, I really want to focus on the birth of Christ. Coincidentally, I just started the 3rd book of Nephi and it couldn't be better timing. I look forward to reading every night. So grateful for this time of year. So grateful for family and friends who make life fun and interesting. So grateful for the Savior and his life. So grateful to have a temple nearby and no matter what language I happen to be listening to it in, I love being there. Merry Christmas to everyone.
