Back on Track - fashion taboos, christmas, sunrises and gratitude

     Well, 15 days after caving into sugar to deal with my stress, I am finally off it again!  Yipee!
At first it felt good to eat that sugar but after a week, I was feeling sick, lazy, angry, and depressed = motivation to say no again.  I haven't weighed myself to see what damage the past 15 days have done but I will resume with that again on Saturday (for those of you who are reading this blog for health purposes).  I started today with a 45 minute walk around my neighborhood, and excitement to get back on track :)
     It's been awhile since my last post, so here is the run down on our lives:

Things I love about living in the USA: the awesome SALES!
    The Halloween costumes at Walmart were 75% off of 75% off!  I don't understand how that works but I'm happy to take advantage of it.  So for $1.50 each, we bought Dallin a whole new wardrobe!  Here it is:  clothes for everyday of the week.

On Monday, he's a Ninja Turtle.  On Tuesday, we will have Buzz Light Year cleansing our house of alien invaders. On Wednesday, our guest will be Captain Jack Sparrow,  Thursday- a race car (bike) driver.  Friday- we will have a quickly melting Olaf.  And we will finish off the week with a fright night visit from the Grim Reaper.  So fun!

Things that make me laugh: Look at the name of this market

Yes, it is a real place just down the street from us.  Apparently it is not just Jamaicans that use the word "da".  I was poorly educated by the movie Cool Runnings in 1993 :(

Also this gross fashion taboo: my husband!  Guilty as charged.

Christmas Decorations

     We don't have a lot, but what we did scour off Craigslist went up!

We also put together home-made stockings for cheap. 

     This of course raised the concern about how exactly Santa was going to get into our house to fill them, without a chimney to wiggle down.  And further spawned a review (by older siblings) about how the younger siblings may get nothing but coal in them anyways, if they continue in their naughty ways!  Which one argued back, "It wouldn't be coal, it would be Lava rock!"

     Mom and Dad intervened with words of counsel and comfort, and it was concluded that surely Santa had permission to enter through our front door, and everybody would get something special in their stockings because we all love each other very much, and will thus show that love to one another over the corresponding few weeks leading up to that special night.

Remembrance Day

     It was a holiday here in the USA too.  They call it Veterans Day.  As far as I know, there was no recognition of it at school for the kids.  But I was given this cute poppy on a wire outside of Walmart.

     We had a family discussion about the terrorist events in Paris over the weekend.  It was heart breaking to hear of the tragedy.  We wish there was more we could do on an individual basis to help combat terror.  A lot of it seems to be a fight the governments of countries around the world need to take on at a global and federal level.  But as parents, we will try to help our children feel courageous and empowered.  We will encourage them to live their lives fully and with integrity, so that if they do ever become a victim of this sort of random attack, they have no regrets and can feel inner peace.

     I am moved to tears when I ponder on the battles fought over the decades, and currently, to preserve freedom and justice.  There is always so much loss, but I shake at the thought of  imagining the world that could be without those victories.  I'm afraid there is so much that we take for granted.  Just the fact that I have complete and total freedom to access the internet, and write/read whatever I want on it, is still a privilege that is not granted to citizens in China (possibly other places too).  On our tour of China last year, we discovered there were many government regulated restrictions on our use of google, and surfing of the web.  It was surprising, and shocking.  It made us appreciate the country we live in, with it's first world problems.

Reno News

Our countertops are installed.

Ivory Coast Quartz

Our couches arrived from the Sears warehouse on the Mainland.  They are so comfy.

Now Summer says the only thing we are missing to make this a "real home" is the completion of the flooring.  But Nathan would argue that his Honey-do List will never be over :)

Family News (or time to shine the spotlight on my darling children news-whatever you prefer)

     Alanna won a state wide contest for submitting a dance she choregraphed to help end world hunger.  They gave her a prize of $50 at Walmart.  She used it to buy her long desired "Onezy", a Barbie with a dog that poops, Barbie clothes, and a box of cookies.

Congratulations Alanna!

  Rebekah will be representing her school in the state wide Spelling Bee. On Sunday, her and Alanna will be performing a violin/piano duet of an "I am a Child of God" medley.

  I learned that Summer is a "star student, possibly the smartest kid in the class" according to her teacher.  We also confirmed that the rash on her face and arms is an allergic reaction...just have to find out to what...more doctor visits.

  And Dallin is very close to riding a two-wheeler bike...we've been keeping the training wheels on just for starting up, but he really doesn't use them while he is riding.

Sabbath Activity:  Watching the sun rise!

     We started a tradition of taking turns picking an activity to do as a family on the Sabbath that would help us remember to honor the day and keep it holy.  This week was Summer's turn.  Mom and Dad helped her plan a trip to the new land to watch the sun rise.  We woke everybody up at 5:25 am, and packed towels, umbrellas, flashlights, and baggies with cereal to munch on.  We drove to the furthest most East location we could find (Kalapana).  We carried our gear, and trekked out to the ocean side.  It of course started raining, so we huddled under umbrellas.  We ate our cereal and began watching the sky for signs of dawn.  It started with the sky lightening in the direction of the sun.  The clouds began changing in hues of purple, then pink, orange, and finally yellow.  

     Then at 6:28 am (as predicted by the weather man), we could see the tip of the sun begin to arise on the horizon.  It was stunning!  

     A few minutes later, Summer read us a scripture from the Bible that talked about the creation of the world and  Jesus Christ's love for us.  We had the whole ocean to ourselves.  Definitely a must- to see the sunrise at least once in your life time!  We were back home, wet, but happy by 7 am.