December

I love December.

The Light World campaign for the church this year kicked off with December 1 day of service. We made sugar cookies to take to the Women's Shelter.

Lucy had a basketball tournament. They lost to Stirling and then beat St. Francis and Nanton so they were the consolation champs. They are fun to watch. 

Two days before Carly's Christmas choir concert, we got an email that choir would be ending for the year after the Christmas concert. The choir director, Linda Burwell, has been battling brain tumors. She had one removed last year and missed a few months of choir so Natisha Bevans filled in. Then she started this year but had another surgery after a few weeks. Lori Williams and Alonna Leavitt filled in for the rest of the practices.  Linda has been directing the choir for many years, and Hanna, Lucy and Carly have all been in her choir. She actually came to the concert and led one song even though her right arm doesn't have any movement. The concerts are always amazing, but it was really emotional knowing it was her last concert. 

Linda Burwell and the accompanist Lori Williams

Jill and her Winning Edge goat tying clinic.

Kaycee Ahlstrom, Sadie Fitzgerald, Jill Nunn, Emmalee Dubois

Carly had Whoville hair day at school. (like from the Grinch movie)

Jill and I went to watch Lucy at the jive contest at the junior high on the last day before Christmas break. Wyatt Toone asked her to be his jive partner. They made it to the second round. It was so fun. Erica Burt, the PE teacher, is really so fun.

Carly was the self-appointed Santa's helper at the Leavitt Ward Christmas party.  I had helped to arrange Santa's visit and made the treat bags for Santa to give out.  The theme for the party was Cowboy Christmas, and so I had ordered the cutest little red burlap bags to put the treats in, and then there was a mail strike in Canada and I watched the tracking every day and they arrived the day before the party. Carly and Austin filled them for me.
We were going to have the party at Royce & Marina Leavitt's barn and have sleigh rides from the church to the barn. The week before the party, their haystack behind their barn burned down. We felt terrible for them. Anyway, we ended up having the party at the church instead.