Let's jump right in to this recap of church-related Izatt-related happenings from last November:
Jump right in, get it? hahahahaha. OH man ;). Clyde has been a stalwart photographer of my church outfits for a couple years now but occasionally Willy Boy gets a turn and because it's Willy Boy he finds it hilarious to instruct me to 'stand on one leg!' followed by 'stand on no legs!'... hence the jumps. Cutest nutter butter!
The beginning of November brought Andy's 18th birthday, which meant a fast and furious finish to his Eagle Scout project so we could board of review him ON his birthday. We don't mess around. Andy collected personal hygiene and toiletries for local refugees and had so much awesome support! Here are some pictures from 'sorting/boxing day':
Another fun Scout activity: dropping off the bags for Scouting for Food! I had Andrew... and one of my older kids... but the point is Andrew was hilarious. This is a collection of things that freaked him out and made him refuse to go to the door and drop off a bag: a dog statue, a Neighborhood Watch sign, a real cat, and a fake dead body (okay, that one was weird). Andrew is such a tough, hilarious kid and I've never seen any side of him that wasn't Ready for Anything so hearing him adamantly declare that he was "NOT going up by that dog; I don't care if it's fake" was eye-opening and endearing. Ohhhh I miss him and his brothers!
Will and I attended the baptism of one of his primary classmates. During some downtime I handed him a paper and pen and encouraged him to write her a note, which prompted the cutest little letter ever. We talk to the kids a lot about how prevalent Satan is in our lives right before and after spiritual highs - because he wants us to doubt our feelings and he wants to shake our newly strengthened or soon to be strengthened testimonies. I love that Will has retained that knowledge and knows that right after someone is baptized, things will get a bit more tricky. Satan is the master deceiver and there's no absolute way to be immune to his BS - because he flipping packages it SO temptingly and preys on us when we're at our lowest. It kills me to think about how eager he is to draw us away form the safety and peace of being close to God, just to abandon us when we become trapped in habits or decisions that are destroying us. He has no loyalty or long-term interest in us. He's legit just there to screw us over and then moves on.
Okay, well that escalated quickly! Can you tell it's been on my mind lately? ;) Main takeaway: Will is cute and I love little insights into how his mind works.
For a while the boys were really into baking projects on Sunday afternoons:
Baked goods on Sunday, workout class Monday/Wednesday/Friday! The first Wednesday of every month is sentao with the amazing JoLyn and the picture on the right is Nicole up there with Jenn... I feel like this is around the time we found out Nicole was moving so I was extra emotional about documenting everything before she was gone - insert crying emoji here because I'm too lazy to find it...
I had a quick meeting... maybe another Board of Review? right after church one Sunday, so the kids headed out to play in the sand under Chuck's supervision until I was done and he headed back in to do his church stuff.
Aaaand you best believe that since it was the Sunday before the election, we all donned our most patriotic of church clothes!
The primary program was in November, and as always it was so fun to watch the boys participate - especially since this was Jack's first time. The day before there was a practice at the church, leading to an impromptu Izatt/Swenson pizza picnic during which Will ate zero slices of pizza because he does not eat pizza which really makes me wonder if he's my kid after all....
Couple temple trips this month, first with Maren and Emily and then with Kautri. Man, I love those girls! Also I was looking something up in my actual scriptures and was reminded that during my seminary years, I usually marked which scriptures people used for devotionals. I'll tell you what, I'm as addicted to my iPhone as any other self-respecting millennial but there's something about my actual scriptures that can't compete at all with the electronic version. Oh, and I found this picture of Brother Dille on Chuck's phone. I have no idea re: the context but I love Brother Dille so there ya go.
And in conclusion, here's an awesome President Eyring quote. Sometimes the angels are in the form of people around us - friends, family, strangers we meet along the way. Sometimes the arm of flesh fails us and the angels are of the heavenly variety, so have to be more still and discerning to recognize their presence and peace that they offer. I'm pretty well versed in supportive, awesome older brothers and Jesus Christ is the ultimate example - unlike the adversary, He will never abandon us. He will never give up on bringing us back. He will never stop providing manifestations of his love and Heavenly Father's love for us.
Aaaand that's my mini-devotional for this morning ;). Goal is to finish November in the next two days (fingers crossed emoji!!!)
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