Temple Lights, Fire, and other things

Every year the youth in our ward go to the Oakland Temple to see the Christmas lights. Last year I chickened out because I didn't want to drive and I had the kids with me. This year Nathan was supposed to go with us but unfortunately he had to work late. I had Molly lined up to watch the kids until Nathan got off work to pick them up but Valerie convinced me to bring the kids along. I'm glad I did because I told Molly that Nathan would probably pick the kids up around 6:30-7 but he actually didn't get off work until 8. Plus I think the kids enjoyed seeing the lights and getting lots of attention from all the youth. Valerie was a lot of help with the kids and she even took pictures of me with the kids. I'm usually the one taking all the pictures so I'm generally not in very many.

On top of the terrace

By the water fountain.

Nativity with temple in background.

Close up of Nativity.

We had some excitement on Thursday evening. While I was making a pumpkin cheesecake grease from the pan (and probably the crust) kept dripping. Once I pulled the cheesecake out I left the oven on to burn some of the grease away. The oven started smoking a lot so I turned off the oven, opened the sliding glass door and left the kitchen to turn on some vents to air out the house. When I came back to the kitchen I realized the oven had caught on fire! I may or may not have said a bad word! Don't judge me! I then ran and got the fire extinguisher to put out the fire (Man those things are a mess to clean up!). I called Nathan to see when he was coming home as I got the kids out the door. Nathan said he would be home soon and I told Easton to take Blair with him up to Valerie's so they wouldn't have to wait outside in the cold. The fire alarms went off as we were walking out the door. Nathan pulled up as Easton was about half way up the street to Valerie's. A few minutes later I see Valerie and her son, Will, running down the street asking if everything is okay. Valerie then told me what happened:

They hear the door bell ring and Will looks out the peep hole to see who is there but he doesn't see anyone because Easton's too short! He still decides to open the door thinking maybe the UPS guy left something at their door. Easton walks inside and sees that the TV is on and is fixated on it. Valerie keeps looking at the door waiting for me to come but I never do. Eventually she gets Easton's attention and asks where I am and if everything is okay at home. Easton says all calmly, "There's a fire..." and then walks over to the couch and sits down in front of the TV! That's when Valerie grabs Easton and tells Will to come down with her. HAHA! Apparently we can't trust Easton in an emergency because there might be a chance that a TV is on and we would never get help!

We are still waiting on Dyer's head... We got a referral to take him to another hospital since there isn't anyone at Travis that can handle this but when Nathan tried to call and set up an appointment we realized they had Dyer covered on the wrong insurance so now we are in the process of getting a new referral with the correct insurance. Hopefully Nathan can set up an appointment today if not then we will have to wait about 10 days for them to get a hold of us.

Blair helping me make persimmon cookies.

One of Blair's newest things, when she doesn't get her own way, is to say, "I'm Blair Bear!" (usually with attitude). It's as if she is saying, "Excuse me but do you know who you are saying no to? You do not say no to Blair Bear!" She apparently thinks that she is the most important person in the world and no one should tell her no. It makes me laugh anytime she says it to Easton.