Noteworthy November

For the most part, our November was pretty chill, especially the first couple of weeks. This year, I was almost not going to celebrate El Dia de los Muertos. I usually try to do it right after Halloween, but that weekend was crazy with a couple of basketball games on Saturday and other family stuff. Plus, it's not like we do a whole lot to celebrate it any way. We create a little ofrenda and eat Mexican food. I consider it like our recognition of Chinese New Year or Cinco de Mayo. However, the following Sunday we were studying sections 127 and 128 in the Doctrine and Covenants, which discusses the ordinance of baptisms for the dead. I figured maybe we should loop a yummy Mexican dinner and a small ofrenda into our discussions. I even made a "Guess Your Ancestor" game as we talked about some of our ancestors. It was fun. Laurin and Casey even joined us in the game. It wasn't anything big, but it was still fun to celebrate nonetheless...and no, I didn't even think to take a picture of anyone with the ofrenda or the game papers, but I did take one of the ofrenda before I took it down. Like I've said many times, life is all about the small moments, the fun things we do to take a normal Sunday and make it a little special. Holiday celebrations don't need to be big to be memorable and fun.

A couple nights later (Tuesday, November 11th), we got to witness another memorable moment where God reminded us of His presence. He showed us the beauty of the world He created as we saw the night sky lit up with the pink and red hues of the Northern Lights. It was incredible! I wasn't even aware that the lights could be visible this far south until I happened to notice a post on Instagram from a friend. We quickly went outside and sure enough we could see the lights even without the use of our phone camera (usually it's hard to see the colors this far south with the naked eye, but if you use your camera you can see them appear). I don't know what it is about those lights, but I just have to bow to the Creator for their beauty. There is something so serene and magical about them. Now we can say that we've seen the blue and green hues in Iceland and the red and pink hues in Utah. I would still love to see them dance across the sky, but I feel like I have witnessed the lights enough to check them off my bucket list.

That following weekend, our month ramped up a bit! Julie and Brad flew into town and Stan and Kristi drove down to join the party too (they had double the reason to come because Grant and Liz had their little baby boy, Lawrence Lee, on the 13th). Saturday (November 15th) we enjoyed hanging out with extended family in the morning then Jeff, Jonas and I raced off to another weekend of double header basketball games. After the games, we met up with the rest of our growing family for our annual Luminaria tradition. Yup! We started Christmas festivities a little early. It was literally the only day we could find that worked best for everyone (plus the weather was much more mild than later in December). It's getting harder and harder to coordinate our schedules, especially during December when there are so many other parties and activities. Besides, I don't think any of us minded kicking off the Christmas fun even before Thanksgiving. We met up with everyone at the Harvest restaurant for dinner then spent a few hours wandering the magical light displays at Ashton Gardens. I'm always surprised at how much time we spend there. They keep adding fun activities and enchanting experiences. I love watching the younger kids most of all. There is a magic to this season that is palpable even if unexplainable, but kids are the ones who experience it the most. This year they added this "snow" (bubbles) animated projection that we enjoyed, plus the jumping lights were back and always a family favorite. The reindeer are fun for me to see as well. I guess you can say that I still get excited for Santa and his reindeer too.

Sunday (November 16th) we had a Southwick Thanksgiving dinner since all of Gma Penny's kids were in town. (We were obviously missing a few cousins/spouses, but the majority of us were there.) We had fun hanging out with everyone. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures. I'm usually off my game when it comes to Southwick things because they generally don't do pictures. However, I did grab a photo of our Thankful tree. It was a shorter month because I took it down shortly after our Southwick Thanksgiving feast since I knew we would be in AZ for Thanksgiving, but it was full of so many incredible things to be thankful for. I think that is what I love most about the month of November - the opportunity to reflect on all the things I have to be grateful for, including hard things. Life isn't just about the easy road. Sometimes the trials in our lives are the very thing we need to mold and shape us into who we have always meant to be. I am incredibly grateful for my little family, but it didn't come easy. There were years of feeling alone then years of feeling rejected. I'm happy to report that now I get to experience years of love. We have an incredible life. It is not perfect, but I'm perfectly content with all the imperfections.