Tis hoped his sickness is discharged

This week featured a lot of sick people through a lot of sick days. Abdiel only attended school once this week; Gwyn and Elinor both skipped the half day that is their normal Friday; Miriam seems even to have caught something; and unassailable Katharine--normally she of the weak constitution--finally succumbed this Sabbath day.

But there were still a few highlights. The careful reader will recall that Miriam made her mortal debut on a 13th, which meant this Friday was her 1/3 or 4 month day. Elinor made a beautiful sign for the occasion, ruling that the letter 'A' gets more than its share of the spotlight and made it sit out for this time.

Monday we masked Abdiel and packed up the instruments to join forces with our friend Liz in providing music and meal for friends and neighbors. Liz and her husband Lane provided multiple delicious soups, rolls, and space while the kids provided music for caroling. We were glad to see our friends the Grahams, Hintons, and Skinners join us, and loved making new friends with the Livingston's neighbors.

Monday was a monumental day for other reasons: Katharine finally got her license!! Here she is, keys in hand, about to drive herself to school after securing her license during third period. We hoped there would be no hang-ups and our prayers were almost answered: when we got to the window, the Driver's License Division employee informed us that her Driver's Ed teacher had not checked the box indicating she had done the classroom portion of Driver's Ed. We figured this was an oversight owing to Katharine's decision to test with a third-party service in order to hurry things along. I called the school from the DLD to learn that actually Katharine had accidentally forgotten to do two assignments. Mercifully--and in quite a Utah not a Connecticut move--the instructor said he would check the box if she would do those two assignments and email him that they had been completed. She drove us home and dutifully completed the two missing assignments before returning to school to fulfill other assignments. What a gal! 

Tuesday we talked to Julia and recovered from Monday.

Wednesday night Justin took Gwyn, Elinor, and Gabriel to the BYU basketball game while Katharine and Abdiel went to Mutual and Lia put Miriam to bed. This meant laundry day got moved, and Justin was rewarded with this cute face in his laundry basket.

Thursday Lia spent Mom's night online Christmas shopping with each kid severally. In preparation for that activity, she spent some time earlier in the day introducing Gabriel to Power Rangers and Transformers via Amazon and YouTube since, as the younger brother to two sisters in a home without television and thus advertisements, his wish lists are often replete with princesses, fairies, and mermaids. He was quite sold on Power Rangers and Transformers and now asks everyday when his are arriving. Lia sometimes thinks a social science experiment could be conducted featuring the wish lists of children bereft of television. Surely nowhere else would one find "pink tuba", "six-foot tall inflatable peacock", or "poinsettia bushes" on the list of a ten year old; "a swing like in a playground," "an ornament," or "a white board calendar" on the list of a six year old; or "pajamas," "nativity with 3 camels," and "Planet Dinosaur" (a movie we check out from the library) on the list of a three year old. 

  The older kids' wish lists were more standard: Abdiel wants every Imagine Dragons album ever released and Elisabeth and Katharine would like the shelves of Ulta emptied into their bathroom drawers.

Saturday Abdiel had an early basketball game (which they won, with Abdiel scoring 8 and assisting about 10 more); Katharine had an early orchestra rehearsal (which she had put on hold until she secured a license so she could drive herself); and Lia, Abdiel, and Katharine scored a midday temple baptism appointment just after Miriam had her lunch. Instead of the traditional ice cream after-treat, they brought Little Caesar's pizzas back for the whole family. This marked Abdiel's completion of a new year's resolution to attend the temple once a month for the year 2024. He got some extra during the summer, but did indeed serve monthly, without fail, often bringing fellow deacons or friends from school along with him. What a champion! Perhaps inspired by her brother, Katharine's temple and family history goal leading up to the completion and dedication of the Lindon temple is also to attend the temple monthly, and she has done a fantastic job as well.

Saturday was also a day of answered prayers: the kid car's check engine light lit up the same day Katharine got her license, but Saturday we learned it was just a $450 part, not a $2,000 turbo mechanism, that had to be replaced. Katharine also learned that she had made it to the semifinal round of a competition she had entered. Go Katharine!

Sunday the family tried to assuage their missing Julia by welcoming one of her good high school friends home from her mission via attending her homecoming talk. She did a great job, and it was fun to see some of Julia's other friends who have also recently returned. After that many of us stayed home from church sick or caring for those who were sick. It was a task made harder by a constant stream of Christmas neighbor gifts being delivered. If we can keep the kids away from plates of Hershey kiss peanut butter cookies, Popcornopolis Zebra popcorn, muddy buddies, sugar cookies, homemade jam and candies, maybe we'll get them healthy before the Suttner cousins all come to town for the holidays. Please bless!