Life Lately

 Joe and Ryan made a bartender's license for Paul. Haha! He does feel like the school bartender since people come in to the library all day long and share everything going on in their lives and let out their frustrations while they get their drinks and snacks. 

Tessa and I had a girls night and went to Cafe Rio and The Nutcracker to see Amarie perform. 

We rode up there with Al and her girls, and had a fun night out.

Amarie did such a good job dancing! She is especially amazing at turns, and was able to shine during the Russian dance. I couldn't even count how many she did!

Rockwell and I thought it would be fun to play Christmas songs together, him on his clarinet and me on my violin. 

I thought I would just be able to use his music, but it turns out the two instruments do not sound good together trying to read off the same music. It would need to be transposed, but I have no idea how to do that. It was actually quite funny how bad they sounded together. Haha!

Paul and I went to a showing of The Sound of Freedom, a movie about Tim Ballard's life and how he came to start Operation Underground Railroad. 

It was very well-made and powerful to watch, but also so hard, sad, and infuriating to watch. That's how it always is when hearing stories about rescuing children from human trafficking. It's such a hard thing to hear about, but also so inspiring to try and help out in the small ways we can. Tim was there, and talked for a while after the movie. He showed a preview of a series they're making with Mel Gibson right now about rescuing kids from Ukraine and the miracles that happened in those missions.

Damon has been sick with a cough, which turned into an ear infection. He was in pain, so I took him into the doctor to have them check it out. After a couple days his other ear started hurting too, but luckily his body was able to fight it off and he didn't end up needing antibiotics. Poor thing has been sick a lot lately and we're all ready for him to be healthy again, hopefully for a long time!

I was released as Relief Society secretary and called as an advisor in Young Women. I went to my first activity this week, which was ice skating with the girls and the Deacons. It was really fun, and I loved being there with Rockwell and watching him have a great time with his friends.

Northridge had a Christmas Sing for all the parents. They were practicing for it when I went in to help in Tessa's class this week, so I was able to see where she would be standing and knew where to sit when I went for the performance. They sounded great and it was fun to be able to watch Tess.

Damon's ear was hurting pretty bad, so he stayed home that day. He was so sad to miss the Christmas Sing and his class party that day. I dropped him off at Paul's school so I could go listen to Tessa sing. When I picked him up he wasn't nearly as sad about missing school as he had been when I dropped him off. He had a great time helping Paul put books away, playing checkers, and getting a drink from the hot cocoa bar in the library. 

It was between periods when I walked into the school, and Damon and Paul were out in the hall saying hi to all the students. Damon was loving it!! Before we left, a couple teachers had come in and given Damon treats and prizes and just thought he was the cutest thing. He was seriously in heaven!

Brother Grigg is our ministering brother, and when he came over for a visit he brought some temple cards with him. He had requested names, and they all had the last name Barth. He asked if we would like to do the work for them instead. Paul and I were able to go do the sealings, and it was neat to be able to do it for some Barths.