Nice in November

November was awesome!  We had great weather.  We had a great time.  We got to see family.  What more could you ask?  Here's our re-cap of the month.


FPU

Back in September, I posted that Nathan and I were taking the Financial Peace University class.  The course was 9 weeks and it was awe-inspiring.  The class is life changing and we loved it. In fact, we loved it so much that we are going to be hosting a FPU class come January.

Before we would go to our class, I would pick Nathan and up work and we'd head over to the church and eat dinner (our class was just down the street from our church).  One of the weeks, we found the sister missionaries at the church and they had a blast playing with Hannah.  We probably spent 45 minutes rolling a ball down the hallway.  Hannah loves the sister missionaries.

Pikes

We got to go and visit the Pikes.  It was fun as always.

We also got to see the boys in a very superb recital.  This was a very talented youth orchestra.

The Pikes also watched Hannah for us a few days as well, and Hannah was more than thrilled. One of the reasons for her excitement: she got to sleep in her tent.

We're not sure who had more fun -- the Pikes or Hannah.

When Nathan and I arrived back at the Pikes house, Hannah was so excited to see us, especially Daddy, that she literally hugged Nathan for several minutes.

We also got to spend Thanksgiving with them as well.  It was delicious, relaxing, and nice to be with family.

Danny was able to come down too and it was so good to see him again.

We also got to celebrate the December birthdays while we were there.

Miscellaneous fun

One day Hannah came into the guest room where I was working on the computer.  She asked if she could "watch Hannah's."  That's code for "I want to watch videos of me!"  So we pulled up a few and she saw a video of her being thrown on the bed with daddy a few years back.  Well when Daddy came home that day from work she wanted him to throw her into the air and land on the bed.  He lovingly obliged.

Here's a shot of her being tossed into the air.

We had some extra -- FREE -- blinds (long story on how we got them) that we installed around the house.  Hannah, of course, loved helping daddy.  And I love having these blinds in our windows.  It makes such a difference in so many ways.

Hannah got an umbrella at the end of October and she got to use it for the first time this month!  She was elated.  She often asks now before we leave home "is it raining outside? I need my umbrella." I remember saying things like that when I was her age.

Some brief guests

We had some friends stay with us one night as well.  They were in Northern New York doing some sight seeing and they needed a place to crash one night.  I wouldn't let them stay anywhere else!  It was great to see our Iowa friends again.

Hannah enjoyed playing with her friend Oakley as well, and often asks when she gets to play with Oakley again.

Christmas season is here!

Christmas is alive in Hannah.  She has definitely grasped everything that comes with this holiday. That being said, she has a new found, bouncing off the walls energy inside her and it can be hard to keep up with.

Our family has an Elf on the Shelf (named Jasper) that comes every year, and he likes to keep an eye on the munchkin.  Hannah noticed that Jasper was in our car when we drove back up from the Pikes. She LOVES this little elf.  She tells us all the time "we can't touch him.  If we touch him he looses his powers."

Hannah was excited to decorate her little tree again.  She loves turning it on and looking at the lights. Christmas really does come alive when you have a little one at home.