Sunday December 14, 2014

Hey Cass! - I really can't seem to call you Sister St. John - which I guess is weird?

Anyway - I hope this finds you doing well and staying warm somehow. We saw on the mission Pres. blog that you had zone conferences and got your Christmas packages?

Dad used my email address to send you his email - so that means I could read through it. He's funny. He's got some of the details wrong about when we went to the temple but it's not really important, so anyway...he gave you a pretty good rundown of our week so I'll just fill in some of my own stuff.

The lights at David's were pretty spectacular. I have a few second video of it, but I'm not sure if you're allowed to watch that if I send it? You'll have to let me know. I'll for sure send a picture. It was fun to have all the cousins there. I think everyone that lives in Utah on the Stewart side was there except for Chelsie's family, they had a neighborhood thing.

The temple was great, even though I really missed being there with you. Having quite a few opportunities to go with you before you left was a blessing. Time I will cherish.

Other things this week have been the normal hustle and bustle. Colten had his CCRP meeting at the high school to plan for his senior year and taking of the ATC. Hadlie had an orthodontist appt. She gets to get her springs off next month. Her jaw has moved extremely fast. Friday I went to IKEA by myself to get my Christmas present, which is also sorta a present for you too. I got a full size bed (mattress) and headboard, footboard. I thought a bigger bed might be good for guests in there while you're away and for you when you get home. So Merry Christmas to us. And for your enjoyment you can picture me trying to get all of those things on a cart and in the car by myself!

Yesterday after the ward party Hadlie and I went for a straight A day activity. We ate at Chick-fil-a, got a peppermint shake and went to Mockingjay. I thought it was good and that will be the last of those movies I see, seeing as I hate how that story ends. Then after we got home I made donut dough with River and we watched the Giver (which rhymes btw). I actually thought the movie was really good. They changed a few things from the book and the ending is better. In a little while we'll be making the donuts - after the dough rises, etc.

Today at church was Bishop Kay's son's homecoming AND Rachel Bingham's farewell. They moved her departure date up to Jan. 7th - so she's outta here...Anyway - the church was packed. There were literally people standing up in the back because there were no more chairs. Crazy. The YM had a heck of time prepping, passing the Sacrament but they did a good job. The bishopric even had all the YW sit up on the stand to make more room for people. Anyway - they both did a good job speaking. Mitch Kay seems a lot like his dad.

So Christmas is fast approaching us. Grandma Stewart decided yesterday that she'll be flying up this Friday to spend Christmas with Grammy, Papa and the rest of us here. It'll be good to see her. This is the kid's last week of school before the break. They get 2 full weeks this year. They're all happy about that.

I think that's the update for things here. Oh - except I made myself a pretty awesome Christmas playlist on Spotify. I'll save it so you can listen it to it when you're home. I'm sure you know we have a million questions for you, but I think I'll wait to see how your email is this week. Just know any details are much appreciated. Ok - but here's just a couple ?'s...

*How's your coat? Do you need to get one?

*How's your stomach?

I love you so much and hope you're doing well. I can't believe we'll get to talk to you next week! I'd really like it if we could do that once a month or something?!

Love - Mom