O Holy Night...

 We did get some snow by Monday morning; 1-2 inches. It did not stick to the roads but did linger through Thursday because the temperatures never rose above 36 degrees. Even the pond had a layer of ice for a couple of days. 

Tuesday morning, while visiting the bathroom in what is becoming a far too frequent nightly event, the night light suddenly went out, as did the power throughout the house. It was 1:30 am. I returned to bed wondering if it would be back on in time for me to conduct seminary. And I woke up at 5:30, still without power, but now wondering how I could conduct my morning zoom with 13 students without power. A call to the power company only revealed there had been an accident and personnel were working to restore power. Here were my options:  Plan B: use the laptop; opps, there is not sufficient battery power to last the required time. Plan C: send a text message canceling seminary - not an option for me. Plan D: use my phone instead of the computer; screen is too small (besides, I have never done that before). Plan E: drive the 11 minutes to church and use my laptop there. I was packing the laptop into its case at 6:10 when the lights came back on! God does love his seminary students in Mountain Home, AR!! It was seminary as usual and they never knew the anxiety I experienced that morning!

Later that morning I drove into town; 3/4's of a mile from my house this is what I saw:

If you look just to the left of the pole, you will see about three feet of a severed pole, obviously run into by some type of vehicle. Note that the mailbox is untouched. There were no skid marks, or tire tracks in front of the pole.

Thursday was my last day for seminary. I have enjoyed studying the Book of Mormon the past couple of months; when teaching others I have found that I gain so much more than just reading and studying on my own.

Isabelle spent the week here and kept herself busy studying and starting her final exams. She kept some interesting hours. She completed her last final about 6 Thursday morning. Then she headed to bed to get some much needed sleep. I took her into town just prior to 1 pm to meet with some other young people that were going to Silver Dollar City where they were going to meet Katie. I did not wait up for them. But they had a good time and were home prior to midnight. Needless to say, they did not make an early appearance on Friday.

But Katie was able to get another driving lesson in the Model A on Friday and again on Saturday since she will be off to school in January to attend BYU-I. Here she is navigating the roads of Mountain Home. She is quite proficient at double clutching now. 

The girls helped rake up leaves along some of the fence lines and they were dry enough to burn. Then to celebrate, just to celebrate, we went out to dinner. Besides, my mantra is to spoil the grand children. And what better way than to go to the local Thai Restaurant and indulge in good food. Katie is not frowning, just chewing.

Today we had church via You Tube and received some great counsel on remembering the birth of the Savior and the importance of serving others in helping us Light the World. Isabelle is making pizza for an early dinner so Katie can return home this afternoon; something about going to work tomorrow. I will drive Isabelle to Branson and hand her off to family tomorrow.

I will spend Christmas with Andy and family. I hope all of you can be with some family during this time of joy and celebration as we remember the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ and the eternal impact that simple birth in humble circumstances has on all of humanity.