Pie, Tree, & Quilt

We got up and got ready for church since I had ward council. We were all combined in Young Women's today & Sis. J taught the lesson. She started off by asking if the girls had any experiences w/ the topic from last week of depression/anxiety/etc. Quite a few girls and even a few leaders opened up and shared some very personal and powerful experiences. The Spirit in the room was palpable and the tears flowed freely. It was amazing just to be there and experience the type of love, safety, and acceptance that was felt between us all.

 

 Our home teachers came over after church, and after they left we decided to make this deliciously rich chocolate & peanut butter pie. I saw the recipe online a few days ago and we made sure to buy all the ingredients for it the last time we were at the store. It only has 6 ingredients and no cream cheese or whipped cream like most of these types of pies do. Y’all, I highly recommend everyone make this pie and try it at least once in their lives. Next time I will just buy a premade Oreo crust instead of making it from scratch. Autumn is such a good little helper in the kitchen.

 

 Aunt Sandy, Zack, and Shari came over so Aunt Sandy could quilt some quilt tops tomorrow. We went over to say hi and to give them presents for Christmas that Mom & Dad had sent back w/ Britt. It was sooooo cute to see Autumn & Olivia looking at the Christmas tree together, and seeing how softly Olivia would touch the lights. Olivia was enthralled w/ it since she was too young to even be aware of a Christmas tree last year.

 

 Aunt Sandy said that there was something stinky in the craft room, so we all went upstairs to check it out. Nate even went up in the attic to make sure it wasn't a dead animal. We finally found the culprit ... the upstairs bathroom toilet had no water in the bowl. We flushed it so it filled back up w/ water and the smell eventually went away.

 

We finally left and went over to Curt & Mary's to give them a book that Mom & Dad had sent from South Africa. It's "The Night Before Christmas In Africa" and this way they can read it to their grandkids before Christmas. We stayed and chatted w/ them for a little bit and then headed home so Autumn could get to bed.

After I put her to bed, I was walking pass her room and I heard her talking to Rosy Posy, so I stood outside the door and eavesdropped for a minute. But first, a little back story. At church Autumn is a little social butterfly and goes around and says hi to people and gives them hugs before the meeting starts. Today she gave each of the 3 men in the bishopric a hug. As I was putting her to bed I told her how thoughtful that is of her to think of them. They do so much for us, especially the Bishop, and they are often overlooked and underappreciated.

So, I heard her telling Rosy Posy "how great Bishop is and how much he does for us. He knows each and every person in our ward and he loves us. He's soooooooooooo nice." It was ADORABLE! I texted that to the Bishop and he wrote back and said how much it meant to him, and that the timing of the text was exactly what he needed. Tender mercies!