Last night was our Ward Christmas Party. I loved it. It was perfect. From prayer to prayer it was barely over 30 minutes long. I guess you can't beat that!

I spent some time trying to learn more ASL tonight. I worked on the Christmas songs that are available on DVD or the church website. I've got a few down..sort of. I tried working on some primary songs as well which are really only available at the church website and a few selected ones from previous years on DVD. Anyhow, it really is kind of hard to learn a new language. Even though Maxwell will be getting the cochlear implant we will still use ASL. He will still be deaf and we want all the ways of communication open to him that are possible. So, I continue to try and work at it. At least I get to practice three times next week. Monday is Parent Group at the the school for the deaf, Wednesday is the Christmas party, and Friday is ASL class. Personally, my favorite is the ASL class.

I am trying to learn all the verses to "Adam was a Prophet". Not only is it Abby's favorite song, but I get to learn a bunch of prophet signs and what they did, and the chorus is fun to sign.

Maxwell is finally scheduled for his MRI with an MRS. It will be a week before his surgery, a day after he goes in for the consult with the anesthesiologist, which is a day (I think) after I go in to the dentist. I suppose I ought to schedule his pre-op with his regular dr too since I believe that is how they do things here, but I could be wrong. I can't overlook these things now can I?

Maxwell is making progress and it is exciting to see. He is getting more social with other people. He invited Abby to play with him the other day by looking at her and placing a toy on the floor in her direction. He also understand where his socks go. He tries to put them on by placing them on his feet.

We all went to the Washington DC temple Festival of Lights on Wednesday. When I find the camera again I will post the pictures. It was rather dark out but it made for a beautiful view. We all toured the visitor center and watched the Live Nativity. While Sam was watching the concert I took the kids for a stroll to get closer to the temple. This was an especial treat to Abby since she has been begging to come to the temple and on the way asked if she could go in. So, we sat in the foyer, just inside the door. I asked her once if she wanted to go and she said, "no," so we sat there a bit longer. She asked if we could go downstairs and I told her it was closed (it's the distribution center). So, she asked the temple worker at the desk in the foyer why the downstairs was closed. Such a sweet girl and even though we are used Maxwell as a forever baby it is still hard sometimes to see Abby grow and not be a forever baby. I miss my little tiny girl, it is going way too fast! :(