Announcing a sister's Blog!!!

We finally did it! My sisters and Mom all got together and made a blog!!! We are super excited about it.

http://www.smallandsimpleblog.com

Please go check it out.  We are each writing on a different day of the week, and I am MONDAYS! :) Our purpose is to help spread light and love and some pretty great ideas.  My Mom's "Grandma's Corner" is  amazing, and my sisters are an eclectic mix of brilliant, creative, fun, cheap, thoughtful and inspiring. Cathy is about to publish a page about how she redid her whole kitchen for half the price.  My first post was a page full of links called "The Best of Pinterest."  http://smallandsimpleblog.com/2012/06/05/best-of-pinterest/

And this current post publishing June 11, 2012 will be Ten Simple Changes that will improve your life forever.  I could never give up this great HappyCrew page. I will have this forever. But please take a minute to add my other blog to your list. I am sure between the five of us, there will be something to make it worth your while.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be - brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so small that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in us, it’s in everyone. As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. "
Marianne Williamson, 19921994 Inaugural Speech -Nelson Mandela

"Home should be the place in which a person can unburden his soul and find renewed strength to face the world, where there is comfort, joy, and understanding, where best friends live, and where we can learn to be our best selves.
Home should be an anchor, a port in a storm, a refuge, a happy place in which to dwell, a place where we are loved and where we can love. Home should be where life’s greatest lessons are taught and learned. Home and family can be the center of one’s earthly faith, where love and mutual responsibility are appropriately blended. Thinking of home with its pleasant and happy memories can make us stronger during our present and future days here upon the earth." By: ELDER MARVIN J. ASHTON - A YEARNING FOR HOME - (Ensign No. 1992)

Nauvoo

I'm back for a minute!! I had to reserve for posterity our trip to Nauvoo!!
What an amazing journey for us.

 It was a 13 hour drive for us.  We arrived close to 11 PM and saw the temple.  Beautiful.  I can't believe how hard the early church members worked for that temple. I could tell from history how grateful they were to be able to attend a temple before they left across the plains to Utah. I love it that we rebuilt this temple. In many ways it is a tribute to them.

Here we are on the front steps of the temple.

This was fun.  The kids didn't think I could do it. But I also love the symbolism.  I go to the pioneers in my mind for examples of women who did hard things with faith and joy.  So this pic is a keeper for me. I can get my kids across the modern day plains.

They have some wonderful plays and theatrical performances up in Nauvoo during July. We saw one at the visitors center called, High Hopes and Riverboats.  We LOVED it.  Beautifully done. Excellent message of love and faith of the early saints in Nauvoo.  The pageant is an outdoor performance every evening during July. It is absolutely amazing.  What a beautiful performance. 

A couple great highlights without pictures:  We were able to see the brick makers, the blacksmith, and the gunsmith. They showed us what life was like in the 1800s. We loved to tour the inside of these old homes. And it was meaningful for us to see the graves of Joseph, Emma, Hyrum and their parents.  The trail of hope down to the waters edge was touching for the kids. And we also were able to visit Carthage jail, the site of the martyrdom of Joseph Smith.  

All throughout Nauvoo is a special feeling of peace and love. The Spirit of the Lord is present in great abundance. It was a great experience for us all. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints has its restoration and beginnings with a boy named Joseph Smith who grew to a man and restored Jesus Christ's gospel to the earth once more, clarifying much of the confusion and differences in religion, translating the wonderful Book of Mormon for us as additional scripture.  He sacrificed all for us to have all these awesome blessings and many more.  I wish more people knew about the happy life of the LDS people.

Thirty Ways #19: Do Less

Make time to ponder, to relax, to think, to feel, to experience, to listen, to study, to grow, to love and share.  In all the serving and helping and enabling and encouraging and building and peacemaking and working and constructing and creating etc please take time to just feel.  To enjoy.  To love. You will feel in the quiet, an opportunity for the Savior to reach you.  An opportunity for Him to speak to your heart.  It can be a beautiful experience.

Thirty Ways #18: Make Gingerbread Houses

 Great wonderful friends invited us over last night to make gingerbread houses with them!! We each made two.  We kept one and we are giving away one.  SO FUN. We love to do this.  She made the gingerbread for us and everything. What a dear. So creative too.  When I saw her house and her fun ideas I realized once again how some people are just incredibly creatively gifted. Never fear though, for all of us who are marginally creatively gifted (or not at all like me.... :)) there are plenty of pre-made kits you can buy where all you do is set them up.

 

Christmas offers lots of activities and opportunities to be together.  Building friendships and strengthening families and feeling love for and from each other are all things that bring us closer to Jesus Christ.



And this is just a quick shot of our little one ready for her dance recital.

Thirty Ways #17: Read The Book of Mormon

When I read the Book of Mormon, I feel close to Jesus Christ, almost like I have spent time with a dear friend.  I feel like I know Him better than when I started.  This happens particularly when I read for longer periods of time.  Christ's gospel is so clearly explained in the Book of Mormon and there are so many great examples in the stories and history that is told.  Similarly to the Bible, I find myself learning from it all.

You can go to this great link to read an online, search-able copy of The Book or Mormon.  http://lds.org/scriptures/bofm?lang=eng  I recommend 3 Nephi 11.  There is an account where Christ comes to visit an ancient people in the Americas.  3 Nephi 11

Also, here are the rest of the suggested scriptures to read one a day.  I recommend you read them and then discuss them and read some more and talk with your families about what they are trying to teach.

December 10 Jacob 7:11-12
December 11 1 Nephi 10:4
December 12 1 Nephi 11:13-`8
December 13 1 Nephi 11:20, 21, 24
December 14 1 Nephi 11:27
December 15 Helaman 14:3
December 16 Helaman 14:5-6
December 17 Luke 1:30-31
December 18 3 Nephi 1:13
December 19 3 Nephi 1:19
December 20 Luke 2:4-7
December 21 Luke 2:8-11
December 22 Luke 2:12.14
December 23 Matthew 2:1-2
December 24 Luke 2

Read the Bible: Thirty Ways #16

The absolutely best way to make Jesus Christ more a part of this Christmas season is to read the words of the Prophets about Him in the Bible http://lds.org/scriptures?lang=eng (and the Book of Mormon, more on that later).  There are some great "scripture a day" programs I will share below. And also an awesome link to a search-able online Bible and an index by topic http://lds.org/scriptures/tg?lang=eng for it so you can choose your own scriptures to read on any topic.  And also I will include a list of our favorite verses to read about Jesus Christ.  If you do anything at all this Christmas to focus more on the Savior, this will work better than anything else, with a close second from serving others.

Scripture a Day until Christmas

December 1:  Isaiah 7:14  "Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name immanuel."
December 2:  Isaiah 9:6  "Unto us a child is born..."
December 3:  Micah 5:2 "out of thee shall He come forth"
December 4:  Jeremiah 23:5 "I will raise unto David a righteous branch..."
December 5:  Isaiah 40:3-4 "The voice of Him who crieth in the wilderness..."
December 6:  Jeremiah 33: 14-15 "I will perform that good thing..."
December 7:  Isaiah 40:11 "He shall feed his flock.."
December 8:  Psalms 24:9-10 "Who is the King of Glory?"
December 9:  Jeremiah 23:6 "In His days, Judah shall be saved..."
More later, from the Book of Mormon too.

Do you want to search for a specific word or phrase in the Bible? Do you want to know where a specific story is so you can read it again? Go to this online searchable set of scriptures. http://lds.org/scriptures?lang=eng
It is very user friendly.

And then if you want to look for Jesus Christ in an index and then go to some of the references listed for the Bible, go to this link
http://lds.org/scriptures/tg?lang=eng

We are going to read all the references to Jesus Christ The Good Shepherd and Jesus Christ Redeemer.  It will take awhile, a few days at least, but I look forward to every minute. 

Let me add a footnote here. We just finished our devotional for the night. So fun!! We picked out some families to do 12 days for and the kids listed some things they want to give them.  And then under Jesus Christ The Good Shepherd in the Topical Guide of the Bible, we found the 23 Psalm.  The kids recognized it and love it. They have heard it to music before.  And then under Jesus Christ Redeemer, we read some of the story of Job.  I am so inspired by him.  And the kids were amazed.  After all he had been through, his testimony and declaration that Jesus Christ is our redeemer is powerful.

Thirty Ways #8-15 or so: Service, Service, and more Service

I was thinking of what makes Christmas really special for us. And it is when we serve, when we feel like we have made a difference in someone's life.  Here are some ideas of things we have done or our friends have done to serve.  I share them thinking that you might find joy and fun and blessings in doing the same with your families.

We love to do 12 days of Christmas for people.  We start on day one and give them 1 thing up until 12 days on Christmas eve when we are giving them 12 things....which is usually a CD with 12 tracks or 12 brownies or napkin rings or something. But anyway, it is super fun for the kids to leave it on the doorstep and run.

We love to do the traditional make and deliver cookies.  As much work as it is, the kids are the most excited about this activity. And we include all kinds of people in our delivery pool.

We have gone to elderly care homes and delivered cards and ornaments and talked with the residents. This is super fun too because they get really excited to have kids visit.  Families have joined together and did a sort of talent show for them as well.  I want to do this some day.

(I will stop talking in the first person:))

You could make and mail cards and packages to the soldiers.

You could assemble hygiene kits, education kits, newborn kits, etc. in your home with your kids and ship them to Salt Lake.  http://classic.lds.org/humanitarianservices/0,19749,6208,00.html

You could quietly choose a family or a couple people or a couple families to serve during the holidays and anonymously mail them gift cards or drop off a box of fun Christmas cheer at their house.

You can organize a caroling group and visit the houses of friends and invite them to join you. Super fun!!

You could serve lunch at a soup kitchen.  Union Gospel Mission in Fort Worth is a wonderful wonderful organization.  http://www.uniongospelmissiontc.org

You could help stock a soup kitchen.  You can help any and all battered women's organizations in your area. Their shelters are always in need of supplies and love and cheer.

You could invite your friends' children over for a kids party right in the middle of the busy holiday season. Their parents will be grateful. And the kids will have super fun.

You can serve at any and all Ronald McDonald houses over Christmas and change lives. My dear friend was blessed by such service and it meant so very much.  What a hard time to have a sick hospitalized child.

Etc Etc Etc.  Look around. There will be specific ways you can serve in your area every day. I was just telling a dear friend today. I would much rather be super busy serving than be super busy doing anything else.  It isn't as draining.  Instead it kind of fills you up.

Anyway, we will be implementing many of these throughout the holidays but it becomes tricky reporting on your service activities so I just thought I would throw out the big list to choose from over the next couple weeks. 

If you have any other ideas or experiences to share, I am looking for more. Please let me know.

Watch LDS Christmas Programs: Thirty Ways #7

We had an awesome day.  Tonight we watched parts of a Christmas concert with the kids and we decorated our main tree.  (I say main tree because this year we set up that additional inspirational tree in the other room.)  See  Original thirty ways  And then we were blessed to see the annual Christmas devotional from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. wow. It was phenomenal. Talk about bringing Christ into Christmas.  We got some great ideas from them too about how to keep this Christmas a meaningful one.

The concert we watched, "Ring Christmas Bells" has a story behind it.  Dustin and I were married at Christmas time and we like to get back to the Salt Lake City Temple Square area at Christmas time when we can.  For our anniversary last year we took a quick trip to see the annual Christmas concert at the conference center in Salt Lake City.  We were so so blessed because our dear kind awesome and wonderful friend Glen sings in the choir and was able to get us tickets on the SECOND ROW.  Anyway, we aren't sure if it was because it was second row or our date trip or just a truly exceptional concert but we loved it and it is one of the highlights of Dustin's life he just told me.  So, it is well worth seeing.  Anyway, we showed the kids the retelling of the story surrounding "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." 

 The annual Christmas Devotional can be seen here by December 6th.  http://lds.org/broadcasts/watch/christmas-devotional/2010/12?lang=eng 
It was really so so inspiring! The music was beautiful, the talks were heart changing and very timely.  We loved it and found ourselves lingering together in the family room after it was over.

We ate yummy cinnamon rolls. mmmmmm.  Thanks Grandma Jane for the recipe.

This is what it looks like right when we are done BEFORE I tweak it tomorrow when the kids are at school. :)

Fun Community Events: Thirty Ways #6

Hi there,
Well, this activity was admittedly not at all Christ focused.  And my plans to have a follow up devotional last night fell through.  But of course, December is an awesome time of year to participate in community events, shows, plays, parades, lightings, carriage rides etc.

We went to a local showing of the Nutcracker and it was so beautiful.  I was very impressed.  If you are in the area, here is their website http://www.lifesongstudio.com  It was great for us all to be out having fun together.  In the past, we have seen the Rockettes together, attended various live nativities, participated in concerts etc.  Later in December we will be seeing Annie in a local theater in the round type place.  Http://www.artisanct.com
Wish I had a personal picture. This one will have to do for now.

Nutcracker Photo &

Talk about Jesus: Thirty Ways #5

I am including everything we do this month even things like this which don't seem very creative.  But today we sang our Christmas carol, said a prayer, and talked about Jesus.  We talked about some of the things He did on earth. We mentioned all the people he healed. We talked about calming the storm.  We talked about washing the disciples feet, about His hours in Gethsemane, about his time on the cross.  We talked about His return.  The kids are so excited for Him to come back some day.  We talked about the scripture, "Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ."  It was a great quiet evening.  We felt closer to Him.

This year, I have also added several more word phrases to help us think of Jesus more.  It is still a work in progress, but this has been great fun.

Christmas Stories: Thirty Ways #4

We love to read stories! Over the years we have collected several binders full of Christmas stories designed to share one a day until Christmas.  Today, being December 1st. We read the Gift of the Magi...or at least a smaller kid friendly version.  It was fun to talk about love. 

And this month is also all about fun!! We can't forget all the activities we do that just encourage togetherness! One thing is a tradition we started last year and it brings ALL the family together.  We decorate with candy!

We tried another new thing last year.  I saw this fun handmade garland at a friends' house and loved it immediately.  I think I am a die hard fabric lover. :)  That is a string of lights.  We tied on strips of fabric and laid it along the back and sides of the couch.  LOVE IT!

Kindness Chain, Thirty Ways #3

Tonight was fun to see.  We read in Matthew in the Bible how Jesus told the disciples that the sheep on his right hand were those who fed and clothed and served Him on earth and explained that "inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Beautiful beautiful scripture, one of my very favorites.

So we talked about how Christmas is Jesus' birthday and if we want to give Him a present, the best thing would be for us to serve others.  We started a kindness chain. Every time someone in the family does something kind we record the act on a strip of paper.  Then on Christmas Eve, we string all these strips of paper together in a chain of kindness and gifts we have given to Jesus this month.  The kids get super excited. In fact, we ended the meeting and within 3 minutes, there were already two strips with kind acts written on them.  So this really works!!! :) Then they wanted to draw secret service names for the week too which we did.  Each person has a another person in the family to secretly serve all week long.  Great meeting, great times with the family.

This evening was the first time there were some conflicts with our time. Our oldest is overwhelmed about a huge test tomorrow, Dustin walked in from work late, and the four year old was having trouble finishing her dinner. But everyone settled and calmed while we sang our Christmas carol and said our prayer.  Just when you think there is no way to add one more thing to an evening (like a Christmas devotional) you realize that one more thing might be the most important of all the things.

Thirty Ways #2

As Promised, Mandi taught our lesson tonight on Mercy and Grace.

We want to focus on all the blessings we have because of Jesus Christ.  Mandi taught us that Mercy and Grace are the infinite virtue.  We learned that we all give our very best which is never quite good enough to return to Heavenly Father but then Christ makes up the difference so we can.  Everyone's very best, their 100% is different. It doesn't matter.  When we give our all, Christ completes the path and we can return to Him some day.  And even better, He helps us to do our best, enabling us along the way.  It is the beautiful power of Grace.  It was a nice evening and decorating (and eating) Gingerbread people was super fun too.

Thirty Ways to Add Christ to Christmas

Hello everyone!
We have started our Christmas holiday season and I just LOVE it and the kids are really appreciating it and so I thought we would share what we do each day.

Yesterday was the first day and we set up a new smaller tree in a different room.  On this tree were all our symbols of Christ in Christmas.  We had a lesson about each symbol and then put them up on the tree.  We will add some more to it, but this is how it started:

Stars:  We found some glittery start ornaments and talked about how Christ is the light of the world. And He always leaves a path to find Him.  When He was born, God put a new start in the sky, announcing His birth and leading people to Him.  We can see the path God left for us to find Jesus today through our scriptures and the prophets words.

Bell:  We found some bell ornaments.  We talked about how shepherds call their sheep using a bell and by name.  We know that Jesus calls us to be part of His flock. He wants us to follow Him. We need to listen for His voice and do what He says.  The bell calls the sheep together for safety and for food.

Candy Canes: We love to decorate with candycanes.  We talked about how if a sheep strays from the flock, the shepherd uses the crook to bring him back in.  If we make poor choices and stray from the flock, we can repent and be brought back in with the shepherds crook.

And we put up a nativity set of ornaments. It had all the pieces. So as we hung up each piece, we talked about how that character is important in the birth of Jesus.

It was a beautiful evening. We all love it.

We will be focusing on the Atonement of Jesus through this next month as well as ways to serve Him and more about His teachings.  Tonight we asked our 13 year old daughter to teach us about Mercy and God's grace and how it applies to her. We'll see what she comes up with. :) And we will be decorating gingerbread people.  I better get baking!!!

I told the kids no matter what is going on through December, the 7 PM hour is mine. :)

Merry Christmas!!!

Noah loves to chase the chickens at grandma/pas!!!

What a swing!! It's like in the movies.

Our loves

Audrey loves Dance!

She is having so much fun!

Noah loves whatever we are all doing! He is so much fun!

We love to be with Grandma!

We love each other, and we remember that lots of times! :)

I worked out today!!!

I debated over whether this announcement should be a whole blog post or just a status update on facebook.  And I thought it was big enough news to write a paragraph or two about it...also, I don't want all my facebook friends to know I never work out. :)

So, I have been having some less than healthy couple of months. I won't go into details, but I am a bit concerned so I decide that finally in my 37th year, it is time to start working out.  But I need some serious advice here!!!!!

1.  It is so boring. I chose to walk with our jogging stroller and 18 month old around our neighborhood lake/pond.  It is a great little curcuit, some uphill and some down, but wow!!!! NOTHING to do but walk and walk and walk.

2.  Have you ever exercised in a sauna?? Yeah, well, that was me this morning.  I am all showered and dressed for the day and sitting in my air conditioned house STILL sweating.

3.  It seems so hopeless, like I have to do this every single day for a whole month or something before I will notice it even helping me at all.

OK, so give me some encouragement. advice, help, what do you do to work out?

Thanks....