Love

We had Ward Conference yesterday and I learned a lot. One of the counselors in the Stake Presidency spoke and he talked about love. He used the scriptures that the Savior gave in the Sermon on the Mount about loving your enemies. He said that we should not make enemies of those who are really our friends. He meant our spouses and our children. He gave an example of an experience he had with his son. They were trying to fix something that the son had broken. He was outside shouting in through the window at his son trying to see if the satellite was working. President Brown said that he was frustrated but most of his shouting was due to trying to communicate from outside. However, what his son heard was shouting at him and came away feeling that his father was angry with him and that he had ruined something important to his dad. At the end of the day, they had family prayer and the son burst into tears. His father realized that he had "made an enemy" of him and quickly apologized and comforted his son.
The people that reside in my home are the most important to me. I realized that I do a lot of that same "shouting" and need to be more careful in the way I say and do things with and for my family. While the message of the Savior really does apply to outside enemies we may have, I definately don't want my family to become my enemy either. Love changes things!

Cute kids

Here is a cute picture we took of the kids. If only they acted like they love each other this much all the time!

Catch Up!

So, I have all but given up blogging. It makes me sad to not have many posts up from our latest adventures but life keeps speeding up and I have to keep cutting back things that I do for my own pleasure just to keep up. Anyway, here is a quick update on the last 2 months!
December flew by but we were able to get another service project in and finish reading the Book of Mormon as a family to finish up the goals we had set for the year. Christmas was wonderful-we spent Christmas Eve catching up with some friends (and just in time-they moved to Michigan not long after!) and getting ready for Santa to make his appearance. Of course we couldn't over look the miraculous birth of our Savior as we put on our annual Christmas pageant. Christmas day was beautiful and I so enjoyed being able to attend our Sacrament meeting. It just made Christmas day to be there and sing the beautiful hymns that were chosen. The kids made out like bandits and had lots of fun playing all day.
I was spoiled rotten by my husband and kids on my birthday and then a great friend also had a little family party for me. I can't believe that I am well on my way into my 30's!
Mike took his boards the day after my birthday and was grateful to get the stress of having to study out of the way...now he just has an 8 week wait to see whether he passed or not.
New Year's we once again went to Valley Forge Park to see the sunrise and make our yearly goals. This year some friends joined us-I'm not sure they were so thrilled about the experience but it was fun to have them. We decided to read the New Testament and Book of Mormon as a family, run a race together as a family and in general be more active.
Then it was back to school and real life....Christmas break was sooo fun that it was hard to get back to the normal routine.
Last week Mike found out that he PASSED his boards! Yep, he found out earlier than we were expecting and that means that he doesn't have anything to study for for the first time in 12 years! Can't tell you how nice it was to come home from church activities the other night and have the dishes done for me...all because there wasn't any studying to be done!
So, that about catches us up. Heavenly Father has been pouring out the blessings and we are so grateful to Him for all He does.
We FINALLY got our family pictures done so hopefully we will get a note out to most of you. Now it will just be a love note instead of holiday wishes!

Inspirational Message

My brother in law and sister in law are in this beautiful video. They lost their little Eli a few years ago and I just want to say that I felt the presence of the Spirit as they went through that tough experience. They were so inspirational to me in the way they relied on the Lord and accepted His will for their lives. I'm grateful to know that we can be with our loved ones again.

Peanut Butter

Today, I am thankful that there is a thing called peanut butter. Just so you all know, I love peanut butter! There is nothing better than peanut butter and chocolate or sour dough pancakes with peanut butter and syrup. However, I am really very grateful that peanut butter gets gum off of things! I have a great picture, that I can't get to load, of Camden's face covered in peanut butter as we attempted to get the gum off of his face. Why did our 3 year old have gum, you ask? It couldn't possibly be because our neighbor gave us 8, yes 8!, CASES of trident gum before halloween. Can you guess what we handed out for halloween? Anyway, since there is soooo much of it, there really isn't any where to keep it so Camden is constantly getting into it. Needless to say, the peanut butter worked like magic and his face is happy and smiling once again!

The Gospel

I'm thankful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am grateful for the knowledge I have of our Savior and the way in which His atoning sacrifice changes my heart. I am grateful for the constant blessings that come from a loving Father in Heaven. I'm grateful for Temple covenants that seal me to not only my earthly family but to my heavenly family for eternity.

Scouting for Food

I'm thankful that we can be part of Scouting for Food. For the past several years we have gone as a family with the scouts to drop off the bags and also to pick up the food. I am thankful that my kids love to help with this. They love to run from house to house putting bags in the doors. This year Camden wanted to help and was so cute trying to reach the door handles so he could put the bag in. He walked the route with dad and the kids while I drove. I am also grateful that people are generous and share what they have with those who don't have.
I'll get a picture up of Camden helping soon