Be Comforted in Christ....

Suffering from depression or having difficulties going through trials of adversity? You may want to read or listen to this talk with healing in His wings It is a great talk given to women at BYU Women's Conference in 2002, but all of us can gain from the wisdom. We can be comforted and given perspective as my husband puts it.

perspective  (pəˈspɛktɪv)

— n
1.        a way of regarding situations, facts, etc, and judging their relative importance
2.        the proper or accurate point of view or the ability to see it; objectivity: try to get some perspective on your troubles
3.        the theory or art of suggesting three dimensions on a two-dimensional surface, in order to recreate the appearance and spatial relationships that objects or a scene in recession present to the eye
4.        the appearance of objects, buildings, etc, relative to each other, as determined by their distance from the viewer, or the effects of this distance on their appearance
5.        a view over some distance in space or time; vista; prospect
6.        a picture showing perspective

This talk will also help us, inspire us and motivate us into relying upon Christ more than ourselves. This life is a test. Can we or must we do it alone? The answer is within the talk, hope you take the time to hear it or read it which ever you choose. 

So Much To Be Thankful For

I hope you take the time to listen to the song Thankful by Josh Groban above. I am always thinking of the things I'm thankful for, it helps me appreciate every day living. Really there is so much to be thankful for. I'm thankful for:

• Life to live 

• Beauty, it's everywhere, not only to please the eye but to gladden the heart, and it sure does make me happy.

• Creations created for me and all of us to bring us joy

• Joy of Life, happy moments

• Troubles of life, helps me appreciate the joy of life

• For Earth and all it's wonder and the power that presides over it

• For Heavenly Parents who love enough us to send us here to learn, to experience the good and the bad that help us grow and become as They having knowledge, allowing us to use our agency and make mistakes.

•  For providing a way to make right our mistakes

• For Jesus Christ for choosing to be my Savior, atoning and sacrificing so that I could return home. I know that He loves me. He is my perfect example. He is amazing to me.

• For my parents who love me and taught me valuable lessons in life, who never gave up but kept loving me  no matter what.

• For my husband Ron whom I love, works hard to provide, loves my children, plays with, works with and cares for their every day needs and married me in spite of my preexisting circumstances. I have had a fairy tale like life finding my prince charming, not always living happily ever after but continues to keep it real. I'm grateful for covenants that have been made in the temple that can be forever, like anything worth having, it takes lots of work, sacrifice and love. I've learned this from my Savior. I feel I am still getting to know Ron and love so many things about him.

• For all of my 8 beautiful, smart children who are constantly blowing my mind at how awesome and terrible they are, yet I would never exchange them for anything in the world, they are mine to cherish and love. They are my treasure to enjoy, given to me by my Heavenly Father. It is a lot of responsibility but I'm happy I'm not alone. They help share with me the responsibility of taking care of the home whether they want to or not. They are very bright and very different personalities but each is child of God entrusted to me to help them find their way back home and they help me find my way back in the process. It's been tough but also very rewarding in many different ways. Grateful they know me, they cheer me when I'm not feeling well, they inspire me to keep living and trying when I feel like giving up.
• I'm grateful for our home and that it was made for our family in mind. It's perfect to me, not to big, not too small, open and bright. With that being said I would give it to God and turn my back on it and anything else in a heartbeat because I have nothing without Him. All things come from God. And things are not more important than He.

• For hot water to shower (I literally say this everyday) I really am grateful for hot water to shower because not every place in this world gets to have it. 

• For history, it helps me appreciate the blessings of modern conveniences such as wash machines, dryers, indoor plumbing, my beautiful kitchen to work in and have fun. For cars and stores and I could go on forever.

• For the Restored Church, for the Truth, I really love and look forward to every Sunday to go to church. It fills my lamp and  it makes me happier, it changes my mood to a better one when I've a hard day.
• Thankful for having scriptures we can open any day, anytime, without persecution. It makes me happy to feel the words spoken by prophets of old by normal people who too struggled and didn't always make good choices. They are pure inspiration to me, helps me to become better through their experiences. As I read the Book of Mormon, I really feel like I love these people and look forward to meeting them someday. I've read the Book of Mormon enough times that every time I read it's like going for a visit. They have strengthened my testimony in Christ and helped me to become happier in my own personal life. 

• For music; it gladdens the heart, it lifts the spirit, it makes me want to dance and sing like no one is watching. It has played a huge part in building and strengthening my testimony in the Gospel. Listening to people like Jenny Jordan Frogely, Jessie Clark Funk, Hillary Weeks; these ladies have helped me through some really mentally,emotionally hard times.  I love all music and have found joy in each genre, it makes me feel happy, it inspires me.

• For my husbands family, for they are my family. I love each of them as I have always known them and they were my own. They give me the sense of belonging to something important and it makes me happy to be around them. For my new parents, because they are inspiring, they teach me to be organized, they love and appreciate me.

•  For Joseph Smith for being innocent and brave, faithful to the things he saw and heard even though he was greatly persecuted for doing so. For translating the Book of Mormon and many more things for my benefit through inspiration and revelation from God.

• For Adam and Eve for being our first parents, I know that they were wise and brave too. I love them for doing the right things for setting the example for us. Without them and their correct choices we would not  be here. Because of them we can experience joy and pain here on earth. 

• For beautiful smells, sights, sounds, to feel the gentle warm breeze or the rain or snow on my face; to see colors, storms, sunsets, mountains, rainbows, my family;  to feel sweet baby kisses and warm hugs, the embrace of my honey bear and the touch of his hand and to hear I love you from people who love me, music and the Word of God. I'm grateful for all my senses.

• Thankful to be a wife and a mother, it's the best job in the world

• For animals of most kinds, just not mosquitoes or spiders or snakes.

• For time, time to listen, time to spend with my family, time to learn, time to be inspired, time to improve, time to laugh, to cry, to forgive, to repent, to love, to be lazy, to communicate, to create. 
• For the tender mercies of Christ, for blessing me even when I don't sometimes deserve, he helps us, forgives us, he removes the stains. 

I have so much to be thankful for, I could go on, I find it easy to count my many blessings, because I realize where they have come from and why. What are you thankful for?

Month by Month Activity Days 2011

This is our 2011 Activity Day activities. Hope you find something useful.

January 2011

1st - "Bring in the New" -Explained some of the things we had in store for the new year. They helped us plan upcoming activities-this passes off a goal in the Faith in God booklet. We ended up having fun playing broom hockey in the cultural hall at the church. Lots of fun. They couldn't get enough.

2nd- "Picture This"  We are doing  an ongoing activity for each girl to create their own personal history scrapbook. We are starting with the cover page and their baby picture. I've asked each of the moms or dads to write their feelings and memories of their daughters as they were a baby.We will learn different techniques of scrapbooking using the computer. It will be fun to see how each girl creates.  This project will not only benefit them but for generations to come. It will be a special project to complete.

February 2011

1st- "Souper Bowl" Daddy/Daughter night.  We started off having soup in bread bowls and then end up playing a SEEK football game. I created a table length football field , we used the SEEK game (scripture questions game) to play and make moves. I created slips of papers if they answered correctly which everyone did (we supplied scriptures to make sure) the slips of paper will tell them how many downs they get or maybe they will choose one that says touchdown on it. It was tons of fun.The room was very festive in super bowl garb and the girls loved spending time with their dads.

2nd- "We Love our Missionaries" - This is one of the activities the girls helped us with. I was so excited and impressed with our girls for wanting to be more serviceable this year. We wrote letters and gave Valentines to our missionaries by creating small care packages to send them. We gave each a tie, chapstick and a candy treat along with the letters we wrote. Ended with a Valentine Party, each girl brought something to give the other.

March 2011

1st- "Shopper Savvy" - First 15 min. talked about being smart when shopping, compare, ads, coupons, etc. We planned the menu we wanted to do for the Bishopric Appreciation Dinner. We then took ourselves to our local grocery store checked for prices for our menu. We bought donuts for our treat. Fieldtrips are fun.

2nd- "Bishopric Appreciation" - We made and served a homemade Cafe' Rio Pork Salad dinner. We made the Relief Society room look very classy and cozy. We had met earlier to have the girls decorate and slice and dice veggies and cheese for the salad. We had created a special table for our special guest. We sang a melody of songs for them to entertainment. They (the girls) loved the attention they got from the work they did. They felt good telling the Bishopric thank you for all that they do to serve, that they wanted to serve them back. If you want the recipe for the Sweet Pork Salad let me know by responding I will post it separately because of the length.

April 2011

1st- "Follow the Prophet" - We each took a turn sharing our favorite conference address and told why we chose it. We then played General Conference Jeopardy. Lots of fun. We ended with our quarterly Activity Day Store. Since the beginning of the new year the girls earn play dollars for coming, being on time, saying prayers, passing off Articles of Faith, passing off goals in the booklet, etc. Every 3 months we have this store of things we had bought from Dollar Tree that they can buy, this is suppose to help them budget and save and spend.

2nd- "The Real Story" - Had an Easter Egg hunt. Each egg was numbered 1-12, inside was a scripture and an item that represented that scripture and told the true Easter story. My partner gave the FHE lesson using the plastic eggs that also taught the importance of the Sacrament. We then had them make their own Family Home Evening kit. we had them fill gallon zip-lock bags with Easter grass along with the numbered and filled plastic eggs and lesson plan. At the end we made a treat- Easter basket cupcake. The girls were thrilled.

May 2011

1st- "My Super Mom" - Scrapbook pics, information and thoughts about our moms. Talk about how to prepare to be a mom 1. Learn to love yourself-good self-esteem 2. Education- a mom needs knowledge 3. hard work- the most important job in the world 4. Learning important life skills -laundry, cooking sewing, how to clean a house, taking care of children, etc. 5. Learn to become selflessness, to sacrifice and to love 6. Become a righteous influence on others, be a good example and 7. Nurturer/Teacher- We can practice with siblings and with babysitting. We also made a list of things they could do around the home pg11 # 7 in the Activity Day booklet. We filled out service to our moms in a coupon book. Example: Mom, You Are Super!, Super Mom, Someday I want to be just like you!, Super Mom  You Are My Hero! This coupon is good for: The girls loved to scrapbook and I loved talking about how I have the best and most important job being a mom. In the end we all love our moms.

2nd- "Blast to the Past" or In Memory Of"- Talk of the importance of remembering those who have gone on. We had them fill out pedigree charts and a family group record before coming. Faith in God pg. 7 #8. We put them inside our scrapbooks. We learned how to use the new.familysearch.org. We had them bring at least 2 names to look up. They also brought from home one family story to share. Just in time for Memorial Day.

June 2011

1st- "My Dad is Great!" - Scrapbook pics, information and thoughts about our dads. We put together emergency kits for our dads car. This included: small amount of kleenex, first aid kit (band-aids w/neosporin, nail clippers and wet wipes), chapstick, 2 sticks of gum, breath mints and a 2 packages of peanuts. The card that we put with it said, It's time someone takes care of you with a picture of a clock on it too. The girls were excited to give them to their dads. They had lots of fun.

2nd-  Stake Activity Day "Princess Academy"-  They allowed the girls to come dressed as a  princess. They had us sit at round tables which we placed our name to save our spot. We were divided up into 3 groups. One group would learn to line dance (princesses know how to dance with all the balls they must attend), the second group was helping with a temple service, we made border frames using scrapbook pages for the Bountiful Temple for those kids that would be sealed in the temple. They would get to take those home to remember their special day. (Princesses know how to serve others) The third group was to decorate cupcakes. They would turn their cupcakes into pigs, cows or BBQ grills. They were unique. (Princesses know how to be creative) But most of all, Princesses are royalty they are a daughter of a King and he is leading us to our  beautiful castle which is the temple. Which will give us our happily ever after. This activity was so well thought through, the activities were fun and the girls loved it. They loved dressing as princesses, it made them feel special. It was very evident.

July 2011

1st- "Good Citizen Scavenger Hunt" - We found clues to how we can be good citizens in our community. We first went to the library to weed out the front and side gardens, the second place was our local grocery store Bowmans to help straighten canned foods on the shelves (we had gotten permission day before), we figured since this grocery store is always giving to our community we would serve them with pleasure by helping them, next we went to Nicholls Park in Fruit Heights to clean up litter which is in high demand every time. We came away feeling good that we made it a safer and cleaner place for children to play. We only gave ourselves 20 minutes at each place. But at each place we found the next clue to where to go next. At the park we finished with a cold treat.

August 2011

1st- "A Hiking We Will Go" - We hiked up 1/2 mile into Baer Canyon near our home to the bridge. This gave us some physical activity to enjoy God's creation but also to teach us to be prepared. We had a beautiful talk on how life is like a hike. At times the trail was hard but not too hard but you had to work at it, sometimes you might have to depend on someone else to help you up like I did my son Cameron. He was our Priesthood guide up the mountain to keep us safe. Their was a part of the trail that skirted close to the edge but you could avoid it by walking closer to the mountain, we need to make sure we are staying far away from those kinds of dangers. The water gave us relief and fun, but remembering Christ as the Living Waters at the same time. It was a very good activity not only for us physically but spiritually. Even I could climb it. Yeah!

2nd- "Late Night Summer Fun" - we began for an hour swimming at our sweet and generous neighbors pool. We went to my house to dry and change clothes, we started a fire using a fire pit to cook our hotdogs, we had dinner hotdogs, chips and watermelon. We had a campfire devotional, my partner and I both gave small talks sitting around the fire, we then opened it up for bearing testimonies. Each of the girls bore their sweet testimonies some more than once or four times because they wanted to add more things to their testimonies. This was a very spiritual moment for all of us. The Spirit was strong, some of these girls are going through tough times, one lost her mother to an illness, a couple of them have divorced parents, one of those girls who had divorced parents also had an inactive family but she wanted to be active so very badly. It was heart wrenching and an eye opener. We ended the night by making smores and playing night games. Too much fun for one night, not at all. We had fun but we also had a different kind of fun feeling the Spirit. Awesome night!

September 2011

1st- "Scrappin' Gramps"- We wanted to celebrate Grandparents day by scrapbooking them. We gathered pics, information and thoughts on our grandparents We told why our grandparents are so awesome. We told stories about them.

2nd- "Finding the Lost Ten Tribes"- Started out giving them the Book of Mormon challenge cards, we read the introduction together taking turns. We then went in search of the Tribes of Israel which is spoken of in Articles of Faith #10. We had them memorize the Article. My partner had hidden the Tribes on small pieces of paper with their name on it all around her front and backyard. The girls were excited that we were able to find and gather all the tribes of Israel. It was nice to hear my partner explain what the tribes of Israel were and how they will be gathered in the Latter days.

October 2011

1st- "We Believe in Being Virtuous" - Had them memorize the Article of Faith #13 before they came, we focused on one word in the Article, the word Benevolent. We watched a 12 min. clip of  the Young Women Conference on Benevolence from my laptop. Every word was so very well said. We made a list of things we could do to be more benevolent in our lives. We also practiced it by playing a board game called Like Minds. Super fun, the girls did not want to stop, but they did to make a spider treat. We handed out bookmarks with  words of the Article on it. It's good to be kind and we need to remember "Kindness Begins With Me".

2nd- "Fun with Homemaking Skills" - learned laundry tips, stain removing, checking pockets, we had a relay race folding the clothes properly (because moms are so busy we must be able to work fast sometimes), We finished the day out by making homemade donuts. A hit for sure. We used cans of biscuit dough, flattened them out and created a hole in the middle by using a soda pop top, fried them up and rolled them in cinnamon sugar mixture. Very quick, fun and yummy.

November 2011

1st- "Fieldtrip"- We took a trip to Harvest Bread to learn how they make their bread. Talk about how Christ is the Bread of Life. We had fun sampling their product. So very good!

2nd- "Another Fieldtrip-All Dressed in White" - Show our gratitude by giving service, temple service. We told them they can prepare now. We took a trip to White Elegance to take a tour but, also to try on beautiful white dresses meant for the temple. To get them excited to do temple service they can see what they will look like. After we took them for a treat on the town.

December 2011

1st- "We Need Culture"- We decided to take them all out to the ever awesome Weber State Institute Christmas Extravaganza. My brother in law Jack is to be in it. This provides a perfect evening of fun and culture but also testimony building entertainment. You can't go wrong with this annual program. We had the girls dress up and really look nice.

2nd-"Christmas Party Babysitting Service" - Moms need time to go Christmas shopping sometime, so we created a 2 hour Christmas party to entertain the young ones so that moms could. Faith in God pg. 9 #5. We created 6 different things we would do. 1. Nativity Play (have dress ups available) have them act out the Christmas story. 2. pinata w/small toys and candies  3. Story telling (Grinch or Scrooge)  4. Small craft-candy cane reindeer  5. Snack- food time  6. Short movie or a glimpse into The Polar Express. Each child would leave with a Christmas gift under the small table tree we will have there. The girls are going to have fun planning this out. Christmas parties are fun but this will also be a service so that moms can get some things done like shopping or whatever they need to do at that time. Sweet!

A glimpse into the new year: Our Activity Days are on Fridays, so this next activity will work out very nicely.

January 2012

1st- "Goal Setter Late Night" - Start off with dinner -make our own personal pan pizza, brain storm ideas for the new year and finish with a movie in my theater room. We plan on watching Tangled or How to Train Your Dragon". This will be lots of fun. I'm already looking forward to it.

And that's our year of Activity Day activities. Wow, it's been another great year of fun and spiritual highs. I love my job! I love my partner Holly Paulsen who allows me to create fun activities, she's very easy to work with, we seem to be on the same page about everything, you can't ask for anything better. She is so good at perfecting my ideas as well. We make a great team!

Daily House Cleaning

So, I was inspired this past weekend by one of my neighbors who does something similar.  I  started it this week hoping to better motivate me to do all that I should be doing when it comes to cleaning house. I keep it up on the Fridge so that I see it everyday along with my menu for the week. I Wanted to share it.

Daily House cleaning

 

Monday:

Clean the Kitchen

Laundry

Wash Windows

Empty Trash/Refill

Sweep & Mop Kitchen & Doorways

Tuesday:

Clean the Kitchen

Laundry

Upstairs Bathrooms

Organize cabinets/closets

Wednesday:

Clean the kitchen

Laundry

Downstairs Bathrooms

Wash Walls

Thursdays:

Clean the Kitchen

Laundry

Clean Appliances

Dust

Friday:

Clean the Kitchen

Laundry

Vacuum floors 

Empty Trash/Refill

I don't have Saturday on my list up on the fridge, but we work as a family to do what we need to get the house and yard ready for Sunday.

Ideas:

Clean the Kitchen/prepare meals

Laundry

Mow Lawn

Weed Gardens

Rake Yard 

Touch up on straightening rooms

Do something fun for all our work.

I thought I wouldn't make myself a list to follow this year, but, I really think it helps me remember what I can do. I need to be doing my part while everyone else is working and going to school.