Another Activity Day Idea #2

Last Tuesday, we had another Activity Day activity. It was the day after Valentine's Day. We got together to write Valentine letters to our missionaries in our ward. We also put together a small care package for each. I had created my own missionary stationary, using this picture of missionaries and I put that on a corner of a text box. I had the clpart of CTR on the other corner.
Each of the girls choose a missionary to write. We had bought some of those large gold envelopes. Inside we put a tie (my son got a 100 ties for Christmas from his friend as a joke but most of the ties were great so we used them for the activity), we put in a sample of men's cologne from Avon, we used Patrick Dempsey and Sports Driven and then we put in a box of conversation hearts and of course the letter. For our Sister missionary, we put in chapstick, candy and sample perfume from Avon "Just Because" this perfume is so great. The girls really liked serving our missionaries. It's nice to receive love from home. To end our activity we had a Valentine party, we decorated cupcakes and gave Valentine's to each other. It was a great success. We had lots of fun and we were able to serve our missionaries whom we love. We think missionaries are great!

Love Is

They say it's a river, circles the earth
A beam of light shining to the edge of the universe
It conquers all
It changes everything
They say it's a blessing
They say it's a gift
They say it's a miracle and I believe that it is
It conquers all
but it's a mystery
Love breaks your heart
Love takes no less than everything
Love makes it hard
And fades away so easily
In this world we've created
Where this place that we lived
In a blink of an eye the darkness slips in
Love lights the world, unites the love that's for eternity
Love breaks the chain
Love aches for everyone of us
Love takes the tears and the pain
And turns it in to the beauty that remains
Look at this place
It was paradise but now it's dying
I'll brave the love
I'll take my chances that it's not too late
Love breaks your heart
Love takes no less than everything
Love makes it hard
And fades away so easily
Love breaks the chain
Love aches for everyone of us
Love takes the tears and the pain
And turns it in to the beauty that remains
(Brian McKnight feat. Vanessa Williams)


 It is the answer to every  problem in the world. On this Valentine's Day, hope love enters your hearts and that it spreads to everyone you know, reaches out to someone new, someone who needs a helping hand, someone who needs love, until it spreads throughout the whole world, to all our brothers and sisters, that hunger and hate will cease to exist. Grateful for the Love of my life Jesus Christ. I love Him because he first loved me. He has blessed me even when I don't deserve it. He gives me love in the form of my parents, my brother, Ron my eternal companion, my children and my extended family. I would be nothing without them. There would be no happiness. But God does love us, he gave us family to endure the journey below, to make us happy.   Wanted to tell all that I know how much I love them and admire them. Happy Valentine's Day!

QuotesThat Inspire

"There is a divine purpose in the adversities we encounter every day. They prepare, they purge, they purify, and thus they bless."  --James E. Faust, "The Refiner's Fire," Ensign, May 1979, 53

"Our task is to become our best selves. One of God's greatest gifts to us is the joy of trying again, for no failure ever need be final." --Thomas S. Monson, "The Will Within," Ensign, May 1987, 67

"...the strait and narrow path, though clearly marked, is a path, not a freeway nor an escalator. Indeed, there are times when the only way the strait and narrow path can be followed is on one's knees!"
--Neal A. Maxwell, "A Brother Offended," Ensign, May 1982, 37

All In The Family

Last night I had our February Family dinner. It was a Valentine theme. I thought it went really well, we had a house full, but it was great. I love visiting with family. You can check out my recipes I used for the dinner on my other blog Busy in the Kitchen. It made me happy to hear they liked the dinner and wanted the recipe. I had worked hard on it not knowing how it would be favored, but I ended with a happy face by the end of the night. Thanks, you guys are the best.

We had Grandma Shapiro give us a Family Home Evening on having a Happy Home. I thought she did great considering how many kids we had trying to be quiet. :)   She asked them what a a plant, a baby and Kaiya (our puppy) needed to be cared for properly, asked them what makes a good mom, dad, brother or sister. They were good questions for all of us to think about. She touched on what makes a family a great family.That they play, work and love and help one another.  I thought the kids gave great answers. Some were pretty funny.

I would like to add that "Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families." This includes spending quality time with their spouse and children (which Ron does so perfectly), they spend time teaching their children skills (Ron had Brandon fix the bathroom toilet and Jonathon helped install a new kitchen sink faucet this past Saturday, this is awesome). "Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners." Again, I think Ron does this nicely. He washes the dishes on Sundays, usually and he always makes up his side of the bed. Always clean and organized and helps with the kids. I love that he spends time with each of them playing games or what have ya. He helps them clean their rooms, showing them how to do it correctly. So grateful to have him and my children, they are the best. Danielle, Dallon and Kaydon had helped me with the potatoes and she helped with putting up the decorations. She is so sweet.

It was a fun evening with the family and I love them so much. So glad Uncle Dale, Carry, Jared, Meghan and their kids came. I miss having them around. Meghan makes me feel like I can be my goof off self. The same for Ellen, I don't have to be so serious all the time. I was so happy to have my own brother there with us too. It seemed complete for some reason, can't wait to add my own parents to the fun when they move here. :)

School Is In

We had our Stake Conference this past Sunday. I really like what the General Authority had to say about us being in school. That's all he said about it, but, I've always had this analogy of us in school and so when he said it, it brought me back to focus on my own analogy of it.

 I know we were taught before we came here. I have no doubt of this. They wanted to prepare us. We were in elementary school with our Heavenly Father's teachers and we had classes on what we needed to learn to succeed in life, things that would bring the most happiness, how to combat temptations, etc. Now that we are here, it's like going to college, ready for the next step, we left home, away from our parents care, but not to the point that we can't communicate, we can call home anytime through prayer. We are now on our own, we experience different types of things and learn new things. We get side tracked every once in a while trying to have "fun". The key of this life is to remember those things that we were taught and be successful and happy here. We learn things here a little, there a little, line upon line, precept upon precept. Depending on how we handle that new information, we either get more information to further us along or we stumble making things harder for us. Some of us get this knowledge easier than others, depending on how focused we are, how in tune we are. But, everyone has it eventually. Some of us want to learn more, actually do the homework, put what we have learned into practice, plant the seed of faith and let the experience grow in us. Some of us put it on a shelf hoping we don't run out of time to complete it, wanting more time to have "fun", wondering why we have to change our ways. Some of us don't even care, don't even have a clue. They do whatever they want, forgetting the reason they are here. But, we have all been given a gift, the light of Christ. This helps us know right from wrong. We know it! Deep down, we know something to be either right or wrong. We are now here to pass the test that we have practiced so hard for before we came. Each day is another day at school to learn all that we can. Are we going to pass the class today?  Am I going to pass, am I  going to do all my work that is required to pass the class each day. This is the question I asked myself after hearing that talk. There are days I have failed horribly, but then I bounce back, there is mercy. There are days I've been awesome and feel good about the things I've done. I started to evaluate my life even more and look at how far I've come since I joined the church when I was 15. So grateful to have the knowledge and testimony I do. I know who I am, I know why I'm here, I know where I want to go and I know how to get there. That is a great gift alone. Everyone can have this. The hard part is staying focused, not losing sight of the goal, the prize.

I want to pass this test, I want to pass it so bad, it has brought the thrill of living in each new day to a new height. I can't guarantee each day will be perfect because let's be "real" nobody is perfect. I have myself to deal with (this isn't always easy), I have others around me to deal with, I'm not here on this planet alone. I have to deal with others' in this world and their choices. All of us are at different levels in this life, just as we are at school. Some of us learn faster, some of us it takes a little longer (that would be me), but when we get it, it's a great day.

Pretty soon school will be out and I hope all of us will graduate together. When we return to our Heavenly home we will be prepared to live life as we have been taught and live forever, forever learning new things. Learning to become as our Heavenly Parents. This can be pretty amazing to think about. But, first things first. Let's deal with today. Pass the small quizzes of the day. I must study and do my homework, experience what I've learned already, put it into practice, because practice makes perfect. 

Honor Roll Tradition

It's been a tradition for awhile now, but we take our children who have made the honor roll out to dinner. This time we got to take Danielle, it was her first year in Jr. High. We got to take all of our children in High School and Jr. High. All of them had straight A's with one having an A-. What can you say to that?  We are so proud of our kids for putting forth the effort for their education. It will pay for college in the long run.

 We decided to go to Red Lobster, because the kids love it so much, even Brandon who doesn't like seafood. It's pretty expensive after eating dinner and dessert but, we tell our kids they are worth it. We are so happy with them for what they accomplished.. The younger kids look forward to when they can join us for our tradition. I hope it will be enough incentive for them to do their best.