I had the amazing opportunity to attend my second TOFW this year. It was in Nashville this last weekend. Oh my goodness! I got so much out of it, again! Chieko Okazaki was the speaker Friday night. She spoke of teaching correct principles and then allowing that person to govern themselves. I realized I need to teach the boys more correct principles, not what they are doing wrong. I'm going to get two chairs and call them "discussion chairs". If there is any incident that happens between two boys I am going to have them discuss the issue in the chairs, instead of having them come tattle to me about what the other person did wrong. I've learned that I can help and support, teach and love the boys, but I cannot live their lives for them. This I knew, but never looked at it that way. I can't control them, I can only guide them and remind them. I will teach and re-teach as much as necessary.
Hilary Weeks was one of the musical performers Friday night, along with Kenneth Cope. Oh how gospel music lifts my soul! The stories behind some of their songs are so touching and help me understand more of what is being sung about. I was able to get pictures with both Chieko (along with a hug and autograph) and Kenneth Cope (and an autograph from him, too). Hilary Weeks has an amazing voice and plays the piano beautifully. She's a new favorite of mine.
Saturday brought us Emily Watts, Camille Fronk Olsen, Chris Stewart, Jason Wright, Carolyn Rasmuss, and Hilary Weeks was the musical performer all day. Emily taught about not being so hard on ourselves. My favorite quote from her is, "you don't have to be perfect, you have to be trying." Camille spoke on women of the Bible and barrenness and compared the King James interpretation and the Hebrew interpretation. "Womb" in the Hebrew interpretation means "compassion". She shared a lot of how Hannah was barren and pledged any child she may receive right back to the Lord. Camille said, "We need to let go when we turn to the Lord for help." We need to not keep thinking in our mind that we can still do it, it needs to not be a half hearted hand off, we need to give the Lord every bit of our problem and promise to be his disciple in return. Chris Stewart spoke on our purpose of life. That we are to have joy and joy does not mean that we can only have joy when things are going right in our life. Joy is something we should find in times of trial, also. We must look at the good in every situation and thank the Lord for giving us the trials we face to strengthen us. As Chris put it, "It is in the darkness that we truly see the light." Jason Wright reminded us that the power of the written word is strong. We need to send out more hand written letters. The computer is easier, but there is nothing as personal as receiving a hand written letter. The concluding speaker shared the message of how "the gospel is a resource when we are experiencing pain." We will all experience difficulties no matter how we live our lives. We are expected to turn to the Lord in our trials to help us through.
The main thing I learned from the TOFW is that I chose to come to earth, to experience the things I am experiencing. I knew most of the struggles and challenges I was going to face and I looked at the Lord and said I would do it because I knew He loved me and had already given me so much. What my life is and how it goes is part of the plan I knew of before I came to this earth. I have a new outlook on my day to day situation. I have a renewed hope in how I parent my children and help them become better people.
I had a fantastic time with friends. Julie and I went together Friday night. I had the privilege of meeting some of her very dear friends from Ohio. We were able to get to know each other a bit and know that we could be long time friends now, too. I was able to get to know a few more sisters in my ward a bit better. TOFW brings a renewal of purpose in my life. I love to socialize, as all of you know. This event gives me that opportunity, with women that have the same goals as I do and struggle with some of the same things. I come home more appreciative of my family and with a renewed hope in my parenting skills. One thing I have learned about myself is I need a boost in parenting styles very frequently. Some things stick with me better than others, and it's always good to get a fresh new approach to how I handle day to day life.
Pictures will be coming soon...Julie took some and I just need to get them from her. Good news! I found my camera (actually Tyler did this morning). YAY!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
I voted, did you?
Yes, I voted today, and took all the boys with me. The school had a "teacher in-service" day today, so there was not any school. At 10:15 or so we took off to the polls...and it took me forever to find the road to turn on to get to the darn polls. The boys were great the whole time we were there, minus one melt down by Logan caused by Tyler, but we were mostly unscathed. We were done about 11:15, and headed to the Nashville Zoo, again. We just went Saturday, but didn't get enough. We missed a lot of the animals that day and wanted to play at the jungle gym again. There is the largest wood castle climbing jungle gym I've ever seen my entire life at this Zoo! The kids love it!!! Since we have a family pass, I can take them any time I want without having to pay. And I love having a membership to somewhere where it will actually get good use! We got to the Zoo about 12 and left at closing time, 4 pm. I still can't find my camera, and apparently it's not at Julie's, so I need to scavenge for it one of these days. Once I find it, I have fun pictures of the boys school classroom parties (3 parties in 1 hour is a bit overwhelming, but a lot of fun) to post. Julie has pictures from our trip to the Zoo on Saturday, so once I get those I'll post them, too. :)
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Happy Day After Halloween!
So, I'll have pictures up shortly...left my camera at my friend Julie's house last night, oops. But I have a more pressing matter to discuss. Julie posted a link to one of President Ezra Taft Benson's talks on YouTube from 1977 here. I also found another article that was alarming to me. This one is found here and rings true in my ears for what we are facing today. I am not excited to see where we end up going after this election. I see how far away from a democracy we are headed, and it was only 30 years ago we had President Benson's warning. I know if I continue to rely on Christ, and not on the government, I will be blessed.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
My Hubby
1.What's his name? William
2.How long have you been married? 10 years, 2 months (dang)
3.How long did you date? 2 weeks, engaged for 4 months (haha, funny to see written down)
4.How old is he? 33
5.Who eats more? He eats larger portions at meals most of the time. I snack more throughout the day.
6.Who said "I love you" first? I think we tied
7.Who is taller? He is.
8.Who sings better? Equally Yoked
9.Who is smarter? what kind of question is that? We are both smart in different ways
10.Whose temper is worse? Equally Yoked
11.Who does the laundry? Me, always me
12.Who does the dishes? Our new dishwasher, the kids and me :)
13.Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do, for now
14.Who pays the bills? he brings in the money (the hard part) and I am the book keeper (the easy job)
15. Who mows the lawn? He does
16.Who cooks dinner? if he had the time he would every night, but he puts up with my cooking when he has to. :)
17.Who drives when you are together? He does unless I'm feeling pushy
18.Who is more stubborn? Equally yoked
19.Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? MEEEEEEE, occasionally him.
20. Whose parents do you see the most? Neither :( We will probably start to see his more often than before now. :)
21.Who proposed? He did, on the Provo Temple grounds
22.Who has more friends? Equally Yoked
23.Who has more siblings? He does, 5 to my 3.
24.Who wears the pants in the family? He wears the pants; I tell him what pants to wear
I am tagging anyone who wants to participate.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
A quick update:
So, the last few weeks have been full of fun! Kaleb went for a plane ride for Cub Scouts at a near by airport. It's a program where children ages 8-17 can fly for free one or two Saturday's a month. It's pretty awesome and he had a blast! I'm sure we'll be taking advantage of that now we know about that option!
We've caught 3 caterpillars recently. Only the first survived and became a beautiful butterfly. I unfortunately didn't get a picture of it before we let it go. The big "Heimlich" one it the picture did not survive to cocoon even, so sad we killed a movie character!
Derek's class had a field trip to the Nashville Zoo. Logan and I joined his class/1st graders for the fun one hour jog through the Zoo. Ya, only one hour to go through a Zoo the week before I completed in 4 hours! We were dead tired, but had a blast! The shot of the bugs doesn't do them justice, especially since it's fuzzy. They are the biggest bugs I've ever seen! They are HUGE!
I've also done some re-upholstering of our bar stools, they were so disgusting so I put on a Leather fabric that is completely washable! :) Anyone who had seen the stools before the re-upholster knows how nasty they were. Those who hadn't, imagine 4 young boys sitting on a canvass-y type of material dropping drinks, food, and who knows what else on them, and you'll know what I'm talking about. I'm very happy with the outcome!!
A little while ago Tyler lost a tooth. He won't let me touch his teeth when they are ready to fall out. So, being the brave little man he is, he took a paper towel into the bathroom and came out with a tooth in hand...very impressive. I'd never of been able to do that as a child, I was a wuss!
We've caught 3 caterpillars recently. Only the first survived and became a beautiful butterfly. I unfortunately didn't get a picture of it before we let it go. The big "Heimlich" one it the picture did not survive to cocoon even, so sad we killed a movie character!
Derek's class had a field trip to the Nashville Zoo. Logan and I joined his class/1st graders for the fun one hour jog through the Zoo. Ya, only one hour to go through a Zoo the week before I completed in 4 hours! We were dead tired, but had a blast! The shot of the bugs doesn't do them justice, especially since it's fuzzy. They are the biggest bugs I've ever seen! They are HUGE!
I've also done some re-upholstering of our bar stools, they were so disgusting so I put on a Leather fabric that is completely washable! :) Anyone who had seen the stools before the re-upholster knows how nasty they were. Those who hadn't, imagine 4 young boys sitting on a canvass-y type of material dropping drinks, food, and who knows what else on them, and you'll know what I'm talking about. I'm very happy with the outcome!!
A little while ago Tyler lost a tooth. He won't let me touch his teeth when they are ready to fall out. So, being the brave little man he is, he took a paper towel into the bathroom and came out with a tooth in hand...very impressive. I'd never of been able to do that as a child, I was a wuss!
Monday, October 20, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Upliftment "08"
Shout out: I love Krissy! And miss her so much! (just talked on the phone, so fresh in my mind)
Tonight I had the pleasure of attending the General Relief Society Meeting at our Stake building. I also had the privilege of helping out on the food committee for the dinner before the Meeting. Thanks to everyone's efforts on the food committee it went amazingly well. From my understanding, about 250 women were in attendance and we didn't run out of food! It all tasted soooooooo good, and it was well worth the effort from yesterday and today.
Before we had the dinner the Stake Relief Society Presidency had put together a program engulfing the story of the 10 virgins. There were beautiful musical numbers (some even from my ward), scripture readings, quotes, and thoughts about the main topics they had pulled from the story. The spirit was strong and it was a beautiful way to start the evening. After the program we ate the delicious food. I'd have to say my favorite part of the dinner was the dessert. It was beautiful white sour cream wedding cake. Very pure...white frosting and a white rose on top. That is what the majority of the time was spent working on...the amount of time it takes to frost 26 round cakes with frosting in the middle is amazing! But it was well worth the time for the beauty of them all. So elegant!
The piéce de résistance was the Conference. Oh my, how it spoke to my heart. Sister Beck spoke of the importance in reaching out to one another and uplifting one another, for seeking to become closer to God through prayer and reading the scriptures. The one point that stands out in my mind was a story of when she was a young married woman. Her mom was moving away, whom she had always lived near, and she was very downtrodden about this change. In one conversation she asked her mother, "But who's going to be my mom?" And her mother, after great contemplation, said that she would have to look to the sisters in her ward for help and comfort (not in those exact words, but that's the main idea). That was the first time I cried during the meeting. Oh, how I miss my mom and dad. After living so close to them for the 2 1/2 years we were able to, and having to move away, I realize how much I adore them. Mom is the essence of Christlike Love. She is such a great example to me of how to treat people with kindness and to be selfless of her time. She reminds me so much of my Gramma Moore, her mom, in how she makes everyone she comes in contact with feel like they are the most important person on the earth. And my dad, well our ward conference was last Sunday. That's when the tears started falling, too. The Sunday School lesson was on Missionary Work, Dad's big topic is "Every Member a Missionary" as the Stake President. So I really wished he could have been up there giving that lesson. I'm so grateful we, my family, took every advantage we could at being with my mom and dad while we were in SLO. I know I'll see them plenty, but I'm still adjusting to not being able to go over for Sunday dinner, or to always have a party with family when it's someone's birthday (we celebrated a lot of birthdays since we were able to include Brennan and Tracie and their kids (my brother and sister in law)). I'd have to say my sorrow extends to many loved ones...you all know who you are (most of you are to the right of this post)! Eventually the sadness will stop being so ever present...hopefully soon. I have a great friend here, Julie, who keeps me busy and from dwelling on the sad parts of leaving a lot of the time. And I know more friends and surrogate mom's will come eventually, I just have to be patient.
The next speaker was Sister Allred. She spoke of Temple service and worship. I rarely hear in such plain wording the beautiful things that go on inside the temple. I just kept thinking how every person who has not been to the temple, or is not a member of the church, would be able to understand more of what goes on in the temple and that there are great purposes for temples. It kind of gave me a kick in the tush to get to me go to the temple this week (Julie, I may need your help with Logan).
Sister Thompson is such a cute lady. She is a warm and fuzzy type of person. I just felt happier watching her speak. I have brain farted on what her topic was...I'm surprised I've remembered as much as I have so far. :)
The concluding speaker was President Ucktdorf. His humor is greater than I ever imagined. He spoke about how women need to stop being so hard on ourselves, that we need to lose ourselves in service. We need to be there for one another, and find someone in a worse situation than we may be in and help them...and we will find ourselves in a happier mood, too. I felt this come to fruition when the boys and I took cookies I had made to four of our neighbors. One was for the family that invited us over to dinner the day our belongings were moved into the house. One was for the family on the other side of us who share their trampoline and were at the dinner at the other neighbor's house. The third was for the neighbors across the street just newer than us who are expecting their first baby together in a week. I also let the soon to be momma know that I'll be bringing a meal over when their new baby, Blessing (will be her name), has arrived, and the look in her eyes was worth the offer.
The last plate was going to go to another neighbor we'd already met, but they weren't home. So we went to the newest neighbor right across the street and delivered the plate of goodies to them. They are also expecting their first child, she's 5 months along, and it's going to be a boy. It was so nice to talk with them for a while and get to know them a bit. I look forward to getting to know them better, for sure. The next morning I was taking mail to the mail box and there was an envelope in there already. It was from the most recently moved in neighbor thanking us...never expected that. It really does feel good to share and serve others. I can't wait to have all our "new" neighbors and friends over for an open house (if I can ever get the house in order).
All in all, this conference was much needed at this point and time in my life. I feel ready to forget myself more. I feel ready to turn to the Lord with my daily life more. I feel more inspired to read my scriptures and to try to be a happier me. I feel there may be a light at the end of the tunnel of my loneliness for "home". I am so grateful for the gospel, for the upliftment it brings into my life. I'm grateful that no matter where I end up living, the gospel will always be the same. There will always be someone around I have a lot in common with merely for the fact that our beliefs are the same. I'm grateful for modern day amenities like phones, email, blogs, video cams, and the means to have and use them. I am mostly grateful for my brother, Jesus Christ, and for his empathy of the pain and sorrow I feel and experience in my life. I know if I can turn my sorrows over to him and my Heavenly Father that I will become the best me I can be for my family, myself, and others around me I may be able to serve.
Tonight I had the pleasure of attending the General Relief Society Meeting at our Stake building. I also had the privilege of helping out on the food committee for the dinner before the Meeting. Thanks to everyone's efforts on the food committee it went amazingly well. From my understanding, about 250 women were in attendance and we didn't run out of food! It all tasted soooooooo good, and it was well worth the effort from yesterday and today.
Before we had the dinner the Stake Relief Society Presidency had put together a program engulfing the story of the 10 virgins. There were beautiful musical numbers (some even from my ward), scripture readings, quotes, and thoughts about the main topics they had pulled from the story. The spirit was strong and it was a beautiful way to start the evening. After the program we ate the delicious food. I'd have to say my favorite part of the dinner was the dessert. It was beautiful white sour cream wedding cake. Very pure...white frosting and a white rose on top. That is what the majority of the time was spent working on...the amount of time it takes to frost 26 round cakes with frosting in the middle is amazing! But it was well worth the time for the beauty of them all. So elegant!
The piéce de résistance was the Conference. Oh my, how it spoke to my heart. Sister Beck spoke of the importance in reaching out to one another and uplifting one another, for seeking to become closer to God through prayer and reading the scriptures. The one point that stands out in my mind was a story of when she was a young married woman. Her mom was moving away, whom she had always lived near, and she was very downtrodden about this change. In one conversation she asked her mother, "But who's going to be my mom?" And her mother, after great contemplation, said that she would have to look to the sisters in her ward for help and comfort (not in those exact words, but that's the main idea). That was the first time I cried during the meeting. Oh, how I miss my mom and dad. After living so close to them for the 2 1/2 years we were able to, and having to move away, I realize how much I adore them. Mom is the essence of Christlike Love. She is such a great example to me of how to treat people with kindness and to be selfless of her time. She reminds me so much of my Gramma Moore, her mom, in how she makes everyone she comes in contact with feel like they are the most important person on the earth. And my dad, well our ward conference was last Sunday. That's when the tears started falling, too. The Sunday School lesson was on Missionary Work, Dad's big topic is "Every Member a Missionary" as the Stake President. So I really wished he could have been up there giving that lesson. I'm so grateful we, my family, took every advantage we could at being with my mom and dad while we were in SLO. I know I'll see them plenty, but I'm still adjusting to not being able to go over for Sunday dinner, or to always have a party with family when it's someone's birthday (we celebrated a lot of birthdays since we were able to include Brennan and Tracie and their kids (my brother and sister in law)). I'd have to say my sorrow extends to many loved ones...you all know who you are (most of you are to the right of this post)! Eventually the sadness will stop being so ever present...hopefully soon. I have a great friend here, Julie, who keeps me busy and from dwelling on the sad parts of leaving a lot of the time. And I know more friends and surrogate mom's will come eventually, I just have to be patient.
The next speaker was Sister Allred. She spoke of Temple service and worship. I rarely hear in such plain wording the beautiful things that go on inside the temple. I just kept thinking how every person who has not been to the temple, or is not a member of the church, would be able to understand more of what goes on in the temple and that there are great purposes for temples. It kind of gave me a kick in the tush to get to me go to the temple this week (Julie, I may need your help with Logan).
Sister Thompson is such a cute lady. She is a warm and fuzzy type of person. I just felt happier watching her speak. I have brain farted on what her topic was...I'm surprised I've remembered as much as I have so far. :)
The concluding speaker was President Ucktdorf. His humor is greater than I ever imagined. He spoke about how women need to stop being so hard on ourselves, that we need to lose ourselves in service. We need to be there for one another, and find someone in a worse situation than we may be in and help them...and we will find ourselves in a happier mood, too. I felt this come to fruition when the boys and I took cookies I had made to four of our neighbors. One was for the family that invited us over to dinner the day our belongings were moved into the house. One was for the family on the other side of us who share their trampoline and were at the dinner at the other neighbor's house. The third was for the neighbors across the street just newer than us who are expecting their first baby together in a week. I also let the soon to be momma know that I'll be bringing a meal over when their new baby, Blessing (will be her name), has arrived, and the look in her eyes was worth the offer.
The last plate was going to go to another neighbor we'd already met, but they weren't home. So we went to the newest neighbor right across the street and delivered the plate of goodies to them. They are also expecting their first child, she's 5 months along, and it's going to be a boy. It was so nice to talk with them for a while and get to know them a bit. I look forward to getting to know them better, for sure. The next morning I was taking mail to the mail box and there was an envelope in there already. It was from the most recently moved in neighbor thanking us...never expected that. It really does feel good to share and serve others. I can't wait to have all our "new" neighbors and friends over for an open house (if I can ever get the house in order). All in all, this conference was much needed at this point and time in my life. I feel ready to forget myself more. I feel ready to turn to the Lord with my daily life more. I feel more inspired to read my scriptures and to try to be a happier me. I feel there may be a light at the end of the tunnel of my loneliness for "home". I am so grateful for the gospel, for the upliftment it brings into my life. I'm grateful that no matter where I end up living, the gospel will always be the same. There will always be someone around I have a lot in common with merely for the fact that our beliefs are the same. I'm grateful for modern day amenities like phones, email, blogs, video cams, and the means to have and use them. I am mostly grateful for my brother, Jesus Christ, and for his empathy of the pain and sorrow I feel and experience in my life. I know if I can turn my sorrows over to him and my Heavenly Father that I will become the best me I can be for my family, myself, and others around me I may be able to serve.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)