Youth Tubing Trip!

What a fun activity! We had a great turn out and we didn't have any major injuries or lose anyone :) FUN FUN! I love my calling!

Daddy's Home!!!!

Today they put in the new bishopric and NO Matt is not bishop! (Thank goodness!) So this morning they cancelled bishopric meeting and so Matt actually got to ride to church with us! As Matt was dressing Gavin he kept saying "Daddy Home!" He couldn't believe Daddy was actually around to help us get ready :) So Matt is able to enjoy a week without a calling! We'll let you know what next week brings!

Change...

I forgot to mention that about 2 weeks ago they took me out of the Relief Society. (I was the Enrichment counselor for about 3 years) and now I am the Laurel Advisor in Young Womens! I was bummed to leave R.S. because I was LOVING it, but I am VERY excited to work with the YW!

This past Sunday was our Stake Conference and all of a sudden they took out the 2 Stake counselors and our new Bishop is one of the new counselors! SO....there is going to be some changes this next Sunday. Matt thinks he will be out of the Bishopric, I think he's hoping they will put him in Nursery :) We'll let you know what changes take place.

I LOVED CONFERENCE!!!

What a great weekend! Conference was wonderful and the kids actually did pretty well through out so we could really listen and get a lot out of each of the talks. Ok MOST of the talks (they weren't THAT good :) They really tried to listen and every once in a while they would hear a familiar phrase and get all excited. Like at one point Emma heard her name and was very happy about that. Then another time Emma heard someone say "Called to serve..." and she broke into song singing that hymn. The funniest was when L. Tom Perry said "...renewed escape from the overtly complexities of life" (or something like that) and Emma piped up and said "What's a nude?" Very funny :) I think this is the first time they have ever really enjoyed/listened/been remotely good for conference. Luke's favorite was one of the activities I gave him where he had to make a tally mark every time he saw a neck tie, glasses, a necklace, flowers, the organ pipes, the temple, the Prophet, a handkerchief in a pocket, etc. He was amazed by how many points the neck ties won by :) In fact halfway through he decided to stop counting the ties because there were way too many....he called it a victory early on. (The Tabernacle Choir were a little overwhelming for him to count because the camera was scanning a little too fast) The glasses were a close second.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes: (of course these are from my notes so they are not word for word)

• L. Tom Perry - he was quoting Henry David Thoreau, someone asked him if in his life he felt he had made peace with God to which he replied "I didn't know we were quarrelling"



• Neil L. Anderson - I loved his story about the little girl who couldn't hear and saw a boy without legs. She went and told him that Heavenly Father had made her special without hearing and him special without legs and that when Jesus came they would both be able to hear and walk



• Dallin H. Oaks - speaking about Sacrament meeting and how we should be prepared and then focus on the Savior during the Sacrament. He said "It's sad to see people violating their covenant of always remembering Him in the very meeting that they are making the covenant"



• Loved President Uchtdorf's talk on Hope



• Joseph B. Wirthlin - He was soooooo funny with the story about how his daughter was going on a blind date, when he came they all thought he was a little old. After she left they sat in the car for a bit and then she came in....the guy they thought was the date was actually the guy that was coming to pick up their other daughter to babysit so he could go on a date with his wife! He was making the point to laugh about situations instead of taking them to be hard. How we react to adversity can be a measured factor in how happy we can be. "Come what may and love it!"



• Jeffrey R. Holland's talk about the angels administering to us and the angels among us...we should try to be some one's angel



• Todd Christopherson - we are to become not only good but Holy!



• Elaine S. Dalton - she was quoting a marathon winner..."The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare"



• M. Russell Ballard - I loved when he made the comparison of our hardships to those first members of the church...instead of us having to walk across the continent, we need to walk across the street to our neighbors and share the gospel. Instead of us having to give all we possess to build temples, we need to give of our time and attend the temple.



• President Monson - "Nothing is as constant as change". Whatever God has granted unto you take it with BOTH hands.



• Russell M. Nelson - Mortal misunderstandings can make mischief in a marriage. You can "upgrade" your marriage.

I thought it was all wonderful and I felt the spirit so much. I am so grateful for conference and the renewed energy and excitement for the gospel it gives me. It makes me want to be a better member, neighbor, friend, mom, wife, daughter, sister, and person in society! I am so grateful for a Prophet to lead us in these latter days and remind us it's not old fashioned to have virtue, and to not be distracted by the world but focus on the Savior!

Here are a few of the kids pictures/projects that they worked on during conference. I actually counted 30 worksheets that they colored and worked on so here are a few of my personal favorites....

They made things out of pipe cleaner...a mom and her daughter on the left, and the two figures on the right are Iron Man :) And then of course the glasses that Matt made for them.

Luke's tally sheet that Gavin and Emma also helped with, as you can tell by the "scribble, scrabble" as Luke calls it.

Luke's picture

Luke, Emma and I all worked on this one together

As well as this one

Emma's masterpiece....I always find her color choice very interesting

And another Emma original....I hope this missionary isn't choking or something :)

My favorite Sunday....Primary Program Sunday!

Today was our ward's Primary Program and it was beautiful! They had all the kids wear white shirts and they all looked like little angels up there on the stand! It's times like these that make me realize how NOT shy Emma is (I hope it's not that she's love starved lol)...she was up there kind of dancing around to each song trying to get all eyes on her. She was at first kind of bouncing and then twisting side to side. It was funny because there is the cutest little kid named Nate that is in love with her in her class. He was fighting to stand next to her, this is during the program mind you! :) Her part in the program was "My job is to be a helpful big sister". She has had it memorized for weeks now and can say it with ease, but when she got up there all the kids before her had to have the teacher whisper their part in their ear...so Emma wanted to be like them and acted like she didn't know her part. She looked down at me and I rolled my hands like "Give up the act and say your part". She then proceeded to say it perfectly :) I was very proud of her!

I was so proud of Luke, his part was the scripture Amos 3:7 "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets". He had memorized it and said it perfectly. Matt was beaming :) I can't believe how grown up the kids are now! What a great Sunday!

These pictures were on the printed program...this is the Jr. Primary

This is Sr. Primary

And I think these must be kids that were missing in the big pictures (don't we have a HUGE primary???)

Emma's Talk in Primary

OK I kind of forgot that Emma was supposed to give a talk at church in Primary today!!! OOOPS! So we were brainstorming and coming up with her talk on the way to church and then we drew some pictures. I was proud of her and the ideas she came up with. The topic was "Heavenly Father planned for me to come to a family. I can strengthen my family now." So I was asking her what kinds of things she could do now, or what she does do now to help make us a strong family and here's what she came up with:

• We can serve each other. She said she can pick flowers for mommy, make Luke's bed for him, listen to mommy and make her own bed when asked, and don't cry.


• We can make sure we have family night each week


• Think about Jesus


• Read our scriptures and say our family prayers each night. Luke and Emma are our prayer and scripture patrol. If mommy and daddy try to put them to bed without doing it then they are supposed to stop us and demand that we have scriptures and prayers! :)


• Go to church each week (AND not complain about going!)

Here are her pictures...she did a great job and I was very proud of her!

This is a picture of her being kind to everyone (ok so it's a little crumpled...I threw it away before deciding to put it on the blog. SHHHHHH don't tell her it was in the garbage! :)

Here's her flower she can give mommy.

Here's Luke's bed she can make for him.
Here's her crying, she is serving mommy and daddy by NOT crying! :)

Youth Conference

Sara was good enough to let me take two days off from work to be a 'virtue' leader at our stake's youth conference this weekend. What an awesome experience! Brother Brad Wilcox (well-known church speaker, former mission president) spent Thursday through Saturday with the kids. He was outstanding and truly had an impact on our youth. I was most impressed with the genuine love he showed the youth, especially those who were not what you might call the most popular, outgoing, etc. He lifted up the heads that hung down. The two dances were so fun for the youth and what was so impressive is that everyone was dancing, the young men were asking the young women and no one was being left out.

Our (our YW president and I worked together) group was so much fun. 11 great kids, 6 young women and 5 young men. Matt, Noel, Alan, Chris, and Asante were a blast to be with. Such great young men. All planning on missions and already having read the Book of Mormon and gained testimonies. We had a ball together. 4 of them shared their testimonies at the end. Noel and Asante are both converts and such special kids. Coming from single parent homes and part-member families, yet making great choices due to their testimonies of the gospel.

One fun experience. Chris is from our ward and he's quite the outgoing kid, so when he told me on the way to the dance last night that he hadn't asked a girl out yet - he's 17 - I told him he could not get back in the car unless he asked a girl out at the dance. Well, he got all nervous and giddy but the rest of the guys stepped up and said they'd all get dates and go on a group date. Not more than 7-8 songs into the dance, he asked the girl he had mentioned in the car to dance and then I see him getting her number after the song with the fluorescent yellow marker I happened to have in the car. Needless to say, he was on cloud nine for the rest of the night and as I type, he is probably finishing up his first real date. I'm a proud 'father!"

So, lots of fun and an inspiring time. I learned many things that I need to be doing better and my testimony of Christ and His life changing gospel has been strengthened. I can't believe how blessed I've been to be born into a faithful family with the heritage I have.