This and That...

~I must say that I was rather embarrassed to HAVE to put up a whole end cap at Walmart that was solely devoted to Justin Bieber. I'm not a fan of the show, The Office, but Brian and Zack LOVE it so I just endure it each week.  :)  I will admit, though, that I laughed my butt off when Jim said something to Dwight about Justin Bieber and Dwight said, "What's a justice beaver?" LOL! So ever since then I call him Justice Beaver. It's not that I don't like HIM or anything, it's just that I just...don't "get" it. Last night Justice was on The Voice and his pants were so far down it was ridiculous. Seriously, below his entire butt. What is up with that? LAME!!! Just had to get that out... 

~That baseball craziness has begun. Zack's games are so much fun to watch now that he's older. Add the kids are more competitive and more able to execute awesome plays and such. I'm so proud of Zack because he got hit with a pitch the very first time he was up for bat this season. I figured it would be a very crappy hitting season for him because of being afraid but he is awesome and has hit most pitches since he's been up to bat. Max and Matty are on the same team this year also so that will be a TREMENDOUS help!! Only problem so far is that a lot of the games are scheduled right during Y.W.. Tonight Zack has a game in a town really close to ours from 6:00-8:00 and has to be there at 5:30 and Matty and Max have a practice at a baseball field near where my parents used to live here in town from 6:00-7:30. And I visit teach tonight at 4:00 and 5:00. I don't have to work today like I did last week, which is so nice with all of this going on.

~Brian still hasn't found work. I am stressing so much! Ever since the Priesthood Blessing I had last week I've felt a lot better but it's just so very hard to deal with! We HAVE to figure out what we are supposed to learn from this so we can stop having this same trial over and over and over and over. It's so draining/exhausting/stressful.

~My house is looking more in order now that I'm not working so much. It will get crazy again closer to Mother's Day but for now it's been nice to have more time to devote to cleaning the house and more energy. I've felt so much better lately. I've had my share of pain here and there but for the most part I can deal with life better than I could before. Bending down to pick stuff up is getting increasingly difficult again, which I hate. Feeling like my head and face are going to explode is just not my favorite, call me crazy. I really can't complain though because it is so much better than before and I know it can always be worse. I really need to be more positive!!

~I am always so terrified when it's my turn to teach the Young Women's lesson. I seriously stress out for at least a good week over it. This week when the girls heard it was my turn to give the lesson they all were really happy that it was my turn and were like "Yay, it's Sister Freeman's turn to give the lesson". It just made my whole week! They are such amazing girls and I really hope that my lessons help them and that they I'm not just a blithering idiot up there. LOL!!! We were really early for Sunday School this week. We were actually REALLY late for Sacrament Meeting, but I'm trying to be more positive.  :)

~So, when Gracie was about 2 months old or so, I bought at darling light pink tutu and some cute fairy wings to match, so that I could have her pictures taken in them. Well, she wore them for her Halloween costume when she was one year old, but other than that it has been hanging in her room waiting for us to be able to afford to have her picture taken again. The only time we had her pictures done was when she was a month old in her blessing dress. My parents had some pictures of them with their grand kids when Gracie was about 6 months old. Other than that, this poor little girl hasn't had her pics done in all that time. She will be 3 in May. Everyone thinks she looks like she's at least 4. I worry they'll expect more out of her. Trust me, she may look 4 but she acts like she's 2!  :) Anyhoo, I finally got her pictures done a while back and I'm so excited to share them!!! I can't tell you how happy I am about it!! I'm sure Brian is happy he doesn't have to hear me whine anymore about it. LOL!! I usually only leave my kids' pics up for a couple of days because I don't want creapos to see them.  :)  I got the disc so prepared for a plethora of pics. Who can pic just one. I mean really...  ;)

~Please excuse the grammer and incoherent sentences. I don't have time to proof read...

Long time no post...

I have been terrible at keeping up with my blog these past few months!

~Zack has been busy with baseball practices, school, the science fair (he was disappointed to only get a participation ribbon for his science fair project. You win some, you lose some I say...), band and band concerts, student council, peak, debates, cooking, reading books, and scouts. He's loving life! Last semester he wasn't doing so well at keeping it all organized and we told him he had to bring his grades up or something had to go. This semester he has really improved his grades and got a wonderful report from his teacher. He brought home his 7th grade registration paper yesterday. I almost cried. He'll be 12 years old at the end of April and will even be a Deacon. The time is flying by so quickly! He's such a great kid!

~Matthew had his first ever Pinewood Derby last night. He has looked forward to this moment ever since Zack's first Pinewood Derby. He won 1st prize last night! He was SOOO excited!!! I was at Zack's baseball practice and his science fair with Zack and Gracie so I missed the whole thing but I got a very detailed play by play of the whole thing. Matthew, Brian, and Max were so happy! Apparently Matty's car was about a foot to a foot and a half behind on the final race when all of a sudden it just took off and left the other car in it's dust. They said it looked like it had a motor and they suddenly floored it or something. I'll try to post a picture of it but Brian learned after Zack's first derby that the cars that are a simple wedge seem to win more than the ones that are intricately carved like Zack's was that day. He's also loving school and doing so well! He has lots of cute little friends. I was able to go on his class field trip with him last week. It was really fun and very informative. I learned lots! We walked from his school to the radio station on the corner on main street, the bank, and the post office and were taken on tours of each place before walking to a park and eating our sack lunches. I'll admit it sounded kind of lame to me but it was actually very cool and they even recorded his class for a commercially type spot on the radio that played that afternoon. Matthew was so excited to hear it! My favorite part (besides visiting with Tamra and Mysti and getting to hold cute little, chubby, 4 month old Landon) was learning all about the radio station and how it works. It was really cool!

~Max and Matthew will hopefully be on the same baseball team this year. They had tryouts last Saturday. Max LIVES for baseball so he is beyond thrilled to get to start practices. He is doing so well in school and is so happy! His teacher loves him. She said he'll finish his work super fast and then he'll help the other kids or she'll let him play with a dry erase board thing. She said she has to find something to keep him busy all the time. He's passed off more sight words than anyone else. He's well into the 200's. He wants to finish them all since Matthew did that in kindergarten and Max is Mr. Competitive!! He is such a sweet boy and I just love him so much!

~Gracie is still cracking us up with her 2 year old speak. The other day she fell down and said,"Ouch, that hurt my nuggets." We all died laughing but none of us broke the news to her that, unlike her 2 big brothers, she does not have nuggets. She has grown so much! People always thinks she's 4 years old instead of 2. She loves nursery finally and looks so forward to going to church each week. And she LOVES playing outside. We have to be much more careful lately about always closing the door tight so she doesn't escape. There was a cute little 1st grade girl from my kids' school, who was hit by a car around the corner from us on the highway a couple of weeks ago. Poor little girl! She is at Primary Children's in a medically induced coma while her poor little body recovers from all of her many injuries. That has always been my biggest nightmare about living here!



We've also started having a treasure chest for the kids. If they do the chores we ask of them they get a check mark by their name on the chore chart. Once they get 3 checks they get to get something out of the treasure box. So far it has been WONDERFUL! The treasures are just silly little trinkets from the $ store and Walmart but they are the coolest things ever to them! We put a $5 item in their also and they have to do more chores to be able to earn it. It has made things so much calmer around here and they have even stopped fighting as much ever since my last lecture.  LOL They still fight but just not so much. Life is good. Hard, but good. Our sweet little kids sure make life worth living!! :)

~Now, a couple of Facebook posts I planned to post on here but never did.

March 19: So, tomorrow is picture day at our kids' school. Tonight Matthew decided it would be so super cool to partially shave his eyebrows off with Brian's beard trimmer...oy vey! Oh, Brian just told me it was his razor not his beard trimmer. Greaaaat!

March 25: Debbie Gibson's makeup looks like my cosmetology mannequin's makeup looked. That's not a good thing. I'm just sayin'... :~)

And by the way, I still LOVE Pinterest! I won't see the Y.W until after Easter so I made this little treat that I found on Pinterest. When we were Christmas Caroling in December one of the girls asked what "kin" means in We Wish You a Merry Christmas. They were explaining it to her and I said, they're you peeps. :) After that they started singing it, "Good tidings to you and all of your peeps."  So the idea I found on Pinterest was perfect! You dip a normal size pretzel (not the mini ones) in chocolate. I used pink Wilton's chocolate. Then you dip the bottom of a marshmallow Peep in chocolate and set it on the pretzel. Then you can sprinkle some cute little sprinkles on the chocolate. Then I placed them in individual clear treat bags that I got in the party section at Walmart for a buck. Then I tied a bow with a ribbon and curled the ends. Then I made a little tag that I attached to the ribbon that said, "Happy Easter to one of my favorite "Peeps"!"

Brian has made some of the dinners that are on Pinterest and made buffalo wings using one of the recipes. I love the ideas for conference for the kids! I want to try some of the Easter ideas also.

Please ignore any mistakes. I'll read it later and fix them.

Twilight?! LOL!!

Really?! Seriously?! Matthew lost his retainer....AGAIN!!!

 

On a good note, Brian's interview went well Tuesday. He'll know in about 2 weeks if they are hiring him or not.  

 

And, I know this is totally random, but I've been wondering if I'm the only person that thinks that parts of Twilight are inappropriate for the young teenagers who are so into it. I think of my little 12-13 year old girls at church and I would not want them to see it. I probably shouldn't either if I want to be an example to them I guess. And honestly, the movies are pretty much exactly like the books. It just seems to me that it all seemed so much less cheesy and ridiculous when I was reading the books than when I watch the movies. At least they give me a good laugh. Everyone can stand to laugh more! :)

Isn't life a crazy ride!

On Sunday night we had our Young Women's New Beginnings at church. Each of the leaders read a part of the book (which is actually taken from a talk) called Your Happily Ever After by Dieter F. Uchtdorf. It's really a wonderful book. My favorite part of the talk is,"Once upon a time. Aren't those wonderful words to begin a story of adventure and romance, a story of princesses and princes. It may include tales of courage, hope, and everlasting love. In many of these stories, nice overcomes mean and good overcomes evil. But perhaps most of all, I love it when we turn to the last page and our eyes reach the final lines and we see the enchanting words "And they lived happily ever after.""
"Isn't that what we all desire: to be the heroes and heroines of our own stories to triumph over adversity; to experience life in all its beauty; and, in the end, to live happily ever after?"
Sisters, those words are true! They are not made up in a fairy tale! Isn't it remarkable to know that our eternal Heavenly Father knows you, hears you, watches over you, and loves you with an infinite love? In fact, His love for you is so great that He has granted you this earthly life as a precious gift of "once upon a time," complete with your own true story of adventure, trial, and opportunities for greatness, nobility, courage, and love. And, most glorious of all, He offers you a gift beyond price and comprehension. Heavenly Father offers to you the greatest gift of all-eternal life-and the opportunity and infinite blessing of your own "happily ever after."
It goes on to talk about how each of us has a journey in between our "once upon a time" and our "happily ever after". And he talked about how our journey, like the princes and princesses in the fairy tales, will have adversity, challenges, sadness and, at times, despair. But we know that if we can endure them well, over come those difficult times, by doing all we need to do to stay close to our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ, and ask for their help and the companionship of The Holy Ghost and if we do all we know they would have us do, then we can achieve our "happily ever after" which is essentially, eternal life, returning to Heaven to live with Heavenly Father, Jesus, and our loving families. He also said,\

 "It is your reaction to adversity, not the adversity itself, that determines how your life's story will develop."

Later that night, after I had come home and changed into my nice comfy sweats and cuddled up to my Facebook phone ap, I read about things like...my cousin, John, who lives in Paris, France, was celebrating his 40th birthday. My friend, Emily, had celebrated her 35th birthday by going on a week long cruise with her husband. My friend, Cindy, welcomed her sweet baby boy, Tanner, into the world. Then my mom texted me and told me that my sister, Stephanie's, friend, Dr. Greg Nielsen, had passed away. When he opened his pediatric practice, Steph was his first nurse. She loved him and his wife and children. When she was blessed with her first child, she left her job so that she could raise her son. Of course, Dr. Nielsen became her trusted pediatrician. I remember how much I loved my doctor and his nurse when I had my Zacky and how sad I was when his nurse passed away. There is a bond between you and your children's Dr. and nurses when you have those precious little babies to care for! I understand that Dr. Nielsen had a staff infection which caused sepsis. His fever got so high that he had a stroke and later passed away. This is such a sad thing! I just feel so bad for his wife and children. What a loved man! What a great loss!!!
I had been so spiritually fed at church and, later, at New Beginnings. I felt joy for the people I know who had reason to celebrate. I felt sadness, and cried for Steph and all of the people who knew and loved Dr. Nielsen. It all felt kind of surreal. I was thinking about how life is going on all around us. All around the world. How many people all over the world happily celebrated birthdays that day? How many people all over the world were born that day? How many people all over the world died that day? How many people all over the world experienced the devastating loss of a loved one that day? The circle of life. Life is so incredibly sad and difficult at times and so beautiful and lovely at other times. Sometimes both extremes are experience at the same time. I am so very grateful to my Heavenly Father and to His Son, Jesus Christ, and to The Holy Ghost!!! They are always there for me to help me through whatever pain or suffering I experience. I know they are there for all the people who are mourning the loss of loved ones and any other sad, horrible, tragic thing they might be experiencing. They are also there to rejoice with us when great things happen. I am so grateful for the knowledge and testimony I have of them. I am so grateful for missionaries of all faiths who preach and teach of the love and support God and Jesus give us in our lives. Everyone should know that they have wonderful Father in Heaven who loves them. Everyone should know what their Savior, Jesus Christ, did for them and for all of us. Everyone should know that The Holy Ghost is there for us to comfort us, to guide us, and to help us through this earthly life. Everyone should know that there is a plan and a reason for us to be here in the first place, to have an understanding of their very existence! I cannot fathom how difficult life must be when you don't know these things! How lonely and lost they must feel. I feel so blessed! You know, for a while there I was feeling really down. My health problems are frustrating (I am grateful my pain is helped so much by medication, I just wish sometimes that I didn't have to worry about it in the first place. That I wouldn't have to take stupid medication. That I could be out in the cold without having pain. I could go on and on but I wont (o: ). Brian is out of work and has been since November. That brings so much anxiety, frustration, and difficulty to our lives as well as to our marriage. My house and yard are total disaster areas because we are too big for it and for a while there, I was gone a lot, working. The pay checks have been wonderful but our family has definitely been affected by my absence, and so has the house! I was just really not a happy camper. Until, I started thinking about one of my all time favorite pictures of Jesus that hung in our little chapel in Dodge City, KS when I was a little girl. You know, the one where he's standing at the door, knocking, and the door has no knob. He's waiting for us to let him in our lives. I feel really humbled! Our problems are NOTHING compared to so many other people's problems. We have been blessed in so many ways it's unbelievable. We need to be more grateful!!! We need to be more diligent in doing the things we know we need to do to bring Him in our lives more, which ultimately leads us to the greatest joy we can possibly feel as human beings!!!

I can't find the one that hung in our chapel but this is lovely too!

Manners...

~Last night was so much fun! We had a combined young men/young women activity. It was about etiquette, which sounded pretty dull, but Sister Radley made it a LOT of fun!!! She had a panel of 4 adults who answered the questions she compiled. The questions were really fun and some were serious but the panel of adults were all really fun, silly people that made it so much fun. I asked her for a copy of the questions she asked, so if/when she gives it to me I'll post it on here. Each person chose 10 pieces of candy to put in a little cup. Sis. Radley brought Hot Tamales, Mike-n-Ikes, Junior Mints, and Dots to choose from. After the Q&A session we ate some different kinds of foods and we all had to use the good etiquette we had just learned. We weren't allowed to use our fingers to pick up anything. We had to use our utensils. The first course was grapes. Then came Wingers french fries and boneless sticky fingers. Then came a little spaghetti with spaghetti sauce. At some point there was a roll and red punch. And then for dessert we had the choice of a red velvet cupcake or a carrot cake cupcake. If anyone got caught using bad manners or just not following the "rules", like not touching your food with your fingers, or putting your elbows on the table, they had to eat a piece of candy from their cup. The people who had the most candy in their cup at the end got to choose from several different large boxes of candy as their prize. It was one of the funnest activities we have ever had!!! It was nice to learn good manners in such a fun way. I hope the kids all listened really well because they will all need to know this at some point in their lives. Most of the things she talked about were food related but at the end of the Q&A she threw in some cell phone etiquette, which I thought was wonderful!! I think we might just have to do this with our little family just for fun some night.

~I just have to share this Max story. He attended Munchkin Manor Preschool for 2 years. One day he used good manners, I don't remember if he said thank you or please or something and I said, "Good job for using such great MANNERS Max!"  He said, "That's because I go to Munchkin MANOR Preschool."  :-)

A recipe, etc.

~Last year all of our YW classes met together for all activities. This year our Beehive class is going to do an activity each month on our own so that the girls can do some of the things the other girls have already done. A lot of the older girls have earned their Medalians already or are really close to finishing so the girls in Beehives need some activities that are focused on the value project. So last night at YW we Beehives planned our year of activities and had brownies. The Mia Maids and Laurels made cake pops. If you have never made cake pops before, they, are, delicious!!! I had the one that was made with red velvet cake. You bake a cake and crumble up the cake after it cools. Then you add either cool whip or a cup of canned or homemade frosting to the crumbles. Mix well and then form into balls. Put a sucker stick in the top of the ball. Place them on a cookie sheet and put the cookie sheet in the freezer for a few minutes to help them firm up. Then you take them out and dip them in either melted white almond bark or brown almond bark. I'm sure melted chocolate chips would also work. I especially love milk chocolate chips and butterscotch chips melted together and I'm sure that would be DIVINE! The one I ate had the cool whip mixed with the crumbles. I think they just used a cup of cool whip but they may have used a bit more. Then they dipped them in the white almond bark. They were so creamy and delicious! It would be so cute to put some red food coloring in some of the almond bark and drizzle over the white dipped balls for Valentine's Day. You could do them for any occasion! I'm so excited to try making them and have my kids help out. They LOVE having food making projects! Give them a try. They are delicious, easy, and oh, so pretty! I wish I'd have thought to take a picture.  :)
~So I'm trying to figure out how my children do so well in school, they are so smart, they amaze me all the time, yet...they can't figure out how to throw things IN the garbage can, or how to put their dirty clothes in the laundry room.
~Our wonderful bishop, Bishop Manley passed away Tuesday morning. He has been battling Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and Leukemia. I didn't get to know him as well as others I'm sure, but it was a wonderful thing to get to see him interacting with the youth of our ward. He LOVED them so very much and tried so hard to be a part of their lives. Their favorite time spent with him was when they did an over night Book of Mormon Read-a-thon at our church house. The best part was having him answer questions they had as they read. I wasn't in the program yet but they still talk about it all of the time. He has been a wonderful influence in their lives and such a wonderful example of faith, strength, enduring to the end, enduring it well, trusting the Lord. He has had the very best attitude I have ever seen in someone in this position. What an inspiration to us all! I loved the fact that he ADORES his wife so much! They are so cute together! I hope Brian and I can have that kind of love for each other when we've been married that long. I'm so sad to see such an amazing man leave this life, but I am so happy to know that he's not going through a physical HELL any longer. That he is free of pain and suffering. That he is being welcomed by so many loved ones on the other side. I know with all of my heart that Our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ are truly "well pleased" with this out standing man! I just pray that his sweet wife and children and grand children can find comfort as they try to live without him until they all can meet him again.    :(   If any of you know him or are interested in seeing his obituary click on this.

Pageant, Rockets, Summertime, S'mores, Scripture Marking Class

~I went to The Mormon Miracle Pageant in Manti last night with the Y.W. It has been so many years since I last went that I can't remember how long ago. Before we had kids anyway. We ate BBQ Turkey dinners at a ward building...the only way to go! Then we ate yummy custard and Italian Ice treats. SO YUMMY!!! Then we watched the pageant. There were parts in it that I didn't remember from years past. I'm sure they were there before but now that I'm old (they are having our 20 year high school reunion this year...that's OLD!!!) and have kids and have a stronger testimony and such, it just was so emotional for me to watch. I got teary quite often. When they portrayed the part in The Book of Mormon when Jesus visited the Nephites and blessed them and healed the sick and taught them and blessed their children, I really cried. It was so spiritually moving and just wonderful! Of course it's one of my favorite parts to read so being able to see it acted out was really neat. I am just so grateful for the opportunity I had to go this year. I was worried about going. The umbilical cord doesn't stretch all the way to Manti ya know. :)  But I went and I am so glad I did! It was even worth getting home at 1:30 a.m. and not sleeping until 2:30a.m.! Our Y.W. are such amazing girls and I just love spending time with them! I want to go next year with my little family.

~This morning the kids woke us up at 7:30 and we got ourselves ready and went to the home of some of our church members to watch an awesome rocket show! They set off tons of rockets. All different sizes. From super tiny to about 5 feet tall. I figured I could put this in the category of "things we do for our children". I was super surprised when I actually had a lot of fun watching! The time flew by! It was fun for everyone there, especially the kids! They all wanted to be the one who found the rocket after it landed. The people live out in the boonies so the kids had plenty of room to be free and run wild! Who can ask for anything more than that when you are a boy? Gracie hated the experience. It scared her to death each time one went off. But there were some adorable little baby bunnies nestled together by their house that a wild bunny had and oh they were the cutest little things! Gracie really liked them so at least it wasn't all bad for her. The ward member's who invited everyone out do this show every year. They invite people from the college out since he used to teach at the college, they invite ward members and friends. Their kids plan their summer vacations for the rocket show weekend. It's so much fun! One of their daughters said to me that she was surprised by how many people came out for the show. I said, well, there isn't a lot of entertainment in this town so when someone invites people for a fun time we're all there!!!

~Don't you love summertime. Some days I just absolutely love summer?! Some days not so much! When the kids get along pretty well...and they make the most of the opportunity to ride bikes and dig in the dirt all day long in our back yard...we eat some kind of yummy summer food like a BLT, juicy watermelon, corn on the cob, BBQ ANYTHING, yummy potato salad and Aunt Marilyn's fabulous baked beans...we walk through the store and smell the sweet scent of ripe nectarines and peaches throughout the produce area and my mouth starts to water...Strawberry Shortcake...spending lots of time outside...the smell of freshly cut grass, lilacs, and roses...THEN, all is right with the world and I LOVE summer! 

but...

when the kids can't stop fighting with each other, hurting each other, and hurting each other's feelings...having to take 4 kids along when I go to the grocery store...having to pull pokey stickers out of my kids feet constantly because they refuse to wear shoes outside...the whining...complaining...fighting over which wii game to play or movie to watch...the constant messes...not being able to afford to go on nice little mountain drives because the price of gas is OUT...OF...CONTROL!!!, THEN I'm not such a big fan of summer!

~There is a fire pit in our back yard. Tonight we're going to roast marshmallows over it and have s'mores. I can't wait!!! Brian is cooking some delicious chicken and rice in the dutch oven. I sure do love to eat! :)

~Thursday night there was a scripture marking class for a Relief Society activity. Oh, it was awesome! The lady brought us fun little sticker things to put in our scriptures. She suggested some fun things like, mark words in your scriptures that are about Jesus, Heavenly Father, good, happy things with yellow soft color pencil. Mark scripture mastery scriptures in kind of a rainbow pattern. Mark things that are about Satan or evil with red pencil. Use other colors you like for other things. She just really got us all excited about the scriptures and taught us things that will help us be able to understand the scriptures better. It was a really great experience! I can't wait for her to come again!

I'm still alive...

So, I've had some major writer's block lately but I am still alive in case you were wondering. I was in a really crummy mood for a few days there. I just felt really, really discouraged. No hope. No joy. Just empty and sad. My pain had started to go away because of a combination of medications I was taking. It was still there but very dull. Occasionally bad still, but mostly dull. I'll take it!!! Well, the medicine stopped working and it upset me. A lot!!! I've also been having a time where I'm so sick to death of scrimping by and pinching pennies I could scream. Just not in very good spirits. Low. Very low. Then last Sunday at church Brother Banasky asked me how I was feeling and I gave him my standard answer of, "I'm ok. How are you?" Then he said, "No. Really. How are you feeling?" I told him it really hadn't been a good day, painwise. He asked if I had asked Brian to give me a blessing. I told him that I hadn't even thought about it with the crazy morning we had getting ready for church. But I did ask Brian for a blessing after church and it was a really beautiful blessing! Brian even explained some neat feelings he had as he gave me the blessing. After that I had a REALLY low few days and then on Wednesday I was able to talk with my friend, Sherelle and she helped me talk some of my feelings out. Then that night some very kind members of the Relief Society came for a visit while I was at YW and Brian talked with them a bit about me. They just recently found out about my health issues and wanted to express concern and support. Our wonderful bishop called later and talked with me. Having so many people reaching out to me and praying for me really has helped me these past few days. I have felt so much happier and have had more energy and strength than I have had in such a long time I can't even remember. I know with all my heart it is because of a Priesthood Blessing and the prayers of others on my behalf. I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am thankful for my membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am thankful for all of the inspired programs of the church. I am thankful for members of our family, members of our ward, and friends who follow the spirit, and try to live like Jesus and serve others in His behalf.

Tonight I went to The General Young Women's Conference Broadcast and a wonderful dinner that the Stake YW Presidency prepared for us. It was a wonderful night. I so enjoyed visiting with the leaders from our ward and the YW from our ward who attended. The broadcast was wonderful as well. I am so grateful for my calling. I am so grateful for my YW leaders when I was a YW and for the amazing General leaders of the YW. At the end of it Elder Eyring talked a bit about the challenge in the Book of Mormon that Mormon gave to everyone who reads it to pray and ask for the witness of the spirit testifying to them that The Book of Mormon is true. It made me remember when I was in college and fervently reading The Book of Mormon. I will never forget how I felt as I got to that part in The Book of Mormon and how strong my desire was to pray and know for myself that it was true. I already had felt the witness of the spirit telling me the words were true throughout my reading but I just felt strongly that I should accept the challenge and pray for that witness. I had a lovely and sacred experience that I will never forget as I prayed and received that very strong witness that it was indeed the true word of God. It was so strong and powerful that when I have struggled at times in my life since that moment I CANNOT deny the truthfulness of the book!!! It is the most wonderful feeling and I feel so strongly that everyone should get that witness for themselves as well. Especially in this day and age when there are so many evil forces surrounding us trying to lead us astray. We HAVE to be steadfast and immoveable in our commitment to living the gospel. Having that strong witness and testimony can be THE thing that keeps us going no matter how hard it gets.  I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who knows me and loves me and never gives up on me, even when I give up on myself. I am so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ who loves me and suffered my sins and pains and challenges and frustrations and sadnesses and everything that I go through. I am grateful for His compassion and understanding. I am also so very grateful for the Holy Ghost and His companionship. For His comfort and peace that buoy me up and carry me through the hard times I face in this life. I know with all my heart and soul that nothing else on earth can bring us such joy and bring our spirits such comfort and peace than living the gospel to it's fullest and bringing ourselves closer to the members of the Godhead through our faithfulness and diligence in keeping the commandments and asking for their help when we need it! I love them and I am thankful for them. I am thankful for a wonderful husband and beautiful children that keep me going. I know I am incredibly blessed and I am so grateful for all of the many blessings I have been given. I know I am so far from perfect and that I have so far to go but I am so happy for the patience and love of my family and my Father in Heaven!!!

Great idea...

Matthew's Primary teacher last year was INCREDIBLE!!! All the kids loved her. She was there almost every week and really took her calling seriously and did a great job! In January she gave Matthew this book to take home and keep. It is a journal he worked on each week last year. There is always extra time after the lesson in primary. Some teachers fill the extra time by taking the children for a little walk, singing songs, letting them color, or if the kids are older, the old reliable "Spiritual Hangman". Sister Hamaker, however, chose to have the kids work on a little journal each week. I think it is just fabulous! I wish I'd had this idea with the zillions of primary classes we've taught over the years! I thought it was such a great idea I'd share.

It was also really fun to see the improvement in his handwriting since he was half way through Kindergarten when they started the books and then halfway through 1st Grade when they finished.

These are some of my favorite pages...
This is the first page but could have easily been put on the cover of the 3 ring binder. She left the cover plain. She put the pages in page protectors.

Apparently he was absent this week but it's quite nice.

 This was the Father's Day page and he wrote on the hearts...he is nice...he makes me laugh.

 I shared my blocks with Max and made him happy

 It says on the bottom of the page...I'm grabbing my sister so she won't bite my brothers.      hehe

The next picture has nothing to do with the rest of the post but I thought the roses that Brian gave me for Valentine's Day were so pretty. They all opened up really big just like they do on a rose bush. Usually they stay pretty closed, which is equally pretty.