Our Family Project

Today I have spent the ENTIRE day doing laundry and packing.  We are going over to my sister-in-law's house tonight to spend the night before our big Thanksgiving extravaganza tomorrow.  However, all of my children are out of clean clothing, and we will be driving up to Utah on Friday for the weekend.  So ..... I've spent the day folding laundry and packing. We were supposed to take a crock-pot of soup over to my sister-in-law's for dinner for everyone.  She also made soup.  So, the fact that we didn't show up there until 8:30 tonight was really okay, and no one starved because we and our soup (that I didn't even end up making because I didn't have time) didn't show up on time. And, I am so grateful today that my sister-in-law and her family, and my brother-in-law and his family were so understanding.  They didn't seem perturbed by our tardiness, and they understood that our life is not perfect; our children sometimes get messy (okay, they get messy ...

In April we participated in our homeschool group's Geography Fair.  We went the easy route because we were throwing together our project at the last minute, and chose to do our project on Chile!  It was easy because that's where Jon served his mission.  So, we had a bunch of little items that showcased the culture there.  Jon and I traced the map on a long sheet of paper, and, okay, we colored it too.  We are such control freaks.  Oh well.  The children drew little pictures/icons of exports, produce, and other things that symbolized specific things we learned about Chile.  We got to the part and everything was set up trunk-or-treat style ... which was so great!  Although, our friends in the car next to us did their report on Argentina ... the sworn enemy of Chile! Then, came the presentation!  This was the fun part.  Eliza, Kate and I got together the day before the fair and wrote a rap for our presentation.  Then, we broke u...

This week, the goal is making my children a priority.  Because of some recent events, we felt it was important to prepare our children for a/the time when they are faced with the decision to remain physically pure, and to know when another person may be touching them inappropriately. We decided to broach the subject during a Family Home Evening lesson.  I found a great lesson online that was exactly what I felt was right for our family.  It was so perfect. The lesson started out by talking about how our bodies are temples.  We read about the dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland temple as found in the Doctrine and Covenants.  The specific verse we read was this: "Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing, and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;" We talked about how we are supposed to treat our bodies like the temples are treated. ...

Our Christmas was so much fun.  In the past I've been ready well before Christmas, with present wrapped at the end of October.  Not so for this year.  I was shopping for presents the Saturday before Christmas.  And, after going out there in the masses ... I will not do that again next year!  Traditionally, our children have stocking stuffers and presents from us.  We don't do the Santa thing.  Just haven't ever wanted to.  Also traditionally, all of our children get similar items.  Most of the time it's because they all want what each other wants.  But, sometimes it's not the case.  This year, they all got lapdesks to use for school when we do our science or history in the living room.  (Of course, they each got their assigned color as well.) Traditionally, we all get toothbrushes in our stockings.  This year I got them all battery-powered toothbrushes.  I've never seen so many children get excited over a toothbru...

We had the opportunity to go with my brother-in-law's and sister-in-law's families on a family campout for my brother-in-law's church congregation.  Actually it was sort of a regional thing ... the entire stake was invited.  It was a phenomenal opportunity.  And, those who planned it and were in charge did such a fantastic job! We went to a scout camp that is only about 2 1/2 hours away.  It was so nice to be among pine trees, camping out of doors, and still have potable water and the absence of mosquitoes.  It was severely serene and beautiful. Because we were camping at a scout camp, we had all the amenities we could ever hope for: a cafeteria, fantastic food, flushing toilets, a zip line, archery range, horseshoes, badminton, trails, and even showers.  Each ward took their turn preparing and serving a meal, and then cleaning up afterward.  Because of our little ones, we had to divide and conquer.  So, I ended up hanging out with our l...

Last Friday, our friends from Minnesota were driving from Los Angeles to visit family in Arizona.  They were so kind to stop by for a little while to visit with us! When we opened the door, their youngest daughter stepped inside and started removing her shoes.  LOVE THAT!  Reminds me of good old Minnesota common courtesy.  She also looked at us like she wasn't quite sure what to do ... she was the only one of her family actually inside the door (everyone else was still getting out of their van).  I think she remembered us, but because our house is different she was a little disoriented for a while. They were only able to stay for a couple hours, but was so wonderful to see good friends and know that we are able to pick up right where we left off as though we had never moved away!  Love you our Minnesota Friends!

We ate Thanksgiving dinner with Jon's sister and her family, and his sister flew down from Utah to spend Thanksgiving with us all as well.  It was such a great time, filled with the Turkey Bowl (I actually got to play this year!), lots of cooking, lots of food, lots of eating, and lots of relaxing.  They'd put four folding tables together to make this huge Thanksgiving Dinner table.  I loved it!  We all got to sit together and all of the food was on the table ... it was perfect.  I've never seen so much food for Thanksgiving dinner either!  My sister-in-law's family has a tradition of making everyone's favorite dish ... so there were the traditional foods (mashed potatoes, stuffing, turkey, rolls, corn, etc.), and there was also potato salad, zucchini, sweet potatoes (not prepared the traditional way with marshmallows), and ham (not traditional for us).  I'm sure there is something I forgot because there was so much food! These two little stinkers...

I am grateful for opportunities to serve. A couple weeks ago, we were able to provide a small measure of service during "Make a Difference Day."  We went with our church group to a local elementary school and helped clean the school.  It wasn't much, especially considering we had our children in tow and the youngest ones got distracted easily, but it was so worth it.  I really feel it's important for our family to experience things like this together so our children will know what it's like to serve others. For a few years we helped out a lady from church.  It was a church assignment to help her, but we did it together.  She was house-ridden, for lack of a better term.  She had some mental and physical incapabilities which made it hard for her to get out of her house to do grocery shopping, or to drive consistently.  Her van had broken down on her property years ago and she hadn't been able to drive herself to the store, to the doctor's office, or...

I have six reasons to feel grateful today.  Originally, I was going to give each person their own day.  But, then I thought about it and realized that if I give each person in my immediate family their own day of gratitude (not that it's not deserved), there would be five days for which I could have expressed gratitude for something else.  Thereby, feeling even more gratitude and seeing even more of my blessings.  So, my six reasons to feel gratitude today: Jon I've told him many times before that he is the best-suited person for me.  He understands me in ways that I don't understand myself.  He always picks up the pieces for me when I fall short (which has been happening a lot recently).  I am so grateful that he is able to recognize a need and fill it.  Especially those needs that I do not realize are unfulfilled.  Sometimes I feel like he is my Emma ... and I am Mr. Knightly: I'm frequently trying to "help" him become a better person, a...