Just a few Pictures of my Easter weekend

I have had a very eventful two days celebrating the Easter holiday with friends and family. 
Yesterday Nathan's family got together and did an Easter egg hunt for all the nieces and nephews and a little lunch.  I love these get-togethers because they are always laid-back and we just enjoy each others company and have a good time. 
My sister-in-law Jennifer and I (yes that means that there are 2 Jen's in the family) had the fun responsibility/honor of hiding all the eggs.  I believe it took us twice as long to get them all hidden as it took the six kids to find them all.

 

Jake will still need a little more practice before he goes into professional egg hunting.  He wanted
 to stop and open each egg and eat the candy in it before going and finding the next one.  Maybe
next year he will be able to find more before the other kids get to them first.

Little Ty had a great time with Aunt Jennifer. 

I just love this little guy.

 Today my parents spoke in Sacrament meeting at church.  In addition to it being Easter Sunday it was also their mission farewell.  They will be leaving in two weeks to spend the next 18 months at the Heber Valley Girls Camp.  They both gave very powerful talks about following the Saviors example and how the Atonement can be used in each of our lives.  I am so grateful for their faith and examples that have helped me grow closer to the person that I want to eventually become.  
After the meeting we went back to their house for lunch and to visit with my dads side of the family and many of our friends and neighbors stopped by as well.  It was so nice to see many of the people that I had not seen in several years.  They are very blessed to be surrounded by such great and wonderful friends.

The kids favorite part of coming over to my parents house (other than the cats)
 is to play with the little tractor that is just their size.

My parents visiting with a family friend.

 And lastly, when I arrived home from my parents home I looked out my back door and what do I see?  A couple of buffalo in the field behind us.  A few years ago they raised a few bison as well and it is so fun to watch them all summer long.  I think it is going to be another fun year.

Yep, those are buffalo.  This picture is taken from my back porch.

Happy Easter Ya'll

Thank goodness for children.

Lately I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed by everything I have to do.  Between keeping everything put together at home, preparing for girls camp (I'm the ward girls camp director), planning cub scout activities weekly, spreading the word of our adoption hopes and working full-time.  Sometimes it seems like there is so much to do that there is no way that I can get it all done.
One of the things that just happened to be at the back of my mind was that the cub master asked that each den come up with a new den cheer before the next pack meeting. 
I am not the most creative person and making up a new cheer was not an easy task for me.  So it makes sense that I kept moving it to the bottom of my to-do-list.  Well as these things go, I put it off so much that I forgot about it and when the cub master got up at pack meeting yesterday and announced that all the dens would be giving their new cheer I panicked!  With only minutes to go and my mind racing I looked to the assistant den leader and pleaded for her help hoping that she might miraculously have one in mind.  She didn't.
Mind and heart racing I felt a little tap on my shoulder.   When I turned around I saw two of my boys standing behind me.  Very excitedly one of them said that he had just come up with a cheer and can we please use it.  We'll how could I refuse.  He hurriedly showed me what he had come up with and was so pleased when I told him it was great.  The two boys than rushed to the back of the room to teach the cheer to the other two boys in the den. 
Happily when the Bear den was called up to the front of the meeting, four wonderful boys stood in front of their parents and fellow scouts and said:

(hand raised with one claw slashing downward)

"Claw the air,

I'm a Bear!"

 

They did great and with a little of practice may even do it in unison.  I am so proud of all the boys in my den and all the hard work and fun we have each week. 

 

Happy Wednesday

 

 



The Young Woman's Theme

I received a call last night from a member of the Relief Society presidency in my ward.  She asked me if I would be willing to help her out with a portion of the the lesson that she was planning on presenting in class the next day.   With a bit of hesitation I said that I would, wondering what it was that she would be asking me to do.  Happily once she explained what it was she would like me to share I was excited for the opportunity.  
This sweet sister knew that I have a great love for the Young Women of the church.  In truth I have spent nearly half of my life in the young woman's program of the church, either as a girl or as a leader.   She asked me if I could present the lesson opener, specifically by inviting all the sisters to recited the young woman's theme with me and than to share my thoughts about the theme.
The young woman's theme of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints goes as follows:

We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us, and we

love Him. We will “stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all

things, and in all places” (Mosiah 18:9) as we strive to live the

Young Women values, which are:

 

Faith • Divine Nature • Individual Worth •

Knowledge • Choice and Accountability •

Good Works • Integrity •

 and Virtue

 

We believe as we come to accept and act upon these values,

 we will be prepared to strengthen home and family, make

 and keep sacred covenants, receive the ordinances of the

temple, and enjoy the blessings of exaltation.

 



The young woman of the church recite this theme at each of their meetings and activities.  Many times especially in my youth I admit that I did not usually think much about the words I was saying and would just go through the motions speaking these words along with all the other girls and our leaders.   But as I have grown older and have gained a lot of life experience and knowledge these words have become very special and important to me. 

To start off the theme proclaims that we are all daughters of our Heavenly Father.  How amazing it that?   I love the knowledge that I have that I am a Child of God.  That in all of his infinite wisdom and power, He knows me, He cares about me, and He loves me! 

I think about the relationship that I have with my own family and particularly my parents.  They are some of my best friends.  I can go to them with any question, problem or situation that I have and they will give me advise and help me through it.  I love the days that I get to spend with them, such as the day my father came out to our home and help me install our new water heater (He did most of the work, I pretty much just handed him tools).  Or when my mother had back surgery last month I was able to take the entire next week off of work and spend it at their house.  I would help my mom go for walks around the block, do laundry, clean the house, and fix meals while she was able to rest and recover.   I loved just the simpleness of being there with them.

Just as I love my parents, I love my Heavenly Father as well.  What gifts and blessings He has given to me.  I do have a relationship with my Heavenly Father.  He is there for me, He does answer my prayers and He does give me the strength needed to do all that I need to do.

I WILL stand as His witness in all that I do.  I will let His light shine through me so that others can feel from my example that I follow Him.  I am not perfect.  I make many mistakes.  But I do try my best to do a little bit better each day to follow my Saviors example.

I see each of the eight values listed in the theme as stepping stones that we each can use to better ourselves and to grow into the great strong women that our Heavenly Father knows that we can be.  As we learn faith, and of our own individual worth, to do good works, to enrich our lives with all knowledge, and to be virtuous in all we do we are steadily growing closer to Him.

We must each learn the importance of these principles in our own lives and than choose to make them a part our personality and who we are.  He will not force us, we have our agency and we get to choose.  But He does promise us great blessings when we do follow His words and live our lives according to His will.

What a blessing it is to be able to strengthen my home and my family.  To make my home a place where the Holy Spirit is present and the gospel is studied and taught.  What a blessing it has been to be spiritually prepared to make special promises with God in His Holy Temple and to continuously return again and again to learn and grow. And what a promise it is to look forward and to continue to work to achieve the ultimate goal of living with my Heavenly Father again.

 

I know that I am a daughter of My Heavenly Father, He loves Me, and I

love Him. I will “stand as witness of God at all times and in all

things, and in all places” (Mosiah 18:9) as I strive to live the

Young Women values, which are:

Faith • Divine Nature • Individual Worth •

Knowledge • Choice and Accountability •

Good Works • Integrity •

and Virtue

 I believe as I come to accept and to act upon these values,

 I will be prepared to strengthen my home and my family, make

and to keep sacred covenants, to receive the ordinances of the

temple, and to enjoy the blessings of exaltation.

 

 

If you would like to learn more about my faith I invite you to visit http://mormon.org/

 

 

Happy Sunday!!!