Girl Cheese

Alyssa excitedly told me that she had the neighbors have girl cheese.  When I asked her to elaborate, she explained that "boy cheese" is like the kind at our house that comes in a big block.  But the neighbors gave her a"Girl cheese sandwich. " She explained that the difference is that girl cheese comes in little squares.

Personal Progress

Rebecca asked me to help her complete some of her personal progress today and it was an inspiring experience for me to write a letter about her talents.  (At the end of this post)
When I was a teenager I loved the young women personal progress program.  I love setting goals.  I love creating checklists and feeling the satisfaction of checking things off of my list.  I now get to revisit personal progress with my daughter Rebecca and I love the way the program has evolved through the years.  I love the focus on developing divine attributes.  As an adult, I feel like the challenges still stretch me to improve.

Aching for Summer

I discovered these beautiful pictures taken by Becca.  The warm sunshine looks so inviting after the frigid weeks of below zero weather.  It makes me think of a poem I memorized as a kid.
As a rule man's a fool
When its hot he wants it cool
When its cool he wants it hot
Always wanting what it's not
Never wanting what he's got.

Neal Family Christmas Letter 2013

Merry Christmas 2013 from the Neals

Jared continues to serve on the High Council at church and thoroughly enjoys visiting other wards for speaking assignments each month.  His new “passion” this year is being healthy and he amazes us with his incredible discipline at living a healthy lifestyle.  He hasn’t eaten any candy in over 3 years and this year he eliminated desserts from his diet!  He had fun coaching Daniel’s football team with the help of a lot of other great dads.  He also led us on an adventurous vacation this summer to Seattle for his brother Josh’s graduation this year in our 12 passenger van.

Heidi has a new appreciation for schoolteachers after she decided to try a new adventure in homeschooling this year so she could have more one on one time with the kids and accelerate their learning.  After 4 months of juggling homeschool with Daniel, piano teaching, family history, Relief Society calling and housework with 2 little ones on the loose, she decided to wait and revisit homeschooling in a few years.   She started a family history blog (nealfamilyhistory.blogspot.com) in addition to her family (nealfamilyforever.blogspot.com) and piano (heidispianonotes.blogspot.com) blogs.

Rebecca’s best friend Ashlee moved away this summer and she also had to switch to a new middle school.  She surprised us all by trying out for the basketball team, and although her team didn’t fare so well, she had a lot of fun and made a lot of new friends.  She is on the yearbook staff at school and in choir, but the hobby that she enjoys the most is blogging.  She posts delicious creations on her own blog “Heaven in a Dish” and includes funny anecdotes from her life that make us smile.

Jacob was thrilled to get to play tackle football in pads this year. He especially enjoyed watching the BYU football games with plenty of snacks in the comfort of our own home with his friend Conner.   He received the Arrow of Light award in Scouts.  Probably his favorite scouting achievement was learning how to cook a delicious steak dinner on the grill with his scoutmaster.  

Daniel fills his life with football any chance he can get.  He won 2^nd place in the ISU Pass Punt and Kick Contest for his age division.  He has worked really hard at home school, but is pretty excited to return back to public school in January so he can play football at recess with his friends 3 times a day.

Emily started gymnastics this year and was quickly able to do the splits.  Her school teacher reports that she is the perfect student at school, so polite and studious. We can always hear when she’s home because she loves to whistle tunes around the house or do acrobatic feats across the family room floor.

Alyssa has become quite a socialite now and is always begging to play with her friends Bailey, Claire and Addie.  Her bedroom floor is usually covered in clothes as she likes to change her wardrobe several times a day.  She fractured her tibia this summer while jumping on the trampoline, but was amazingly patient and adaptive as she scooted all over the house for 2 months of the summer while it healed.

Joshua doesn’t say much other than Dad, Mom, CaCa (Becca) and Baaa (bath) but his energy and curiosity make up for it.  I think he’s decided to enter the “terrible twos” early as he is pretty independent about feeding himself without a bib, climbing or dragging a stool around to get whatever he thinks he needs.  We’re hoping he’ll be mechanically inclined as he already seems adept at taking things apart, plugging and unplugging appliances, pushing buttons, and removing the battery cover on the bathroom scale.

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.  It turns what we have into enough and more.  It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity.  It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend” (Melody Beattie). We have so much to be grateful for and are especially thankful for good friends and family. We hope you have a wonderful Christmas as we celebrate the greatest gift of our Savior.

Love,

The Neal Family

Jared, Heidi, Rebecca, Jacob, Daniel, Emily and Joshua

Spiritual Appetizers

      A few weeks ago, I was attempting to teach my children about the principle of meekness after reading Elder Soares' conference talk.  They kept associating meekness with weakness, so I said, "You know who I think of when I think of the word meek... Brother Daley."  Kent Daley's wife passed away this year, after he had tenderly cared for her during many years of failing health.  Whenever he shares his testimony in church, he speaks with such conviction and confidence and yet he exhibits a kind and gentle demeanor as many who have a lived a long life well.  We decided to invite Brother Daley over the next evening for family night to share some of his life experiences with us.  It was a rewarding experience to hear him reflect on his mission with the Aborigines in New Zealand, the miracle of his wife's life being perserved as a 3 lb baby girl so many years ago.  Then he shared with us some Christmas poems and songs he had written about the Saviour.  There was an immense feeling of peace in our home that night.

I love listening to general conference, and as I reread Elder Hale's talk I decided to increase my efforts to teach my children the stories and principles from the prophets and leaders more consistently, because I know they are actually messages from the Lord to us.

·         “In conferences we can receive the word of the Lord meant just for us.  We may not know all the reasons why the prophets and conference speakers address us with certain topics in conference, but the Lord does. The greatest blessings of general conference come to us after the conference is over. Remember the pattern recorded frequently in scripture: we gather to hear the words of the Lord, and we return to our homes to live them.” (Elder Hales, Strengthening Faith and Testimony, p. 6)

·         ”We cannot get our bodies into good basketball shape by simply watching basketball on television.  We won’t be able to get our testimonies in shape by simply watching general conference on television.  We need to study and learn the fundamental principles of the gospel of Jesus, and then we must do our very best to live them.” (Elder Richard Maynes, The Strength to Endure, p. 80)

I think of listening to general conference as "spiritual appetizers."  I feel inspired to be better and feel peace as I watch/listen to it, but unless I "feast" on the written talks later or set specific goals, it is easy for me to forget what I had learned.

While preparing my Relief Society lesson this week, I compiled this list of quotes that I found meaningful from conference.

“Being meek does not mean weak.” (Soares,  Be Meek and Lowly of Heart, p. 9)

·         “There is a safe place to raise children.  It is in a gospel-centered home.” (Packer, The Key to Spiritual Protection, p. 26) Its more important that my home is gospel-centered, than it is clean, or musical or educational.