Christmas 2011 Pics by Becca

Emily in her new princess pjs

Jacob showing off his new talent of going crosseyed on his bike

Alyssa raiding the pantry

Aaron next to my mom's perfect tree

Alyssa enjoying a ride on Uncle Paul's walker

Brandon & Emily performing an impromptu Canon in D duet

Cousins Justin and Tyler making lego creations

My sister Melinda and I & our big baby bellies

Jon in the middle of a dramatic story

Uncle Matt was handing out stuff he got from his trip to Thailand




Emily and Dessie dancing

A New Photographer

Rebecca was thrilled to get her own camera for Christmas and she put it to good use capturing plenty of candid Christmas pictures which I'll be posting soon.

The Rest of 2011

Here are a few of the things we did to wrap up the year in between our battles with strep, pink eye, the flu, colds and sinus infections. Somehow the annual Christmas letter didn't get squeezed into the to do list.
In November we traveled down to join my sister Kara and her family as their sweet adopted baby Rachel was sealed to them in the temple. It was such a neat spiritual experience.

Rebecca's favorite class this year in school is choir. One night after prayer she led us in the "Baby Shark" song that she learned in choir. I love hearing her sing around the house!
The kids took their turns on Santa's lap at the Ward Christmas Party. Jacob said all he wanted was a candy cane........... and his wish was granted immediately. That was really his only motivation for waiting in the long line in the first place.
Emily was pretty excited to wear her "Been Good All Year" Shirt that she inherited from a friend when she went to sit on Santa's lap.


Jacob decorated this fun train for scouts. I was lucky to capture a photo before he devoured it!
The kids had a great time enjoying the snow during the first few days of Christmas break.

Weaving a Tapestry of Gratitude

I loved Elder Uchtdorf's talk "Forget me Not" at this past Women's Conference so when I was asked to give a lesson on Thanksgiving in Relief Society this past week I thought of the "Golden Ticket" analogy. It is so easy for me to slip into the mindset of wanting what I don't have instead of appreciating what I have now. Following are a few of my favorite quotes from his talk that I'd like to post around my house as reminders:

• "If you consider success to be only the most perfect rose or dazzling orchid, you may miss some of life’s sweetest experiences.”

• “Our journey toward perfection is long, but we can find wonder and delight in even the tiniest steps in that journey.”
• "... if we spend our days waiting for fabulous roses, we could miss the beauty and wonder of the tiny forget-me-nots that are all around us.
• “The happiest people I know are not those who find their golden ticket; they are those who, while in pursuit of worthy goals, discover and treasure the beauty and sweetness of the everyday moments. They are the ones who, thread by daily thread, weave a tapestry of gratitude and wonder throughout their lives. These are they who are truly happy.”

One of the sweet "candy bar moments" I had while preparing this lesson and studying these passages in the Book of Mormon about Nephi and Alma. I love how you can read the same passages over and over and yet glean different inspiration each time. As I was looking for principles relating to how Nephi and Alma dealt with their own feelings of inadequacy or unmet desires I compiled some notes for me to refer to in the future when I am struggling to appreciate the good things in life.

2 Nephi 4:17-35

1. v 20-23 Remember God’s blessings from the past (My God has been my support, filled me with love, confounded mine enemy, heard my cry, given me knowledge

2. v 24/30-34 Say a prayer of thanks and ask for God’s help

3. v 34-35 Write down your testimony

Alma 29:1-17

1. v 3 Recognize when our desires are off balance or are creating unhappiness for us ( I ought to be content)

2. v 4 Refocus on eternal perspective/big picture (salvation or destruction)

3. v 8 Trust in God’s will (Lord doth grant… all that he seeth fit that they should have)

4. v 9 Refocus on current callings/blessings (I may be an instrument in the hands of God)

5. v 10 Count your blessings (then do I remember what the Lord has done for me)

6. v 11 Draw strength from the past ( I also remember the captivity of my fathers…God did deliver them out of bondage.)

7. v 14 Focus outside of yourself (my joy is more full because of the success of my brethren)

Good Things:

• Listening to Alyssa sing as she colors beside me while I'm writing this post
• Medicine to help with sinus headaches
• Christmas music
• Loving my church calling
• Watching Jacob's delight in making a cake for family night by himself
• Long Naps
• Having an easy pregnancy (so far)
  

Fun Run

Emily was not to enthused about participating in her school fun run, so I told her I would run it with her.
At the start I reminded her that if you sprint to hard at the beginning you'll lose energy to quickly and struggle at the end. Slow and steady wins the race. But as I struggled to keep up with her on the first lap, I could see that my SLOW pregnant pace was not going to help her win the race. So thankfully Jared took over to run the rest with her and she ended up being the 2nd place girl to finish in her grade.



The next day Jacob & Dan ran and Jared joined both of them 2 races in a row. It's obvious that their daily backyard football is keeping them in a lot better shape than me.