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.

Having a Ball

Last weekend Jared took the oldest kids down to see the BYU Game and let Becca hang out with her friend who moved to Utah.  The "Littles" were pretty devastated about being left behind as he drove away.  Alyssa figured that being dressed (in summer clothes) with her pjs in hand was enough of a ticket for dad to let her come with him.  But since one of the seatbelts is broken in the car, it wasn't an option. 
After being pretty sick with the flu for half of the week, my house was looking pretty chaotic with piles of laundry and dirty dishes.  It was my plan to tackle it that evening.  But with 3 kids in tears I could see I wasn't going to get much done.  I decided instead to have a spur of the moment princess party.  We turned out the lights, ignored the clutter and lit a scented candle for our feast.  We covered the table with a wrinkly white bedskirt with a pink ruffle, because Emily insisted that the pink "tablecloth" would be the most fitting for princesses.  We feasted on apple smiles, (apples w/ marshmallow teeth) heart shaped honey toast, apple juice in goblets and "the Queens" famous stew (taco soup) as we addressed each other in perfectly polite tones with our princess names (Queen Kristine, Princess Nicole and Princess Kathryn).  Prince Jared (Joshua) was safely strapped up in his high chair:)
After the feast we changed into our ball gowns and  danced around the family room to Beethoven's Emperor Concerto and a Disney Princess CD.  We ended the night with some princess stories and 2 very delighted girls who got to have a "sleepover" in Emily's room for the night.  I don't think I ever played pretend like this even as a child.  But it was definitely a night to remember and I wish I'd captured some pictures.
The next morning Emily woke up early and surprised me by doing all of the kitchen chores!

Halloween

My parents came to visit us before Halloween.  My mom planned a superfun Halloween party with games and festive food.  We played some Halloween Bingo, Vampire M&M Bloodsucking and Draw the Pumpkin.
Trick or Treaters

Perfect Fall Day to Remember

 I gave a talk on gratitude in church today.  It was the perfect topic for me because its something that I need to work on.  Its easy for me to be honest, to be obedient, but being grateful and optimistic is a continual challenge.  I think I am more like Sariah, who tended to murmur when things got challenging even though she was obviously a woman of faith.   But I want to me more like Job who after having most of his temporal blessings stripped from him was still able to say

·       " Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hathtaken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly."

 When I came home from church today, Becca and Jared were heading off to choir practice and the house was unusually peaceful.  My first thought was, I wonder what naughtiness Joshua and Alyssa are getting into.  But fortunately I found Emily and Alyssa outside enjoying the sunshine and playing pretend with some sticks out in the garden.  I had "Prince Josh" join them and snapped a few pictures of them playing in the leaves and taking care of their pet ladybug.  I love beautiful days like this!

 One of my favorite conference talks ever is entitled "Oh, Remember, Remember" by Elder Eyring.  I have revisited it several times and one of my revolving new years resolutions (because I never quite attain it) is to record my own moments of God's hand in my life.
After experiencing an act of service that touched him, he said."I heard in my mind—not in my own voice—these words: “I’m not giving you these experiences for yourself. Write them down.”I went inside. I didn’t go to bed. Although I was tired, I took out some paper and began to write. And as I did, I understood the message I had heard in my mind. I was supposed to record for my children to read, someday in the future, how I had seen the hand of God blessing our family.  I would ponder this question: “Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?” As I kept at it, something began to happen. As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day."

Finally... the 4th of July

 This year we had a blast when our Neal cousins came to visit for the 4th of July.  We were so busy having fun, I didn't capture too many photos, except for this little hike we went on.  I'd love to make it a yearly tradition to have  different family come and visit us each year at this time since our yard is perfectly situated for the fireworks.  Next year we're already booked!

A desk of my own ... shaping our destiny

This year I received one of my favorite and most used gifts ever for my birthday... a tablet.  I loved marking scriptures on it, videotaping piano students and exploring the new youth curriculum as a basis for my gospel study.  But this only lasted a few short months when my daughter decided to put it in the bathtub.  Jared offered to go buy me another one, soon after this happened, but the frugal part of me wants to wait until I can afford to upgrade to an ipad w/ the capability for more music apps. So I've gone back to doing everything old school.  Tonight I revisited the youth curriculum after a long hiatus and read an article "Two Principles for Any Economy" by Elder Uchtdorf that I love!

One of my aspirations is to instill in my children a love of learning, as my mother did for me.  I remember thinking it was so exciting to borrow the neighbors encyclopedia for a report and being able to skim through articles on a variety of topics before returning it.  And even now, as I rediscover things about the Renaissance, Exploration, American History, Light, The Solar System, etc. with Daniel during homeschool I find so many things captivating.  So this quote by Elder Uchtdorf really touched me as he described some of the destitute circumstances of his childhood that later improved with hard work and patience.

He said, "It seemed to me that having a desk of my own would be the most wonderful thing in the world." I had to wait a long time before that wish was fulfilled. Years later, I got a job at a research institution that had a large library. I remember spending much of my free time in that library. There I could finally sit at a desk—by myself—and drink in the information and knowledge that books provide. How I loved to read and learn! In those days I understood firsthand the words of an old saying: Education is not so much the filling of a bucket as the lighting of a fire."

I'm finding this is easier said than done.  It is so easy for my children to be lured into the world of entertainment  and excitement of sports, Studio C, Youtube videos, etc. that aren't necessarily bad, just not as "educational" as I 'd like, but I'm grateful that, even though I don't have a tablet... I have a desk of my own to constantly discover new inspiring and educational things each day.
A final favorite quote from Elder Uchtdorf,
"I know this for a certainty: it is often in the trial of adversity that we learn those most critical lessons that form our character and shape our destiny."