Dead Cows

Alyssa has a natural fascination for all kinds of interesting things lately. 
She asks things like...
Mom if I was up in heaven and I was growing inside your belly how could I be in both places?
How did I get food inside you?
(We had a little discussion about bellybuttons.)
Where do our clothes come from? (We watched some youtube videos about cotton harvesting and threadmaking.)
She was completely fascinated with "The Circulatory Story," a 5th grade level Tumblebook I was watching with her the other day, even though her siblings thought it was gross.
She loves meat and one day was asking where it came from.  We had pork, so after I told her it came from pigs she wanted to see the rest of the pig.  Instead I showed her a beef roast from the deep freeze and told her they get rid of the head and bones before I buy it.  So today she waltzes in the family room with a big chunk of meat (in ziplock) and announces, "This is a dead cow mom!"
I've transferred my homeschool energy to her and I love seeing her and Josh delighted as we go through a preschool routine of songs,calendar, pledge, stories and crafts on most weekdays.  So my house is still never clean, but I'm having a lot of fun:)

My Favorite Finds from the Online Church World

I compiled some of the links to inspirational finds for a Relief Society Activity presentation a few weeks ago.

Audio

Download Favorite Stories from the Friend to CD or MP3 for bedtime or car trips
LDS Youth Music to Download or Stream
Mormon Channel

• Music Streaming Radio-uplifting music

• Stories from General Conference (73 episodes of 20-30 minute compiled short stories organized by topics such as prayer, endurance, marriage, honesty, gratitude) Great for Bedtime Stories, Listening while exercising, clips for FHE 
• The Light of Men - 12 episodes of radio dramas depicting the life and ministry of the Savior.  The first one I happened to listen to was about the betrayal and crucifixion.  It gave me a greater appreciation for the Savior's willpower to be accused, mocked and ridiculed without reacting in a negative way.  It helped me to keep the covenant of "always remembering him" more for at least that day.

• Gospel Solutions for Families - 74 episodes, "Keeping Your Sanity in a Home of Little Ones", Family Councils, Reverence, Promoting Agency, Marriage Roles, Teens and Dating, Forgiveness, Teaching Chastity, Role of Grandparents, Caring for Special Needs, Loss of a Loved One, etc.  I was so inspired by the thoughts from the general Relief Society President (mother of 13!) on keeping sanity in a home of little ones that I posted them on fb. I woke up feeling depressed and tired but this helped me turn it into a good day.
  It's really important to plug in to the joy. Hard things are the things that make us grow. Move forward in a relaxed loving way. What would a holy woman do? Family Home Evening + Scriptures + Prayer = A good day (week). Provide intimate spiritual experiences. A good teacher is patient, but God will compensate for the difference. #1 in the handbook - prepare spiritually
• Enduring it Well - Discussions with Real Life People w/real challenges who are enduring various trials well

Online Interactive
Friend Website OnlineGames (puzzles, coloring, Articles of Faith, Hidden Pictures)
Family Search - upload, share & view family history photos, stories, pedigrees, etc., new Portrait Pedigree feature
Young Women Personal Progress
LDS Scripture Marking Tools
Come Follow Me Youth Curriculum. This has become one of my favorite tools for scripture study, especially when I tend to lose focus reading chronologically.  The topical focus and links to videos and conference talks are amazing.
Mobile Apps - Gospel Library, LDS Tools, Mormon Channel, Scripture Mastery, Music

 Video

Scripture Stories  Read/Watch animated style slideshow scriptures for children
LDS Videos Homepage

• Book of Mormon Videos -Old Testament Videos - New Testament Videos - Doctrine and Covenants Videos enhance your personal/family study and application of the scriptures with short clips pertaining to specific scriptures/stories 
• Mormon Messages
• Feature Length Videos -Life of President Monson, Joseph Smith Prophet of the Restoration, The Phone Call
• Bible Videos - The Life of Jesus Christ
• The District - A peek into real mission life
• Humanitarian - view glimpses of the worldwide church humanitarian efforts 
• Training Library  - vision of roles in various church callings

 Printables

Simplified Primary/Hymns "I Can Play it" 

Gospel Art   
 inspirational picture quotes for home decor/crafts, bookmarks, lockers

• Traditional Gospel Art Kit images depicting scripture stories, gospel principles, restoration, etc. for lessons, family home evening
• Mormonads use as screensavers
• Cutouts for primary or fhe lessons

Family History Fan Chart or Photo Chart

Free Throws

Jacob & Daniel competed in a free throw contest this weekend.   Jacob took 1st place in his age division and will be competing at the district level this week.  Both of them are excited to be starting basketball this week for the first time.

View blog

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