Spiritual Spring Cleaning

So I had a friend give me a call yesterday.  She was so excited she had received a job offer and she called to share the exciting news. We talked for a bit, in the conversation we started talking about our relief society meeting that evening.  She was in charge and shared some frustration with the fact her last speaker had just backed out. I tried to keep my mouth shut but eventually it opened and I offered to put something together.  She said she would think about it and get back with me.  So at 2:10 I get a message accepting the help. I had so much on my plate but thought I could put something quick together. I really think it turned out fabulous. I found an article online that I really liked but it didn't have an LDS theme. I added scriptures and lds apostle thoughts, quotes and used a book called 'Simplify'.

here is a link to the lesson/talk https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KeGbCFfEcO5YoBDt8cG6r3mymBLPhFFQ-jFNmMZc56g/edit?usp=sharing



and the link to where I got the idea is http://christianity.about.com/od/topicaldevotions/p/springcleaning.htm

Obviously I don't post much... haha! Well here we go again! We are going on TREK!!!!!

We had our first official meeting last night! As I drove the kids to school this morning I thought, it feels like I'm waiting for Christmas!! I am soo excited!
So I made a trek journal. I love journals and what a great way to keep my thoughts together!

I think it turned out fabulous, and the ones the young women will make to night will look much better than mine! lol! I used Don's spray adhesive and it is yellow so that left some ugly yellow smudges. Back to the store.... I was in Hobby Lobby debating between suede, a cute embossed felt and burlap. I walked back and forth between the three trying to decide for over an hour! I looked for premade cheap notebooks (which I finally found! $5.99/6 plus 40%off).

I finally decided to go with the suede. I splurged and went with the $9.99/yd embossed suede. Kept the hemp cord I'd been carrying around, grabbed some brads then went home to get to work. I made it pretty quickly and then got on the trek FB page and was able to print the trek logo and adhered it on the inside cover (the picture above). I also hope to get a picture of the person I walk for and also put it in my journal. I really like it and I think journals need pockets so I am sure I will add a pocket to it somehow! There is NOTHING like the spirit of trek! Our stake does a fabulous job in spreading that spirit as well! I feel soo blessed we have the opportunity to participate this year!

She was found!

I had an hour till work so I put lunch in the microwave, did some vacuuming while it cooked and decided to sit down and use the hour to do some indexing. I signed in, downloaded a batch, read the instructions and got to work. Today I did some passenger lists from the late 1800's. There were names from Germany, Russia, Prussia and one even from Holland. "I thought oh goody! an easy one!"
One reason I love to index is I love to think about the names I index, what their life was like. I especially love military records. Some times it is really sad though. I did some gravestone orders from WWI and it was sad to see these young men's death dates compared to their birth dates, they were so young. These men all fought for our country a great peaceful love over comes me when I do them!

Well, I finished the batch and looked at the clock, I had some time so I downloaded one more. I was overcome with tears! Holy COW! This has never happened before. I fought through the tears and when I was about a third of the way through I came to a name! She was soo happy to be found!! Her spirit was soo strong!! She was right here with me! She was WITH me! I couldn't hold them in, the tears flowed freely.




later in the day I wanted to finish this post but didn't want to start crying again because every time I thought about it I was overcome with emotion.
I was thinking about it again a while later and thought of a video our ward indexing leaders showed during a meeting. I thought about this sweet sister whom I helped today and got goosebumps and teared up again. Watch the video! It really DOES happen!! I have a testimony of that!

The Amazing Service Race!

A few months ago, right after the season ended for The Amazing Race (my favorite reality show) I told Cora we should do The Amazing Race for Young Women's. As we started talking how fun it would be we thought it would be fun to do it centered around service and include the young men. We got some paper and started brainstorming! I sent the YW president a text told her Cora and I came up with a fun idea for an activity. It could be short or long. I pretty much left it at that. Then at her next youth committee meeting Cora brought it up. The bishop was curious so I typed it up and sent him the Brainstorm session we had.
A few weeks later they were talking again and decided it would be fun for our big Youth activity this year. I told them yes and Cora and I got to work. I told her we would do it together for her Good Works Project! I got a tentative schedule down and then a few weeks out from the activity I sent sign ups around the Relief Society and Primary. The first week we only had one person sign up. I was worried. The second week I explained a little better and had a few more. The third week I was confident it could be pulled off.

So this past week we got everything made up, the clues and such and decided to do Bandana's to decipher the teams.

The last few nights were spent making phone calls getting stuff arranged with the neighbors who signed up for service.

For the most part there were very little kinks. I did change the Chute's and Ladders games for Candyland cuz I couldn't find but 1 C&L.

leaders Letter
Schedule

When we were finished we figured we had close to 130 hours of service for the day which is pretty amazing! The kids worked great together, we ended up with 4 teams of 4 youth. Mix and matched with the different personalities. I had one adult with each group. Even though Cora worked so hard and knew what was going on she was still able to be on a team and help when she could.
It is a nice pat on the shoulder when I hear "can we do this again next year" I love that!!!

It is funny how quickly time passes when you don't blog...
Here we sit on a cool Presidents Day. Although I think today might have been the highest temp of the year! I am excited for what this year will bring. I think in the month 2013 has been around it has been better than 2012. I do believe it was a crummy year. This year I plan to love higher, better.

A few weeks ago our ward was combined with another, something I have hoped for for a long time. I am excited to meet new friends and know more people in the neighborhood. I often feel on the outs, and it get discouraging. I just keep my little family together by creating experiences for them to grow.

Jacob turned 14 last week and became a Teacher in the Aaronic Priesthood. He is excited to advance and all the fun things that come along with it! He is doing better in school with the help of a great teacher.

Cora start her second round of volleyball last week and hung out with a bunch of her friends at the school dance. She said it was the best dance yet! it was just the second one but she had a fun then they all came over for an after party.

Owen is still the trouble maker, teaser of the family, he knows how to push buttons but he is so cute I just can't help loving him to death!

Sadie is almost 7! I just can't believe it!! My baby isn't a baby any more but oh my do I still treat her like one!! ack!! she loves school and has a bunch of friends she loves to have playdates with!

I have a big surprise for my kids this spring and I can hardly wait for it! We are finally going on a family vacation! A real true family vacation, no tents, no trailers. I can't wait to give them this gift!

While you were away...

found this in my drafts...



So Jacob and Cora have been gone it seems like for months! However, they were only gone last week and then a few days this week. I have tried to do something fun with Owen and Sadie while they were gone so they didn't feel too left out. I know Sadie has missed Cora so much!
Last week while Jacob and Cora were off at camps I decided to take Owen and Sadie to Jungle Jim's It is an indoor amusement park geared toward younger kids. I don't think Sadie has been here at an age to enjoy it. She had a ton of fun!

We also took our weekly hike, to Bell Canyon. We only went to the lower lake. It was beautiful but it was also smelly! Lots of ducks swam around and we saw a few fish close to the bank. We did this hike with My mom, sister-Bridgette and her kids Tommy, Adam, Katrina, Kyle and Caleb, I also had a friends Daughter Lindsay.

Anna, my sister, flew in on Thursday to run a half Marathon with me on Friday night so here is a picture of us at the start line!

Saturday we went crawdad fishing. We took the little girl across the street, M.J. She was fun and loved being with the kids. She didn't like the crawdads at all and she fell asleep in the chair. She is adorable. :) Cora and Jacob were home for this!

Anna flew home on Monday morning. SO sad to see her go. This week seems like a blur. I have spent a lot of my time getting school stuff ready. I am on the parent organization board so I have had a lot to do!

Jacob and Cora left for the Super Activity on Thursday morning to Flaming Gorge. They were so excited, it meant another two days alone with Owen and Sadie though! Thursday we chilled around the house and also did a little shopping. Friday was the funnest day for me. I was volunteering at the school most of the morning and also registered the kids for Junior High!! ACK! Then we were gonna head downtown. I decided last minute to take tracks so I didn't have to worry about parking and road closures. We were going down the Tour of Utah Stage 4 finish line. The Tour of Utah is a 6 day race around northern Utah for elite cyclists! They had a big expo/carnival thing going on! The kids raced banana's:

Then we walked around and got tons of free stuff. Don was volunteering so he was also there and we saw him occasionally. There was a HUGE screen TV that they had a live feed on so we watched them ride through Magna, a small town West of Salt Lake. It was soo cool to see them ride and know exactly where they were. We slowly made our way through all the vendor booths and saw the finish was coming close so we went over to secure some finish lie spots. I noticed a TV across from us and we quickly figured out they were close. I watched the TV. a few pacer cars started to come through and the helicopter (we were watching the live feed through) came past us and started circling. finally watching the TV I saw them turn the corner to the street we were on!! It was soo exciting to se





Oh my goodness this post is full of fun pictures and that is only week 1!!! I am gonna close with that and will post again in a few days! Hopefully time doesn't escape me because the best is yet to come! School starts in 11 days and I still have so much I want to do. How sad huh? My kids are excited to go back! For me, it starts a new chapter. I am looking for employment. I hope I can find something fulfilling but flexible! I want something that is challenging but something I can enjoy and look forward doing. is that even possible?

Sunday Special

I feel an overwhelming desire to make my family strong in the gospel. I always have felt a little something. but now it is huge! The world gets scarier every day! My children need to be prepared!
I decided in the spring to read the Book of Mormon again. It has been a long time since I had. then in June I was issued a challenge to read the Book of Mormon in 40 days. I said no because I was already toward the end of Alma and wanted to finish before I started over. But the challenge issuer said he would set up the reading challenge for me starting where I was. No getting out of it right? It was incredible to read the Book of Mormon so quickly. To spend hours a day in the words of our prophets of old. It comes down to about 7 chapters a day but if you get behind to catch up is extremely hard, but I did it!! I finished! And now I can finish it again and count it for reading it twice in 2012!

Yesterday at church, during Sacrament meeting. Well it was during the opening song, Owen said he wanted to bear is testimony. I told him We could go home and talk about it and he could do it next month but he insisted in doing it. I asked what he wanted to say so he told me. Then I asked if he wanted me to help him. He said no, so I asked if he wanted to write it down and read it and he said yes. I wrote it down for him and told him I would go up with him (part of my challenge was to bear my testimony on the Book of Mormon). As soon as the counselor sat down we went up. He was so good. It just warmed my heart.

So as I was reading about Moroni building walls up around his cities. I likened it to building up walls around my home/my family. but not real walls. I am talking their testimonies. I want to give them every spiritual experience I can. I will go out of my way to do something little. I took Cora to do baptisms for the dead the day after her birthday because she was gone the whole week after. She is so excited to go with her friends too!

Like I said when I started this the desire to keep my family strong in the gospel is so strong I can almost feel it. It makes me want to cry. Where is the boundary that I don't force it though? In the Lord's hands I can do anything! Whew!



Each step, each day of my journey should move me progressively closer to Him. He doesn't expect or even want me to "run faster" than I am able. In fact, there may be days when I can't run at all. I may just be able to walk, crawl, or scoot, but my job is to be diligent or faithful as I move forward—no matter how small my progression.

-Kris Belcher