October Adventures

Here are a few photos of some of our October adventures. We went on a field trip to the Golden Spike National Park, Claire learned to ride a bike without training wheels, Mike's family came to visit (and we didn't get photos of their visit!), we went to the American West Heritage Center where the girls got to ride ponies, use a saw, pet the animals, go through a corn maze, and more. And our most important date in Oct. was when Zoe was baptized on Oct. 9th.

Seeking Peace

I've wanted to write over the past couple of weeks, but every time I sit down to do it, nothing postive comes of it. My heart has been troubled and sorrowful recently and those concerns have weighed me down and when I would try to think of what to write there was nothing there. I felt empty.

Today at church the choir sang, "Where can I turn for peace?" The calming reminder in this song is that our Savior is there to carry our burdens. It lifted me a lot today. I know that he does carry our burdens and he knows what we are going through. But it is easy to forget that. Today this song reminded me of this and for the first time in many days I felt an inkling of peace. I know the trials and heartache are not over, but the only thing I can do is pray. Pray for faith, guidance, love and peace, for myself and for those I love. And I know many others are doing the same and I am so grateful for that.

On the days that I feel down I will try to remind myself of these scriptures.
 John 14:27- Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
 Isaiah 41:10- Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

General Conference Highlights

I love to listen to general conference and learn from our prophet, apostles and other general authorities. Over at Diapers and Divinity a sharing activity was posted to answer the following questions about the most recent LDS general conference. I didn't see the questions until after conference was over, otherwise I would have taken notes. But I have answered the questions the best I can from memory (& by relistening to some talks). You can listen to or read the conference talks here.

General Conference Highlights, October 2010:

1.  Who were your three favorite speakers?  M. Russell Ballard, Dallin H. Oaks & Jeffery R. Holland

2.  Favorite talk? Thomas S. Monson (the General Relief Society meeting talk). Thoughts he gave on charity were moving and motivating. Some of his comments on charity include: “I have in mind the charity that impels us to be sympathetic, compassionate, and merciful, not only in times of sickness and affliction and distress but also in times of weakness or error on the part of others.  Charity is having patience with someone who has let us down. It is resisting the impulse to become offended easily. It is accepting weaknesses and shortcomings. It is accepting people as they truly are.”

3.  Favorite hymn sung during Conference? Lead Kindly Light. This has always been such a peaceful and calming song to me.

4.  Who wore the best tie? I didn’t pay attention to the ties. J

5.  Do you think conference had a “theme”? Not sure that it had a single theme, but there were a few main themes, namely- gratitude, following the prophet, adversity & pride. I found it interesting that two speakers based their talks on the exact same talk previously given by Ezra Taft Benson titled 14 Fundamentals in Following the Prophet.  

6.  Share a few of your favorite quotes.

Jeffery R. Holland- “I testify you are individually loved of God. You are central to the meaning of his work.”

7.  Something that made you smile during conference. President Uchtdorf began his talk with an analogy about trees. Then he says, “At this point some of you may be thinking, that’s all fine and good, but what does that have to do with flying an airplane.” Always love his pilot stories. J

8.  Any evidence that your children paid attention? Not so much the younger ones, but by Sunday evening Zachary was ready to share his favorite talks from the priesthood session with me and asking me to listen to them with him.

9.  If you had to give a talk in General Conference (don’t faint, this is hypothetical), what do you think you’d speak about? I don’t feel qualified to expound on any particular topic!

10.  What are some of your post-conference goals?

1-Read all of this sessions conference talks before the next general conference.

2- In recent years I’ve had callings where I haven’t had the opportunity to get to know a lot of the newer families in our ward. I want to get to know more people in my ward & neighborhood and be more friendly and helpful to them.

3- Become a better visiting teacher.

4- Have the kind of charity President Monson taught us about.

A Good Man

Recently I've been thinking about what a good father my husband is. There are so many positive things he brings to our family. I did not grow up with a close relationship with either my father or stepfather. Now that I have my own family I realize what it really means to have a father in a childs life. These are some of the things my husband does as a father that touch me and our children.

~He diligently takes the children to the library every week. They are learning to love to read and have that special outing with their dad.
~He gives them lots of hugs and kisses.
~On the weekends he fixes the big, special breakfasts that I never fix.
~He plays dominos with the girls. They love that.
~Mike and Zach share with one another the strange, interesting and unique subjects that they love to learn about.
~He teaches our family about the gospel.
~He takes the kids on visits to the D.I. and often gives in and buys them something special.
~He teaches them by example how to serve others.
~He attends their special activities and events.
~When Mike has the younger girls for the day he always does the fun stuff with them- trips to the park, special meals, and playing with them.
~He goes with Zach to priesthood meetings and they come home excited to discuss what they have learned.
~He supports us in our various activities, but especially with our busy dance schedule.
~He shares his favorite books, music, shows and other interests with the kids. And it has obviously rubbed off on them. :) Zach has developed a love for many of Mike's favorite '80s musicians and they all love to watch the old, classic TV shows.
~He prays for his children.

Obviously I have married a good man! I am so thankful to have him in my life and that our children have the blessing of a wonderful father.