Holidays

I'm trying to get caught up....we're just going backwards!

Here are some pictures from Christmas, New Year's and Victor's birthday (Jan 5th) so we always have a crazy 2 weeks!

Kent - Before

Kelsey - Before

Kelsey with her cute music earrings from her cousin (thanks, Connor)!

Kent - After

Kelsey - After

Kent with his new Star Wars Encyclopedias -- pretty amazing stuff!

Kel on New Year's Eve (and yes, we had to pick up ALL that confetti from my living room....)

Kent, Kel and friends on New Year's Eve

Victor lighting candles on his birthday cake

Victor and Kelsey before running the Painters 5K in St. George on January 17

I hope to have the rest of my pictures (Twilight, Thanksgiving, pre Christmas) uploaded soon, and then I'll be caught up! :)

Piano Recital

Most of you know that I teach piano. I actually have 9 students right now, including Kelsey. One of my friends, Karen, also teaches piano, and she has 7 students. So we decided to do a winter recital. Most of the kids played Christmas music, but we didn't do it in December because it's such a crazy month! We did it last Saturday. Here are some pictures (of just my students, except the group shots). They all did a FABULOUS job, and I'm so proud of ALL of them!!

Kent and January

Okay, so I haven't posted in FOREVER...sorry! I finally got my computer back, with most of my pictures....so I will work on posting a little at a time.

I'm going to start with Kent. He's had a busy month. He turned 11 last week (when did this happen?!). He received his Arrow of Light in Pack Meeting last week. We had 2 birthday parties (one with family friends on Friday, one with school friends on Saturday). And he had the school science fair. Can I just say I'm glad January is almost over?!

Here are some pictures.

Pack Meeting and Kent's Arrow of Light.

Kent with his birthday presents from his grandparents (a PS2 game) and his uncle (a story that he's writing for Kent). Very cool!

Kent's Science Fair Project: "What materials that are considered food additives will dissolve in water?" Honestly, I really don't like science fairs....AT ALL, but he did it, which is how it should be. Okay, I did the poster....but he did the work. I just copied from his journal. :)

Kent's 11th Birthday!

Humor

I received this quote, if you will, from a friend today, and although I shared it with a lot of you via email already, I thought it was worthy of a blog post.  I think it's absolutely hilarious, but the scary thing is that it's true!  ENJOY!

As Latter-day Saint women, we are practically obsessed with anxiously engaging ourselves in good causes.  Maybe it's subliminal??

Glancing through the hymnal last Sunday, I noted that as sisters in Zion, we who are called to serve are all enlisted to go marching, marching forward because the world has need of wiling men to all press on scattering sunshine.  We wonder if we have done any good in the world today because we have been given much and want to do what is right, keep the commandments, press forward with the Saints, choose the right, and put our shoulders to the wheel going where He wants us to go.  However, as the morning breaks high on the mountain top, truth reflects upon our senses, and while we still believe that sweet is the work, we also realize that we have work enough to do ere the sun goes down.  And thus we ask Thee ere we part, where can we turn for peace?

Amen.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all!  I hope you all had a great Christmas and are enjoying holiday festivities with your family and loved ones! 

I have not posted in forever, and am very behind....our computer crashed a couple weeks ago (and that's where all the pictures are) and I haven't really had time to sit down at the computer since Thanksgiving (I'm on my husband's laptop right now).  SO, hopefully we can get our computer fixed soon, and I can post some fun pictures from Twilight, Thanksgiving and December activities.

Thank you all for your friendship!  Have a great New Year!!

The Countdown Has Begun!!

Most of you already know that I am a die-hard Twilight fanatic. Kelsey and I are going to the midnight premiere on Thursday night (okay, technically 12:01 am on Friday morning) with 18 of our closest friends (who are also Twilight fans) and I am SO EXCITED! Although I think I'll regret it on Friday morning when I have to wake up for work.....but that's life, I guess!

Follow the Prophet

With all the craziness going on lately, the Primary song comes to mind:

Follow the prophet,
Follow the prophet,
Follow the prophet,
Don't go astray.

Follow the prophet,
Follow the prophet,
Follow the prophet,
He knows the way.

One of my all-time favorite apostles is Neal A. Maxwell. It was brought to my attention this week a quote from a talk he gave at BYU on October 10, 1978. It was published in the Feb 1979 Ensign, and is entitled, "A More Determined Discipleship."

I have already shared this quote with some of you, but felt I needed to share it again. It's amazing. The whole talk is amazing, so I encourage you to go to www.lds.org and read it.

"Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions. President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had 'never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional or political life.'


"This is hard doctrine, but it is particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ. . . . Your discipleship may see the time when such religious convictions are discounted. . . . This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow certain opinions simply because those opinions grow out of religious convictions.


"Resistance to abortion will be seen as primitive. Concern over the institution of the family will be viewed as untrendy and unenlightened....Before the ultimate victory of the forces of righteousness, some skirmishes will be lost. Even in these, however, let us leave a record so that the choices are clear, letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic counsel. There will also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems probable, but others will step forward, having been rallied to rightness by what we do. We will know the joy, on occasion, of having awakened a slumbering majority of the decent people of all races and creeds which was, till then, unconscious of itself. Jesus said that when the fig trees put forth their leaves, 'summer is nigh.' Thus warned that summer is upon us, let us not then complain of the heat."

I know that our prophet will never lead us astray, and I hope and pray that I will always have the courage to follow his counsel, no matter what.