Choose the Right

Miriam participated in her first sacrament meeting program at church today. She worked hard and practiced her part for the past two weeks. When it was her turn she got right up without hesitation and spoke her part perfectly into the microphone all by herself. She has been worried all week that her teacher might try to help her. I told her to just tell her teacher that she didn't need help. She was the youngest little one in the program (she doesn't turn four until the end of December and all the other kids in her class turned four before the new school year) and we were so proud of how well she did. She sang right out on all the songs and kept smiling at us.

We are so happy that Miriam is making good choices. She has learned so much in primary this year. She loves coming home and telling us about her class. She loves reading the scriptures as a family and having family home evening. I love watching Miriam learn and grow.

Walk for the Homeless

For our ward service project this year we participated in the Good Shepherd Alliance's walkathon. Our ward was encouraged to participate and show support for another charity this year (as opposed to being in charge). Fall weather arrived just in time for our walk. It was a beautiful day and even a little chilly in the morning. When we got there we registered and then had some extra time. Luckily there was a playground the kids could play on. Miriam and Simon were very patient waiting for the walk to start.

(if you ask Simon if it is bright he closes his eyes tightly)

Members of the three wards participating were asked to wear yellow shirts. They had a few Mormon Helping Hands shirts to give out. I can imagine the scene onlookers witnessed. A bunch of people in bright yellow shirts pushing strollers through downtown. With all the people and strollers the walk turned into more of a leisurely stroll... about 40 minutes to go 1.2 miles. Miriam and Simon were pretty good through the whole thing. They were just getting hungry by the time we were at the end.

One we finished they had face painting and a moon bounce for the kids. They also had a lunch, but we opted to go home and eat. Getting Simon down for a nap was important after such a full morning.

We had a great time serving our community. It is important to be great examples to others through service. We know that as we give others will be blessed. We tried to explain to Miriam that we were helping raise money and awareness for people that don't have a house. It is a hard concept for a three year old to grasp, but I am glad we can do service with our kids that will hopefully leave a lasting impression.

Laura's Day

I am so happy that I got to be part of Laura's special day. The Friday before Michael left, Laura went through the temple to take out her own endowments. It was so wonderful to be there with her and my family. The temple is an amazing place where the spirit can be felt and peace can come to those who seek it. I am so happy to have the blessings of the temple in my life. I love going to the temple with Michael and being reminded of our covenants. I am lucky to have a forever family.

to learn more go to lds.org

Temples of Utah

One day last week my family made a trip around Utah to see as many temples as we could. I think it is so amazing to be able to see so many temples in just a days drive. We stopped at each one and took pictures, then headed off to the next. We hit 6 temples in a seven hour period. Whew, it was tiring. I am so glad Miriam and Simon could have this experience even if they won't remember much of it. Just exposing them to the importance of the temple was amazing.

BOUNTIFUL

JORDAN RIVER

OQUIRRH MOUNTAIN

DRAPER

MOUNT TIMPANOGOS

PROVO

Hopefully some day we can take our kids to the Manti Temple where we were married almost 4 1/2 years ago. These are experiences I will always cherish.

I am a child of God

Last night for Family Home Evening we talked about being a child of God. We looked at pictures of all of our family members and told Miriam that we are all God's children. Then we helped Miriam and Simon make signs to put on their door as a reminder that they are each a child of God. Every time Miriam has walked past today she says, "I am a child of God". It is good to know she was listening.

I have been worrying lately about whether or not we have a gospel centered home. Are we teaching our children enough in our home? We have decided to be better about having an official family home evening each week. I decided to order the nursery manual as a help for us to make our lessons simple enough for Miriam (and soon Simon) to understand.

First Primary Prayer

Miriam was asked to say the opening prayer in primary today. We talked about it all week with her. She was so excited. She went up and said it all by herself! I was so proud of her. The only downside was that nobody could hear it. The microphone in the primary room wasn't working, so the only person who heard her prayer was me (and Heavenly Father of course). She said she was "thankful for coming to church". She said "bless us to be kind and brave". She said "we are thankful for all we can do today". Miriam's prayers amaze me each day. She is always so thoughtful and sincere in everything she says. These are the moments when I feel like we are teaching her the way we should. It is so nice to know something is sinking in. I hope to be able to teach her more about the gospel and the way she should live her life each day.

Busy weekend

It seems like we have nothing to do for so long and then, boom, it hits all at once. We had a lot going on in one weekend and had a lot of fun being busy. Can you believe I didn't take one picture? Well, I didn't, but I will tell you about it and you can just pretend like I have some awesome photo documentation to go along with it.

Saturday morning we headed over to a friend's house for breakfast. He is a fellow accounting guy (but works for a different company) and fellow BYU grad. Michael met him while out at BYU doing recruiting and they decided it would be fun to get our families together since we live so close. It was fun for Miriam to play with some friends. After a fun morning we headed out to a work function for Michael. The lead partner for his team was having a BBQ at his house. We got to meet a lot of the people that Michael works with and eat a lot of good food. You wouldn't believe this guy's basement. He is the biggest Penn State fan ever. His whole basement was decked out in Penn State gear. Not to mention the huge projection TV that the game was on. Oh yeah and the other four TVs showing other games. Did I mention the stadium seating and bar? It was a pretty amazing basement. We had a great time with Michael's co-workers. A full Saturday meant that by the time we got home the kids were exhausted. We made some pancakes for dinner and Michael headed out to the Priesthood session of General Conference. I put the kids to bed and spent the rest of the evening relaxing and talking to my Mom.

When Sunday morning came we were excited to be able to relax, eat, and most importantly listen to General Conference. Because we were so busy on Saturday we missed both sessions. (We are looking forward to catching them online later.) We headed over to Michael's parents house so we could watch it on TV (we would only be able to see it online at home). Michael made some onion dip and caramel apple cheesecakes bars to eat while we were there. Both were amazing and he can take total credit for making them. That is how it happens a lot around here. I find the great idea/recipe and Michael carries it out. Not a bad deal for me. Anyway, Conference was wonderful and I think the kids were grateful for a nice relaxing day. We are so grateful for the chance we had to listen to a living prophet who leads and guides us today.