Random Doings

18 Feb, 2014 - If you were to look in my dining room today you would find a various assortment of doors, paint cans and plastic bags.  To get a closer look you would have to weave around drawers standing on end.  Why would these items be littering my kitchen you might ask...I'll tell you. 
Upon waking up to a no-work Monday, Scott innocently asked, "what would you want to do in the guest bathroom?"  I told him that it needs a face lift and so he walked into the bathroom and started removing cabinet doors, drawers and the bathroom door.  10 hours later the paint was dried and a new bathroom was born.  Now we need to find new drawer handles & a few other final touches and then I'll add pics so you can see my new guest bathroom!  So cute!!!

Small Town Joys

3 Feb. 2014 - On Saturday we woke up at 5:00AM to attend the annual Snowflake Groundhog Day Breakfast.  The firefighters cook & serve the food (biscuits & gravy).  On our way there it started to snow!  Not a lick of moisture the whole month of January but we were grateful for the little dusting we got.  The forcast has a little bit more rain in the next day or so.  It didn't get warm so it was able to soak into the ground.  I know it is cold & miserable but be grateful that you have snow to boost the moisture level.  There is always something to be grateful for.
On this gratitute kick...yesterday in church a few memeber of a sweet, big family (9 children & counting) stood up to thank the ward & the Lord for His mercies.  Their oldest son, 12 year-old Braden, was diagnosed with diabetes about 8 months ago after becoming very sick at scout camp.  They were finally able to get his blood sugar under control and then, at the first of the year he became ill again.  When the paramedics came to life flight him down to a hospital in Phoenix (the equivalent of Primary Children's I believe) the paramedic told the mother to kiss her son goodbye because they didn't think he would make it through the night.  The father, Boone, testified that his son was on death's door multiple times as he held his son & blessed him with priesthood power.  At one point Boone told the Lord that if it was his son's time to die, to let him die quickly so he wouldn't be in pain anymore. Miraculously Braden's life was spared.  It was a very emotional and touching testimony meeting.  Be grateful for every day that you have with your loved ones and don't forget that they are the most important.  Activities, errands, "have to" things can take over our lives but are they the most important?  Do the people who mean the most to us know it?  Slow down, de-clutter your "life" and, as Dad always says, "take time to sit under an apple tree."  Kiss your kids an extra time or two today. Hug someone a little longer today. 

Love you all! 

Family Challenge

21 Jan 2014 - I am excited about this family challenge!  Hope all of you are too!  Healthy lifestyles here we come! 

For those of you who might be looking for some workouts, there is a website called Fitness Blender that has workouts you can watch online...or we have had some success with workout videos from the library.  We usually laugh our way through them but we do get some exercise! 

For those of you who have been asking about the bean recipe I gave it to Mom so she will have it if you have a bean emergency.

Anyway, enough of my ramblings!  Love you all!

Pretty Girl

31 Dec. 2013 - The day after Christmas we attended the Snowflake session.  Dad, Mom & Lauren did a session while Emma & I went to the baptistry.  A relative (Eddie Flake) was there with his grandchildren & was the one who baptized Emma.  Afterward, while we were sitting outside & waiting for the session to end, he approached us & told us that while performing the baptism he got the distinct impression that he needed to be gentle with her. "This is a special angel...be very gentle."
What a great baby sister we have...and a beautiful one too!

A Very Merry Christmas

31 Dec 2013 -  Christmas in Snowflake was wonderful & sunny! 

Lauren's present from Emma! 

Chester was pretty excited about opening stockings!

An Interesting Idea...

'Three-gift Christmas' parents try to bring some reason to the season

 

Stacy and Barry Myers hold their children, 1-year-old Andy and 4-year-old Annie. The couple began their three-gift Christmas tradition when Annie was born.

If that mountain of presents in the living room is blocking your view of the Christmas tree, straining your budget and troubling your soul, there is another way.
Inspired by the notion that Jesus received three gifts from the Wise Men on December 25 -- gold, frankincense and myrrh – many parents are saying they, too, want a three-gift Christmas for their children.

Some do it for religious reasons. Others try it to save money, ease the stress of the holidays or get away from the commercialism that permeates December.
Stacy Myers, a mom of two who lives in Marion, Va., said all of those factors played a role when she and her husband adopted the rule after their first child was born.
“We decided we wanted to simplify Christmas here at our house by using the three-gift rule so that we could focus on the real reason for the season, which is the birth of Jesus, instead of ‘Gimme, gimme, gimme’ and ‘What can I put on my list?’” Myers said.
“It just comes down to trying to change your mindset how you view this time of year -- kind of switch it to family and your faith instead of stuff, because stuff just piles up in your house.”
Myers, who describes herself as a “debt-free frugal housewife” and shares budgeting tips on her blog, Stacy Makes Cents, said the three-gift rule is also a great way to save money during the holidays. She gasped at the results of a recent Gallup poll that found the average American expects to spend $786 on Christmas gifts this year.
“Oh my goodness, no,” she said, noting the family makes a lot of home-made presents. “That’s shocking.”
Glennon Doyle Melton adopted the three-gift rule when she realized she was spending so much time scrambling to buy presents and decorations that she didn’t get many moments to just enjoy the Christmas season. So the mom of three, who lives just outside Washington, D.C., sat down with her children a few years ago to let them know things needed to change.
“My kids weren’t even asking for things that they wanted. It was just whatever the commercial was that told them that they should want that thing,” said Melton, who recently advised readers of her popular blog, Momastery.com, to teach kids that Christmas is a time to be grateful for what they already have.
“All those gifts just end up in the donation pile or in the trash anyway. That gift rush in the morning is like a sugar rush. It’s awesome for five minutes and then it’s over.”

 Melton now asks her kids to come up with a list that includes something they want, something they need and something to read. There’s also a bonus in her version of the three-gift Christmas: she asks each child to come up with a present idea for someone in need.

Like Melton, many families customize their approach to the rule.
Myers models her list after the Wise Men and gives her children a “gold” present, or something a child would want and treasure, like a favorite toy; a “frankincense” present, or a gift that will be used in worship or spiritual life, like a Bible; and a “myrrh” present, which is something for the body, like clothing or shoes.
“When I see other people and then I see how we do things here, I can tell it seems as though our Christmas is not as stressful,” Myers said.
“When I think back to when I was a child, I don’t remember what I got for Christmas. But I remember the things that we used to do together, when we would go out and look at Christmas lights or when I would make cookies with my mom.”
Whether you plan to limit presents or not, have a family meeting about what your kids actually want so their wish list is thoughtful and generated by their own wants, instead of ads on the TV, Melton advised.
“You need to do what makes your Christmas happy and peaceful,” she said.

Fun Times!

It was so good to see everyone over Thanksgiving.  Thanks especially to Joe & Lori for putting us up on Wednesday night & to Emma & Lauren for re-arranging their sleeping places so we had a bed.  You guys are the best!