My Medallion

We had our Evening in Excellence tonight.  The Miamaids were in charge, so it was really nice for me!  I also earned my Young Womens' Medallion.  I started this back when Maysen turned 12 and we lived in Georgia.  I finally finished!  Now I can start again and do it with Jorja. Here is a picture with me and the other girls that earned their medallions today also.

Riley, Stephanie, Emily, Paige

These are the girls that earned their medallions this year.  It seems Melissa should be there too, maybe it has been a year since she earned hers.  Ashley was in a horrific accident that almost took her life a few days before she was supposed to receive hers.  That was back in February.  She looks so great now!  I am so thankful she was protected. As bad as her accident was, it could have been worse!  (She hit her head on a deck while riding a snowmobile.  Hit the gas instead of the break.)

Ashley, Riley, Stephanie, Emily, Paige, Severine

All these girls were my beehives at one time except Emily.  I was called into Young Womens one month after she turned 14.  I adore these girls, and the girls I get to work with now.  A new girl just moved into our ward today.  We will also get a new beehive on Wednesday.  That makes 14.  Wow!  It sure isn't Georgia out here!

First Flag

Wow!  What a crazy day!  Busy, busy, busy.  I woke up early today and started making cupcakes.  I have a new beehive coming in this week! The cupcakes take me forever to decorate, so by the time I was finished and dressed, it was time for church.  After church I headed straight to Whitney's house.  I met with her and her mom for about thirty minutes. Then I was off to Heather's house.  We were meeting with some of the other runners for the race in June.  I'm so excited Jordyn's going to run it with us!  I talked to Heather for a bit after the meeting.  Once I realized the time I hurried home.  I got home just in time to see Erica & Shannon pulling out of our driveway.  Erica was driving!  In her new car!  That's crazy.  Mike had driven Maysen & Stockton to their fireside since I didn't make it home in time.  After a quick hello, I went to find them.  I got there about three minutes before the meeting ended.  I grabbed the kids and headed home.  They were excited to know that the cousins were still at our house.  Well, Stockton was excited Brandon was still there.  I made one stop along the way to drop the P flag off in front of Paige's house.  I hope she notices it!  I hope the girls enjoy passing the flag.  I also hope they actually do pass the flag!  We then headed home just in time to see the rest of the cousins leaving!  At least they got to say hello/good-bye.  I was so tired once I finally had a chance to sit down.  At least I got a lot done and enjoyed everything I did today.

More Clipboards

I decided to make more clipboards for the girls that will be coming into Young Womens' this year.  I will be getting six new girls.  I thought it would be easier to do it all at once.  It took a long time, but I think they turned out great!  Although I ran out of glue, so the top three will need to be finished after I get to the store!

Personal Progress Goals

We talked about goals for Young Womens' today.  We made these cute clipboards for their Personal Progress status.  This idea was from pinterest.  I thought they turned out adorable.  It was such a fun night! Love these girls!

Paige, Ashley, Rachel, Courtney, Zoe, Nicole, Erica

Maysen MVP

We had our Evening in Excellence tonight.  Camee was in charge.  She did a sports theme.  I went over to help Camee and Becky this afternoon. I cut a lot of astroturf!  I think everything turned out great and the night was really fun.  Maysen and Dixie received their Personal Progress awards.  They had a table set up for them as the MVPs.  Athena and Kelsee were the announcers.  Of course Athena spoke in a British accent the entire time.  Cracks me up.

The girls made the decorations last week.  I think they really enjoyed that.  Plus they got to run through the Go Angels banner below.  Too bad Jaime and I sent them in too early.  Oh well.

As part of a skit the girls dressed up Nicole in a football uniform. Maysen's was Good Works which they somehow related to face paint. Maysen got to draw the black lines under Nicole's eyes.  Good thing Nicole is such a good sport!

Nicole and Maysen

 Nicole

 Maysen and Dixie receiving their medallions from Becky

 Stake YW presidency giving Maysen and Dixie a bracelet

 These girls earned lots of ribbons this year.  Love them!

Stockton has a hard time getting his teeth to fall out.  Usually they stay in until the dentist pulls them.  His permanent teeth do not grow under his baby teeth, they grow to the side.  It looks really weird.  Once the baby tooth is out, somehow magically his tooth ends up in the correct position.  Stockton's last baby tooth is ready to come out.  He wanted it out so bad and has been working on it for a couple of weeks.  Today he asked Mike to get it out for him.  Oh boy.  First Mike tried pliers.

Mike & Stockton

That didn't work, so he tied dental floss around it to try and yank it out.

That didn't work either.  Then he couldn't get the dental floss off of his tooth.  He cut it short and told Stockton he would have to go to school like that.  Stockton didn't think that was a good idea.  Mike finally gave Stockton some ice cream to 'numb' his tooth.  Then he kept pulling and pulling and pulling until the tooth finally came out.

 Last tooth!  Thank goodness!

Scripture Pictures

We had a few last minute things to get done for the Evening in Excellence tomorrow.  We have been gathering pictures for a collage of all of Maysen's value projects.  After she was in bed I realized I didn't have one for Virtue - reading the Book of Mormon.  I woke her up so I could take her picture.  We picked the top picture.  She was a good sport. I sure love that not-so-little girl!

Maysen

 Ummm.... fail.

Eden's 4!

Eden turned 4 years old today!  She had her birthday party here - I am so glad!  It was too cute!  She had a few friends and their families come swimming.  I only spied on them a couple of times.  I cannot even explain how much I love living around family!

Maysen has been working on her value project for Divine Nature. Actually she started it last winter when Ange had foot surgery.  Her project was to help Ange by bringing dinners and helping with the kids. We hadn't worked on that one for awhile, so a few days ago I asked if I could bring Maysen over and have her watch the kids why Bubs & Ange went to dinner.  This morning Maysen picked a few different freezer meals to make.  She helped make the shopping list, shop for the food, cook the food and then she watched the kids.  We made tacos, cowboy spuds and minestrone soup.  It was a long day, but she finished her Divine Nature value project!  Yay!

In other news, Stockton had a campout.  He came back around lunch time.  He does not enjoy campouts.  He also went to a Beehive/Deacon party over at Becky's house.  They had pizza, swimming and an outdoor movie.  This activity was because they weren't allowed to go to Lagoon with the rest of the youth.  Sort of a consolation prize.  Stockton seemed to have fun.  I went and checked on him after awhile.  He looked cold and was ready to come home, but he did enjoy himself while he was there.  Our ward is pretty awesome.

Faith #1

The first principle of the gospel is Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The first value for Young Womens is faith. The first experience for the faith value is reading scriptures and conference talks on faith, and setting a habit for daily morning and evening prayer. I just finished this value today. I love reading about faith. I always feel a strong spirit around me as I read about this topic. Getting into a habit of daily prayer has been a blessing. For some reason, I had a hard time praying after my mom died. Not that I was angry, because I wasn't. It was just so painful. For years my prayers consisted of, "Please don't take Mike. Please don't take Maysen." I would constantly say little prayers as I was doing things, but the kneeling down prayers I just couldn't do. Logically I knew that if I did pray, I would be able to stop the hurting. Still I couldn't do it for a long, long time. I wish I could have a chance to talk to my past self and convince her to go through the pain, that that would be the only way to get past it. Now, years later, it is easier to pray. The pain isn't overwhelming like it use to be. I am able to enjoy the sweetness of Heavenly Fathers spirit. I am grateful that it is now and not then. I guess that is what life is all about. Learning how to handle the pain. It's probably like snowflakes, everyone has different pain and everyone handles their own pain in their own way. I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who is so patient with me.

Divine Nature #2

Last weekend while I was with my grandma I worked a little on my personal progress booklet. Since I no longer have a mother I can easily talk to, I talked to my grandma. I was suppose to ask my mother what she thinks are important attributes for being a mother. Grandma answered, "Put your children first, discipline them, love them no matter what - no matter their failings & faults, try to teach them how to behave, try to make sure they know you love them, and never compare one child against another." That's quite a good list. It's pretty easy to see why my mom was so wonderful, she had a pretty amazing mother herself!

Integrity #4

Integrity - 1. The quality of state of being complete; unbroken condition; wholeness; entirety. 2. The quality or state of being unimpaired; perfect condition; soundness. 3. The quality or state of being of sound moral principle; uprightness, honesty & sincerity.

Over the weekend I talked to my grandma about integrity. It had the added bonus as passing off a value experience for my personal progress I have been working on. Grandma said, "Integrity means honesty in your dealings. Always be honest." Simple as that. I like it.

I try to be honest in all my dealings. I can't remember the last time I told a lie. I just can't stand it. There have been many times in my life it would be so much easier to lie, but I just can't do it. When I was in 9th grade my mom wrote me a letter. She told me how proud she was of my honesty. I have been determined that she will still feel that way about me when I see her again.

Quick note on today. CRTs are done! Yay! Stockton is still taking his math scantron and has to finish at home. He hasn't even started his Language Arts one...so we will be doing that this week. After the CRTs, we met Mike at Leatherby's. When I saw how expensive it was I told the kids that we weren't going to have lunch, just order the icecream. They loved it and it was a good way to celebrate the end of testing, although I have no idea why I didn't think of going to Iceberg.

Sacrament

I gave a talk in church today. I was really nervous about it. It was the first time I had ever been the concluding speaker, so I wasn't sure if I would have a lot of time, or a little. I was assigned to talk about the sacrament. I actually asked the bishop if I could give a talk. I wanted to give a talk so I could pass off one of my personal progress values. When I was given my topic, I wondered what I was thinking.

I have been able to spend the last two weeks reading everything I could about the sacrament, the last supper and the atonement. I have also been working on memorizing the sacrament prayers, but I don't have that one all the way finished yet.

This talk was a great blessing to me. I learned many ways I can make the sacrament more effective in my life. I also learned how important the sacrament ordinance is. I always knew it was important, but I didn't realize what an effective tool the sacrament could be. The sacrament seemed like the modern day brazen serpent. Because of the simpleness of the ordinance, we don't fully appreciate the blessings associated with it. I don't think I will ever be casual while the sacrament is being passed again. I might not always be able to focus as much as I want (usually I'm focused on keeping Preston quiet), but I know I will be more aware of the purpose and marvelous blessings the sacrament brings. I realized that if I take the sacrament worthily each week, I will be able to stand before the judgement bar of God and not be ashamed. That is miraculous.

Faith #3 & #5

Today I gave a Family Home Evening lesson on tithing. It was pretty simple. We played Money Bags, but as we earned our money we calculated the tithing we need to pay. After the game was over, we looked at the money we had earned and was able to keep verses the tithing. It was a good visual on how tithing really isn't all that much compared to the entire total.

I know I have been blessed in my life by paying tithing. This has never been a problem for me. Probably because my mom and dad taught me from an early age, so it is just something I have always done. Mike and I have always payed our tithing on our gross income. Only once have I had a problem with this. When Mike and I were moving from Washington to Georgia, he received a $15,000 bonus. We were going to use this to redo the siding on our house which needed to be done before we could sell it. When Mike's check came we noticed 4% had been taken out to buy stock. At this time 4% was automatically taken out of Mike's check to purchase stock in the company but we didn't anticipate it to be taken out of bonuses as well. Between this and the taxes on the bonus, we didn't have enough to cover the siding. This was the only time I pondered on just paying tithing on our net instead of our gross. I really struggled with this.

While I was trying to figure out what to do, I flew to Idaho Falls to see my grandma and my cousins' new babies. (Brooke had just had Kaydra and Courtney had Kalli) While I was there, I was reading some of our family history in one of the binders at Grandma's house. I remember reading about one of my ancestors that was so poor, but paid more tithing than he needed too. He was even told that it was too much, but still insisted to pay what he felt he owed. After reading this account I was immediately humbled. How could I be worried about paying this amount when obviously we weren't struggling financially. I knew we would figure out a way to pay for the siding.

When I got home, we wrote the check and handed it in. The NEXT day, Mike received an additional $10,000 bonus. Wow. Talk about humbling. Here I had never struggled with this principle of the gospel, but the first time I even wavered, after showing faith immediately I was blessed with a witness that would strengthen me to the end of my days. I know that because Mike and I have always paid a complete tithing we were blessed during the year and a half of Mike's unemployment. During the entire time we had no financial worries. We just didn't. I love how Heavenly Father always keeps his promises.

Faith #5

Today at church I shared my feelings about the Savior in testimony meeting. At least I didn't trip. When Jorja received her baby blessing, I tripped as I was walking down the steps, it was quite embarrassing.

I am so blessed to have the knowledge of the Savior in my life. Knowing that He made it possible for my family to be together forever is an amazing blessing. I feel so inadequate expressing my thoughts. I love the song I Stand All Amazed. It words my feelings perfectly.

I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me,

Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me.

I tremble to know that for me he was crucified,

That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died.

Oh, it is wonderful

that he should care for me

Enough to die for me!

Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!

I do want my children to know that I have an unshakable testimony in Jesus Christ. I know that he came to this earth and atoned for our sins. I know he has made it possible to return to our Heavenly Father, and to be able to have a forever family. I would be shattered without the possibility of seeing my mom again, or without the hope of having my family with me for eternity. I am so blessed to have the knowledge I have, and to have the husband and children I do. I was blessed to be raised by two amazing parents, who also raised my five brothers who I adore. I am so lucky!

Integrity #2 & #5

"stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in . . ." - Mosiah 18:9. That scripture is the focus of the Integrity value #6 in the Personal Progress program. I need to improve a personal behavior and work on it for three weeks. I have been thinking about this a lot. I have decided to try and work on a behavior that will be so hard for me. That is watching television. I don't watch tv much, just when I go to bed. I'm not going to stop watching tv, but I am going to start turning off the tv at the first inappropriate joke. Oh Office how I'll miss you! I toyed with the idea of starting my three weeks after sweeps, but decided I need to just dive in and do it now.

Integrity #2 is much like 5. I already decided a new habit I want to develop (turning off the tv), and now I need to pray daily for strength to be able to do this. I think I will need all the help I can get! Yikes.

Dragon, Froggie, Puppy

Preston was pretending he was a "dragon, froggie, puppy" today. He would crawl like a puppy, then hop up like a frog while roaring like a dragon. It was pretty funny.

Preston

I wanted to take a picture of Jorja reading her Frog book . . .

Jorja

Sometime I need to video how Preston says Jorja's name. It is so cute! It kind of sounds like zour-zua. I'll have to get it on video. Those two are such good friends. They always get along . . . except right now. Right now they are fighting because Preston has the flying monkey cape on Shiver, but Jorja wants it on Avalanche. It is tragic.

Maysen and I were talking about the qualities that a mother needs. We talked about faith, knowledge, love, selflessness, patience, flexibility...

Patience was especially important today. Preston put Germ-X in his hair, painted his entire body with sugar, drew all over his hands. When I asked him why he drew on himself he said, "I want to be pokka dottie". I'm writing this blog early, so who knows how much mischief he will think up before he goes to bed! Good thing he is so darn cute!

Easter Egg Hike

Today was such a busy day! Maysen and I started the morning by cleaning the church. I was really glad we showed up (with Rylee) because not very many people were there. I think the Bishop and the Young Women's President were relieved to see us walk in the door. We do this once a month. Hopefully we will get faster each time we do it. Heather took everyone to Waffle House after we finished cleaning.

I came home and started frosting sugar cookies for the 8 is Great fireside tomorrow. While I was doing this, Mike took Jorja and Preston to an Easter Egg Hunt. There were so many people, thousands of eggs, and it all got cleared in 30 seconds!

Preston & Jorja

Preston
Jorja

This afternoon Maysen and I went on a 'Virtue Hike' with the stake young women. We hiked up Kennesaw Mountain. Here is Georgia they are very liberal with the word mountain. Each of the wards made a virtue flag to carry up to the top.

Our ward's virtue flag

Maysen was disappointed that the hike consisted of walking up a paved road. Nothing like the hike her Uncle John was on . . . slots in Utah . . . she would like that I'm pretty sure.

President Owen told the two of us to take a shortcut to the top. It was a lot more fun going on a real trail. Before he could even finish his sentence Maysen and I had taken off. Guess we didn't want him to change his mind. We are such rule followers. We wouldn't have dared leave the group without permission.

Maysen

At the top

Once everyone made it to the top, the girls put their handprints on the virtue flag the stake leaders were making.

When we went to Kennesaw a couple of years ago, the kids loved playing in this tiny cave. Maysen found it again and was excited to show it to her friends.

Amy, Rylee, Maysen

After the hike we went to the stake center. There we had dinner and then listened to the General Young Women broadcast. The broadcast didn't start until 8, Maysen was so tired by the time it started. I really enjoyed President Uchtdorf's talk. Now I am completely tired and am just praying that Sharing Time goes well tomorrow. Yikes!

Amy, Maysen, Rylee

Integrity #1

The best thing about doing the Young Women's Personal Progress with Maysen is the opportunity it gives me to talk about uncomfortable subjects. Well, what I mean by that is it makes uncomfortable subjects less awkward to talk about. For the Integrity #1 experience, we talked about how the Lord's standards are different from the world's standards. Maysen and I set some guidelines for her to follow as she grows older. We also talked about the way she should dress, and other media she needs to be aware of. Thankfully right now most of these suggestions were met with an eye roll.

Integrity #3

I just finished reading a bunch of scriptures about people who lived their life with integrity. It has been years since I have studied the old testament, so I enjoyed learning about these amazing people. I loved the story was of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. I remember hearing this story when I was younger, but I don't remember reading it for myself. I absolutely loved it. King Nebuchadnezzar was crazy. First he gets so upset that these guys won't worship his golden image he made. He's so mad that the regular furnace isn't good enough, he has to heat it to seven times hotter then 'it was wont to be heated'. Then when he sees Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego walking around with someone else - in the fire - he decides that it is okay for them to worship their God . . . and anyone who says anything bad about them will be cut in pieces and their houses made into a dunghill. Crazy, crazy, crazy.

I also read about Joseph of Egypt, Ester, Job, Daniel, and Paul. My favorite off all the amazing individuals I read about was Joseph Smith. I will never tire of reading Joseph Smith History. I love the quote "For I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it, neither dared I do it; at least I knew that by so doing I would offend God, and come under condemnation." I love how Joseph was willing to be 'hated and persecuted'. The most amazing thing is, he was still a child. The persecution started almost immediately - fourteen years old. Yet, he was not swayed by the world and what others thought of him, he only cared what Heavenly Father thought of him. To have that strong determination at such a young age is just amazing.

I am also suppose to write about a time when I had the courage to show integrity, especially when it wasn't easy or popular. I honestly can't remember a time I had to do that. I think that is because of two reasons. One, I have always been surrounded by great friends that haven't put me in uncomfortable situations. Two, I am completely oblivious to what is going around me most of the time. The first is great, the second I should work on. The closest I can come to is in college at Utah State, I lived with several girls that did not have my same values. But although I didn't drink, they never made me feel uncomfortable about it. I loved those girls, we just led completely separate lives.

All right Maysen, I think I rambled enough for you to sign me off on this value experience. I'll be bringing you my book soon.

Green Ribbon

Maysen earned her first ribbon towards her Personal Progress award. There are eight ribbons to earn. The ribbons are to go in her scriptures. The green one is for knowledge. Maysen I'm so proud of you! I love your dedication, desire and commitment to your goals. Congratulations!

Maysen with her knowledge ribbon

Knowledge #3

Maysen and I went to the Pine Mountain Gold Museum today. I had never been there even though you can practically walk there from my house. We learned that the first gold found in this area was probably found around 1826. Also our town use to be named Hixtown (I think. I know it started with Hix).

Maysen and I had a great time walking around the trails on the outside of the museum. It was a beautiful perfect day.

Maysen

Stephanie - sitting in an old furnace

Back to Maysen - at a fault line

As part of the Knowledge #3 requirement, we needed to go to a museum. Check. We also needed to memorize the 13th article of faith. I've already said it to Maysen, but I will write it here. I am doing it from memory, so there might be punctuation errors - but hopefully not spelling/wording errors.

We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous and in doing good to all men. Indeed we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul. We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy we seek after these things.

Wow. It is much harder to type it then it is to say it! I need to write how I can use this article as a guide for all I do so the Holy Ghost will be my constant companion. I have always tried to live my life as honestly as possible. Probably because my mom praised me for my honesty when I was in 9th grade - I still have the letter she wrote me. I love this article. It is so full of hope and joy. It helps me look on the bright side of life, even when I am in the process of enduring a trial. If I am always able to live by this article - honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, doing good to all - and if I choose virtuous, lovely and praiseworthy activities, how can I not feel the companionship of the Holy Ghost? My favorite time of day is when I hear my children pray. I feel the presence of the Holy Ghost. The love of Christ is so strong - it has amazed me how often I have been able to have that feeling lately.