My Gift

It is Christmas and I have a gift for you.

It isn't a big gift, though it has taken me a while to accumulate all of it.

My gift is my testimony.

I share it with you because I know that my life is better because of my testimony and I want your life to be as wonderful as possible.

 I know that Jesus Christ was born here on Earth. I know that he lived, setting an example we should follow. An example of love and kindness, an example of of compassion and humility. He set an example of accepting the Father's will. I know that He went through with the atonement because He loved us. Me, you, everyone around us, everyone that has been, everyone that will be, He suffered and died just to help us.

I know that because of Him my sins can be forgiven. I can repent of  those ridiculous sins that I commit over and over, or the sins that come through just blatant disdain. Forgiveness is possible. Possible for me. Possible for you.

I know that because He was resurrected I too will be. And that all of us will. That these bodies that house our immortal spirits will be perfected. That illness and pain will cease. I know that God loves us enough to put us where we will be most comfortable in the life to come. Be that in His presence, or elsewhere. Because He loves us.

That love is what this life is all about. We lived before we came here. Our glorious Father in Heaven created an entire world and bodies for each of us so that we could come down and experience mortality. That through those experiences we could learn and be more like Him. He has given us this life to grow. Those trials and hardships, or mild inconveniences, help us to see with a more eternal perspective- if we allow it.

I know that in 1820 Joseph Smith Jr had a question about his faith and sought an answer in prayer. I know that  he received an answer. I know, because I have prayed for myself, that he really did see Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I know that because of that prayer the fullness of Christ's gospel has been restored.

I know that restoration of Christ's church includes a living prophet. I am so grateful for the prophets of old who have left their teachings in the scriptures. I am also grateful for a modern prophet, currently Thomas S. Monson. I accept his teachings as additional teachings from God. General Conference is one of my favorite times of year thanks to the blessing of a living prophet. I can listen to his teachings. I am blessed and inspired when I live by them. He teaches love and I feel that sincere love that radiates from him. I know that he is called of God.

I know that restoration of priesthood authority is real. I know that because of the priesthood I was able to go to the temple and be sealed to my best friend. That because of that ceremony, if I live up to my end of the promise, that I can have my husband and children, my family back after death. I know that someday I will see my father and my baby sister, whom I had never known. I know that their existence has not ended. Nor have any of your loved ones ceased to be. I believe in eternal families, not just mine, but that yours can be too. Make those bonds strong, they matter not just here but in the world to come. I can also testify of the sweet comfort that can come through a priesthood blessing. I am grateful that any worthy man can carry this authority and bless his sphere of influence.

I testify of the power of prayer. I know with all my heart that my Father in Heaven hears me when I call on Him. That He is aware of me and my needs. That He knows exactly what is best for me and seeks to bless me. I know that he has answered the most trivial musings or soul searching prayers I have ever uttered aloud or in my heart. Has he given me what I always think I want? Of course not! Do I give my own children exactly what they think they want every time? No, because I have a greater understanding of what they need then they do. My Heavenly Father knows what I really need and when I really need it. He provides tender mercies along my way that serve as a reminder that he loves me and knows what I need. Sometimes it is the right lyrics in a song, or the perfect comment someone makes .The store that gave out popcorn when my hungry little boy had just asked for popcorn. He reminds me of His love and compassion frequently in small and personal ways. He does this because He knows who I am, where I am, what I need..If you stop to look, and open your heart with gratitude you will see that He does this for you too.

I know that studying the scriptures brings real blessings. I can testify of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. I have studied it, I have prayed about it. I continue to gain insights from it. If you have never read it, please do. If you don't have a copy, find a missionary or to go Mormon.org. Make friends with a Latterday Saint and ask them for a copy, I personally will send you a copy.  Read this book. It will change your life for the good. For more than a decade I have studied the scriptures (Book or Mormon and Bible both) on a daily basis. Within the last year I have tried to give it more center part in my day. I have worked to make sure that I really used that as a time to learn and commune with God. With 5 children running around it hasn't always been easy. But by trying to remember to seek for things of eternal worth before things of this world, my world has changed. I can testify that there has been a positive change in my life.Putting God first makes life so much more wonderful.

I know that the Holy Ghost is real. And with that knowledge comes gratitude. I don't even want to imagine how much harder life would be if I did not have the influence, the comfort, the peace that He is able to bless me with. I am not perfect or even very good at hearing and heeding those promptings. But I continue to try. I pray that someday I will be good at it. That I will be able to see with spiritual eyes and be a blessing to those around me.

I testify of tithing. I have seen miracle after miracle that has come from tithing. I want to clear something up. God does not need your money. The Creator of this planet, of this universe has no NEED of your tiny offering. He has given us this law so we can chose to receive blessings. My family has received these blessings. There is no possible way that we could get along without tithing. Fortunately we don't have to. Tithing blesses my life and those around me. I am so grateful for it.

I know that there are angels around us. I never saw them quite as clearly before I had children. Now that I am a mom I can testify without a shadow of a doubt that there are angels on this Earth to help us. I know that miracles can happen. I know that frequently you can see and touch and talk to because they are the friends, neighbors, family and strangers around us.

I hope you know that I am always open to discussing faith with you. If you have a question please just ask.

This is my testimony. I know my Savior lives. He did die, but he lives again. He lives that you and I may live again. I have shared this testimony with you because I also love you. I pray that some small part may touch your heart and help you feel the love that God in Heaven has for you.

This is my gift to you. Merry Christmas.

Why?

Imagine working in the kitchen, sorting laundry, etc. The children are "happily playing" in the other room. Then you hear the thud and the crying, sometimes followed by accusations and possible tattling. 

Then repeat. 

This scene happens some days way more times then I would like. 

The other day while making dinner this scene played again, and again. 

Each time growing more annoyed at how hard it seems to be to play together. I didn't say build the great pyramids, I said play! Why is this so hard?

I asked myself " Why is it so hard to just be nice to each other? Why do you have to keep hurting your brother or sister?"

And then a thought came to mind "I bet Heavenly Father feels that way too. Why is it so hard to be nice to each other? Why do you have to keep hurting each other?"

I am not sure why it is so hard to be nice, but it sure is sometimes. But that doesn't mean I always need to go with easy.

Efficient

I should use my time wisely.

That is true. I absolutely need to use my time wisely. Do I always? Um. No. Try to? Most of the time.

I feel like becoming a mother has helped me become more efficient. Got 5 minutes? Quick, wash the dishes. I can get some jobs done so much faster then I could previously. I really think some of motherhood is learning to use time efficiently.

Conversely, I also realized that being a mom is learning to embrace the inefficient sometimes.  When your child wants to help make cookies or wash dishes, it certainly won't get done faster.

Yesterday I think it took a record long time to bag groceries. But why rush when the 14 month old is having a fantastic time figuring out how to get each item into a bag? Efficient? Nope. Not at all. Worth while? Yup. Absolutely.

My story

I am ready to share what is going on with my lotions now. 

I have sensitive skin. I am prone to eczema and extremely dry skin. Commercial lotions leave my hands smelly, which then triggers me to sneeze. In addition they don't seem to actually heal much. I didn't want to be using steroids consistently. The price tags on more natural lotions were so much more then I was ready to pay. So in an effort to heal I turned to the internet for homemade options. One that did not contain all the ingredients I couldn't pronounce.

When you try to make lotions one of the most common ingredients is beeswax. Well I didn't have any beeswax. However, my husband did know someone that did. This very generous soul provided me with some wax. 

So a cool lady I know organizes a craft show and she invited me, probably as a customer, but I started thinking "maybe I could sell this stuff. It is pretty awesome."  

I will make a separate post for all the process of putting the product together. Here are my completed products for the craft show.

So here are the pictures of my display at the show.

 I apologize for the poor picture quality. 

 Here are the sugar scrubs.

 The Body Butter.

 Thank you Meggan Britton for the naming help. 

Yes, I know this sign isn't that awesome. I will be working on it for the next show.

 Spa salts, bath salts, whatever you want to call them. 

It appears I forgot to take a picture of the lip balm. 

So at the show I didn't do as well as I had hoped but not as bad as I had feared. I met a lot of great people.I am really glad that I went. One particular person I met was very enthusiastic about my body butter. She chatted for a bit and I thought she was talking about the honey I was selling on behalf of someone else when she said something about "consider selling it in a store."

 I said "I am sure he would love to sell it in a store."

"Well, what about you? Would you ever consider selling your things in a store?"

Me? Yes, take my bottles right now. I will pack it up for you. 

So we traded information and I emailed her later. She and another woman were opening a store in a town about 20 minutes from here. They sell gourmet jams and jellies and were looking for additional merchandise. The focus of their store if local handmade crafts.

So this week I went to meet with them.I had previously only met one member of the partnership.So as far as I knew we were just discussing further if they actually wanted to sell my stuff there. I took a box of salts, body butters, and lip balms. 

They bought it all. 

All.

There is a store near me that is selling my stuff. Stuff I have worked on is being sold in a store. How cool is that? I am so honored they found my project worthy of their store. 

Now I am working on getting ready for the next show. Here is a picture of the business cards I just ordered. 

 So exciting!

And just think, if I hadn't had a skin problem, this never would have happened. Sometimes our challenges really do turn out to be something to be grateful for.

Take it easy

I think we all are familiar with, or are, those people who become extremely opinionated online. Yes, we have opinions in our personal lives too, but it is so much easier to spew them passionately from the anonymity of our computer. I have read many things and seen example after example of people saying truly terrible things online.

We have all heard or known people who have died or been hurt because of poor judgement moments. How easy it is to cast stones. 

Shouldn't have been driving so fast.

Everybody knows drugs are bad for you.

Well that is what you get for drinking so much.

Serves them right playing with fire.

How utterly irresponsible they were for .....

Yea, you might be right. Sometimes those really are the natural consequences of an action. Someday you may look at your kid walking down a bad path and say "I knew a person who did_________ and this is what happened to them."

Learning is an important part of growing.

Condemning is not.

When I read a news story of someone who died, possibly doing something a bit reckless, there are always lots of comments about what an idiot that person was. I admit, I have had thoughts along those lines. However as I have pondered those replies what comes to my mind is this-

The person you are condemning is dead. Maybe that is why you feel so comfortable beating on them, I don't know. However the only one left to read your opinion of what happened is their mourning loved ones. How painful must it be to know that your loved one died in a way that could have been avoided? How much worse to have a group of strangers continue to bad mouth your loved one once they are gone? It isn't as if the dead is now going to live differently now that you have voiced your opinion on their decision. 

Life is hard sometimes. We all have loved ones who make choices contrary to what we view as best. Why must we make it harder on one another by being so unkind? 

Express your condolences for their loss,  learn the lesson from it if you need, and then move on your way. Mean comments do not make you a better person. 

Happy

Here are a few things that are adding to my happiness this morning-

I am not a garbage man, sewage person, cart return lady or anything that requires extended periods of time in the cold. I am SO grateful for that. 

I am capable of reading. I am not talking just about books here. How terrifying would it be to go someplace new and be unable to read signs or directions?

I have gotten to Skype with my brother serving in the Air Force who is stationed in Alaska. Plus I surprised my mom with that Skype last night. Let's just say she was thrilled having never experienced Skyping before.

Moments when I have the skill or resource needed to help someone. 

This is trivial, I know, but it brings me joy. I started a new journal. Officially filled up the last one and now I get to start again. I love that. 

Life is good. My life is good.

LEGOs really do hurt to walk on.

Many a soul have encountered the pain that is stepping on a LEGO.

Ruby needed to take that pain to a new level.

My poor babe was upstairs crying, not sobbing like she was injured or in danger. She just sounded frustrated with her situation. I figured she would come downstairs and seek comfort. She didn't. The sadness continued.So I went to save her.

I found her at the top of the stairs. She kept attempting to stand but quickly fell back down. That is when I realized the problem.

She had stuffed LEGOs down her footie pajamas. When she stood to walk they all went straight down her legs into the footie portion. So each time she tried to step the LEGOs moved under her foot.

She was not a happy baby. However, it did make me laugh while I removed about 14 pieces from her outfit.

Love one another

Last night during scripture study we looked up references to love.  One such reference is in the Book of Mormon, 2nd Nephi 31:20. It says "Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men."

We then discussed why we should love everyone.

Naomi's answer really resonated within me.
Why should we love everyone?  "Because we are here trying to learn to be like God. God loves everyone, so we need to learn to love everyone."

The simpleness of that answer sank deep in my heart.  You are right Naomi. You are right.

Pumpkin fun

A lovely lady in our ward gave my children each a tiny little pumpkin. It was much too small to carve and I personally hate dealing with kids and painting. So this is what we did instead.

They make me smile. Too bad I seem to have missed Caleb's.Caleb put arms and ears and everything. Potato head pieces jammed in pumpkins is definitely better than painting, in my opinion.

Just look at that smile!

In his absence

Sometimes you have to have someone leave for a little while to really appreciate what they do for you.

 My eldest son is away on a 3 day environmental science field trip. I knew that he is my most responsible, reliable child. I figured getting things done would be a bit harder without him here.

I was not prepared to find  my children up a tree instead of getting ready for school since their older brother wasn't there to help keep them on task. Hmmm... they really do follow his example.

***

The neighbor gave us two giant sunflower heads. Yesterday I finally boiled the seeds in salt water then baked them. They were pretty good, I baked them slightly too long, but everyone seemed very happy snacking on them. As I worked on paying bills this morning Phebe excitedly came to me," Look it is cereal mom!" She had put some whole seeds in a bowl and poured water all over them. Thanks Phebe, thanks, hope you enjoy eating it. 

So glad

Phebe: I am so glad I have a mom.
Me: Me too. I am so glad I have a Phebe.
P: Yea, it is great. (pause) I am so glad I have a mom with a head.

Um... me too Phebe, I am glad your mom has a head.

A Little Something Special

I have a couple of treasures I wanted to share with you.

The first is a necklace I told you about a long time ago. A lovely friend helped me create this.

 That is a piece from a disassembled VCR. I love it. 

I love the copper wiring and the green. So pretty! I really like my necklace and I like that I made it, 

OK, onto my Gen Con purchase. Every year I go saying boots are about the only thing that I would be really tempted to purchase. This year I finally did it. 

I love them.They are comfy and I love the colors and yeah, I just really like having them.

Just wanted to share.So I did.

Happy thoughts!

We had a stake relief society conference this past weekend. (A bunch of ladies from my church in this area got together.) There was beautiful music, inspiring talks, great conversation and wonderful food. It was an all around good day. Since it was such a good day I wanted to share a few things with you.

This is my clicker. They gave each of the attendees one.

 They are for clicking each time you have a happy thought. When you have a happy thought and you acknowledge it, you tend to look for more things to be happy about. 

(The kids have reset it several times now. That is why it is at 0). 

My children think this is possibly the most glamorous thing that has ever entered our home. Thus they will find it and stand there trying to think of something to be happy about just so they have an excuse to click it.. This is super awesome because I have one child who tends to look for anything to be mad about so it was great to have her looking for good things.

Before the conference they had conducted an experiment of sisters in the stake using the clickers and then put it all in a video. Here it is if you want to see it. It was very sweet and uplifting to me.

Sadly I can not tell you how many awesome thoughts I have had due to my kids being so enthusiastic and clicking when I am not paying attention. I guess there are just a lot of happy thoughts around here. I can tell you that when you start trying to keep track of good emotions you really do seem to have more of it. I noticed that in myself and my children. 

Just stick and slide

Just for a smile.

Those are the sanitary napkin samples sent to me in the mail stuck to the bottom of Phebe's feet. . I bet the manufacturer would be pleased to know that they are rated highly by the resident 4 year old.  They are very effective at slipping on hard surfaces and inducing giggles.

More music

I was glancing through my old orchestra folder tonight.I couldn't remember how some of the music sounded so I looked up a recording of it being performed.

I really enjoyed listening to this version"Fiddle Faddle", which I am sure sounds about 700 times better than my high school orchestra did.

I also forgot how much I enjoyed "The Funeral March of a Marionette"

"Jazz Pizzicato" is a fun song just for being different for a few minutes. (It also inspired to write a song on the piano titled "Pizzicato".)

That's all for now. This songs bring back some funny memories, and I sincerely love the music itself.

Dinner musings

At dinner tonight-

Phebe: Is water always clear mom?
Me: As long as nothing is in the water, yes. It isn't as clear if there there is dirt or some kinds of bacteria-
P: or an octopus.
M: Well yes, it is hard to see through an octopus,
P: I don't want to met an octopus.
M: Why?
P: It would eat me.It has a big sharp beak.
M: I think you might be a bit big for it to eat. It eats smaller things like crabs.
P:Yea, crabs are so annoying. Maybe it eats giant lobsters.
M: Yea, but I don't think there are many lobsters your size.
P: I have 4 shirts on.

Thanks for the profound thoughts Phebe.

Just throw some quinoa in there

I finally took the time to cook some quinoa. I kept hearing about it and I finally cooked some I had picked up a while ago.I am impressed. It was pretty good. 

I had plenty of left overs though. So I searched around for another recipe to use it in. Eventually I just made something up. When everyone eats it, even with pre-dinner comments like "ugh, That stuff again?" you know it was pretty good. Even Phebe who has an aversion to anything that isn't a liquid, fruit or junk food said "This is fantastic! Can I have more?" I was floored. 

Here is the basic recipe-

Funeral potatoes-

INGREDIENTS

• 6 c. diced potatoes
• 1 can (10 3/4 oz.) condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1/2 stick butter, melted
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1 c. sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
• 2 c. grated cheddar cheese, or use a mix of cheddar and gruyere
• 1/4 c. grated onion (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3/4 c. crushed cornflakes or panko bread crumbs (optional for crumb topping)
• Additional 2 T. butter (optional for crumb topping)

• Prep Time: 30 minutes
 
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Advance prep: bake/thaw potatoes: 60 minutes

• Total Time: 120 minutes
 
• Yield: About 8 cups

PREPARATION

1. Prepare the potatoes: Scrub 6-8 medium russet potatoes and wrap in foil. Bake the potatoes in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until they are easily pierced with a fork but not too tender. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel and dice them. If you want, you can substitute plain frozen diced (not shredded) potatoes. Let the potatoes thaw before using them in the recipe.
2. Combine soup, butter, sour cream or yogurt, milk, cheese, onion, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl. Mix well. Add the diced potatoes and stir gently until combined.
3. Place potato mixture in a 2-3 quart casserole dish or 9 x 13-inch baking pan.
4. Optional: Mix 2 T melted butter with crushed corn flakes or panko bread crumbs. If using panko, season with a little salt and pepper. Sprinkle crumb mixture over potato mixture.
5. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

I used cream of mushroom soup instead of chicken, skipped the topping and I just dumped a bunch of extra quinoa in there. Ta da! Add some extra protein and a fun texture and everyone was happy. I was seriously surprised by how well received it was. There you go, a yummy dinner suggestion. I mean, even Phebe and Victor liked it at the same time!

Things that make my heart happy

Yesterday Caleb and Phebe worked really hard as a team. They dug rocks out of the drive way. Then they presented them to me informing me that these were going to be the Christmas presents for myself and their dad. Oh,  I am sure he will be thrilled, I thought.

So all on their own they dug out wrapping paper and wrapped up strawberry containers full of driveway stones and presented them to us. Christmas was much too far away. I am now the proud owner of a carton of rocks.

Along those same lines-
( I can't get enough of Caleb and Phebe actively playing together.)

This morning Phebe wondered into the house through the front door, " because Caleb wouldn't let me in the back door". She just made me smile.

She had allowed me to elaborately braid her hair. So of course that was staring to fall out. She had a striped shirt on inside out. She was wearing her sister's much too large pajama pants. She and Caleb had drawn all overs pool noodles and then covered them with stickers. (Those are very important weapons when fighting the demon lords in the backyard. ) She had her pool noodle of destruction stuffed down the back of her shirt.

My heart is happy on these moments.

What do you need little one?

Every once in a while I have a moment where things move from my head to my heart.

I spent some time at a cousin's house not too long ago. When it came time to leave baby Ruby decided that the normal morning nap was completely unnecessary, in fact the suggestion was ridiculous.

I had 4 other children that I needed to take care of, a friend that had come along that I was trying to make sure she and her child had everything they needed. We had been working on some pretty big projects so there were lots of materials that needed to be gathered. Not to mention just getting all the stuff back to the car.

I was attempting to take the easy route. Put the baby to bed= get stuff done. Silly baby, just go to bed. I tried feeding her, diaper, letting her play a little longer. Nope just fussing. As I walked up the stairs I looked at her and said "What do you need my dear baby?"

Then the thought came to my mind." A mom. You need a mom. A mom who loves you and wants to be with you. A mom who thinks you are wonderful and realizes you are far more important than packing and 'getting stuff done.' "

 Really, what could be more important? What else could she or I need?

Minding my beeswax

Tonight I share with you my latest project! Yay! So here we go.There is lots of information about processing beeswax online. I am simply sharing with you what I did. Keep in mind if you ever want to do this at home you must get a separate pot just for working with the wax. You will never get that pot wax-free again.

Here is what is called "cappings" It is the wax they cut off the comb so they could drain the honey off. 

 Then I soaked it in water twice and drained the water off. Then I added enough water to cover the wax

Here it is boiling. Beeswax is flammable so you have to keep an eye on it. I warm up the water to about med-high and once it gets really going I turn it down to nearly low. See that brown stuff? Despite my best efforts it never melted.

You can see my non- melting brown stuff here. It was starting to cool down. At this stage all I did was set the whole pot to the side and let it solidify. Due to wax being lighter than water, it all just floated to the top and hardens. 

This it what that brown stuff ends up like. It is stuck to the bottom of the wax disc. It is called "slum gum". Slum gum is all the random debris from in the hive. Mostly cocoons from the change from larvae to bee.

Here is the top of my pretty wax disc, 

This was my very first attempt, Since then I have been putting cheese clothe over various other recyclable containers and straining the slum gum out. So that is a glimpse of what I have been working on.

Play, beeswax and a sad moment

Quick up date.

Ethan's play is over. Let me just say, it was very rewarding to watch everyone get to see how awesome he is. The lady next to me was a season ticket holder who told me " I hope to see your husband on stage again soon." Thanks, that makes me smile. He worked with a lot of really incredible people. 

I finally made something with my beeswax. I used this recipe. I even made some lotion to give to the cast as a thank you gift. 

We planted the garden last night, OK some of it. My sister let me dig some blueberry bushes up at her house and transplanted them here. Some black berry bushes came along too. 

On a completely unrelated note-

A while back a house down the street caught on fire. A 22 year old man died. Today they are tearing the house down. It made  me very sad to sit there and watch the parents witness the house their son had died in be torn down. That must be really hard. Sometimes I wish there was more I could do for people around me.

Let's get classical, kind of.

Does anyone else ever feel like some classical music is actually just exercises for the musicians to see how well they can play? Sometimes I can not even pick out a real melody and it really isn't even nice to listen to.
Victor was a bit leery about attending the symphony the other night. I can't say I blame him. There are some music pieces that I love so much and well... we already mentioned those I am not as fond of.

I just wanted to share with you some of our favorites from the other night.

Aaron Copeland's "Fanfare for the common man"

Camille Saint-Saens "Danse macabre"

Ralph Vaughan Williams English Folk Song Suite March "Seventeen come Sunday"

Reinhold Gliere "Russian Sailor Dance" from the ballet "The Red Poppy" ( We played this song in orchestra. I really like this one.)

Georges Bizet Suite from Carmen "Intermezzo"

Also from Carmen "Habanera"

 And of course you can't forget "Chanson Du Toreador" from Carmen. (We are big fans of Carmen around here.)

We finished up the night with Franz Liszt "Les Preludes, Symphonic poem #3"

Music can be so uplifting. I think my favorite part was sitting down and looking over the program with Victor and listening to him getting excited about pieces that he already knew and loved. Of course his first question was " Are they playing  In the Hall of the Mountain King?" No they didn't, but you can listen to it if you want.

Because of Him

In an effort to put important things first and to teach my kids good habits, for the last month we have been having personal scripture study time for each kid after family prayer.

The problem with this particular scenario is that only two of the five are independant  readers. So that means Caleb and Phebe need someone to read with them.  Right now we have been reading from some illustrated scripture reader books.

Phebe likes the New Testament. She looks through each night to find the portion she wants to read. Each night she chooses the crucifixtion. After a few days of only this choice I started to add the portion of Christ's ressurection in to remind here the story doesn't end at his death.

I began to feel a bit concerned about her seemingly morbid consistent selection.

One night as we sat down to read I finally asked her why she liked reading about when Jesus died. "Because it is important. He died so I can live with Heavenly Father again."

So tonight and tomorrow and most likely each night in my foreseeable future I know what we will read. And I will no longer be concerned, only touched.

The question answered and random stuff.

Hi, my name is Vanessa. I am a slacking blogger. Sorry for the utter lack of any posts at all. Plenty of cool stuff going on here. I just have been being part of that cool stuff and not hanging out on the internet.

 

OK, the answer to the last who am I, was indeed Neil L Andersen. Good job Meggan and Darcy my daring contestants who got the correct answer. You can learn more about Elder Andersen here.

Here is his talk in the most recent general conference-

Good stuff in there I tell you.

***

In other news-

The baby is crawling and now has a tooth.

We were given free tickets to see the Pittsburgh Symphony do their student side by side performance. There are high school students who help put together the whole ordeal and students who actually  perform next to the professionals. You can find out more about the program here.  The music selections were fantastic. My oldest 3 children and I went down with a friend and their children. It was a truly lovely evening. Of course my kids were not crushed when they handed out ice cream sandwiches at the end. 

My husband is in a play. A very funny play. I am excited for him. I love his desire to do things outside of his comfort zone like this.

I have been working on processing beeswax. I have been taking pictures a long the way and will soon do a blog about it. I think it is pretty awesome.

Tonight we will feed the missionaries. We are going to have coconut curried stew because that fills me with happiness, and my family likes it. I hope the missionaries do too.

Then to activity days and scouts.

Yay for life and things to do!

Guess who, take 4!

The answer is....

L Tom Perry.

Learn more about his awesomeness here.

Here is a previous address of his. 

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Who am I?

• I was five when my parents moved our family to a dairy farm in Pocatello, Idaho.
• I accepted a mission call and served faithfully in the France Mission.
• I attended BYU and Harvard.
• I married Kathy Williams in the Salt Lake Temple in March 1975.
• While I attended BYU my day would start at 4:00 am when I would go to clean bathrooms in the library .
• I have a master’s degree in business administration.
• I became an apostle in 2009
• I speak French, Portuguese, and Spanish in addition to his native English.  
• I settled in Tampa, Florida, where my business interests included advertising, real estate development, and health care.
• My wife and I have 4 children.
• I was born Logan Utah on August 9, 1951.
• I served as a mission president in France and Brazil.
• Our family moved 8 times due to church assignments.
• I served as Executive Director of the Church Audiovisual Department,
• I counseled missionaries: “Don’t live your life without miracles.”