It's all good . . .

Missionary Moments

We sure love having our missionary here in our home.  Lily has always had a special spirit about her, and so although now she is dedicated to serving those around her, truthfully, not much has changed in her interactions with others.  She has always been quick to drop everything and help someone.  I think her favorite part of her mission so far is to have the wonderful schedule of dedicated time to do specific service. 

On Mondays, Lily stays at home and serves here - whether it is helping me with projects, indexing, or self improvement, she keeps busy. Tuesdays and Fridays she works at the Church Distribution Center as a volunteer from 9:30am-5:30pm, which she loves - and it is only a short walk from our house, which really helps when I have to have the car.  Here is what she said about it in her weekly email: 

"At the distribution center, I learned how to take customer orders and where everything was. I also watched videos that told me about the different styles and materials for garments, and what worked best for what. Then, we had a shipment arrive, and I helped check to make sure we got everything, and restock the store with what we got. It was really nice, and I learned a lot. There were a lot of people going to the temple I was able to help!" and "I was able to help with some extra tasks. I sorted all of the shoeboxes (because believe me, it was a MESS), and then learned how to use a steamer to steam-iron dresses. My arm got really tired from holding it so long, but I did a really good job!"

Wednesdays are her days to work at Catholic Charities across town. (Wow, does she have an insane commute to it, taking her on four different big freeways - thank goodness the Lord is watching over her!) They serve a lot of homeless and poor in the area, and she does a lot behind the scenes to help organize donations.  Some of her emails recently talked a bit about it:

"At Catholic Charities, I helped stock the food shelves. There were a lot of moldy strawberries that we had to find and throw out...but we also stocked a bunch of bread! I also helped sort out a bunch of soup cans. Then, to end off the day, I helped make bagged lunches that would be given to the homeless." and "Wednesday was another day of Catholic Charities work at St Stephan's Care Center--well, once I was able to get there, at least. Having to go fill up on gas, mixed with the rainy weather, mixed with so much traffic, made it so the drive there took twice as long and I ended up getting there 20 minutes late...vut once I finally got there, I was able to immediately get to work sorting tomatoes and putting the good ones in bags while throwing out the moldy ones. I also helped sort out some cans!" 

Thursday is her day at the San Antonio Temple. Up until this last week, she had been using it as a day to attend the temple while she waited for them to get her into the rotation and get set apart as a worker, but this week she finally got to do serve there as an ordinance worker, and she loved it! (And she is on the same shift as my Aunt Linda and Uncle Scott - so cool! Here is a little bit of what Lily has to say about it all:

"On Thursday, I got to do an initiatory session at the temple! After the session, I went to the offices to see if I could get scheduled to work soon. But even better than that, I was able to meet with a member of the presidency and not only get my schedule set, but also get set apart!" and "Thursday was my first day working at the temple!!! And it was AMAZING!!!!! :D I got to meet my Great-Aunt Linda and Great-Uncle Scott, and I got to help out all over, and even got to keep watch in the Celestial Room! I'm so excited to come back next week!!!"

Aside from her service assignments, she also gets to serve in our ward, and just recently got a calling to help teach the CTR 4 class in Primary, which she loves! She is also encouraged to attend Institute Classes at UTSA (For those who don't know, Institute is a religious program for young adults college aged, and they also have social activities.) Lily goes faithfully every Wednesday evening and loves it.  She also has a companion, but unlike a teaching missionary, she does not have to live with or do things with her companion. Instead, they are a support to each other and have their semiweekly companionship study. She also has a district and zone, and they have meetings on occasion. And sometimes they have mission-wide service projects, like the one she had last week.  I'll include the part from her email about it:

"I got to help with a service project on Saturday! That morning, I drove out to a church building in Helotes, where we all met up to go across the street to a property we were going to be cleaning up. We were working to try to make it work as a place where church campouts could happen. We cleaned up piles of junk, moved rocks, trimmed trees, and got REALLY hot and sweaty. After the work was done, we went back over to the church building to have lunch and watch a service missionary conference! It was really cool. Then, after that, some of us then headed over to one of the elder's houses to go swimming! The pool was big and got decently deep, and there was even a waterslide!"  (Obviously, her rules are a little bit different than a teaching missionary.)

One of the things that has been the most amazing blessing for Lily on her mission, is how close we live to the San Antonio Temple (0.3 miles away - albeit uphill). It has made it easy for her to serve there and at the Distribution Center, especially since she often has to walk. But even more, it has made it so easy for her to serve there - doing endowments, initiators, and even baptisms with her brother, Derek.  And yesterday, we had the most wonderful experience of getting to do a sealing session with our sweet Sister Brown. What a special moment and blessing!

And one more special moment, was when we were at church today and saw that they have her plaque up on the wall! So cool! We sure do love our missionary and know that she will continue to be a blessing to all those she serves and comes in contact with over the next 12-18 months. 

Lily, the Missionary

We have a missionary!! Our sweet Lily was set apart Thursday night as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and will be serving as a Service Missionary right here in San Antonio. 

Although they have service missionaries in the church for many, many years, Service Missions are a newer thing, and Lily was told by the coordinators that she is a pioneer. I loved learning more about them as Lily has begun this process, and here is a little bit about it.  Here are a few things about them:

The Service Missionary Purpose: Our purpose is to help others come unto Christ by serving them as the Savior would. We serve voluntarily in charitable organizations, Church functions, and within the community. We will minister in His name to the one, just as He did, expressing His loving kindness.

Key Objectives of a Service Mission

• Provide an opportunity for all willing young women and young men to serve the Lord and increase in testimony of Him.
• Help each service missionary prepare for a lifetime of service.
• Provide needed and valuable service to Church and community organizations.

Last week, Lily got to meet a bunch of the other service missionaries from the area, including her companion, her district leader and the amazing service missionary coordinators.

On Wednesday, Lily and I got to tour a few of the places she may end up serving. (Wish I had gotten a picture of the San Antonio Food Bank - it is massive - the largest in the country 😳). It is so exciting, and pretty amazing, to have a missionary in our house ❤️.

Western Adventure Part Two: Our Lily

Yes, yes, I know that Lily had technically only been gone since April, but to say that we missed our girl is a huge understatement. She is a very special piece of our family, that is for sure.  She had her last final on Wednesday morning, and so we left Twin Falls and headed to Rexburg so that we would be there in time for her to be finished.  The test an a little long, and so we sat outside her apartment building and tracked her on "Find my Friends" watching to see when she moved. Once she was headed our way, the boys stood on the sidewalk and scanned in the direction she was coming from, until they finally saw her.  Once she had crossed the street, they were running for each other and had the biggest group hug.  It made my heart so happy, and I love that they love each other so very much!

Once we had Lily, it was a mad dash to get all of her belongings out of her apartment and into the back of the van. Kevin and I quickly discovered that she doesn't have our experience with packing, and so we sent her off to show the boys around while we repacked everything, finishing just in time for them to come back and help us get it all to the van.  After we were loaded up, we went on campus for lunch at one of Lily's favorite places, the Teton Grill, where we got burgers and talked.

We did have to run some errands in Rexburg before we could leave, like stopping at the distribution center to get Lily temple clothes and some other things. Oh, and we got frozen yogurt too, but mostly as a reward for how patient the boys were with all the craziness. Before we knew it, we were in the van and headed back to Twin, but this time, with our Lily in tow.  Just the way it should be :).

Thursday was a busy and exciting day, and Lily and I started it off bright and early, getting her stuff organized and most of it stored at Grandma Lynn's house. We had to drive it over and get it stored, since we stayed the second half of our time in Twin at Kevin's parent's house. Not a big deal at all, and actually easier that way to separate it all out.  After getting that taken care of, it was time for a much desired haircut for Lily.  She wasn't sure where to go in Rexburg, and so ended up waiting.  Now it is back to the cute shorter style she adores.

The biggest and most exciting thing about our whole trip happened in the early afternoon.  Lily was able to receive her endowment in the Twin Falls Idaho Temple, which was the culmination of years of preparation on her part and the beginning of a lifetime of service. She and I went an hour early to the temple session to prepare, since it was her first time. (If you would like to know more about what happens in our temples or what they are like inside, just click on this link: TEMPLES)

There is nothing quite like having your child in the Temple with you and to watch her make sacred covenants. Kevin and I were both full to bursting with love for our sweet girl.
We were also very blessed to have my mom and Kevin's parents there with us, as well as our dear friends (and adoptive extra pair of grandparents for our kids) Brent and Marilyn there. My sister, Heather, and my nephew, Paul, were also able to come, as well as Stuart's new wife, Sherianne.  We loved getting to share this wonderful day with other people we love, and I truly felt the presence of my daddy while we were in the temple.  I know he was there, just watching over us all and sharing the experience with us.

After the session, we went across the street to my in-law's house for a dinner and celebration.  We got food from Cafe Rio and had a taco bar, and then had cheesecake for dessert - two of Lily's favorite things. We had a wonderful time visiting together and were all just so happy after being at the temple with Lily.

That evening, Lily and I went back over to the Twin Falls Temple so that I could take some portraits of her. We sure do love our Lily and are truly grateful for the amazing, kind, and strong woman she has grown up to be. We can't wait to see what the next chapter of her life holds as she begins her mission in a couple weeks.

The Freezing Trek Adventure

Spring break just happened to be when our Stake at church decided to do the youth pioneer trek reenactment - probably because they wanted to avoid triple digit temps that the summer would bring. Little did they know, that there would be a crazy two day cold snap right in the middle of Trek.  It turned out to be a harder thing than the kids or the leaders could have anticipated, but Derek stuck through the hard, and was so grateful that he did.  But here is his story in his own words.

Ok, so let me just say I was blown away by how the leaders in charge of trek managed to find away to keep it going. From the moment I started out with my trek family I was in it all the way. While it took some time to get started due to the fact we had some trouble assembling our wagons. But once we got moving, we stayed moving. Well, most of the time at least. There were some moments where had to stop at certain points because of water buckets falling off of the wagon and for the leaders to decide which way we should go.

I got a little annoyed at certain period of time where they had us going through a trail that was covered by a bunch of manure. It was then as we seemed to pass through an area we had been through before that I realized we were going in loops instead of hiking a full on trail. Afterwards we made it to the place where we were camping. We cooked our dinner, got set up for the night, and went to sleep. Well most of us did. I had trouble falling asleep, so when the cold wind hit in the early morning, I felt it from the start.

The wind made it very cold going forward for the next day, It was pretty difficult to stay warm with the winds blowing so hard and cold. However, in the middle of the day it started to get warmer, which felt much better. And that's when It happened.  Just like my sister when she was on her trek, I had a wagon run over my foot. Ouch. It did not make the rest of the day easy. I guess you could say that I was not a very happy camper. For almost the whole time till I went to bed I was wanting to go home. I got over it quickly enough to go to the dance that was held that night. And eat the pancakes they had. I even got to help taste test them.

But after the last day began and breakfast was served, so many unexpected things happened that my mind was completely blown.  Instead of walking that day, the leaders had tons of fun activities for all the youth to do to celebrate making it through trek. There was archery, rifle shooting, rope making, branding, old fashioned pioneer games, and s'mores. Lots of S'mores. I had so much fun that I can even bring myself to say that trek was an amazing experience - cold, squished food and all.

It was on the last day that I also received letters that my Mom and Dad wrote to me for when I finished trek. It was also then that I said one of the longest prayers in my entire life. Both of these helped give me the strength and courage to be the first to stand up and bear my testimony at the testimony meeting they had to close out trek.

All in all, Trek helped me come closer to my Savior than I have ever been able to come before. I know understand Ether 12:27 for what was said when the Lord said "I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.”  I now know I am strong enough to make it through anything. So come at me world. Derek Brown is ready for you.

Summer Adventures

Even though we are prepping for a big move, life continues to move forward, and although we haven't spent our usual time on hikes or at the pool, we have made time for some adventures. Here are a few.

Safari Fun: When the kids got their prizes for the library summer reading program, one of them was a pass for a free safari ride at the Lake Tobias Wildlife Park, and since we had to be up in Harrisburg on Tuesday anyway, we just drove a little farther and had the best adventure. It was a small zoo with a special safari ride.

We started our day with the safari, and while we waited to load onto the truck, we got up close and personal with an emu that was wandering around.

The safari was very fun, and almost all the animals that we saw, we were able to feed with treats (carrots, etc) that we bought before the ride. It was crazy to feed and pet them all, especially the buffalo.
The Texas Longhorn was amazing, with six foot long horns! As Lily fed it, it would turn its head, she would have to duck to avoid getting hit by them.
We even got to pet a bunch of female elk, one of which kept trying to climb onto the truck.

We also got to pet these really cool deer, as well as llamas and other animals. It was really cool.
One of my favorite parts of the safari, however, was that we had a family of about 30 Amish on our truck, and they had the most adorable kids.  Usually you don't get to see the Amish kids around, and they are so cute, especially the boys in their little hats.  I had to secretly take a couple pictures as I was taking pictures of the animals as well.
After the safari, we headed to the zoo portion of the park.  It was small, but it was awesome.  There were lions, tigers, bears, baboons (and a baby baboon), other monkeys and fun animals.
There was also a petting zoo with all sorts of goats, especially baby goats.  They were so very cute!
Arthur was really funny about touching the animals, even the tiny goats. He eventually warmed up to it, but it was funny to watch the process of getting braver.

And as we were walking around, I just happened to snap this picture of this yellow swallowtail butterfly. Such a beautiful butterfly!

Our last stop was the reptile pavilion, which just happened to have a sloth as well.  The sloth was awake and moving, which was really cool.  The kids also got to pet a python and a small alligator. So fun! And since snakes are Lily's favorite animal, she was in heaven, and it was the perfect way to end our time at the park.
On our way home, we stopped at a fun little place for some ice cream, which was delicious. There were other fun things in the area, but we had to get Lily back to get to work on time, and so we got our ice cream and hit the road.

Flowers: I have been so busy, that I haven't had the time or energy to be out in my garden as much as I usually do, which is sad.  That said, I am still loving having my fresh cut flowers in the house. And really, I will never get over how amazingly beautiful my hydrangeas are - I wish I could take them all with me to Texas.

And on a random note, my white rose bush randomly grew a pink rose!  So bizarre and cool, and has never happened in the four years I have had this rose bush.

Mini Golf: Kevin is currently serving as the boy's activity day leader in our ward, and this week, he was in charge of a combined activity with the boys and girls. He planned the most awesome mini-golfing activity, and created this amazing course that he set up in the church.  As he prepared for it, Arthur was so excited and fascinated by it all, especially since he got to try out the different parts of the course and even help set it up.

Kevin created nine holes, all with different obstacles, and they really were fantastic.

And the kids all absolutely loved it. They are going to miss having Kevin as their leader when we move.

Tennis: For the past month, Derek and Arthur have had tennis camp three mornings a week, and they have loved it.  Arthur especially loved getting to have his brother with him there. And I am so proud of them for working hard and never complaining, even when it was crazy hot.

Temple Night: Just recently, our temple in Philadelphia opened up for proxy ordinances by appointment, which was so exciting!  I made an appointment for Kevin and I right away, and then when I noticed that there were still openings, I let Becky know that if she got an appointment, she could come with us. And so on Wednesday afternoon, we drove to Philly.  I love getting to go to the temple, and I truly love the Philadelphia Temple, but wow, I am not going to miss the horrendous traffic to get into the city.  It is awful, and Wednesday was no different.  

Luckily, we still got there in time to go and find some dinner, however, our plans were thwarted.  We walked the fifteen minutes to reading terminal Market, only to find that it was closed for the night. Ahh! Then we walked to Steve's Prince of Steaks, only to get there and see that it is permanently closed (it didn't survive the Covid shutdown). By then we were not only short on time, but we were starving. And I really wanted my last Philly cheesesteak. Luckily, we found a place a couple blocks away, and although we had to try and awkwardly eat as we walked back to the temple, we were able to get food and make it back in time. (And because Becky is a temple worker, she was able to put the rest of our sandwiches in the fridge in the break room.)

The craziness was all forgotten the second we walked into the temple.  Wow, it was so amazing to be back. It was like coming home after a long time away, and it was so wonderful to be there. And I am so grateful there is a temple in San Antonio, where we are moving.

Fun with Friends: Knowing that I only have a few weeks left here in Pennsylvania, I have started making plans with friends to say goodbye. On Friday, my dear friend, Becky and I went to some of our favorite places in Lancaster County, like Kitchen Kettle Village and all the shops there. We also explored a bunch of other shops, and then we finished things off with lunch at Rachel's Creperie, which is our favorite. And we had so much fun talking and shopping, I not only forgot to take any pictures, but I talked myself hoarse - ha ha!

Neighborhood Fun: I love where we live. I love that we live in a culdesac with amazing and kind neighbors, that the kids all play together, and we love to stand around and talk in the evenings. And my dear neighbor, Lindsey, always throws a huge party for her kids' birthdays, one of which was on Saturday. We all get together, talk, eat yummy food, and the kids play on a giant rented waterslide. It is Arthur's favorite thing, and I am going to miss celebrating with them. (And I really am going to miss my neighbors so much.  They are amazing!)

Random Stuff: The other day, Kevin just happened to be playing golf in Maryland near a Crumbl Cookie store, and so he brought back a dozen yummy cookies for us to enjoy.

And the other day, I decided to follow the instructions for "stripping" clothes from the account I follow on Instagram called "GoClean." I did  a bunch of whites in the washer, and then I did my workout clothes in the laundry sink.  These pictures are only after hour two of four.  My workout clothes water was especially gross, and FYI, these were all CLEAN clothes.  This is just the gunk that gets trapped in them.  So gross, and fascinating. Glad I did it, and I think I need to do my teenagers' clothes next ;).

And so another week of summer is over, and the days are just flying by. It is hard to believe that in less than a month, the kids and I will be in Texas. And in one week, Kevin and I will be house hunting. That will definitely be an adventure.

An Amazing Easter and Conference Weekend

April often brings two of my favorite events - the semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Easter, which sometimes happen on the very same weekend, which I love.  This was one of those serendipitous years when they both happened together, and it made for an amazing weekend.

Conference starts on Saturday, and so I went to the Amish Market and brought home pretzels for the family, which is the perfect way to start off the weekend. Yum!

Since we live on the East Coast, the first session of conference doesn't start until noon, and so we had the Easter egg hunts for the kids before it started.

Arthur ent first, and Lily hid his eggs, and per his request, they were in his room.  Good times.

Derek hid Lily's eggs in the master bedroom, and he even put one on the fan - in an ode to his dad who would always hide one on the fan.

Derek was last, and Arthur his his eggs in the living room.  
They all had a blast, and they especially loved opening their eggs and finding their candy.

After the egg hunts, we spent the rest of the day watching Conference, which was amazing, inspiring, and soul healing. (On a side note, Kevin had his second Covid shot on Friday, and on Saturday he was down for the count with fever, aches and chills, so he hung out in the basement on his own watching, while the kids and I stayed in the living room.) That evening, Derek and Kevin got to watch the Priesthood session together, which is always a wonderful experience.

Sunday dawned, and Kevin felt much better.  And he sat at the piano and played beautiful music for us, which is one of my favorite things.  

We had our family (with Becky) Come Follow Me study at our normal time at 10am, and were done in time for conference at noon, but before it started, the kids were finally able to do the special treasure hunt they had planned for Kevin.  Lily and Arthur made clues and his prize, which was hidden in the shower of the basement bathroom, was a giant golden egg full of candy.  Good times!

The last two sessions of conference were just fabulous, and some of our favorite things were having speakers from countries all over the world (some of their talks were prerecorded because they were in places like Africa and New Zealand) and the choirs/musical numbers from different places in the world - especially the Korean children's choir.  While we listened, Lily did a sticker book her grandma gave her, Arthur worked on a packet of activities, and Derek put together a puzzle.  It was so wonderfully quiet and peaceful.

And when I wasn't jotting down notes from the talks, I was working on sewing my tree skirt project.  I got quite a bit done, which was awesome, and totally worth my super sore fingers.

And we had treats - Derek helped me make a red velvet bundt cake, and Lily helped me make orange rolls - yum!!

And like I mentioned before, the entire weekend was rejuvenating as we were "nourished by the good word of God." There were so many amazing talks and teachings, but I will leave you with one of my favorites, by Elder Dieter F Uchtdorf, "Because of Jesus Christ our failures do not have to define us. They can refine us."

Waiting Upon the Lord

Life is an interesting thing.  Sometimes there are promptings to do certain things, and you move forward toward those things you are prompted to do, only to have to be patient and wait on the Lord.  It reminds me of when Kevin got out of the Army and applied to a job, and we knew it was what the Lord wanted us to do, but then we had to wait for everything to fall into place.  Or when I knew I was supposed to have another baby, but years went by before it actually happened.  I have heard it called "waiting upon the Lord," (Psalms 37:9 " . . . but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.") and it is interesting how much of our lives we are to move forward with faith and "wait upon the Lord."

Sometimes as I am waiting upon the Lord, I get discouraged. Sometimes the weight of trials and life weigh me down and I find it hard to move forward, or even have a desire to get out of bed in the morning. There is a little mantra that has helped me - Win the morning, win the day. I work out Monday through Saturday, every morning, almost without fail. I do it for my physical health, but more than that, I do it for my mental health.

Some days it is much harder than others. Some days, like today, I come to our little work out/storage room and I sit down and try to get myself to move. I often find myself having heartfelt conversations with my Father in Heaven as I pray, working through things and trying to get up the motivation to deal with, not only my work out, but life. Sometimes it takes a lot longer to get moving, but I eventually do, and I am never sorry. Moving every morning may not remove my burdens or anxieties, but it helps me to carry them better. And in so doing, I really do feel like if I win the morning, I do win the day .

There are other things that I can do to help me pull out of my worries and move forward.  One of the biggest things that helps me is studying the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I start each day with scripture study, and often add to it with listening to talks by the prophet and apostles, that teach me and inspire me in my life. For the past few months, I have even had an extra study time with my teenagers to go along with our Come Follow Me study. It is so uplifting.

I love reading books, and reading - especially listening to audiobooks help me move forward and DO things.  I also have found that having something creative that I am working on helps to soothe my soul.  Right now I am in the midst of a project to make a fun nativity tree skirt for next Christmas, and although I am making a giant mess, the process of creating something is so therapeutic.

Fresh flowers in my house also help, and since there aren't any to be had in my yard right now, I bought some at the store to brighten my mood and bring me joy. Soon, when the spring weather finally arrives, I will also have my garden therapy - working outside planting and tending my flowers and garden is an amazing way for me to ease stress and anxiety. And so, as I find myself encountering changes, new things, and once again "waiting upon the Lord," I am grateful that I have ways to boost my spirit and heal my soul so that I have the strength to move forward, even as I wait.

"This is My Day, My Baptism Day"

Arthur has been looking forward to his baptism into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for years. He was so very excited to take this step on the path back to our Father in Heaven, following the example of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  And on Saturday, he got to do just that.

As part of the program, Kevin and Arthur had been practicing a special musical number for the past few weeks.  It was the same song that Kevin sang at his own baptism, and is called "My Baptism Day."  I loved watching them practice, and he performed it so beautifully at the baptism.  (Scroll to the bottom to watch the video.)

Because of Covid restrictions, the in-person gathering was rather small, but those that were there were very important and special - our family, Kevin's parents, Becky (our Pandemic family), and the bishop.  That said, because of the circumstances, we had a zoom gathering for the baptism that included family members from around the country, including my mom, and we even had all three of Arthur's elementary school teachers (Mrs. Krebs, Mrs. Wozniak, and Mrs. Kubistek), his behavior specialist (Ali), and some dear friends and neighbors.  It was amazing to get to share it with all of those people!!

One of the extra special things about Arthur's baptism, was that Derek was old enough and worthy to be ordained a Priest in the Aaronic Priesthood, which meant he could perform the ordinance of baptism for Arthur. (Arthur just adores his older brother, and so it was extra special that he could do it.) And so right before we started the baptismal program, Derek was ordained a Priest - and even had his Grandpa Dennis there to assist.  My heart was overflowing. 

It was such a special and sacred day for our family.  And everyone who was there participated somehow, Lily gave the opening prayer, Arthur and Kevin performed a musical number, Grandma Valerie gave a talk on baptism, Derek performed the baptism, Lily and I were able to be the witnesses for the baptism, I spoke about the Gift of the Holy Ghost, Kevin performed the confirmation with Dennis and Bishop in the circle, Becky gave him a special message from the primary, and Bishop shared a message, with Grandpa Dennis saying the closing prayer.  It was perfect.

And when we arrived home afterward, there was the cutest congratulations sign and balloons, as well as a bag of treats from our good friends, the Gould family.  It was the perfect way to cap off a wonderful experience.

And here is a video of Arthur's song.  It was beautiful!

 

 

A Christmas Star

This year, there is a special "Christmas star" in the sky. President Nelson had the most uplifting message about it. 

Tonight, December 21, is the winter solstice, regarded in many traditions as the darkest and longest night of the year. How fitting that astronomers and scientists are predicting tonight’s appearance of a “Christmas star,” formed by the great conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter, a rare event not seen in nearly 400 years.

 

While we don’t need to ascribe any special meaning to the actual phenomenon, tonight’s Christmas star will undoubtedly draw our minds and hearts to the original star that appeared in the heavens to mark the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. For the shepherds in Judea, for the Wise Men, and for the believers in the New World, the star brought more than mere physical light—it brought hope.

 

My dear friends, as we near the end of a challenging year, one that may feel to many as a time of uncertainty and darkness, let us never forget that the light of hope still shines brightly. Jesus Christ is the light, the life, and the hope of the world. As we turn our hearts to Him, He will pour out His love for us in unmeasured ways. I wish you all a very merry and hope-filled Christmas season. #LightTheWorld

This Christmas season, never let us forget the reason for the celebration - our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Luke 2:11-14

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

 

I love this beautiful artwork of the Savior's birth, especially the one of Mary and Joseph cuddled up with baby Jesus.

Sadly, we weren't able to see the Christmas star on Derek's birthday, because it was super cloudy.  Luckily, quite a few of my friends posted pictures of it on social media, and so I borrowed this picture from one of them.  I know it wasn't the real Christmas star, but I am so glad we had such a great reminder of the night that the Christ child was born.

On the Second Week of Christmas . . .

We started out the second week of Christmas with making our traditional candy train.  Every Halloween we hold out candy from the kids' loot so that we have it to make our train. And every year our train is completely unique and different, because they get different candy every year.  This year there was a severe lack of wheels for our train, and so we could only make three cars.

Every year it is an adventure to try and figure it out, and then it turns out amazing!
After we finished the train, we had a special Zoom call with the missionaries that are serving in our ward.  Since Covid restrictions mean that they can't come and eat dinner at our house (which is super sad, by the way), they meet with us on Zoom.  And one of the elders does magic tricks, which has Arthur eating out of the palm of his hand.  Ha ha!  He has taken to doing card tricks for Arthur after their message is over, and it is so much fun.

One of the best parts of the Christmas season, is sitting in the living room with the tree all lit up and beautiful.  We usually have it off during the day, but every morning, before the sun comes up, the kids turn it on.  And we turn it on by saying, "Alexa, Merry Christmas!" and on come the lights.

As we sit by the tree and watch movies, I have been working on a special Christmas sewing project, and I finished it this week.  I just love how it turned out!

On Monday, my nephew, Paul, who is serving his mission in Columbus, Ohio, arranged for an extended family zoom session as part of the Light the World initiative. It was a little crazy, but very fun.  And my sister, Cheryl, had her son Spencer, who is also on a mission, on her phone to join us all.  It made me so happy to see them all.

On Tuesday night, we were able to have our annual Young Women's secret Santa exchange and Christmas party. We were all masked up, per regulations, but in every other way, it was just the same as years past and so much fun.  I love these girls - and it is the last Christmas with Lily in YW.  So crazy.  I am going to miss her.

On Wednesday, for about fifteen minutes, we had snow! It really only lasted about fifteen minutes, but it was pretty while it lasted.

On Thursday night, as Arthur and I were cuddled up in bed reading Tales of the Fourth Grade Nothing, we heard a firetruck outside.  We threw on our coats and ran outside to see Santa riding in the firetruck  - so much fun!  He ran up to me afterwards shouting, "Best day ever!" And he doesn't even believe in Santa - ha ha!

Friday was an extra special day, as I was able to substitute for Arthur's second grade class.  He was extra good, just for me, and the class was so great.  It was such a fun day! I loved getting to know the kids in his class, and they were such a sweet group of kids.  And second grade is the best age.  It was a fabulous day, and the kids all begged me to come back the next time they need a sub ;).


Saturday morning would have normally been the Holiday pancake breakfast and Secret Santa Shop at Arthur's school, but since Covid won't allow it, instead they had online ordering for the Santa shop and a special drive through event.  Santa was there, they handed out the things people ordered, and gave every kid a gingerbread cookie to decorate, which was Arthur's favorite part.  In fact, he ate the cookie before we even made it home.  Nice. (Oh, and the day before, when I was subbing at his school, they had a special breakfast for the teachers, and there was the coolest gingerbread version of York Township on display. It was so cool!)

On Saturday afternoon, we loaded the whole family in the van and headed down to Washington DC so that we could see the lights at the DC Temple.  We stopped for dinner on the way at Cafe Rio, and it was delicious!

From there, we headed to the temple.  Because of Covid restrictions, the Festival of Lights was going to be a drive through event - no concerts or displays at the Visitor's Center, but I was just excited that it was still happening. We got there about 30 minutes early, which was a good thing, because there was already a huge line of cars winding through the parkingklot of the Stake Center, but they had a special radio station that was playing Christmas music from the Tabernacle Choir.  And we had donuts to enjoy that I had bought at Dunkin Donuts earlier in the day.  Plus, we had a view of the temple through the trees, and right at 6pm, we got to see the lights switch on - so cool! 

The Washington DC is pretty spectacular on its own, and then add thousands upon colorful lights to the mix, and it is unbelievable!  I especially loved the view of the Christus through the visitor center's window.


As we drove around, listening to the music and looking at the lights, it was magical and perfect.  And as I looked at the temple, my heart ached.  It was supposed to have been rededicated a few weeks ago, and now, because of Covid, it sits empty.  I miss that temple, but really, I miss being in any temple.  I am so glad we got to go see the lights though - it was such a special family Christmas activity. 

When we got home from DC, there was a special gift waiting for Arthur.  Our amazing Primary President, Sister Berg, hand painted each family a nativity.  Arthur loved it, and immediately set it up in his room. It was the perfect little detail to finish off our week.