For those of you who visit our blog, you will find that I am a very sequencial blogger and when I post something new, I set the exact date of the event. Sorry if that messes anyone up.
My really wonderful friend Danielle sang this song "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" in Sacrament Meeting today (not this exact version). This is my most favorite hymn! Danielle has the most beautiful voice and she sounded angelic as she sang today! Thank you Danielle for sharing your talents today! Although I am not blessed with an angelic singing voice, I can recognize a beautiful voice when I hear one (can that be a talent??)! I truly appreciate those who can sing and play (my other dear friend Brooke played the piano for Danielle and Brooke is amazing) and share their testimonies through music with me!! Music truly speaks to my Spirit and I feel my Savior's love through music!!
Sacrament Meeting today was wonderful! The music was beautiful and the testimony's shared were powerful!! Our beautiful neighbor, Grace (who is 11 years old and one of my girls most favorite babysitters) sang this song "Gethsemane" today!! WOW! Grace has a beautiful voice and this song is so simple, yet so powerful and profound!
Here are the words to the song:
GETHSEMANE by Roger and Melanie Hoffman
Jesus climbed the hill to the garden still His steps were heavy and slow Love and a prayer, took Him there to the place only He could go
Gethsemane Jesus loves me so He went willingly to Gethsemane
He felt all that was sad wicked or bad all the pain we would ever know While His friends were asleep He fought to keep His promise made long ago
Gethsemane Jesus loves me so He went willingly to Gethsemane
The hardest thing that ever was done The greatest pain that ever was known The biggest battle that ever was won This was done by Jesus The fight was won by Jesus
Gethsemane Jesus loves me so He gave His gift to me in Gethsemane
Gethsemane Jesus loves me so He gives His gift to me from Gethsemane
As Grace sang, my heart was full! The line "so He gave it willingly" hit me pretty hard. Jesus Christ willingly gave His life for me--for all my weaknesses, shortcomings, sins, heartaches and pains. He suffered willingly for me because Heavenly Father asked Him to atone for my sins. Jesus Christ was 100% obedient to His Father's will! I wish I was as obedient as Jesus Christ!
I am surrounded by such wonderful family and friends! I couldn't ask for anything more. Our next door neighbor bore his testimony today about Jesus Christ today too! Nathan is a great young man!!
I heard such powerful testimonies of Jesus Christ today. A friend, Amy, reminded me that Jesus Christ already paid the price for my sins and I need to be willing to allow Him to heal me! I cannot express in words the feelings I felt and the things that touched my heart today!
Our Bishop, Bishop Barnett (my other next door neighbor--see I told you I was surrounded by great and wonderful people) challenged us to ponder the following questions:
1- What has Jesus Christ done for me?
2-What have I done for Him?
3- What am I doing for Jesus Christ?
I wrote the following in my little notebook at church today:
We knew and loved each other before this life. We cannot do it on our own. We need one another. Jesus Christ loved us enough to do the Father's will. Jesus Christ freed me from death and sin. The Atonement of Jesus Christ does heal. Jesus Christ can do His work! I am so lucky to have the knowledge and testimony I have!
Bishop Barnett read Isaiah 53:3-5 which says,
"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
"Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:3-5)
I have a testimony of my Savior, Jesus Christ. I know He lives! I know He loves me! I know He is my Savior and my Redeemer! My heart if full!!
Yesterday and today, I got everything ready for our 14 Days of Valentine's! Everything is put together with a treat and valentine! Mallory, Hayley and Brittney are so excited to see what has been left for them each morning!
In November, Mallory, Hayley and Brittney participated in a Reading Marathon where they read at least 20 minutes per night for 4 weeks. Each of them met their goal of reading at least 480 and were invited to a fun to a fun celebration at the Utah State Fairpark. We were able to watch a star show, make slime, plant flower seeds, make crowns, watch a magic show, make masks, eat snow cones, make capes, see animals from Madagascar (a cockroach, turtle, millipede and a hedgehog) and make harmonicas. We also watched an anteater run circles in an empty plastic pool!! The girls also received a brand new book!!
One of the highlights was to meet several characters from PBS Kids! We met Curious George, the Cat in the Hat, and Dog from Word World! (My girls LOVE PBS Kids!!!)
Hayley: a chemist in action measuring chemicals to create Glitter Slime
Hayley, Brittney and Mallory listening to the zoologist from Hogle Zoo talk about anteaters
Brittney and Mallory blowing a pompom through a maze
Hayley shooting a dart gun (I was amazed at how well all 3 of our girls did hitting the target!)
Scott enjoyed his day off today by going ice fishing by himself at Rockport. He came home with 4 yummy trout for dinner!! (The longest two were both 17 inches long, one was 14 inches and one 13 inches).
For Christmas, Mallory asked Santa for Squinkies (Squinkies are little characters/animals that come in a little bubble). A few days before Christmas, Mallory started asking for additional accessories for Squinkies that she really wanted. I explained to Mallory that Santa probably had all her presents ready for her and it was too late to ask for something new.
Santa ended up bringing Mallory a package of 16 Squinkies and the Squinkie Mall didn't make it in Santa's Sack this year!!
On Christmas, Mallory created "Beds" for all of her Squinkies out of Legos. Over the past few weeks she has created her own Squinkie Amusement Park and her own Assesories to play with. It has been so fun to listen to Mallory explain everything she has created and how things work. I love seeeing her imagination at work!!
Here is a look at her creations:
The Squinkies beds (the special green bed with flowers on it is for the Squinkie of the Day--each night the Squinkies move one bed to the right so they all have the opportunity to be Squinkie of the Day)
A closer look at the Squinkie Beds
The Squinkie Amusement Park (made from our Geotrax train tracks). In the center of the Amusement Park is the blue duck pond (water=blue lid to a bin; ducks=Legos and lilypads=Legos)
The Squinkies Airplane
The Squinkies Restaraunt inside the Amusement Park (notice the yellow flower on the table inbetween the two high back chairs)
The ducks and lilypads on the pond in the center of the Roller Coaster
This morning, I woke up and made lunches and got Scott off to work. As soon as Mallory, Hayley and Brittney woke up, they made me go get back in bed. They have secretly been planning to make me breakfast in bed all week for my birthday (I kindof heard their plans on more than one occasion--they don't always use a whisper voice;)). I jumped back in bed so they could serve me my breakfast in bed!! They were so funny to listen to as they prepared my special breakfast! After about 5-7 minutes, they brought me a small cookie sheet with a bowl of Oreo Ice Cream and a glass of red Kool-Aid that they had made. After delivering my tray, they all scurried downstairs to dish themselves up a bowl of ice cream too! (I'm sure there teachers at school had second thoughts about my mothering skills when my girls went to school and announced they had ice cream for breakfast!!) Mallory, Hayley and Brittney all joined me on my bed to eat our bowls of ice cream for breakfast! They also brought me a box of 20-30 pictures and cards they had made for me throughout the week! I am so lucky to have such three wonderful little girls who made my birthday so memorable!
I really didn't do anything on my birthday that I normally do (like laundry, dishes and cleaning--I saved it for the next day). I watched "The Biggest Loser" episode from the night before while Brittney was at preschool and read a book for awhile too. I received many "Happy Birthday's" from friends and family on Facebook. I have wonderful friends that dropped by little gifts that made turning Thirty Something not quite so bad!!
I also received the beautiful family pictures we had taken in November for my birthday!! I love them and am so glad they are part of my birthday gift!!
Scott brought home an ice cream cake on Friday night for an additional day of my birthday celebration!!
Me, in bed, eating my wonderful breakfast of Oreo Ice Cream and red Kool-Aid (You have to love the "I just woke up 20 minutes ago" look)
My tray!! (I really ought to scrub that cookie sheet!)
Hayley and I eating our ice cream
Hayley loves the idea of eating ice cream for breakfast
Brittney and Mallory taking a picture of my Birthday Cake with their own cameras
Brittney, Mallory and Hayley taking pictures with their own cameras!!
My BABY is growing up!!! Brittney wanted some strawberries after church today so she got herself a stool, knife and the strawberries and washed them and cut off their tops (plus a little bit more)!! Brittney is growing up WAY TOO FAST!!!
Scott made homemade shakes for everyone on New Year's Eve!! We all got to choose which kind of shake we wanted and Scott went to work!! They were delicious!! This just may be a new New Year's Eve tradition!!
Brittney waiting for her Strawberrry Shake
The Shake Master at work!! (in the background behind Hayley ;))
Today we went to test out Scott's new Ice Fishing equipment he received for Christmas! First we drove to Rockport Reservoir and drove around. Because it has been so warm, the ice had about an inch of water on top of it. We decided this may not be the best scenario for ice fishing with three little girls so we drove up to Smith and Moorehouse Reservoir in the Uinta's. Scott had his sled packed to the hilt with our canopy (with tarps around all four sides to keep the heat in), clamps, chairs, a heater, auger, ice fishing poles, tackle box, a fish finder, a single burner camp stove, mess kit, cooler and even a port-a-potty (he realized he might not get four girls to go fishing with him until he had all the amenities of home-- or at least the amenities of our trailer--which we so very much appreciated). Scott used his muscles to pull the packed sled across the ice! He kept going and going and going until we were in the middle of the reservoir! We set up our fishing hut and Scott dug several holes in the ice (which was 12 inches thick) before we realized I forgot the bait back in the truck. I walked the 1/2 mile or so back to the truck and retrieved the bait while Scott got his fish finder all set up. The girls had fun playing on the ice and getting their gloves all wet! After an hour of watching our poles and waiting for them to move, we decided to fix lunch since the fish weren't biting. Scott fired up our single burner camp stove and heated our chicken we brought for chicken sandwiches. We watched our poles some more and they never moved. After four hours, we began to pack up. Scott kept warning the girls to stay away from the holes in the ice so they didn't fall in. Just as we were finishing up, Hayley's foot fell into one of the holes. I wish we would have taken a picture at the instant of her face, she knew she was in trouble because she was goofing around!! Luckily, only one foot got wet, so Hayley and I took off for the truck so we could get her warm. We arrived at the truck and got everything loaded just as it was getting dark. We had a fun time testing out our ice fishing equipment without any luck catching our dinner! Maybe next time! Mallory
Brittney and Hayley kickin' back
The view of our hut from the truck
Mallory scooping out the ice chips--the little Buddy Heater to keep us warm is right by Hayley
Hayley scooping ice before the scoop got broken
Britt B
Scott checking the fish finder--every once in awhile a fish would swim by
Rosie has been visiting our house the last few days!! After heading to the North Pole last night, she came back and hid in Scott's stocking!! We have found her on our Christmas tree, on the refrigerator and among the Little People Nativity. Where will we find her next??
