Almost Complete

I am THANKFUL for:
A beautiful home to live in.
A neighborhood that is safe and full of wonderful neighbors.
Wonderful friends who love me for being me.
My husband's joy in his job.
My husband's job that allows me to stay home with my children.
A country that is STILL a choice nation.
Being able to come "HOME" again.
Having a brother and sister-in-law and niece and nephew nearby.
Having a wonderful Mother and Father-in-law nearby.
Being born to "goodly parents" who love me unconditionally.
A sister who is my BEST FRIEND.
2 older brothers who still look out for me.
A prophet to lead us in these hard and trying times.
Belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
A marriage that has lasted 15 years.
A husband whom I love.
Four beautiful, healthy, smart, children who make our home complete.
Well...ALMOST COMPLETE
Lastly, I am thankful for our 5th child who is due to be born on May 30, 2009!

A Taste of Heaven in the Midst of Evil

Yesterday morning I quickly became discouraged as I read through my email. I read about protests by opponents of Proposition 8; churches being vandalized; church goers being bullied; and now government officials are aligning against the very people they were elected to represent and serve. The battle has only begun. As I read about all of this opposition, I am reminded of the Gadianton Robbers who are mentioned many times in the Book of Mormon. These robbers "did combine against the people of the Lord, and enter into a covenant to destroy them...". Does this sound familiar? They would stop at nothing! The opposing side of Prop 8 will stop at nothing! The day after the election, their spokesperson promised that it wasn't over. She said that they won't stop until marriage between 2 men and/0r 2 women is legal. How far will they take this? Well, just today I read an article saying that envelopes containing a "white powder" was sent to the LA Temple and the Salt Lake City Temple. This is what terrorists do! How can this be tolerated in our country? Why isn't our president saying anything? Why isn't he protecting the Mormons?
As I said, I was discouraged and perhaps a little upset (OK...a lot upset)! But my day quickly changed. James, Steven, Kirsten, and I dressed up in our church clothes and drove to the Oakland Temple where we met up with our LDS homeschool group. The temple president and his wife, Pres. and Sis. Hunter, let us gather in the lobby of the temple. He and his wife spoke to the children (about 40 of them in all). Then the children sang "I Love to See the Temple" and "A Child's Prayer" to Pres. and Sis. Hunter. The spirit was so strong! Everyone was moved to tears. As we walked out of the temple, James immediately said to me, "Wow! I felt so good inside there. I knew I would feel the Spirit, but I didn't know it would be that strong!"

While the teenagers performed baptisms for the dead, I along with other moms, took the little ones on a walk around the temple grounds. The morning fog was just burning off. You could see the entire bay area including the Golden Gate Bridge. Next, we went inside the Visitor's Center where we explored the many different exhibits and watched a 15 minute pioneer movie. We ended our trip eating lunch in front of the Tri-Stake Center with the other homeschool families.

As we walked back to the car, Steven said, "This was the best field trip I've ever been on!"
The ride home was peaceful. The rest of the day was peaceful. I will never forget this day. I know that James, Steven, and Kirsten won't forget it either. Each of our hearts were touched.

VOTE!

Winston Churchill, October 29,1941

You cannot tell from appearances how things will go. Sometimes imagination makes things out far worse than they are; yet without imagination not much can be done.

Those people who are imaginative see many more dangers than perhaps exist; certainly many more than will happen; but then they must also pray to be given that extra courage to carry this far-reaching imagination.

But for everyone, surely, what we have gone through in this period ...this is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.

Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.

Our Trick or Treaters

This year, Halloween brought us a butterfly, Dracula, a mad scientist, a football player, and Daphne. They turned our household into such a fright! But what fun we all had! David and Michael took the kids trick-or-treating, while I handed candy to our scary visitors. I have never met a more polite, scary group of trick-or-treaters.
My family returned with pillow cases full of goodies.
Now, who will eat all their candy first?
My guess is on miss "sweet-tooth" Kirsten.
While she eats and enjoys her sweets,
I pray for no cavities!

A Mess Turned into a Masterpiece

It takes "guts" to turn this mess into a work of art.

I carved this Longhorn Kirten's pumpkin for Justin.

Steven's James'