Christmas Devotional

Every year on the first Sunday in December the First Presidency speaks at a Christmas Devotional. It's held at the LDS Conference Center in Salt Lake City, UT but it is broadcast all over the world. It's really words for everyone to live by.

Attending the Christmas Devotional has become a family tradition for my family. Each year, we pile into the vehicles and we go to hear the prophet's voice. It's very neat to watch it on television, listen to it on the radio,  or stream it from the web, but sometimes, when the opportunity arises, it is special to be in the same building as the prophet. I feel like it's an opportunity we should take sometimes, living so close to Salt Lake. Even though I hate the congested traffic and the crowded parking lots - we are blessed to live so close and I need to remember that. Anyway, my family loves to attend because not only do we get to see the prophet and his counselors just a few hundred feet away, we get to cross the street to temple square and look at the lights. :0) Double bonus.

This year was a little different because after looking at the lights on Temple Square we were by the reflection pond when huge gusts of wind started blowing through. We headed for the nearest exit. Not even one minute after the wind started, hail began falling; it started falling and just got heavier and heavier. The hail got so big it started hurting when it hit my frozen nose and face. Brian said the hail balls got stuck in his hair and started freezing his head. LoL. It was a joyous mile long run back to the car as it seems every person on temple square either took cover or joined the crowd of runners heading for the parking lot.

Before and After the Christmas Devotional Hail Storm

The Christmas Devotional was wonderful and an excellent way to get into the Christmas spirit.

Some Christmas Thoughts from the devotional:
 
The Good and Grateful Receiver
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Second Counselor in the First Presidency

"Every gift that is offered to us—especially a gift that comes from the heart—is an opportunity to build or strengthen a bond of love. When we are good and grateful receivers, we open a door to deepen our relationship with the giver of the gift. But when we fail to appreciate or even reject a gift, we not only hurt those who extend themselves to us, but in some way we harm ourselves as well...
...As we watch the excitement and wonder of children at this time of the year, perhaps we can remind ourselves to rediscover and reclaim a precious and glorious attribute of children—the ability to receive graciously and with gratitude...
...My brothers and sisters, my dear friends, what kind of receivers are we? Do we, like the Savior, recognize gifts as expressions of love?...
...I hope that this Christmas and every day of the year we will consider, in particular, the many gifts we have been given by our loving Heavenly Father. I hope we will receive these gifts with the wonder, thankfulness, and excitement of a child....
...This Christmas season and always, I pray that we will see the marvelous gift of the birth of the Son of God through the blessed eyes of a child. I pray that in addition to giving good gifts, we will strive to become good and grateful receivers. As we do so, the spirit of this season will enlarge our hearts and expand our joy beyond measure. In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen."


The Perfect Gift
President Henry B. Eyring
First Counselor in the First Presidency

"At Christmastime we celebrate our Heavenly Father’s perfect gift of His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. In token of this greatest of gifts, the Christmas season becomes for most of us a time of finding joy in giving to others...
...Success in giving joy at Christmas usually involves help from others. It is rarely found in solitary effort. Joining with others spreads the joy and makes it more lasting. And perhaps most important, invoking faith in the Savior, the Creator and source of all lasting happiness, invites the pure love of God, which is the greatest of all gifts and the sure source of enduring joy...
...Missionaries also offer the Book of Mormon to everyone they meet. It is a gift of love and a gift of testimony, created through God’s inspiration to faithful prophets over centuries. The Savior needed those prophets’ help to create gifts of testimony in the Book of Mormon, and He needs the missionaries’ help to share it....
...Families also offer priceless gifts of love and testimony at Christmastime through music as well as words... Music filled our small home with a spirit of peace. I could feel not only the love of my mother and father and two brothers, but of my Heavenly Father and the Savior Jesus Christ. I sensed that the love I felt then was something I had experienced before this life in the spirit world. I wanted more than anything else to feel it someday in a home of my own. And I wanted to live so that I could return with a family of my own to our heavenly home, where I knew Heavenly Father and the Savior would be waiting...

...It is my prayer that the Spirit will bless us this Christmas and in the years to come with the power to offer other gifts of love and of the testimony of Jesus Christ and His restored gospel. I know that the Spirit can lead each of us in many and simple ways to give love, faith, and joy to others at this season of rejoicing.

I testify that Jesus Christ was the literal Son of God and the Savior of the world. He was the perfect gift from our loving Father. At this and every season, our Savior invites us to join with Him and others to offer the priceless gift of joy. I pray that we will, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

Christmas Is Love

President Thomas S. Monson

Prophet

"The Christmas season, with its special meaning and beauty, often prompts a tear, inspires a renewed commitment to God, and provides—borrowing the words from the lovely song “Calvary”—“rest to the weary and peace to the soul. However, it is easy to get caught up in the pressure of the season and perhaps lose the very spirit in our lives that we’re trying to gain. Overdoing it is especially common this time of the year for many of us...

...Finding the real joy of Christmas comes not in the hurrying and the scurrying to get more done, nor is it found in the purchasing of gifts. We find real joy when we make the Savior the focus of the season. We can keep Him in our thoughts and in our lives as we go about the work He would have us perform here on earth. At this time, particularly, let us follow His example as we love and serve our fellowman....

...My brothers and sisters, true love is a reflection of the Savior’s love. In December of each year we call it the Christmas spirit. You can hear it. You can see it. You can feel it...

...There is no better time than now, this very Christmas season, for all of us to rededicate ourselves to the principles taught by Jesus the Christ. It is the time to love the Lord, our God, with all our heart—and our neighbors as ourselves. It is well to remember that he who gives money gives much; he who gives time gives more; but he who gives of himself gives all.

Let us make Christmas real. It isn’t just tinsel and ribbon, unless we have made it so in our lives. Christmas is the spirit of giving without a thought of getting. It is happiness because we see joy in people. It is forgetting self and finding time for others. It is discarding the meaningless and stressing the true values. It is peace because we have found peace in the Savior’s teachings. It is the time we realize most deeply that the more love is expended, the more there is of it for others...

...As the Christmas season envelops us with all its glory, may we, as did the Wise Men, seek a bright, particular star to guide us to our Christmas opportunity in service to our fellowman. May we all make the journey to Bethlehem in spirit, taking with us a tender, caring heart as our gift to the Savior. And may one and all have a joy-filled Christmas."

Doing December Daily 2012 part 1

Mike and I looked at our December calendar and saw how full it was. So naturally, instead of doing something halfway, we decided to make a goal to fill our calendar to the brink of overflowing and do something each day. It didn't have to be something big, or expensive, a simple walk to look at Christmas lights, a Christmas movie, making a Christmas treat, or participate in the other unique activities they have around the area.

I started Facebooking and Instagramming all the photos, but sometimes I just get tired of social media, and I fell off the bandwagon. But we kept taking photos for ourselves. I have a goal of making sure our lives are well documented before we have kids so that one day they can read about them and know that kind of things we liked to do.

Anyway, so here are some of the photos that we took through December 9. I may expound on some of these photos in other posts. I dunno...

December 1 - We went to see Twilight Breaking Dawn part 2.

We actually first tried to see Lincoln or Sky Fall but both of those theaters were too full. So this was our next choice. I have never read the books and didn't really know what to expect but LOVED it!

I thought that they did a really excellent job on it; such a happy ending!

December 2 - the First Presidency Christmas Devotional and Christmas Lights at Temple Square.

December 3 - We needed to stay home tonight, I needed sleep. So Mike popped in "Jingle All the Way." I slept through the whole thing and woke up when Mike told me it's over. I said, "No!! We need photos! Rewind it real quick!" Sadly, I wake up when the movie is over more often than not.

 December 4 - Applebees Steak & Shrimp. Dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow. Enough said.

December 5 - We went to Thanksgiving Point to watch them carve ice sculptures. I was kind of annoyed because it said it went from 6-9 so we went at 7 and it was pretty much all over. He had already carved the penguin and was just playing with a piece of scrap ice. But really Thanksgiving Point. If you are going to say something goes until 9 maybe enough ice that it really can go until 9 instead of ending at 7:30.

The 30 minutes we did watch were really neat. They ironed the ice to make it smooth, which I never would have thought that's something they would do. And the Flowers were three dimensional, which was pretty awesome. I think an ice sculpting class would be fun. I wonder if those are offered somewhere...

December 6 - We went to a company Christmas Party for a company that I used to work for. They held it at Boondocks and gave us all arcade tokens. We played lots of basketball, ski ball, racing games, combat games, air hockey, and a little punching game to see if Mike is stronger than all the other men - don't worry, he is. We then ate a yummy Christmas dinner and then watched 'Comedy Sports" a group from Provo. They were really funny and we laughed lots. It was nice to have excellent entertainment. Afterwards we played a white elephant game with gifts we had all brought - and then they drew for about 10 gifts. I won a Kindle Fire. :0D It was one of the smaller items but still, I was just thrilled to have won something!

 December 7 - We headed up to Aspen Grove to stay in one of their cabins for the Teagle Family Christmas Party. There were lots of games, yummy food, Elf the movie, and good fun all night long. It is a novelty to be married and be able to stay in the same room with Mike; it's one of my favorite parts of these getaways :0)

December 8 - Teagle Family Christmas Party Day 2 continues. We ate a larger than life breakfast, played more games, opened some gifts, went to lunch (questionable after such a huge breakfast) and then stopped at the Homestead Resort for a Sleigh Ride turned Wagon Ride due to lack of snow. :0)

December 9 - We made a Chocolate Cream Pie and drank Almond Punch around the Christmas Tree while watching Christmas shows. Totally relaxing and enjoyable evening.

Our fabulous Ward Christmas Party. It was an adult only party (which I will be sad about one day when we have kids - but this year - I loved it)! They had tables set up all over the gym and had three of the following tables:

- Fruit

-Vegetables

-Cheese balls

-Rolls

-Salad

-Main Dish

-Dessert

We spent 7 minutes at each table and then they had musical numbers by people in the ward. After the musical number was over, we switched tables. We were with different people each time and it didn't go in any particular order. We started with main dish then went to salad, cheese ball, fruit, dessert, roll etc. :) We have some awesome people in our ward and it was fun to get to meet them and talk to them in such a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere.

That's all for now - off to be with Mike - I will come back and share more December Doings later :0)

Holiday Lights at Thanksgiving Point

For Nika's birthday we went to the Holiday Lights at Thanksgiving Point. I was really excited, I thought it would be pretty amazing. We used to go to the Spanish Fork Holiday Lights and the Willard Bay Holiday Lights when I was a kid and I had great memories of them; so naturally, I thought the Holiday Lights at Thanksgiving Point would be above and beyond.

They weren't that spectacular actually. They were nice, but nothing I was too thrilled about. Mike & I rode in the back of Alisha & Brian's SUV with Aust and Nika. That may have been our problem. I think that the driver and the passenger get a great view of the lights and can see the whole show - but the people in the back, not so much. We couldn't see anything fully that went over the road, and then the things out the window - we could only see what was on our particular side. This wouldn't normally be a problem, because the Spanish Fork Holiday Lights and the Willard Bay Holiday Lights are displayed in a circle shape. So you can drive around as many times as you want, and then it has a "Q" like line which is where you enter and leave so you can leave whenever you want. The Thanksgiving Point Holiday Lights are in the shape of a "U" so they force you leave. Must be their form of crowd control. Kinda lame. I wasn't impressed. But oh well, now we know.

The lights were still fun, Nika laughed a whole heck of a lot at random displays, like the penguin falling off the igloo.

They had "Santa's Flight School" and a Thanksgiving Point section where they had lights to represent their Dinosaur Museum and the Thanksgiving Point Gardens.

At the end they had the story of the Christ's birth accompanied by photos and then a life-size nativity at the end. That was a nice touch for them to add to their display. I thought a lot how when I was growing up they were always "Christmas Lights," but now, because some people believe "Christmas" is offensive, they have changed the name to be "Holiday Lights." And while Thanksgiving Point calls them "Holiday Lights" to be politically correct, they throw in the nativity at the end - celebrating Christ's birth. I loved that.

Facebook Find

MERRY CHRISTMAS from Mike & I

Wedding Songs

So today we were trying to decide the final two songs to accompany our last two wedding video segments. I started reflecting about the videos we have received thus far and all of the wedding songs or love songs that are special to us.

If you know Mike you know that he is VERY into music. He was very selective about our choices. He wanted something very unique and something that you wouldn't find in too many other (if any) wedding videos.

I am into lyrics - so he would send me songs that he felt were appropriate and then I would listen to the lyrics and make sure they held some sort of meaning for our relationship.

I just went through all the videos and found the songs so that I can remember them.

Date Video:
Collective Soul (Mike's FAVORITE Band) - Under Heaven's Skies



Bridal Video: 
Dave Barnes - God Gave Me You


Luncheon: 
Marc Cohn - True Companion



Temple: 
Holley Maher - Perfect Day


Father/Daughter Dance: 
Heartland - I Loved Her First
 


Mother/Son Dance: 
Rascal Flats (Mike's mom picked this one so it's a little more common) - My Wish


Mike/Jen First Dance: 
Boys Like Girls (feat Taylor Swift) - Two Is Better Than One


Reception: 
Foster the People - I Would Do Anything For You


I absolutely love all of our songs. I think I will create a play list and then just listen to them over and over and over again ;)

Thanksgiving 2012

Our first Thanksgiving together. Lovely.

We had a busy weekend as we were driving north to south to east to west back north, even more north, south, and then south again (with a few more north and souths and easts and wests thrown in there).

I started off working my glory job at Hill Air Force Base. Everyone was really antsy to get out of there and celebrate the holidays. Some buildings got out THREE hours early. We were released ONE hour early. I'll take it. I drove separate than the van pool for this very occasion. I rushed my little black Alero home and I drove in a way that would make Mike upset. Even with Thanksgiving traffic I made the 70 miles home in just 50 minutes. Woot. Woot.

We packed and headed to Myton for some local pizza and UNO action with Mike's family. Sadly, because of my sleeping schedule - I headed to bed before ten. (This did get later and later as the weekend wore on.)

Thanksgiving day we woke up, had a yummy French Toast breakfast and headed to the courts. Yay for Roosevelt High Tennis Courts. We took up three of the four courts with some double action going on. Mike and I had never played tennis before. Do you believe that? A first within a first. He actually really impressed me and I can't wait to play with him more. I told him if we would have been playing the past four years (dating time) he could be playing in the US Open by now. Sadly, we haven't so in turn he's not.

We went back and helped prepare some food for later that afternoon. And then....

We ate.

We ate alot.

I won't lie. I was disappointed that they didn't have my grandma's homemade banana pie. Okay, my grandma makes like a gazillion types of pies for Thanksgiving but I like the banana one best. I sent some quick texts to my dear family about the dilemma and I received a text back, "Mission Accomplished." My mom had nabbed me a piece and it would be waiting for me the next day when I arrived "home." YESSSS!

It's bad when you eat so much it's uncomfortable to sit isn't it? Yes. It is. That's what happened. (At this point I know Austin has stopped reading my blog post because it's too long. Oh well. Mike and I will want to remember these moments one day.) We watched Brave while we let the food work its way out of our stomachs.

It was our first time seeing Brave. We wanted to watch it to know if Black Friday shopping would be worth it or not. All we would go for is Brave. It ended up being worth it. A story about a girl who puts off being married because she loves her current life and adventures? Who couldn't love that story? When the time is right, she will get married. It was a story after my own heart.

So we went Black Friday shopping.

I don't want to bore you with all the details. But know this:

- I broke in to all of the cardboard boxes
- I tore through the saran wrap
- I ripped off tape and lifted off the delivery boxes
- I told the Assistant Manager of Wal Mart I was not leaving her side until she helped me
- A few rumors started with me and I heard them come back to me through random people
- While waiting for movies two cops and two Wal Mart employees came to search my stuff
- The clock hit 8 and I didn't even have to wait in line to check out - until Mike needed more stuff. I waited for him. When he came back I still didn't have to wait in line.
- I got Brave

That was all actually on Thursday night. So technically we didn't go Black Friday shopping.

Friday Mike rallied the troops to go shooting clay pigeons.

Then we headed to Logan.

Mike got his hair cut. (Handsome Handsome)

We went out for pizza.

And we played some intense rounds of Farkle (new favorite game).

Saturday morning we woke up super early (blast that 4 am alarm clock)  and when everyone else woke up my mom and dad made us an incredible breakfast of gingerbread waffles with homemade whipped cream and caramel sauce. *Delightful*

Then we caravanned up to Idaho with our permits to cut down our Christmas trees.

Mike found a tree he loved. I saw about twenty, so we settled on his choice. Our first Christmas tree and our first Christmas in our own house as a family. *Sentimental*

 

Annika rode in the truck with us. When we were almost home we commented on how pretty the sunset was. Annika quickly flipped the iPhone to camera and took a photo out the window. Although you can't really see how pretty the sunset is - I love the photo.

And to put any questions to rest about her and the littlest one, I think this says it all:

It was a good day. We were pretty worn out since we can't just get the first great tree we see  - we have to hike to the top of the mountain and then all over. :-) All for good fun.

Afterwards some people went shopping, some people went to the USU basketball game, some people played Blokus and Farkle, some people watched TV/Movies, and some people relaxed in a nice hot bath.

It was another late night which ended the next day with Mickey Mouse, monster truck, and alphabet shaped pancakes.

I can't believe I made it to work the next day.

6 Years

November 16, 2012 marked 6 years of me being home from my LDS mission to Washington DC South. I still think about it and miss it on a daily basis.


I miss talking about the gospel to every.single.person. we saw.
I miss that my sole purpose was to share it.
I miss answering people's questions and searching the scriptures for things I would have never thought about before, so that I could teach them.


Thank goodness for Mike.
Thank goodness I have a companion who is willing to study with me, pray with me, and discuss with me. A companion who reminds me of scripture study and prayer when I fall asleep at 6pm on our couch.
Thank goodness we have goals to work towards and a love of the gospel that we can share.


But it's not really the same.

I have to go to work. I have to focus my attention on jet manuals instead of on sharing the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

I have to think about worldly things - finances, vehicles, insurance, etc. Blech!

I hope that me missing it so much will change when we have kids. I just want to teach it again more than anything. I want to start from the beginning and see the plan of salvation click in someone's mind and I want to see how their eyes change when they understand Heavenly Father's plan for families. I want to hear someone pray from the first time again. I want to hear someone tell me that they felt something in their heart that they had never felt before, but they aren't sure what it is. I want to see them make sacrifices and I want to make sacrifices with them because I know blessings are in store. I want to see them develop a new love for their Savior Jesus Christ and I want to see them feel His love and for the first time realize that He does live and that He loves them individually. I can't wait to teach that to our kids. It will probably be all the better too since Mike will be my companion.

Six Years Ago:

Waiting for the train to arrive with commuters from the district. 

President & Sister Wixom and I. Last time I would visit the DC Temple as a missionary.

At the airport. (Our group coming was not this big. We went home with different Elders than we came with since they get to stay 2 years.)

Flying Home.

Side note: Last month, the Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson lowered the age of LDS missionaries. For young men from 19 to 18 and for young girls from 21 to 19. Wow. What an announcement it was. Coworkers and friends began asking me, "Would you have gone at 19?" I think anyone who knew me at CEU knows the answer to this question because for months I was announcing, "26 more months until I can send in my mission papers.... 25 more months until I can send in my mission papers... 24 more months... 23... 22... 21..." until finally I could send in my mission papers and wait for the call. I would have gone. But that would have changed so much in my life. I probably wouldn't have graduated from CEU, I wouldn't have gone to New York to be a nanny twice, and a whole slew of other events/experiences wouldn't have happened that I have come to appreciate and that have had huge impacts on my life and on me learning and growing on my own. I would have gone, but I hate thinking what I would have missed out on. For those that it does apply to - those that can go now - I am excited for them. I am excited for them to have missionary experiences at such a young age and to carry those experiences on throughout their lives as they travel and interact with people from all over. I am excited for them and I only wish that Mike and I could take a sabbatical and go out for a bit right now...