New Year's Eve

As part of her bread making project for Good Works in Personal Progress, Katelyn made pizza tonight for our dinner.  We took it over to Grandma's house and enjoyed dinner with her on this New Year's Eve!  It tasted really good!  Great job, Katelyn!  Here's another talent you can add to your repertoire!

A Sweet Day With Brooke!

Brooke received her endowment today! What a special and beautiful day!! It was absolutely FILLED with the Spirit and peace of the temple! Brooke and I had to be at the temple at 3:00 for the 4:30 session and we left early enough that we had time to take pictures out in front of the temple first. Darla Reed was walking up as we got there and offered to take some pictures for us—which was PERFECT timing! Everything just went so calmly and smoothly! The temple worker was so sweet that helped Brooke—her name was Sister Villareal. Brooke got to change in the Bride’s Room! (Megan did not get to do this!) While she did her own initiatory, I was able to complete the one initiatory that I had to do, so that worked out great and there was no line, so we both got right in! Then, we waited in the sealing waiting room for quite some time before Sister Wagner, the temple matron came to talk to us. There was 1 other girl receiving her endowment that day and we all went in together, which was different than when Megan went through… Megan and I were by ourselves with the matron, which I thought was a lot more personal, but this was ok too. Lori have us some great counsel and it was kind of cool that we know her personally! (I worked in Seminary with her for 2 years!) She gave some great counsel and insights about the temple and said that with the new emphasis on home centered/church supported learning with the new Come Follow Me program, that that has always been the pattern the Lord has followed in His Holy temples! It’s a house of learning and it is HIS home where He teaches HIS children! I liked that! Then we were taken into our session and the rest of the session came in from the chapel and I couldn’t believe how many were there from our ward! I almost started to tear up! What a beautiful session it was and Brooke is so smart! She’s has such great questions about everything and can’t wait to go back so we can talk about it more! (We are going to go back this next week, so she has a few times with us before she’s back at school—one of the reasons why we did it today versus next weekend.) I’m glad we did it this way, because that gives us more time together in the temple! Brooke is such a sweet, good girl! I’m so awed by her spirituality and her knowledge of the gospel AND her desire to go through the temple early (before getting her mission call) so that she could have the power of the temple during the semester to help her with her hard classes. (That’s what she told me was the reason why she wanted to go through so early.) When I was 18, I was NOT thinking that way at all! I’m just so happy with the way she is choosing to live her life—and she thinks through these things! She doesn’t do anything before she’s really thought and pondered and contemplated it first! I love her so much and what an example she is to me! It was a sweet session as I thought about what she must be thinking as she heard everything for the first time! I paid a little better attention! It was a sweet, sweet experience and day!

After, we went to dinner with Vance and Allyson and also Kristine Higbee—we invited her because she is like family and it just worked out with our reservation at the restaurant to have one more! I'm so glad that it all worked out that she could come! Mom, on the other hand, wasn’t able to go as she was really hurting by the end of the session, but that’s ok! I'm so glad that she could go to the session and I know she paid for it the next day as she was sore and had to miss church to recover! It was a fun dinner of visiting and enjoying conversation and laughing with everyone! It was so fun to catch up with Vance and Allyson! They are such good people too! It was such a beautiful day and I'm just so happy! The blessings of the temple are REAL! I'm grateful for the knowledge, power and authority we are able to be blessed with as we make these covenants and spend our lives striving to do what's right! My family is and always will be my greatest joy and blessing and I'm so grateful that they are all making good decisions and choices that are keeping them on the covenant path! I love this gospel!

Day After Christmas Fun with the Fam!

Below is the first picture Brooke took on her new Polaroid camera.  We went out to Gilbert Water Tower Plaza and were able to donate to the Light the World Giving Machine!  It was so fun!!  We bought a cow, a goat, 2 chickens, a resuscitation kit for babies and a girls empowerment package!  It was fun for everyone to choose something they wanted to give!  We went to a nice Italian dinner at Postino's and then for ice cream at Creamistry afterward.  We came home and still being in a Mary Poppins mood, we watched Saving Mr. Banks, and then another really weird movie called The Circle.  We stayed up LATE, but it was FUN!  Katelyn apparently hacked my phone and took some selfies....

Christmas Day!

We had a fun (and late) morning opening gifts this year.  The girls SLEPT IN until 9 o'clock!!!!  I got up just before 9 and got my shower in and they were chomping at the bit to get down and OPEN!  (We were supposed to get up at 7am, but when they didn't get up, I didn't wake them... oh NO!  I SLEPT and it felt GOOD!)  We had our traditional breakfast of German pancakes-- AKA  Hootnanny... I'm not sure where that name came from!  We had a really enjoyable day relaxing and being together.  Later on we went to see Mary Poppins Returns-- which was a very cute movie!  It prompted us to want to watch the first one, so we came home and watched that one too!  Megan and Todd also Face Timed us-- it was fun to see and talk to them as well.  They had a good Christmas up in Las Vegas with Todd's family!  Fun day!!!

PS: Katelyn gave me a set of wooden spoons that depict our family.  She did such a good job drawing our likenesses on these spoons!  We need one for Todd, but she didn't have enough spoons!  What a sweet little Christmas gift.  Katelyn, you are so creative!!!  Merry Christmas everyone!!

Christmas Eve!

Today was a fun day of shopping and wrapping with Brooke-- her stuff and my stuff for Bill!  Later Allison and Joshua came over for Christmas dinner.  Katelyn made rolls and they were yummy!  We enjoyed watching the girls open their Christmas Eve jammies and we had fun just being together!  We read the story of the birth of the Savior in Luke and enjoyed all being home TOGETHER!  It was a beautiful night!  We were going to have Michelle Knupp and her daughter and mother come for dinner, but they misunderstood me and couldn't come tonight... it's always fun to share family time with others, so we were a little bummed they couldn't come, but we had a cozy dinner all at one table instead! 

One Hour of Church Today = PICTURES!!!

It was a merry Sunday before Christmas today!  We all coordinated clothes so we got some cute Sunday/Christmas pictures of our family-- we were just missing Todd and Megan... :/  It is such a magical time of year, and we've sure enjoyed this beautiful season of celebrating our Savior-- His birth, life and gift of the Atonement!!  Merry Christmas!!