We just had Stake Conference this weekend and now I have a list of things to put into action. Normally I go and listen to the talks and think, "Wow, that was great and then do my same old stuff." This time in conference the stake president recalled an experiment that he did. (Please note that the retelling of this story is from my memory. I should have taken better notes but Landen was a handful the last hour of conference!) He asked random people in the stake what challenge we had been given recently by one of the first Presidency. Out of all the people that he asked only 2 could give him one out of the 2 things that they had challenged us. I couldn't even remember what President Ridge was talking about so I had no idea either. Then he pointed out this fact, "How can we be doing what the prophets say if we don't even remember what they have asked us to do!" That hit me hard. I have made a resolve to try to take notes of the things that are said and put those into action. It seems overwhelming when I am already struggling to keep up with what I remember that I am supposed to be doing and now I need to add in more.... I can do it with the Lord's help.
Just an FYI- one of the two things that we were challenged to do was to pray that countries that aren't allowing the Gospel to be taught will soften and let the church in. I wonder what kind of political / economical impact that could/would have on us????
Couple other things that stuck out to me:
Paying tithing: "The Lord will provide for our need, not our greed."
Also- "If we pay our tithing, Satan will be rebuked for our sakes.
Ministring Angels: They are both Heavenly and mortal. Are we in tune so that we can help be a ministring angel to someone? A story was shared about someone who was in tune enough to give some words of advice and comfort that mended a family. Just goes to show you that it doesn't have to be large thing to make an incredible difference.
Anyway- Just a few thoughts and I think since I have written them down that it will help me to make them actions in my life!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
Testing... Testing... 1,2,3...Trying to figure out the blog setup!
I want to add pictures to the body of my blog and hopefully I can figure that out now! I think that I am adding a random picture from Bryce's graduation party this past May. I caught a snapshot as he was sliding down the big blow-up slide we had there. Hopefully it works!
What Makes A Salad????
If you ask Braxton what is in his salad, this was his response this morning," Gummy lifesavers, candy necklace pieces cut in half and chopped up gum. You have to stir it all around, freeze it for a minute and then microwave it. You will just LOVE to eat it!"
I was trying hard not to laugh. He was busily cutting each candy necklace piece with a butter knife and usually half of it would fly to some unknown part of the kitchen when he cut it. He spent a good 1/2 hour working on his "salad" that he made out of the laundry treats he earned this morning. He was VERY proud of his masterpiece (and very good to share it with Landen). I might just have to write down his recipe!
I was trying hard not to laugh. He was busily cutting each candy necklace piece with a butter knife and usually half of it would fly to some unknown part of the kitchen when he cut it. He spent a good 1/2 hour working on his "salad" that he made out of the laundry treats he earned this morning. He was VERY proud of his masterpiece (and very good to share it with Landen). I might just have to write down his recipe!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Our Little Miracle
This week has been a little bit crazy around our house. I was just feeling on top of the laundry, housework and primary demands when Abbey started throwing up Tuesday afternoon. Then Landen followed that same night at the dinner table. After a few more times and a long night with Landen we thought that they were over it. They both were perky and eating the next day while Braxton and I disinfected everything that we could think of. That wasn't too bad until Thursday night / Friday morning when I noticed that Landen was whiney and wouldn't eat or drink anything. I wondered if he had a sore throat so I tried to check it but that must be a private spot for him cause he wasn't budging a whole lot when the flashlight came out of the cupboard. I layed him down for a nap and he went to sleep without the usual fight. When he woke up he had a slight fever and just layed there not moving a muscle. It seemed kindof sudden but I made an appointment with the doctor for that evening. When we got to the office the doctor told me that he was really dehydrated. Landen could only muster out 1 tear as he fought with all of his might to not have the doctor check him over. If we would have been able to get into the doctor's office sooner that day they would have sent Landen straight over to the hospital for an IV. Since the ER was the only thing open at the time they told me to take him home and push fluids as much as I could and hope for improvement. (I hadn't realized how dehydrated the poor little guy was. I just thought that he might have a sore throat.) Anyway- we headed home and he started throwing up all over in the car. Of course we were stopped by a train along the way that was sitting on the tracks and not moving anywhere. I wasn't in the mood to wait so I flipped around and took anothe route home and probably broke the law by driving over another section of railroad tracks that had flashing lights but no train. (I wasn't in the mood to be patient tonight when no train was actually moving!) Anyway- we gave Landen a little bath and he looked like a little skeleton in the tub- I was ready to panic. He still wouldn't drink a thing and we finally put him to bed. I worried and prayed for him all night. We made it through the night without any throwing up and he woke up about 5 am wanting a drink! I sat with him on the couch for a while as he clenched onto his sippy cup of pedialyte and drifted off to sleep. (He never did let go of that sippy cup the rest of that night.) When he woke up in the morning he wanted a million drinks and couldn't get enough cereal to eat! I was just waiting for it to all come back up and it never happened. The more he drank the more spunk he received and by that evening he was running wild with the best of them! I am so thankful for his immediate recover and Heavenly Father answering our prayers! I still can't believe the transformation of that little guy from a little skeleton that was laying around to my little fireball of energy all within 24 hours! Thank you to everyone who was praying for him! We really appreciate it!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Funny little story...
The other day Abbey got up early and was dressed right away for school. When she came in to show me her outfit it looked really cute on her. It took me a minute to realize that she didn't have any capris like the ones that she was wearing and I asked her if she had on Braxton's jeans and she defiantely said "NO!" I let it go for a minute thinking that she would calm down and change her pants on her own but that didn't happen. It took almost a 1/2 an hour and showing her the tag in the jeans that said "5T" to convince her that the jeans were Braxton's. She still didn't want to take them off cause they looked so cute on her. Finally when Braxton went to get dressed and realized he had no pants to wear, she melted and gave him back his pants. I wished that I would have taken a picture of it but nothing much would have looked out of the ordinary if you didn't know she was wearing "capris" in the middle of January!
Juggling January
January has started off on the right foot! On New Year's Day we were able to take the kids and Grandma and Grandpa Christenen miniature golfing at Trafalga and then to dinner at KFC. We had a BLAST!!!
After the holidays were over it was time to get back to work. This last week I spent the entire week (mostly in my pj's and no make-up) cleaning the house. It was nice to spend some time at home (after we have had a crazy December with a million fun activities) and get a few things cleaned up. It is a good thing that I spent some time doing some deep cleaning cause everything else looks back to normal today with laundry to fold and dishes to do! Such is life! :)
In all of my efforts to clean up... I worked up a little bit of an appetite and I didn't want to be wasteful with any of the Christmas treats that were sitting around so I had to take care of those myself. Man.. chocolate is so FABULOUS!!! I guess I am just making sure that I stay motivated to use the elliptical so that we didn't waste our money and I don't have to dust one more thing!! I do want to blame Braxton a little bit for the sugar binge cause he kept begging me all day to open the treats that we hadn't eaten yet so that he could have "just a taste" and I fell for it. It probably wasn't too hard to talk me into it though.
I am neck deep in Primary stuff and it is tuff to balance everything that needs attention in my life. Hopefully it will all work out and the kids and Bryce won't feel neglected too much. I love being in primary though and absolutely love to hear the songs! Nothing could be more precious!
Our nerves have been on edge all day while we were waiting to hear back from BYU-Idaho to see if Bryce won the deal to be their cell phone provider. Things aren't looking good since we were supposed to hear back this afternoon and no phone call came. It would be one of the biggest deals done at once w/ T-Mobile. He has spent so much time getting all of the details together for the proposal so I hope that his efforts will be rewarded... but if it doesn't work out... such is the life of sales! :(
Can I just say how much I love seeing the sun! It was so nice to have it come out for a bit today and the snow is melted off of most of the driveway. It makes me have spring fever and if winter is going to stick around for a while, I wish it would just keep snowing so that I don't get my hopes up to have them dashed. I need to remember that it is Utah and I can't expect spring in the month of January! (I haven't minded the break from shoveling the snow though!!!)
After the holidays were over it was time to get back to work. This last week I spent the entire week (mostly in my pj's and no make-up) cleaning the house. It was nice to spend some time at home (after we have had a crazy December with a million fun activities) and get a few things cleaned up. It is a good thing that I spent some time doing some deep cleaning cause everything else looks back to normal today with laundry to fold and dishes to do! Such is life! :)
In all of my efforts to clean up... I worked up a little bit of an appetite and I didn't want to be wasteful with any of the Christmas treats that were sitting around so I had to take care of those myself. Man.. chocolate is so FABULOUS!!! I guess I am just making sure that I stay motivated to use the elliptical so that we didn't waste our money and I don't have to dust one more thing!! I do want to blame Braxton a little bit for the sugar binge cause he kept begging me all day to open the treats that we hadn't eaten yet so that he could have "just a taste" and I fell for it. It probably wasn't too hard to talk me into it though.
I am neck deep in Primary stuff and it is tuff to balance everything that needs attention in my life. Hopefully it will all work out and the kids and Bryce won't feel neglected too much. I love being in primary though and absolutely love to hear the songs! Nothing could be more precious!
Our nerves have been on edge all day while we were waiting to hear back from BYU-Idaho to see if Bryce won the deal to be their cell phone provider. Things aren't looking good since we were supposed to hear back this afternoon and no phone call came. It would be one of the biggest deals done at once w/ T-Mobile. He has spent so much time getting all of the details together for the proposal so I hope that his efforts will be rewarded... but if it doesn't work out... such is the life of sales! :(
Can I just say how much I love seeing the sun! It was so nice to have it come out for a bit today and the snow is melted off of most of the driveway. It makes me have spring fever and if winter is going to stick around for a while, I wish it would just keep snowing so that I don't get my hopes up to have them dashed. I need to remember that it is Utah and I can't expect spring in the month of January! (I haven't minded the break from shoveling the snow though!!!)
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
My Elliptical Works!!!
After getting a faulty elliptical for Christmas and a lengthy and pain in the rear troubleshooting session with Nordic Track (which poor Bryce had to do), 2 hours return process at Sears and another week of waiting... I picked up my new elliptical today and Bryce has it all put together!!! He is downstairs trying it out right now and it doesn't make any horrible grinding noises or start acting possessed while you use it! YEAH!!!! I can't wait to use it! ... I just need to get Bryce off of it now! :) I guess I can share.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Still figuring out this whole blogging thing... computer details....
I am going to try and change up my blog a little so be patient as I figure things out. I want to make it a little cuter and have things stand out more so we will see what happens. :)
Wow! So much has happened!
Where do I begin? I have gotten so behind on my blog! Life has been a little bit crazy around our house. I am going to start where I left off on my blog... At the beginning of November (right where my blog dropped off the face of the earth) I found out that I was going to be the Primary President for our ward (again). I guess I have lots more lessons to learn and LOTS more FUN to have! I really love being in Primary and the kids in the ward are great. I have a fantastic presidency that is so helpful and it has been really fun to work with them. We just had our first activity and that went really well. We did a "Meet Your Teacher Breakfast" and it was a lot of fun.
On November 17th Bryce had his 34th birthday! We went to dinner at the Pizza Factory with our little family and then had birthday treats at our house. I forgot to bring my camera to dinner (of course... it takes about all I have to get the 3 kids ready and out the door with my keys and my phone... let alone remembering to bring the camera.) We had a good time and I will have to post a photo of him blowing out a few candles. We took it easy on him with the candles cause we didn't want him to cry when he saw what 34 candles really looks like! ;)
Thanksgiving came around the corner shortly after Bryce's birthday and we loaded up the car and headed to Idaho. We stayed with his brother, Trent, and his wife, Alisa, and their baby girl, Lucy. It was a lot of fun! Bryce's sister, Celeste, hosted the Thanskgiving dinner and worked her guts out to make it such a fantastic event. We left our camera out in the freezing cold car and when we brought it in to take some pictures of Thanksgiving it wouldn't stop fogging up from the warm house so not much to show you there. We did manage to stop by the Snake River and get a quick snapshot of our family. Braxton loves to see the snake river and is convinced that it is full of snakes even though we have told him that it is just the shape of the river that gave it it's name. He obviously doesn't really care what we think on the subject cause he points out a thousand snakes that he thinks he sees that the rest of us never can.
Christmas came and went in a crazy bustle. Every day seemed to be booked with all sorts of things to do and we tried to enjoy each event. Bryce went shopping with me to the black friday sales for the first time in our married lives. His eyes were opened to the madness of sales and but we managed to have a really good time and get the things that were on our list for the sales. We also had a great time going sledding with the kids, decorating the gingerbread house, drinking hot chocolate, watching Christmas movies and checking our door to see if Santa's Elves had dropped off a bell as a sign that they were keeping their eye out on our kids. Abbey had her first concert for the school choir and that was fun to go to. We had a good laugh when the first song started and I look up to see Abbey picking her nose with one finger and then just seconds later another finger needed to help out. It took about the entire 1st song to get whatever it was out of her nose and when I asked her about it after the concert just just looked at me and said," My nose was stuffed up and it was hard to sing," ... in a very matter of fact tone. At least she didn't eat it too.
Christmas Day was a blast! Abbey was the first one up and came in to see if she could go look at the presents if she PROMISED not to touch or open any of them. It wasn't too long later that she came up to our room again with full details on what she had observed. We finally let her wake up the boys and Braxton went from a dead sleep to complete hyped up Christmas energy. He was ready to tear the paper off of each gift to see what was in side and we had to teach him to read the tags first to make sure the gifts were for him first. Landen didn't care one bit about opening any presents but wanted to play with each toy that was opened. Finally later that day we opened his stuff to show him what he got so he would quit stealing Braxton's nerf gun or terrorizing Abbey's cash register. I think that Landen's favorite toy was the Radio Flyer Horse that he could ride on and it only took him a few minutes to get comfortable on it before he started standing up and trying it with one foot.
We broke tradition this year and didn't go up to Idaho on Christmas afternoon. The weather and roads were bad and we had a relaxing day in Utah. We let the kids have a sleepover with their cousins, Porter (4), Hannah (8) and Tyson (14). We had a great time! They played and played and played and finally slept a little bit... it was a blast! The roads finally cleared up the next day and in the matter of 30 minutes we decided that we were going to head up to Idaho and see Grandma and Grandpa Christensen for Christmas. It was fun to go up and it wouldn't have been Christmas if we hadn' t gone up. It made the season complete.
I am going to try and post a few pictures later to match up with my blog but for now I am going to see if I can catch a nap (one of the joys of having 9 am church!)
On November 17th Bryce had his 34th birthday! We went to dinner at the Pizza Factory with our little family and then had birthday treats at our house. I forgot to bring my camera to dinner (of course... it takes about all I have to get the 3 kids ready and out the door with my keys and my phone... let alone remembering to bring the camera.) We had a good time and I will have to post a photo of him blowing out a few candles. We took it easy on him with the candles cause we didn't want him to cry when he saw what 34 candles really looks like! ;)
Thanksgiving came around the corner shortly after Bryce's birthday and we loaded up the car and headed to Idaho. We stayed with his brother, Trent, and his wife, Alisa, and their baby girl, Lucy. It was a lot of fun! Bryce's sister, Celeste, hosted the Thanskgiving dinner and worked her guts out to make it such a fantastic event. We left our camera out in the freezing cold car and when we brought it in to take some pictures of Thanksgiving it wouldn't stop fogging up from the warm house so not much to show you there. We did manage to stop by the Snake River and get a quick snapshot of our family. Braxton loves to see the snake river and is convinced that it is full of snakes even though we have told him that it is just the shape of the river that gave it it's name. He obviously doesn't really care what we think on the subject cause he points out a thousand snakes that he thinks he sees that the rest of us never can.
Christmas came and went in a crazy bustle. Every day seemed to be booked with all sorts of things to do and we tried to enjoy each event. Bryce went shopping with me to the black friday sales for the first time in our married lives. His eyes were opened to the madness of sales and but we managed to have a really good time and get the things that were on our list for the sales. We also had a great time going sledding with the kids, decorating the gingerbread house, drinking hot chocolate, watching Christmas movies and checking our door to see if Santa's Elves had dropped off a bell as a sign that they were keeping their eye out on our kids. Abbey had her first concert for the school choir and that was fun to go to. We had a good laugh when the first song started and I look up to see Abbey picking her nose with one finger and then just seconds later another finger needed to help out. It took about the entire 1st song to get whatever it was out of her nose and when I asked her about it after the concert just just looked at me and said," My nose was stuffed up and it was hard to sing," ... in a very matter of fact tone. At least she didn't eat it too.
Christmas Day was a blast! Abbey was the first one up and came in to see if she could go look at the presents if she PROMISED not to touch or open any of them. It wasn't too long later that she came up to our room again with full details on what she had observed. We finally let her wake up the boys and Braxton went from a dead sleep to complete hyped up Christmas energy. He was ready to tear the paper off of each gift to see what was in side and we had to teach him to read the tags first to make sure the gifts were for him first. Landen didn't care one bit about opening any presents but wanted to play with each toy that was opened. Finally later that day we opened his stuff to show him what he got so he would quit stealing Braxton's nerf gun or terrorizing Abbey's cash register. I think that Landen's favorite toy was the Radio Flyer Horse that he could ride on and it only took him a few minutes to get comfortable on it before he started standing up and trying it with one foot.
We broke tradition this year and didn't go up to Idaho on Christmas afternoon. The weather and roads were bad and we had a relaxing day in Utah. We let the kids have a sleepover with their cousins, Porter (4), Hannah (8) and Tyson (14). We had a great time! They played and played and played and finally slept a little bit... it was a blast! The roads finally cleared up the next day and in the matter of 30 minutes we decided that we were going to head up to Idaho and see Grandma and Grandpa Christensen for Christmas. It was fun to go up and it wouldn't have been Christmas if we hadn' t gone up. It made the season complete.
I am going to try and post a few pictures later to match up with my blog but for now I am going to see if I can catch a nap (one of the joys of having 9 am church!)
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