A while back Scott and I went with the kids, my sister Chloe and his brother Rick to the Natural History museum. Once we made it up to the observation deck we could see this beauty rolling in which ended up being one of the worst storms I have ever driven in. I thought we might die. There was very little visibility and thunder was crashing right overhead as soon as you saw a bolt of lightning. It was crazy and it took us a lot longer to get home than planned.
We found a rainbow outside one day and Charlotte wanted her picture with it
Last week had the most amazing sunset but I could not get a good picture of it. I tried going in the street and in our backyard but it was not happening. If I would have had time I would have driven up to Smelter really quick but my camera isn't that great anyway (notice the grainy pictures as it is) and I had to leave for mutual soon. But look at those rays! It was gorgeous! Love the sunsets in Tooele. So beautiful!
My kids are big pancake fans. Charlotte is always requesting a color and always wants hearts. I'm getting pretty good at making hearts. Almost every single morning they want pancakes. I used to join in eating them but I really can't do that and lose weight at the same time so I end up having to cook a second breakfast for myself.
A lady that used to live around the corner from me and was also the YW pres when I was called in when we first moved into the ward had found out she has breast cancer. Stansbury High School had done a dinner, silent auction, and bake sale and were donating the proceeds to help her with her treatments. She had a sister die from breast cancer but from what I hear she should be able to fight it. From what I hear they are optimistic. They were taking donations for the bake sale so I really wanted to help since I love baking stuff. I really wanted to do some fancy cupcakes but really did not have a lot of money to spend. I ended up doing about 18 bags of kettle corn (thought that might be a nice snack for the game) then I did 8 of the gourmet caramel and chocolate dipped apples. I am a big fan of dipping things in chocolate and I've gotten pretty good at it. This was my first time doing apples and it was not as easy as I hoped but I think they still turned out pretty good. I just hope they made some decent money to help her out!
Trying to think of other things that come to mind...
Oh I finally completed and received my Knowledge ribbon for Personal Progress. I decided to implement a healthier lifestyle. I have been changing my eating habits and exercising regularly. I have lost only about 11 lbs. Kinda hoping I can shed another 14 lbs. Its been really hard especially with the kids and having to make more meals because they won't eat what I will. Although I haven't lost as much as I hoped I managed to get rid of 19 inches off my body. I have slacked with my measurements the last couple weeks but every Monday I've been weighing in and taking measurements of my neck, arms, chest, waist, hips, thigh and calf. So my total a couple weeks ago was 19 inches. Not too shabby. Still got a lot of work to do but I have to remember this is not the biggest loser and changes don't happen overnight. It takes a lot of consistent hard work. So I do what works best for me and doesn't stress me out because that kind of defeats the whole point. I just take it one step at a time and the longer I keep up on it the healthier I will be long term.
I have learned that Personal Progress is really life changing. I see why they set this up for the Young Women and why they encourage leaders and moms to work on it with the girls. It sets a good solid foundation for the future and helps all us adults to better our lives and make us better wives and mothers. Nothing but good can come from doing this program. Since I started working on the camp challenge (finish the Book of Mormon before camp next year) and doubling that with my Virtue project (read the Book of Mormon and take notes) I have seen huge changes in my life. I am happier. Each day feels so much better when I read. I learn so much more than I never knew but using the institute study guide with it. I feel like I can be a better teacher by strengthening my testimony in it. I get really excited when I learn something new and I love to share that with my girls. I want them to see how much happier it makes me. I want them to feel the excitement I have for it because I know without a doubt that in this day those will be the things that they need to combat the evils of the world. These tools are so important to help them become stronger and fight the war we're engaged in. I always tell them how I want to be like Joseph Smith. In JSH 1:20 he talks about how the adversary knew that he would be a "disturber and annoyer of his kingdom." When I was trying to work on my personal progress more and trying to get better at my scripture reading I had read this verse and it really hit me. I of course am continually working on improving myself (thanks to Personal Progress!) but this is what kicked it into gear. On good days when my schedule works the way I plan and we're all at home around the time the kids go to bed, I have the opportunity to read my scriptures 3 times a day. I do my personal Book of Mormon study in the morning (sometimes it takes a while because the kids interrupt a lot), then we read a little out of the Book of Mormon with the kids in Jackson's room, then once the kids are down Scott and I read from D&C (since we're studying that this year in Sunday School) and use the institute manual as a guide to learn more about the history and better understand it. Those are good days. Sometimes my exercise doesn't get done when I want it too. Sometimes I am in workout clothes way longer than planned but I can feel the difference and it is BIG. My new plan with my girls is to set a monthly goal because some of them still seem to struggle with doing Personal Progress. Most of them are young enough that if they complete one thing a month they will easily be able to complete the program before they graduate and have time to do their Honor Bee. So we're starting that this month to see how it helps.
On top of all that family history keeps coming up. Especially now that the temple will be limiting the amount of names done for youth baptisms. I can feel the urgency, especially in my own family. My mom is always working on some here and there. I am still learning a lot but in the meantime I do my best to find what I can or even just index. Scott just started indexing on Sunday and he said our ward will be setting a goal for this next year so I've been trying to get back into it. I stayed up late last night working on some. For mutual last week we took the girls to the family history library and learned a little about doing some work. It was very last min so I could only get one lady to come help our group of 8 but two of us found names. I have never found anything but I found a husband and wife who hadn't been sealed and a daughter who needs to be sealed to them. I'm super excited to be able to go and do this. Scott and I need to find time to go this month and do this. I can't wait!
I think that is the majority of things I have missed and what we've been doing and working on. This is the time of year to start trying to change up old routines since we end up stuck inside a little more on really cold days. If I can get into the habit now when those days come up or on snow days I'll be able to get everything done I hope and on days I miss something I just try to make it more of a priority the next. It feels so good to be able to get out of rut and focus on the good things we have and work on making ourselves better. I love this gospel! :)
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