Cousins visiting

Grandpa is still hard at work.  He's amazing and the new deck/sunroom is absolutely beautiful.  He's had all sorts of help all through the year.  One of his best helpers has been Jonathan, but I've loved seeing all the various grandsons and sons out there taking turns... both spending time with Grandpa and learning skills at the same time. 

These boys can't get enough of games.  It doesn't matter the game, they are there.

These two cuties by me are absolute buds.  They remind me of Evelyn and Joshie at this age.  I tried to get a picture of them standing side by side, but Ellie would hug Seth and they would end up wrestling each other to the ground and giggling.

These girls have brilliant ideas.  They wanted to play Incan Gold, but they took out all the danger cards so that they could play without dying.

And of course, the family chocolate dipping party.

Ada, Maisy, Evelyn

Sam and Eli

Sledding

Ada has ingrained a love of sledding into her little brother.  He has to go every time she does.

Ada, Seth, Jonathan, Mariah

The Tarkington and Hansen cousins were visiting and their tradition is to sled on Grandma and Grandpa's hill.  Unfortunately, there was no snow.  They decided to go sledding anyways.  So fun.

Seth, Ada, Maisy, Cyrus

I love these guys so much

These guys are amazing... I'm so grateful that they're in my life. 

Funny things they've done lately: 

Seth just started sunbeams.  He had no problem at all transitioning.  I was so glad.  He LOVES singing time.  They did 'Once there was a Snowman' as their opening song on Sunday.  Jer peeked in just as they were finishing.  Everyone sat down, except Seth.... he just kept doing the actions to the song over and over again in front of his seat.  Absolutely adorable. 

Seth has been singing 'Santa bring me a dinosaur' and 'Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam'.  Instead of saying sunbeam he insists that the song says, "Sunbeep!"

Evelyn was helping me put away pictures that I hadn't put away from the kid's school.  Evelyn was enamored by all of the baby pictures and school pictures in her binder.  She went through every single one of them and had a question or a comment for each.  Then she helped Seth pull out his and look through his with him.  She also took Seth downstairs to get some paper and draw a picture.  Then she put his name and age on it and tucked it safely in his binder. 

Evelyn also has decided that people think she's weird.  I don't, but I sure love her.  She said they think she's weird because she likes weird things, "Like dead bodies and roller coasters!"

old pictures

This one's not an old picture, but a picture of a family that was baptized in Santa Elena.  They found me on facebook and sent me this.

I think this was the day that McKay was ordained with the Priesthood.  Look at this wonderful support.  All these cute cousins.

Jer's family

Here's one of Jer's family at Payson Lakes. I think that it's just missing Becca.

Old pictures

My sister just gave me this picture.  This was in 2005, in Ecuador with Janelle.  I think it was May.

I love this resource so far... https://mormonbible.org/old-testament/old-testament-3/ezekiel  

Ezekiel study

I've been reading Ezekiel.  Mostly it's more difficult for me than some of the other books in the Old Testament.  Every now and then I come across a verse or a phrase that really strikes a chord.  I was reading in chapter43 about the vision of a new temple that he was promising to the Jews in captivity.  I thought that was absolutely beautiful... I looked up some supplemental material on lds.org and I came across this quote.

The Prophet Joseph Smith said: “I make this broad declaration, that whenever God gives a vision of an image, or beast, or figure of any kind, He always holds Himself responsible to give a revelation or interpretation of the meaning thereof, otherwise we are not responsible or accountable for our belief in it. Don’t be afraid of being damned for not knowing the meaning of a vision or figure, if God has not given a revelation or interpretation of the subject.” ( Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 291.)

I thought that was beautiful too.  We often beat ourselves up for not remembering or knowing what a little detail or a vision to someone a 1000 years ago meant.  But I love the fact that if God gives a vision, He also gives the meaning of the vision.  If you don't have the meaning, you can ask Him like Nephi did with the Vision of the Tree of Life, but it's not always necessary for all of us to have the interpretation of every vision ever given.  Not knowing one thing does not have to keep us from learning others.

Jer

Look what my amazing husband made our family for Christmas. The kids were thrilled that all 4 of them can fit on it. I love it.

Happy New Years

What do you do in Utah without snow? Seth really wanted to ride a "motorcycle bike" when he saw Grandma and Grandpa ready to go for a ride.... So he and Grandpa went riding. The best way to start our new year.

Lia had her choir concert

Lia loves choir. Since she doesn't speak English very well yet it is one of the subjects that she excels at. I was happy to support her on her night. She did a great job.