Just Because

Prayer

2011-01-31T21:51:00.000-08:00

We had a very nice Home Evening lesson tonight. (Despite the girls running around and jumping on the furniture.)It was on the correct way to pray. We read Matthew 6: 9-13 which is the Lord's prayer. I never realized how specific the Lord's Prayer was, I just thought it was a generalization.

Hear is what we learned, line by line.

"Our Father which art in heaven,"We begin our prayers by addressing our Heavenly Father.

"Hallowed be Thy name."We praise God by thanking Him sincerely for the numberless blessings we receive.

"Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."We have a loving concerned Father. He is concerned with what worries us. We should share these concerns with Him.

"Give us this day our daily bread."We humbly ask for the things that we need. It says bread, not gold.

"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."We ask the Lord's forgiveness for the offences we have committed. We remember the price of the Atonement and that we are all debtors to Christ.

"And suffer us not to be led into temptation," We should ask for the Lord's help to overcome our weaknesses.

"but deliver us from evil:"We should let our prayers help grow our trust that the Lord will help us to overcome those weaknesses. Moroni 7:33 says "And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me."

"For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever."Leahona said that she learned in institute that this was a reference for the Savior. We should close our prayers in the name of Jesus Christ.

"Amen"The Bible dictionary says. "The word is used to denote acceptance or truthfulness." Let it be. We should have prayed in such a way that we feel closer to Deity and that we know that He heard us. We close in the faith that He has the answer and whatever that answer is we will let it be. Or "thy will be done"Christ is also called "The Amen" (John 14:6; 1 Cor. 14:16; 2 Cor. 1:20; Rev. 3:14) So saying amen is another way Christ showed us in his prayer that we close in His name.

He is our great Mediator. (1 Timothy 2:5) He represents us with our Father. We are unclean and can't do this in our own behalf. But thanks to the Spotless Eternal love of Christ fulfilling the Atonement we can have the privilege of praying in faith to our Heavenly Father.

growing

2010-10-05T19:47:00.000-07:00

new church calling-
more responsiblity

changing work environment-
getting ready for the holidays

new house-
wish i had payed attention when i was younger

another baby-
third girl

WORTH IT

Yummm!!!

2010-08-07T14:54:00.001-07:00

I made some pretty cool cookies today. Simple and delicious!

1 package of Jiffy corn muffin mix
1 box of lemon jello
2/3 C flour
1/3 C sugar (omit if icing is desired)

Mix in a medium bowl

In a small bowl-

1 egg
1/4 C milk
Whisk with fork well

Combine the wet into the dry. Drop by teaspoonfulls onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes until the edges start thinking about turning golden.

Let cool completely before icing.

Icing-
1/2 C powdered sugar
lemon juice (or thawed frozen orange concentrate-undiluted) one drop at a time until sugar is all wet.
Let sit for 5 minutes.
Drizzle over cookies.

ENJOY!!!

Still Settling

2010-07-26T19:53:00.000-07:00

We are still loving having our own space. It is so nice to get up in the morning and be in my own house.

This past weekend our town had a centennial celebration. It was so much fun. We had a dear friend come down and spend the night with us. We went to the sock hop at the old gymnasium. We made it in time to see the crowning of the centennial court. Bella really liked that.

The next morning we spent some time making tiny handcarts and paper bonnets. It was nice to be able to share so much of church history and the gospel with our friend. After lunch we walked down and sat underneath a shady tree and watched the parade. Bella had so much fun running around collecting the toys and candy the floats were throwing. She made out almost as good as Halloween.

We are still waiting for the vegetables to decide it is time to start zooming up, but we do have several tomatoes coming along in size and the zucchini bloomed for the first time this morning. So we'll see.

Had to replace the entire front stairs up to the porch. That was fun, but it is done now and only needs a coat of paint.

And don't worry we will be putting up pictures as we are able. Love you all.

Yay!

2010-07-08T16:35:00.000-07:00

We finally got the keys to our house! It was fun to spend that first night there, wake up in the morning and go on vacation. We spent an enjoyable Fourth visiting with family in eastern Washington. My parents came up and came back over with us to see the new house. They were a big help with getting things cleaned-don't' ask.
We really appreciate their help- sorry that your vacation wasn't more restful.
Just getting settled now and loving it. Thanks Mom and Dad for helping the girls to not be afraid of the trains as they go by.

Parks

2010-06-29T21:24:00.001-07:00

We have been having fun going around to a lot of different parks lately. The Olympia area is filled with parks. The girls always have a blast. We play for awhile and then we usually end up taking the nature trail so indigenous to northwest parks. We look at butterflies, listen to birds and study plants. Bella is full of questions which we do are best to answer before she gets distracted. Iyla toddles along and does pretty much every thing that her big sister does. It is so cute.
We went to a park that had a lot of different climbing toys. I had Bella do each one at least once. I told her that if she was going to play with the big kids now she needed to know how to play properly to be safe. I later overheard her telling another child "I will show you how to do it to be safe. My dad says that is park rules."

Baby!

2010-06-29T21:16:00.000-07:00

We found out that we are going to be parents again!!! I must say that I am so excited for it. I really don't care what gender the new baby is, just healthy. A boy could be fun. I am not sure I would know what to do with a boy though.
We had been hoping to be pregnant for a while. We were excited last summer, and then heartbroken when we miscarried. It has been feeling like someone was missing for awhile now. We would get in the car and count heads- 1, 2, 3...Wait there is no three. :'C But now there will be and we can't wait to meet whomever we are blessed with.

Woo Hoo!!

2010-06-14T16:29:00.000-07:00

I am finally connected again. Oh yeah baby! Nothing fancy, but the ability to make calls is nice.

Poor Baby!

2010-06-12T12:38:00.000-07:00

Iyla woke up yesterday with massive eye goobers. She also had a runny nose and a fever. We took her to the doctor to see what was up. Turns out that she has a double ear infection which for some reason always ooze out of her eyes. It had spread into a sinus infection also.
She feels much better now though. She is on anti-biotics which are really helping. She is also supposed to eat yogurt to help not get a urinary tract infection. But Iyla is a funny duck because she doesn't like the texture of yogurt, or mashed potatoes etc... So to get her to consume the yogurt we milked it down and she drank it right up thank goodness.

Busy Saturday

2010-06-06T11:45:00.000-07:00

We had a very full day. Isabella had a birthday party at ten. We then went to lunch with friends. And then we went to the Duck Dash.
It was so much fun! They have this huge bin full of thousands of rubber ducks which all have a number on the bottom. You can buy a ticket for $5 which corresponds with the duck's number. (The proceeds support the Rotary Club.) Then the bin of ducks is lifted high above the Deschutes River just below Tumwater Falls and the ducks are dropped out. The first fifteen ducks to cross the finish line at the bottom have the chance of winning fabulous prizes such as a new car, thousands of dollars, a year of free ice cream etc... but your number has to match.
And there are vendors set up for eatables. A live band from several local high schools and all of the kiddie activity booths. Iyla and Bella especially enjoyed going down the 21 foot tall inflatable slide. I got to go down with Iyla because the steps were really steep. It was soooo fun! We were both giggling because of the butterflies in our stomachs. I'm assuming that Bella had a good time too because she wasn't crying, but she had already gone off to do something else by the time I got down.
Then Leahona and I gave the girls to my most wonderful mother-in-law and went to a local restaurant for an adult cousin's couples birthday party. It was fun until we got the call informing us that Iyla had consumed some reed diffuser oil and was at the emergency room.
We rushed out as quickly as we could. She had already been discharged when we got there. The instructions were to give her lots of milk and keep an eye on her. She coughed and hacked all night, but is doing much better this morning. SCARY! So glad she is all right.

I'm sorry

2010-06-01T17:20:00.000-07:00

I know it has been ages since I last wrote. Mi dispiaci. I am very sorry. I hope nobody was seriously considering doing anything drastic because i haven't written. You can stop those kind of thoughts right now. Do I hear the distant sounds of cheering? Rejoicing and cavorting wildly, madly in the streets? Good, I deserve as much. LOL

YUM!!!

2009-07-27T15:23:00.001-07:00

Take a watermelon and cut it into wedges.
Load the wedges into a blender and liquify them.
Pour the liquid into a shallow dish and put into the freezer
Stir every half hour until slushie consistensy.
YUM!!!

OR-
Pour the liquid into ice cube trays and let freeze solidly.
Put "ice" cubes into a tall glass to about 3/4 full.
Pour Sprite onto the cubes to about 3/4 full.
Put cream, Cool Whip or even yogurt on top and CAREFULLY stir into the drink.
YUM!!! Redux

ENJOY!!!!!

I am sooooo bad at this!

2009-07-27T15:21:00.000-07:00

I never know what to say on here! It is crazy! Before I had my blog I was telling Leahona things to put on hers all the time and now I can never think of anything!
We'll just have to start again. Arrivederci!

Some Thoughts on Repentance

2009-06-01T16:03:00.000-07:00

The five R's of repentance: recognition, regret, relinquishment of sin (including confession), restitution and resolution.
I might add righteous living (as the action part of resolution-i.e. enduring to the end with the resolution not to commit that sin again).
And rejoicing (rejoice in the atonement and the opportunity we have to repent and be made clean again).

In second Nephi chapter two it says:
"25. Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy."

Out of Adam's fall came sin into this world. But from that fall man came to be and we are meant to have joy. (Some people out there think this only applies to this life or the trials we go through. Others think that it means that it is our goal. I say why can't it be both? And more. Heavenly Father is the author of all things so of course He is most excellent at putting layers of meaning in His words. We "hear" them spiritually as we are ready. That is the way all things are learned and accomplished. Line upon line, Precept upon precept.) Can joy be born out of sin? That was a strange thought when it first occurred to me. Wickedness never was happiness you know. And then it hit me- The sin doesn't bring joy. True repentance from sin does.

In fact in the very next verse it states:
"26. And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall."

In verse 14 of the same chapter it says:
"14. And now, my sons, I speak unto you these things for your profit and learning; for there is a God, and he hath created all things, both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are, both things to act and things to be acted upon."

We are given free agency to act. Everyone else also has the agency to act as well so sometimes we will be "acted upon". This can mean trials, which we should go through with as cheerful hearts as possible, but it can also mean when somebody else does something nice for us. (and vice versa)

So add rejoice to your repentance process. Rejoice that the Savior loved us enough to give His body and blood for us. We are beloved by Him. Our salvation is His work and His glory. He wants us to return. The dark times preceding repentance are not when He turns His light from us, but when we turn our backs on Him. He is always there for us. He understands that we will sin, so He provided a Redeemer for us. May we use this Atonement and rejoice as we repent.

Being a parent is...

2009-05-10T12:01:00.000-07:00

1. being tired

2. being loved unconditionally

3. always picking something up

4. answering the same question several times

5. feeling joy

6. reminders not to run around "nakee"

7. having time to read a book but not time to do dishes

8. running out of laundry detergent

9. finding lost items under your child's bed

10. trying not to be late

11. slobbery cracker kisses

12. clipping fingernails

13. waiting for bed time

14. loving the feeling of holding a little hand

15. one more goodnight kiss
I would love if everybody would fill this out. I can't wait to read your answers.

The Run for the Roses!

2009-05-01T15:54:00.000-07:00

I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited for the Kentucky Derby! Growing up in Kentucky meant learning that it was a very big deal. One of the favorite things that we did was to make derby hats. For those of you who don't know the Kentucky Derby is a time for the elite ladies to wear these elaborate hats. Thousands of dollars per hat and they will only be worn once. I Know! Though lately the hats have been more toned down from the ones they wore when I was growing up. (For the gentlemen you try to have the winning horse and the best multi-million dollar party. But that is a horse of a different color.) It is only two minutes but entire fortunes are made or lost every year, so it can be very exciting. Anyway- We would always get out hats or make them from newspaper and stick everything imaginable on them. We tried to be done by the time the race started so that we could wear our hats and cheer on our favorite horse. It was so much fun growing up. And now I get to do it with my own family. My wife thinks I'm nuts, but the girls seem to like it.

Take your children to work day

2009-04-25T12:43:00.000-07:00

This is not Isabella, but it is too early to have picture of her in the garden this year.
Thursday was take your children to work day. Unfortunately ShopKo does not participate in this, but I do. After I got off of work i had to go and do some gardening. Isabella was wearing Mommy's nerves very thin so she ended up coming with me to learn how to pull weeds. We had fun. Isabella did actually help pull some weeds but then ended up 'making buttons" and "teaching the bears about flowers". But the sun was out, and we didn't get rained on so I would say it was a success.

Magnolia

2009-04-22T17:26:00.000-07:00

I love magnolias! they have always been some of my favorite spring blossoms. When they start they look like tubes of lipstick. Then they pop open and have such lovely colors and big flowers. and then the petals fall to the ground and the are so soft. They make the best blankets for you fairy house. Oh Magnolias! You are the embodiment of spring!

Adultland

2009-04-04T22:17:00.000-07:00

I recently joined Facebook and have found a lot of people that I grew up with. These "peers" of mine and I never really saw eye to eye doing teenagerdom and so it has surprised me how easily I have found myself talking to them and actually feeling comfortable with it. And then I realized something. In my teen years I always felt more comfortable around adults than anyone my own age. Give me a middle-aged lady over a teenager any day. Now I feel more at ease talking to the peers of my teens because they are all in about the same situation in life as me and have finally entered the place I've been in for years- Adultland. I am so glad though to be able to reconnect and develope real relationships with those who share memories of those interesting years. It makes me feel... adult.

YAY!!!

2009-03-21T17:20:00.001-07:00

These are our pea and lettuce seedlings. Still waiting on the watermelon and cucumber to sprout.

Pandora

2009-03-18T11:03:00.000-07:00

So I discovered this website www.pandora.com just before Christmas. It is a free "radio" music site that you can pick what type of music you want to listen to. You just tell it yes-I like this song or no-I don't like this song. It is way cool! Anyway- you can have up to 100 channels and when I first signed up I thought that there was no way I would ever have more than 15 tops. I Like music, but how many different types can one person like? I am now discovering that there are differences within the same genre. For example-Latin music. I was listening to Ottmar Liebert who plays a lot of guitar. A Desi Arnaz song came on and totally ruined the trance Liebert had put me in. So I had to create a seperate Desi Arnaz channel. I was listening to that and they tried to play a Pearl Django song. Django's softer jazz trio style totally clashed with the big band sound of Desi. I counted them up and I now have 49 seperate channels! And who knows how many more I have to come? They keep slipping in artists that I like, but don't want together. Oh and thanks to my older siblings, and much to my wife's surprise, I have Air Supply and Queen stations. So remember that music is a very diverse thing. Consider yourself forewarned while I go and deside if I want to listen to "Mormon Tabernacle Choir: or "I am a Child of God".

HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY!

2009-03-17T15:11:00.000-07:00

Leahona's Birthday!

2009-03-15T17:01:00.000-07:00

LeAhona's Birthday is Tuesday. If you could remember that would be great!

Scripture Study

2009-03-15T16:39:00.000-07:00

I admit that I am not the most patient of parents at times. I try, but something about preschoolers can be a little grating. We had a sister in our ward give a talk about reading the Book of Moromon. She said that when her children were little one of the brethren gave counsel to read with your children every day out of the scriptures. I felt that I needed to do so with Isabella. Maybe the spirit of the scriptures would help her to listen and obey better. So Leahona and I gave her a copy of her own of the Book of Mormon and we read a couple of verses out of it every night. She plays, she wiggles, and in general makes it a difficult thing. One night we had said goodnight and had turned out the light when Isabella started howling. I gave her a couple of minutes, told her to go to sleep. Finally I asked her what was the matter. "Daddy you didn't read me my scriptures!" I had forgotten. It felt good to know that she had been listening and feeling the spirit. Iyla feels it too. She gets so-o-o-o mad if she doesn't get to come in and read with us. And you know what? Isabella is still learning to be a good girl, and she still behaves pretty much the same, but I am the one with more patience and a better love and understanding for my girl. And I think that is the way it is supposed to be.

Are Mormons Christians?

2009-03-07T15:10:00.000-08:00

I came across a thing the other day with that title. So I looked at it just to see what they had to say. Considering the fact that I was expecting the answer to be no, I was very impressed. The commenter said that the question is an interesting one. He said "Are Kiwanis clubbers christian? Certainly some are." He went on to say that to be a christian is to have a personal relationship with Christ and a faith and belief in Him and what He did for us. So the answer that he gave was that certainly some mormons are christian, and some are not. It really made me think. Am I a a christian? Do I have a personal relationship with my Savior? And what can I do to make that bond better? Can I improve? I hope so.

Obedience

2009-02-23T15:49:00.000-08:00

Kids pick the oddest things to be obedience to. The other day Isabella was running through the house all day as fast as she could. As a result she kept tripping over things and complaining very loudly about it. I suggested that she might want to slow down. A little while later she shouted that she had to go potty. I said lets hurry to the bathroom so you don' t leak. I got to the bathroom first to find that there was no Bella behind me. "Bella, hurry so you don't get your pants wet." In reply from the family room and in the most earnest voice- "Dad, I'm slowing down!"

And yesterday we had Leahona's sister and her family over to dinner. Bella didn't want to go potty before they arrived so we told her that she could tell them hi and then she needed to go potty right away. Leahona and I were in the kitchen when Isabella said hi. Brynn started laughing. We come out to the living room to find Brynn laughing and Jason covering his eyes with his hand. Apparently we had been taken quite seriously because Bella had no sooner said hello than she pulled down her pants and underwear right there in front of them and run of to be obedient!

I hope that Isabella will always be so obediant, just in less of a public fashion! J

Here I am!

2009-02-19T14:32:00.000-08:00

I decided that it was time to start my own blog. i might not write much at first or very often, but I will write occaisionally- I guess, if I have to. ( Red/Green Show shout-out) I hope that you enjoy whatever I end up writing. Thanks-J