My goal today is to spend an hour sitting outside in these chairs.
The AP Calculus test is tomorrow. I wonder if bonding over calculus will ever be a sweet memory for these two. They’ve worked hard all year.
Category: Family Time
Priesthood Restoration
At church on Sunday the Young Women teacher set out an outline for a family home evening lesson on the table. It had the activities from her Sunday lesson and a great quote for the young women to share with their families. Only one girl took a copy. And I did, too. I know the value of a ready-made FHE lesson. Timothy was thankful for it when he drew a blank about what he wanted to teach our family last night.
It was a good lesson. We read scriptures about the restoration of the priesthood. Richard and I talked about the big and small blessings in our lives that have come because the priesthood was restored.
We can be together forever.
We can have power in our lives.
We are blessed by he organization of the church.
We have a prophet and apostles on the earth to guide us.
And much, much more.
The blessings of the priesthood are like a blanket that covers and surrounds us all the time.
It is a humbling thing to be taught by Timothy and to hear his testimony.
We enjoyed some strawberry shortcake and then got back to homework and activities. It’s a busy time.
Brothers’ Hero Factory
Sometimes when these boys spend a lot of time together they fight, but this weekend there was more laughter than frustration. I opened the door and snapped this picture as quickly as I could to capture what they were doing so happily together. They were listening to Harry Potter CD’s read by Jim Dale as they constructed robots. Their theme lately is to make battle scenes with robots. Each night I walk into Mark’s room to find that he has new robots strung from the blind strings, poised for the fight on the ledges of the window. Enemies are posed in heroic battle scenes across the floor; robots scale the mattresses, climbing, spider-like toward the covers. We scoop them up and dump them back in the bin for tomorrow’s play.
Apostasy and Restoration
Daniel taught Family Home Evening last night. He pulled out a puzzle with one of following labels written on each piece.
- baptism
- scriptures
- belief in Jesus Christ
- priesthood
- sacrament
- apostles
We assembled the puzzle. Daniel taught how Jesus Christ established His Church on the earth, but after the death of the apostles, pieces of the gospel and Church were missing. He removed the puzzle pieces labeled, “priesthood,” “apostles,” and “sacrament.” He said many things were lost, and the puzzle was just an illustration. The Church fell into apostasy.
He handed out scriptures from the Doctrine and Covenants and asked each family member to identify something that was restored by the prophet Joseph Smith. With each scripture, we were able to return a puzzle piece to its rightful place.
He showed us this video that has the words of one of the living apostles.
Daniel shared his testimony that this is the true Church of Jesus Christ. His testimony was the best part of the lesson.
Living Prophets
Family Home Evening, April 13, 2015
- Conducting: Timothy
- Song (Hymn #22 We Listen to a Prophet’s Voice): Richard
- Prayer: Mark
- Lesson: Paige
- Treats (brownies): Daniel
- Helper: Angie
Paige’s lesson was about remembering the messages of General Conference. She told us that one or two days a week during the last several months she has been reading a General Conference talk for her scripture study and that it has blessed her life. She shared the following scripture:
And if my people will hearken unto my voice, and unto the voice of my servants whom I have appointed to lead my people, behold, verily I say unto you, they shall not be moved out of their place. -D&C 124:45
What does it mean to “not be moved out of their place?” she asked. Daniel brought up the talk given by Elder Pearson about Lehi’s vision. The righteous stayed by the tree of life. They didn’t leave it. If we follow the prophets, he said, this is what it means to stay by the tree.
Paige shared this quote:
“We have the Bible, the Book of Mormon and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants; but all these books, without the living oracles and a constant stream of revelation from the Lord, would not lead any people into the Celestial Kingdom of God. Of course, these records are all of infinite value. They cannot be too highly prized, nor can they be too closely studied. But in and of themselves, with all the light that they give, they are insufficient to guide the children of men and to lead them into the presence of God. To be thus led requires a living Priesthood and constant revelation from God to the people according to the circumstances in which they may be placed” (President George Q. Cannon 1827–1901), First Counselor in the First Presidency, Gospel Truth: Discourses and Writings of George Q. Cannon, comp. Jerreld L. Newquist (1987), 252.
Paige asked us to share our favorite messages from General Conference last week. Mark immediately told us the story from Elder Holland’s talk, full of details, about the two brothers who went rock climbing in Southern Utah, one brother saving the other from a fall. As the rest of us shared, Mark rolled on the floor and moaned. I thought he was just bored, but then he said, “The brownies are getting stone cold!” So, midway through sharing our notes on General Conference, Daniel served brownies to the group. Thankfully, they were still warm.
- Richard: Shared Elder Perry’s talk about the importance of marriage and families
- Angie: Shared President Uchtdorf’s talk about grace
- Paige: Liked Elder Ringwood’s talk about being truly good and without guile
- Daniel: Shared many quotes from many talks: President Uchtdorf, Elder Pearson, Elder Ballard,…
- Timothy: Seemed to remember the Priesthood session best and shared some of the stories he heard there.
Earthly Father, Heavenly Father
Years ago, a good friend gave us a family home evening journal. Inside were pages to fill in the minutes of our family gatherings each Monday. There was space to list who conducted, which songs were sung, the lesson topic, and family business, but most fun was the place for family news. I go back to our family home evening journals from those early years and smile at the things we listed as accomplishments of the week.
We gave up the practice of keeping a family home evening journal, and the blog seemed to fill in for the “family news” part of our record. However, I have missed the record of what we did together each Monday evening. I’m going to try to give a small recap of what we do for our Monday family home evenings each Tuesday on the blog.
We went to dinner last night with a Christmas gift card. We enjoyed this family time. When we got home, I was in charge of the lesson. I showed this video and then we studied and discussed prayer, referring to the Bible Dictionary:
As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are his children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part (Matt. 7:7-11). Many of the so-called difficulties about prayer arise from forgetting this relationship. Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work, and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest blessings.
Daniel shared that prayer should be a real communication between child and the Father. He said that we need to avoid saying the same things without thinking (vain repetition) and pray often so we develop a relationship. Paige shared that we are children of God and that the video depicts how everything we have is a gift from Him. Richard shared that Heavenly Father doesn’t ask us to pray for his ego, but because everything He asks us to do is for our benefit. I told the kids that prayer is a little bit like playing catch. There are two participants. We show we are ready for answers (or a pitch) by turning to God and preparing ourselves for what he sends to us. If we don’t pray (turn toward the pitch), we aren’t prepared for answers and we aren’t in tune with what Heavenly Father wants for us.
Easter stuff
I realized very late this year that I’d forgotten to decorate for Easter. I had forgotten that I had an Easter wreath. I finally unpacked the pink plates. I have spent more time in the New Testament this week. Richard presented the annual Easter Family Home Evening lesson. We open eggs with objects related to the Savior’s sufferings, death, and resurrection inside. We read scriptures associated with each.
I saw the original of this painting last year and I have a print of it framed beside my desk. This images helps explain the times when my burdens have been lightened because I have relied on the Savior. It reminds me that the Savior understands grief and pain and sin and every little thing. It reminds me how precious Jesus is to the Father. It reminds me how precious he is to me. Perhaps it says something significant to you, too.
Mark updated our white board calendar yesterday. I was grateful for the image that he chose to draw on Easter Sunday. The empty tomb is my favorite symbol of hope.
The Irresistible Packing Peanut
When packages arrived at the house in the early 2000’s, merchandise was packed in S-shaped Styrofoam puffs. Some were pale green, others were pink, but most of them where white.
White like snow!
Or so the children imagined. A package would arrive and if there were packing peanuts, they would immediately shove their hands deep into the box, Styrofoam puffs up to their chests. The rustling sound when they moved their fingers through them and the squeaky, cracking sound when the puffs broke in their hands added to their delight.
A fresh box of packing peanuts had arrived earlier that day. (Who cares what the merchandise was! There was a big box to climb in and there were Styrofoam puffs!) Three-year-old Daniel and six-year-old Paige began some of their best plans for packing peanut play. Just this once, Mom decided to watch instead of divert them from the inevitable disaster.
“Let’s fill Mom’s big pot with them,” Daniel suggested to Paige, and hurried to the kitchen. Soon there was a stew of Styrofoam simmering in the pot. Daniel decided that the box of remaining packing peanuts would be a tub of bubbly, warm water. Splash! Peanuts scattered everywhere in the kitchen when he jumped in. Paige joined him in the box for about six seconds before Daniel hopped out, ready for something new.
Next, Daniel decided that he wanted to sit in the pot filled with Styrofoam. He threw the puffs in the air as he sat in the cozy space, knees up to his chest.
It was snowing!
They decided to make a blizzard. They moved their game into the living room on the carpet. Peanuts flew, squeaking and rustling before their flight, landing on every surface and crevice in the room. Thousands of puffs littered the carpet, but Daniel discovered he could multiply their number by breaking them into tinier and tinier pieces…pieces so small they clung to his sweatpants, arms, shirt, hair, and carpet. He was a magnet for puffs because of newly-generated static electricity.
The boy became a crazed snow-making machine and he made a worthy effort to break each. and. every. piece. of Styrofoam into tiny bits. It happened quickly. Paige looked on, enjoying the spectacle, but feeling some apprehension creeping in.
Continuing in a whirling frenzy of destruction, Daniel scattered his foamy missiles everywhere. Small bits of foam clung to Daniel’s lashes and he paused to look at the scene. Something awakened his sense of sanity. Was it frustration that he couldn’t seem to brush off all of these bits of foam from his clothes? Was it that his tub of Styrofoam was scattered everywhere and therefore not as fun? Or was it his big sister’s wide blue eyes, staring at the mess in disbelief?
Mom had been watching the storm, waiting to see how far the kids would take the game. With this pause, she decided that if another piece of Styrofoam fell, she might go insane that it was time to clean up. Dad plugged in the vacuum and handed Daniel the hose. They raked the big bits from the carpet and gathered the pieces with the vacuum. Cleaning up a snowstorm wasn’t nearly as fun as making one. Bits of foam disappeared into the box. And Mom went to a quiet place in the house to sort out why she couldn’t enjoy playing with packing peanuts like everyone else…
and maybe to snicker softly at the memory of the disaster.
My view from here
I think that Monday is my favorite day. The week still has possibilities at this point.
Monday is the day I pick up the weekend mess. We have neat and deliberate new holes in our walls from the new wiring in several rooms, thanks to Rob and Richard. There is a ceiling fan to buy and some furniture to move back into place. Most notably, there is no longer a network cable strung across the entry hall and hanging down the banister.
I think that Richard and Rob had a great weekend with skiing, home improvement projects, and a concert. I took a picture of Rob at a restaurant we visited. Our number just happened to be his new age.
Family Update
The final weeks of this less than halfhearted winter signal the end and beginning of many things.
Paige has decided to attend BYU. So ends the up-and-down anticipation and insecurity in that area of her life. She is intensely busy with her classes, but beautiful sketches and paintings continue to emerge from her bedroom studio as do A’s on calculus tests and English papers from her classrooms. This end of high school stress has an overlay of fresh excitement for a new life in college.
Daniel and Timothy skied on Saturday and missed their bus ride home. I got to see where they ski for the first time when we picked them up. It was a sunny and warm ski day and the slopes were busy with little figures. These brightly clad skiers, Alpine lodges, trees, and sparkling snow were absolutely the most beautiful things I have seen all winter.
Daniel and I have been watching old musicals that I unpacked from storage. He is busy with an AP class and a research project. He has a busy social calendar which includes church dances, movie and game nights, and last week, an afternoon of sledding with a crowd of friends. We have had some late night talks which are enlightening and entertaining.
Timothy loves his after school jazz band. His goal lately is to build tiny models of all of his favorite Star Wars ships and to tease Mark. He has been attending Scout merit badge clinics and I’m still not accustomed to seeing him at youth activities. I’ll catch a glimpse of him and feel a little sentimental. How did he manage to arrive at age 12 this quickly?
Mark finished his first reading of the Book of Mormon and immediately began reading the Old Testament. If anybody can do it, Mark will. He’s put the pressure on me to help him finish his Wolf badge in Cub Scouts. The boy knows what he wants to accomplish and does it.
Baseball begins in a few weeks. It will be Timothy’s last season. It will be another season of machine pitch for Mark. The parks are beautiful here and the backdrop of the mountains is still a stunning sight to me. I look forward to evenings spent outdoors.
We bought new patches for Richard’s Scout uniform. Soon the Catalina Arizona Council patch and commissioner paraphernalia will be replaced with the Great Salt Lake Council and Assistant Scoutmaster patches. Ropes and pioneering poles are standard equipment these days. We miss having the missionaries in our home now that Richard is no longer the ward mission leader, but I think he enjoys spending time with Timothy and the other boys.
I am writing my book and playing the violin, keeping up with my study goals, and not exercising enough. I smile every time I look at these plates my grandmother gave me on my kitchen mantel.
The End.