Christmas!!

We had a wonderful Christmas. For Christmas Spencer got a new dress shirt and tie, a jacket/coat, candy, a brain teaser from our friends, a new suit, and IFly Gift card so he can go do that skydiving thing. It's not really skydiving it is just a big tunnel that blows air up and it feels like you are skydiving. He thought that was awesome. I got new shoes, Work and the Glory trilogy, a painting that I have wanted by Liz Lemon Swindle, a box set of all the Christmas movies, crazy sixs from our friends and of course candy. We both gave each other pajamas on Christmas Eve. We got Dusty a huge bone in the shape of a candy cane. He loves that thing even though he can only drag it around. The bone is bigger than he is! It was a lot of fun at our families houses on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. What a great holiday. I can't wait till next year. Hopefully this time next year we will have another one in our family to share a wonderful Christmas with. We love all our family and friends and want to say thanks for everything the past two years. You guys have really got us through the good and the bad. This next year is going to be awesome!!

Love it, or hate it?

Well I did it!  I cut my hair.  I went to get my hair trimmed and had a daring moment.  I was sick of my hair and had her chop it off.  I love it!  I know my mom will hate it, as well as a few other people. Sorry mom!  Spencer was a little shocked.  I will probably end up growing it back out, but in the mean time, I like it.  It feels so weird to not have long hair.  I mean I have been through different lengths of hair, but it has been 5 years since I have cut more than an inch off of my hair.  Let me know if you love it, or hate it?

Who, me? Couldn't be.

So the mystery of, who stole the cookie from the cookie jar, has been solved!!

  It appears that little Dusty Bottoms has been caught red handed.  

Spencer had his back turned and Dusty took this opportunity to snatch the one thing he had been eyeing for the last two hours.  I happened to be coming down the stairs and noticed something in Dusty's mouth. (hey at least he obeys the rules of food staying in the kitchen)  I couldn't help but burst into laughter and grab the camera.   Dusty was enjoying this festive  cookie very much while Spencer sulked.  Spencer needs to learn not to put his food so close to the edge of the table.  

Family Night!!

Whoever came up with family night was a genius.  On my way home tonight I stopped by the store to pick up some yummy garlic french bread for our lasagna dinner, when I spotted this kit.  That was it, I knew what we would be doing for family night.  Yes, we were going to decorate a gingerbread choo choo train.  Who said when you don't have kids you can't have any fun.  

It has been a while since we have posted.  Time has just flown by. Spencer and I have been a little bit out of the Christmas spirit lately.  We have tried a few things, like driving around looking for a live Christmas tree.  Saturday we even drove through the park and looked at the city parks Christmas display.  We have even sipped hot cocoa while watching every Christmas movie on t.v.  I think we have just been so busy lately that the Christmas season is passing by too quickly.   So tonight we just sat at the table, relaxed and had some fun. Here our some pictures of our masterpiece.

  My personal touch was the M&M cobbles stone ground.  We couldn't do as much as we would have liked because our kit did not come with our white frosting.  We got gypped.  We made due with what we had.

Birds eye view.  Spencer came up with the cinnamon bear strapped to the tracks in front of the train and you can't forget the decapitated cinnamon bear lying on the railroad tracks.  Boys will be boys.  I think we may have reverted back to our childhood a little too far. 

Ahh, Bellissimo!

I promise that is not a wine bottle in the background... or is it?  No, just kidding it it sparkling cider.  Apple Peach to be exact.

Come What May, and Love It

We try to read Ensign articles every night.  (If we at least try to do this, then I figure we can probably get through the Ensign cover to cover in a month's time.)  Tonight Spencer felt it only appropriate to read the Conference talk of Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin. Elder Wirthlin passed away last night. He will be very missed.  We hadn't read his talk yet.  I absolutely loved it. I summarized it a bit.  It starts out with a story of when he was a boy:

When I was young I loved playing sports, and I have many fond memories of those days. But not all of them are pleasant. I remember one day after my football team lost a tough game, I came home feeling discouraged. My mother was there. She listened to my sad story. She taught her children to trust in themselves and each other, not blame others for their misfortunes, and give their best effort in everything they attempted.

When we fell down, she expected us to pick ourselves up and get going again. So the advice my mother gave to me then wasn’t altogether unexpected. It has stayed with me all my life.

“Joseph,” she said, “come what may, and love it.”

I love it.  The rest of the talk goes on to say that the way we act in adversity can effect how happy and successful we are in life.   He gives simple steps on getting through adversity and living happily.

Learn to Laugh   The next time you’re tempted to groan, you might try to laugh instead. It will extend your life and make the lives of all those around you more enjoyable.

Seek the Eternal   Because Jesus Christ suffered greatly, He understands our suffering. He understands our grief. We experience hard things so that we too may have increased compassion and understanding for others.

Remember the sublime words of the Savior to the Prophet Joseph Smith when he suffered with his companions in the smothering darkness of Liberty Jail:

“My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

“And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.”1

With that eternal perspective, Joseph took comfort from these words, and so can we. Sometimes the very moments that seem to overcome us with suffering are those that will ultimately suffer us to overcome.

The Principle of Compensation  The Lord compensates the faithful for every loss. That which is taken away from those who love the Lord will be added unto them in His own way. While it may not come at the time we desire, the faithful will know that every tear today will eventually be returned a hundredfold with tears of rejoicing and gratitude.

Trust in the Father and the Son  The fourth thing we can do is put our trust in our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

“God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.”2 The Lord Jesus Christ is our partner, helper, and advocate. He wants us to be happy. He wants us to be successful. If we do our part, He will step in.

He who descended below all things will come to our aid. He will comfort and uphold us. He will strengthen us in our weakness and fortify us in our distress. He will make weak things become strong.3

His Conclusion

Although my mother has long since passed to her eternal reward, her words are always with me. I still remember her advice to me given on that day long ago when my team lost a football game: “Come what may, and love it.”

I know why there must be opposition in all things. Adversity, if handled correctly, can be a blessing in our lives. We can learn to love it.

As we look for humor, seek for the eternal perspective, understand the principle of compensation, and draw near to our Heavenly Father, we can endure hardship and trial. We can say, as did my mother, “Come what may, and love it.” Of this I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

 This talk really hit home for me. So many times in my life, when going through adversity, people would ask, "how can you joke and laugh about something so serious and/or life threatening"?  My family has a unique way of coping with adversity and life trials.  We like to joke around, laugh and enjoy the small moments in life that can usually get us down. Positive thoughts, or PTO's as my cheerleading coach would call them. Don't get me wrong we have our times of tears and pain as well. We are only human, but I could let my illness get me down and kill me, or I could try to live every moment I had with a smile on my face. 

This talk explained something that I could not explain to people at the time.  I always knew that no matter what everything would be ok. Whether we live or die, Heavenly Father has a plan for us.  I have seen many of my blessings and compensations from my trials in life.  I have an amazing husband, a wonderful bond with my family, and a different outlook and perspective on life.  Some days I do have to remind myself that life is great.  Lately I have been a little down and I needed to read this talk to remind me what a blessing life really is.  OK, blah, blah, blah I have talked way too much now.