Pay it Forward Recipient

Thanks Amy! I love it!

I am still working on my own Pay it Forward craft. Actually I am still "thinking" about it! Nothing spectacular has come to mind yet! I will figure something out soon!

Child's Prayer

I was really touched by Elyse's prayer last night at dinner. She asked Heavenly to help her to stop sucking her thumb. I know that our Father in Heaven hears prayers. Surely we will hear this little girls prayer. She is the sweetest thing and I know she is close to her Father in Heaven. I am so thankful for this lesson that she taught me. That He will hear our prayers and help us with things that are habits or weaknesses. It was really special. I love your faith, Elyse Bryanne!

I took a Time Out

Time Out For Women was a BLAST! There was some minor issues, but they always come up, don't they? We spent some time SHOPPING! We had MANICURES! I spent time with my MOM! We ate CHEESECAKE from the CHEESECAKE FACTORY! YUMMO! We enjoyed beautiful MUSIC! We listened to Fabulous SPEAKERS! I didnt go to bed until 1:30 every night! We got lost in AUSTIN on the way home! We got hit on by some 16 year old boys driving on the "strip" in Brady, Texas at midnight. I can't tell you the last time I drove on a strip. I could guess that I still lived in Idaho when I did. My friend Brandi and I were laughing so hard. We thought it was hilarious because we were in my minivan. We laughed non stop for about 30 minutes after that. We saw 142 DEER in about a 2 hour time period. Don't ask... I made it a game to count deer (it kept me awake). I even skipped church on Sunday. Clay took the girls and apparently they were FABULOUS for him. Sounds like I should skip church every week. JUST KIDDING! And fnally one MOMMY and WIFE with a very FULL CUP. Hopefully to last me quite a while!

Time Out

I am so excited! I leave tomorrow afternoon to go to Time Out For Women in Houston! This is a much needed break! I am looking forward to lots of shopping, spending time with my mom and my new friend Brandi, good music, and excellent speakers! I love going and how it makes me feel. I look forward to coming home refreshed and ready to take on the world again! Lots of pictures to come!

The family

The world we live in today is a scary place. I am so amazed at the changes that have occurred in the not so many years that I have been alive. It really concerns me watching the news and reading on the internet how much the Family is truly under attack. Satan is doing everything in his power to destroy the home. I feel it at times in my own home. I am so thankful for the gospel that teaches us about families and the importance of a true family establishment.
I am always amazed that the leaders of our church know what we need to hear. In primary we are talking about Eternal Families this year. Wow! Can I say that the primary presentation given in October will touch hearts everywhere it is heard. It is so neat to see that these principles are being taught to our future generations. The generations that we need to prepare to meet our Savior. If we think it is bad now I truly cannot image how much worse it will be when my children are grown and have families on their own.
Today I am really touched by the March 2009 Visiting Teaching message. As I was pondering this message I can't help but feel that Heavenly Father has sent us here at this time to be protectors of our families. Think of all the ways that filth can be let into our home... What an important calling our Father in Heaven has given to us as men and women, husbands and wives to honor what he has established since the beginning of time.
Some answers were given to me about how to defend the family in this message. With all the issues that have occurred in the past few years about changing constitution of marriage I have often wondered how I can defend my family without having to go and protest and things like that. It is simple... by teaching my children the importance of marriage and the family I am defending my family. I can't defend all families, but I can defend my family. I can defend my family by putting up barriers to the outside world by teaching my children the gospel, daily scriptures and prayer. I feel Heavenly Father's influence in raising my precious daughters as I do these things. I know that he is there to help us in all things. I know that he wants to help us in raising our children.
i truly believe in the sanctity ofmarriage. I am so thankful to a husband who took me to the temple even though he didn't fully understand the importance. I know that as I teach my daughters to live the gospel they will be able to confront the struggles and challenges that we continue to face. It is only going to get worse and I pray that I can do everything in my power to let my daughters know of the importance of the family.
My heart is so full. I haven't fully pondered the visiting teaching messages in so long and for some reason this particular lesson hit me hard.

I am also attaching a video that some of you may have seen floating around on You Tube. It is entitled "Save the Family" with beautiful music by one of my favorite LDS artists Janice Kapp Perry. Enjo! Okay... Never mind. I cannot figure out how to attach it in my blog. If any of you know how to do this please let me know! I guess just go to You Tube and look it up by its name.

Welcome Home!

Welcome Home Scott! We are so proud of you. I am glad that you made it back from Iraq safely! Look forward to seeing you on our short trip to Dallas in a few weeks!

This is a picture that was taken yesterday in San Diego. Scott's girlfriend Jessica was able to meet him! Thank you Jessica for going. We appreciate that you were able to be there for him when we couldn't be.

Last weekend...trip to the mall

I know you are all anxiously waiting at the edge of your seats to see what I was going to write about while we were at the mall last week. Okay maybe not! I went to take a picture of what we did, but I did not have my sim card in the camera. So I am going to have to retake Elyse's picture. But to update you all in the meantime. Elyse got her ears pierced while we were in Abilene last week. I know... I just did it. Clay and I had been talking about it a few weeks prior and so I thought then would be a good time. Don't ask! I sometimes just do things before I totally think over it. Elyse did very well ,she did not cry and after it was over she said, "It did not hurt at all." She is a brave little girl! She looks absolutely adorable and I am glad that we did it. Pictures to come soon!

Stake Conference

I really enjoy going to stake conference. Especially when it is broadcast from Salt Lake and we get to hear from general authorities. Although I will have to admit that I woke up this morning and said that it was pointless to go. I think I say that every stake conference because the girls are fidgety, they don't listen, and we spend a lot of time in the hall. Or in the case of the last stake conference we went to walking around the stadium at UNT. I will have to say that the girls did it again this year...but it was handled and by the end they were so tired which was good because the last speaker with President Uchtdorf (who I am growing to love). He has such a sweet spirit and wonderful testimony. I loved how it felt like he was speaking directly to me even though he was talking to 74 stakes in Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. My favorite thing that he said was that he knew the people in these areas were not there by chance that we are supposed to be where we are. That really hit me. I have been really homesick lately. I miss my parents, I miss my friends, I miss my house, I miss my old ward. Don't get me wrong I love San Angelo. I have met some of the best people, but I can't help but missing things in North Texas. Lately I have been wondering why we couldn't stay where we were comfortable. It just answered my prayers that Heavenly Father knows and has sent me to San Angelo and I am here for a purpose. It reconfirmed what I already knew, I think. I love that he spent time talking about the things that we should be doing. It was interesting that he talked about temple recommends. Our stake made that a theme last night during the adult session in Abilene. They are really concerned about adults going to the temple and holding current temple recommnends. When President Uchtdorf spoke on this I was truly amazed that our Father in Heaven knows all and is aware of each area.
I loved going to the adult session last night! That was the first time in our married life that we have ever gone to the adult session of conference and it was an hour and half away! Clay needed to go the leadership meeting anyway and I didn't want to be stuck at home all night without him so the girls and I tagged along and went to the mall while he was in his meeting. Then we went to dinner with some friends that have become good friends. Then we went to the adult session. They actually provided babysitting. I think if the other stakes that we had been in provided babysitting I would have been more inclined to go to the adult session more often. :)

***Just a sneak peak for my blog entry tomorrow. It involves the mall and a little girl who was really excited to do something.