Hooray!!! They did great!!!

Today was our ward's annual primary sacrament meeting presentation. IT WENT GREAT! I have been the chorister for 3 years now (well, 3 years in January, but this is my 3rd program) and I really believe that this was the best one yet! The program was very well written (I had nothing to do with that) and the children (for the most part) all had their parts memorized. We were asked by the bishop to have them memorize their parts so that the message of what they were saying became more internalized and a part of their individual testimonies. I was amazed at what a difference it made. (we always encourage them to memorize their parts of course, but we made a much bigger push for it this year, and it was fantastic.

The kids sang the following songs:

* I am a Child of God (with obbligato on 3rd verse)

* Tell me the Stories of Jesus

* I know that My Redeemer Lives

* We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet

* Home

* I love to See the Temple

* Called to Serve

* When Jesus Christ was Baptized

* A Child's Prayer (duet part was with children singing child's part and male teachers singing Heavenly Father's response - it was great!)

* If the Savior Stood Beside me

They did such an amazing job. They sang out loud and clear, they followed me, they were reverent (for the most part) while they sat up on the stand... I LOVED IT! We had a few minor glitches, (like on one of the songs when I didn't stand them up right, and then I forgot to sit them back down again. Don't know where my brain went on that one. And on Called to Serve we had a couple kids who just couldn't help themselves - they HAD to march along... My fault for letting them march while we were learning the song. it is just so much fun to MARCH to, ya know what I mean?)

We sang If the Savior Stood Beside Me as the closing hymn and it was WONDERFUL! If you want to hear the arrangement that we sang, go to this link http://www.defordmusic.com/ifthesaviorstoodbesideme.htm, then go to the option of MP3 Recording featuring vocals by Becki Madsen: (i'd put it on here for you if I had any idea how to do that - but I don't so you are on your own. It really is a beautiful arrangement. We did it with the 2 flutes playing their part, and the Activity Day girls singing the special 3rd verse that was written for the Young Women. There is a part after the girls sing their verse, where there is a big pause before we come in on the 4th verse. Every time we practiced, we just couldn't seem to come in together. (It didn't help that they just FINALLY got a permanent pianist called 3 weeks before the program, and he was home with sick kids one of those 3 weeks, and up until a week ago I was also trying to play one of the flute parts, since we couldn't seem to find anyone else who played. Have you ever tried to lead a song and play the flute at the same time? It's a bit tricky...) All that not withstanding - today - it was PERFECT! I couldn't have asked for anything more.

Right now I am totally exhausted and ready to crash for the night, but I just couldn't go to bed without shouting to the roof tops that we are done and it when all is said and done, it was SUPER FANTASTIC!!!!

(I almost want to be released right now - end on a high note, ya know? I just can't imagine being able to match this next year... yet my brain is already starting to think and plan and pick my songs for next year - so I guess maybe I have one more year left in me:)

Still here...

Hi all. I haven't gone missing or anything, and I'm not depressed like I was before. I'm actually doing remarkable well in that arena, especially considering the whole "election stress."

This morning I read Tristi's "post-election post" and I was amazed at the positive attitude she was able to maintain. I would like to be able to honestly express those types of generous and semi-hopeful feelings, but it wouldn't be real. The reality is that I am very, very afraid for our country. America is truly a land of promise - as long as the people who live here love and serve God. Unfortunately, the wickedness of the world is becoming so blatant and horrifying. As wickedness become stronger and the righteous voices becomes fewer, the Lord will not sustain and support us - he can't. (speaking of protecting and sustaining this great nation. He, of course, will ALWAYS sustain and support righteous individuals.)
About a week ago I was thinking about this whole election debacle and the thought came to me the words "an Obama nation" and "an abomination" sure sound an awful lot alike. Just a coincidence?
The American people have voiced their opinions and have voted for "change." I just wish that the people voting for that change had stopped to realize that Fidel Castro was voted into office when the people of Cuba were so desperate for "change." And they got it! I wish the young voters who came out so strongly in favor of "change" had stopped to contemplate the "change" that Germany got when they blindly followed the charismatic and moving speeches of Adolf Hitler. They got "change" didn't they? And all the horrors that followed.

"Change" is not the answer, unless the change is made by moving from wickedness to righteousness. The repenting, change of heart kind of change would suite me just fine - but a change to bigger government, higher taxes, socialism, wider acceptance of abortion, less respect for life, disintegration of the family values, trampling underfoot the constitution of this country.... these are NOT CHANGES that will bring happiness. They will only bring this great country, and it's people, to ruin.

This election has brought me a LOT of stress. A couple weeks ago I actually had a couple panic/anxiety attacks over everything that was going on. I was shaking, couldn't speak, felt like I couldn't breathe, couldn't focus, basically couldn't function - it was awful. At that point I made the conscious choice to shift my focus of study. I stopped thinking about the election (as much as was possible) and began studying the "last days" and the "signs of the second coming of Christ." It has been a wonderful experience for me. My opinion/feeling is that the second coming is much closer than most of us realize. The signs ARE being fulfilled - RAPIDLY! I have been amazed as I read the prophesies and look at how they are being fulfilled all around me.

As a general rule, whenever I start to feel out of control - or that the world is going out of control - my knee-jerk reaction is to run out and "BUY FOOD STORAGE." In my study of the words of the prophets regarding the last days, I have once again been reminded that all the wheat in the world, stored in my basement (and I am still lacking in that) isn't going to "save" me. It is not my food storage that will protect and preserve my family. I have to be spiritually prepared more than anything else. I have to make sure that my testimony of Jesus Christ is vibrant and living. I have to make sure that I am doing everything in my power to teach my children the things they will need to get through these perilous times. I must be fiercely obedient! Things are going to get ugly - really, really ugly. But the Lord will prepare a way for those who love and follow Him. I will keep my eye turned to the prophet, and I will follow his counsel. I am SO very, very grateful to know that we are led by a living Prophet of God. I know that if we follow him, we will be okay. it won't be easy, but it is the ONLY way to true happiness.

May God bless us and guide us in all that we do. I continue to pray for this country and it's people, but I fear that my prayers are in vain, because Satan has such a hold on the hearts of the people. Hold onto your hats and batten down the hatches, because we are in for a wild ride. The winds of "change" are blowing, and I am afraid that they are hurricane force winds. With God as our shelter and fortress, we will survive. Anything else will not be enough!

I do believe that now it is time for me to go say my prayers, read my scriptures, send Aaron off to school, then go buy some more food storage!

a great weekend

hi all -

My friend Matilda* is flying solo for the next little while - while her hubby is out of town at a training conference. I feel for her - it is no fun being at home alone, but it sure is great for me. She's been hanging out with me during the day, keeping me company (it's so great to have an adult to talk to), helping me with the kids, and letting me help her on some projects at her house that she is trying to get done while he's out of town. (the helping on projects thing is good for me because she makes me feel like "super-competent woman" and it is a big ego booster. {like I need any EGO boosting, but that is another story altogether})

SO... last Friday we were just hanging out, and Matilda volunteered to watch the kids while Tim and I went to the temple. I took her up on the offer, then she said, "in fact, you guys could even go away overnight and I'll watch the kids." Oh la la! (I can count on 1 hand the times Tim and I have been away overnight without the kids, and that's including this past weekend. It's really hard for me to leave my kids...) The initial plan was that Tim and I would go away this upcoming weekend (it's my birthday weekend and I thought it would be great to take an overnight trip to Logan - both away time AND I could hold Charlotte's adorable little Heather!!!), but it was a little harder to figure out how to make it work, since Aaron has been working towards earning a camping trip with Tim (to go hunting for geodes), and this weekend was supposed to be the trip... AND the kids start swim lessons on Saturday morning... so we decided to switch gears and we quickly threw it together for last weekend. I tell you - Matilda has a GIFT! If you need "romantic" ideas - she is the one to call. We got the room reserved, then while Tim and I went out to dinner, she went to work sprucing up the hotel room. (with my 4 children in tow even... she's amazing!)

Tim thought we were just having a nice dinner date night (rare enough, in and of itself) until we actually turned into the hotel parking lot. When we got to our room, we found a vase of beautiful roses (Tim took a picture, which I'll post someday... maybe...but until then, here is a nice picture that give you an idea - but mine were way cooler!), Hershey kisses sprinkled all over the bed, more chocolate, a tray of cheese and crackers, sparkling cider, and strawberries. It was so great. We were totally stuffed from our dinner at the Olive Garden (I love their salad and breadsticks - mmm mmmmm) that I'm afraid we didn't fully appreciate the yummy treats, but the ambiance had been established, and we enjoyed a great break from real life.

THANKS MATILDA!!!!

We are going to take advantage of her again this weekend and go to the temple. Let's hear it for great friends!!! hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! HIP HIP HOORAY!!!

* name is changed to protect her identity, since I just announced to the entire world that she is home alone...

I got this from Ali's blog and jsut had to see what I car I am. (i fully expected to be an OLD beater model t or something - but NO - I am AWESOME!!!

I'm a Ford Mustang!

You're an American classic -- fast, strong, and bold. You're not snobby or pretentious, but you have what it takes to give anyone a run for their money.

"Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

(I once told Tim that my "dream car" has always been a mustang, ever since high school. ( in high school I dreamed about a convertible mustang) I can't really say why - but now I know... it's because somewhere deep inside - I am a mustang!)

He did it again

Remember the (rhetorical) question I ended with on my last post - "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" In case you were wondering, the answer is NO!!!!

The afternoon session was another fantastic session of hope and comfort for me. I didn't have super high expectations, since the first session had already met and exceed every hope I went into the conference with --- and yet the very first talk once again touched my heart and lifted my soul. (and it kept going from there)

Talk about the "Balm of Gilead."

What an amazing day! I am so very very grateful!!!

Manna from heaven

boy oh boy! I have always felt that the best session of conference is the saturday morning one - and I sure LOVED this morning.

So many messages of hope and joy. Pres Uchtdorf (especially) spoke directly to me. I have been feeling such despair lately and I so desperately needed his message of HOPE. I also really needed Elder Perry's talk about simplifying our lives and feeling more joy and peace in so doing. I am going to have to buy the CDs of this conference when they come out, so I can listen to these talks again.

I am so very grateful for a Father in Heaven who loves me and who answers my prayers so directly through these inspired leaders.

It's almost time for the next session to start. It's hard to imagine that anything could be as fulfilling for me as this morning's session was, but you know what the scripture says, "is anything too hard for the Lord?" And so I will watch the remaining sessions with faith and hope, and I expect that the Lord will continue to send me my own personal Manna from heaven, until I am filled to overflowing. (Shouldn't be hard - apparently my eyes/tear ducts are already there...)

sharks & spiders & sleep - OH MY!

EVERYONE stand and give three cheers for me! I FINALLY mopped my kitchen floor today!

HIP HIP HOORAY!!!
HIP HIP HOORAY!!!
HIP HIP HOORAY!!!

Thank you thank you - It was SO SO bad. (you can probably tell my overwhelming feeling of gladness that it is finally done, by all the caps and exclamation marks eh?) It has needed to be done for a long time, and everyday I would tell myself that I was going to get it done, but I never could quite bring myself to do it. (the actual mopping isn't the worst part, but you have to get the kitchen clean first, since mopping is the LAST thing you do - of course!)
Today I was determined to get it done, but was still dragging my feet (emotionally and physically), so I employed a trick I use on my kids - try to somehow make it new and different and hopefully FUN. I called my friend Holly and asked if I could try out her new SHARK steam mop. She loves it, and I am desperately in need of a new mop and have been considering buying one for myself, but didn't want to fork out the $$$, just to find out I didn't love it. ANYWAY, she let me borrow it, and just knowing it was sitting there waiting for me to give it a test drive, gave me what I needed to finish the job. I cleaned the kitchen, swept the floor (3 times, to be exact, since every time I thought I was done, "magically" some crackers, or cereal got re-distributed...) then brought out the SHARK. I have to be honest. I didn't love it. I think my floors are just a bit too much (as in "disgustingly gross") for it to handle. It took longer to finish the job than my old mop and bucket of water - but it DID do a really great job cleaning the little indented lines in the linoleum floor,and I loved that it didn't leave the floor all wet - Caleb was crawling around while I did it and he didn't get wet at all. I also I loved that it would really be a water saver. Less than a cup of water as opposed to a big ole bucket of mop water, and no harsh chemicals or cleaners. - just the water. Trina absolutely LOVED it. She mopped for quite a while with it. (that was actually another concern. The unit is really lightweight, which is a plus, but I'm not sure it is durable enough to stand up to my "helping" kids. ANY WHICH WAY - my floor is CLEAN! and I am thrilled! (if only it would stay that way for more than a few hours. but oh well. that's life.

NEXT ITEM...

You all know I love nature. Well, not SPIDERS so much. Last night we saw the HUGEST (non-tarantula) spider I have ever seen. Every fall we usually see at least one tarantula in search of a nice warm place to hang out for the winter. When Tim first saw this little giant trying to come into our kitchen, through the open sliding door, that's what we figured it was - until we looked again. This sucker is a WOLF SPIDER. He's HUGE! I took out a ruler and tried to measure him, without getting my hand too too close, of course. He was easily four inches! ICKKKK!!!!! I know the photo isn't very good, but it's enough that you can get an idea of this guy. Poor Katrina couldn't fall asleep last night. "every time I close my eyes, I can see spiders, trying to come into my room!" poor girl. it was gone this morning, and I can only hope it went somewhere other than INSDIE my house, because I will totally FREAK out if I accidentally step on this guy in the middle of the night in my bare feet, or if I happen around corner and there he is. EEEWWWWW.

and the last thing -

SLEEP. Remember that song on Sesame Street, "one of these things is not like the other?"
Well - sleep is the odd man out. I have the shark (on loan), the spiders, but unfortunately I am not getting enough sleep! OH MY!

and that is all there is to say about that.