Brigham City Temple

We were able to take the kids to the Brigham City Temple open house the Monday before school started. We arrived at the parking lot at 7:30 am and we surprised at how many people were already there.
The whole family absolutely loved it and the kids were particularly impressed.
In the sealing room I told Mr.Man and Sweet Cheeks that that was the room people were married in.
S.C. said, "Really? It's so beautiful! Can I get married here?"
I of course said yes.
Then she said, "Thank you mom!" then a couple of seconds later, "When I get married here will you drive me here?"
Me, "Sure!"
S.C., "You will? Oh, thank you so much mom! Thank you!"
She keeps talking about when she gets married there and I of course love it!

We were all impressed with the peach blossom motif that was carried throughout the temple. From the blossom stained glass windows to the blossoms on the light fixtures. There was not a single detail forgotten.

About a month ago MDH and I had the opportunity to help clean the Bountiful Temple. Before our group received our cleaning assignments and instructions we had a devotional with some of the temple staff. They pointed out that some of our jobs may seem tedious and unnecessary because we might be cleaning something that doesn't look dirty or someplace that no one will ever see.
But it was necessary and important so that the House of the Lord never would become dirty.
I was particularly touched by that thought.
One could take that thought a step further and apply it to our homes or even ourselves, the temple of our spirits.
Am I taking care of every part? The seen and unseen? It takes effort and care everyday.
Which reminds me of one of my favorite poems by Henry Wodsworth Longfellow

The Builders.

All are architects of Fate,
Working in these walls of Time;
Some with massive deeds and great,
Some with ornaments of rhyme.

Nothing useless is, or low;
Each thing in its place is best;
And what seems but idle show
Strengthens and supports the rest.

For the structure that we raise,
Time is with materials filled;
Our to-days and yesterdays
Are the blocks with which we build.

Truly shape and fashion these;
Leave no yawning gaps between;
Think not, because no man sees,
Such things will remain unseen.

In the elder days of Art,
Builders wrought with greatest care
Each minute and unseen part;
For the Gods see everywhere.

Let us do our work as well,
Both the unseen and the seen;
Make the house, where Gods may dwell,
Beautiful, entire, and clean.

Else our lives are incomplete,
Standing in these walls of Time,
Broken stairways, where the feet
Stumble as they seek to climb.

Build to-day, then, strong and sure,
With a firm and ample base;
And ascending and secure
Shall to-morrow find its place.

Thus alone can we attain
To those turrets, where the eye
Sees the world as one vast plain,
And one boundless reach of sky

Our neighborhood Christmas party had the theme of How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Many members of our neighborhood (including Banana and Doodle) put on a little production of it.

They did such a good job.

Then they let people have their picture taken with the Grinch.

Guess who was first in line?

Yep, our girl!

I love her bright eyes and big smile in this picture.

I also love that there was no way she was going to actually touch the Grinch.

He is GREEN after all.

Merry Christmas!

The Jello of Sleepy Hollow

Okay, I totally had to share this! Without a doubt this is what I'd call blog worthy!

So we had a Chili Cook-Off and Jello Mold-Off at church tonight.

I've never won anything before....well unless you count the Finding Nemo towel our family won from Disney.com or the Bag of weird groceries we won from Smith's grocery store....but I'm not counting those because those were totally random and this I/we (my husband and I) won because someone liked what we did and that's never happened to me before!!!! Ever!!!

We live in Utah so of course Jello molds are a part of our culture right ;), you must have heard about green jello with shredded carrots before, or jello is its own food group, or jello with marshmallows, jello with ice cream, or jello with whipped cream, or jello with everything.

A friend even told me in her mom's old neighborhood cook book a recipe for jello called for whipped cream but said mayonnaise could be substituted for the cream.

Nasty!

Anyway, poking fun at our own culture there was a jello mold-off.

and

WE WON!

So the plan was to hollow out a pumpkin, fill it with yellow jello, then when it was set carve the pumpkin, it would look kind of like a pumpkin with a light inside.

What really happened.

The pumpkin was big - it took 4 large boxes of Jello (16 cups of water).

The jello never really became firm.

The pumpkin was super dry and stringy.

When I carved the face the jello started coming out of the mouth.

So we taped and plastic wrapped the mouth back in place to transport it to church.

Then when we got to church we took out the mouth and let the guts spill out onto a tray.

It was pretty stinkin' awesome if I do say so myself.

and

It totally helped that this pumpkin was dry and stringy because the stringy bits totally completed the look.

They judged the jello and then let people dig in.

When people dished up the jello they were taking it from the mouth it gave me a chuckle.

So the family got in on giving this jello a title.

I liked:

The Jello of Sleepy Hollow

But we also came up with:

Jell-o-Lantern

Jello Jack

Jack-o-Jello

(From 11 year old son) Pumpkin Barf.....yeah I know, he's 11.

I'm already coming up with ideas for next year!

Can't wait!

I like to look for rainbows...

It was a very big day around here a couple of weekends ago.
Our son, Mr. Man, was Baptized.

And then we hosted a dinner for our family (on both sides) at our house.
We had about 40 guests.
Like I said it was a very big day!

So how do you decorate when you're hosting a party and the guest of honor is a boy but you still want it to be fun and not just blue plus inexpensive and easy but fabulous and did I mention for a boy?

Question....ponder...wonder......
Call a friend.....
Get a great suggestion and then let the good times roll!

I called my friend Shonda (amazing photographer, creative genius) who said she'd seen a cute rainbow party on a blog somewhere....
Then she reminded me of this song the kids sing at church.

Rainbows! Perfect!

So I used the words from the song and made these two printables. 

I decorated with balloons and crepe paper in rainbow colors.

Each table was covered with a tablecloth one color in the rainbow.

The smaller printable was in the center of the table with pictures of our boy around it.

My daughter helped me make these fabulous cupcakes, (recipe here)

image source OurBestBites.com

Which we proudly displayed on a cupcake stand with one of the small printables I made on top.

My boy loved it.

I loved it.

and guess who didn't get a single picture!

Yep, too busy with everything else and forgot the pictures.

That's okay.

This way you can imagine it as amazing and colorful as you want and I'll just say, "you bet, that's exactly what it looked like!"

I Remember....

I was 27.
I was a wife and a mother of 3.
My husband was getting ready for work and turned on the national news.
He came in to the bedroom and said, "I think an airplane just hit into one of the Twin Towers in New York. I think we might be under attack."
We?
As in our country? As in here on our soil? As in our brothers and sisters of one nation under God?
I didn't want my husband to go to work.
My heart ached for the families left behind.
I was afraid.
It's funny how a moment, a day can be branded in your memory. How you know you will never forget where you were and how sick you felt. And how you knew your world, your country would never be the same.
I found hope in the resilience of our spirit of community and in the humble faces turned to a Father in Heaven who is mindful of all.
And I found peace in the words of a living prophet who speaks for the Lord today.

President Gorden B. Hinkley, Sunday Morning session of General Conf. 2001.
As I read his words again today I can remember the spirit whispering peace to my heart.

We are people of peace. We are followers of the Christ who was and is the Prince of Peace. But there are times when we must stand up for right and decency, for freedom and civilization, just as Moroni rallied his people in his day to the defense of their wives, their children, and the cause of liberty (see Alma 48:10).

On the Larry King television broadcast the other night, I was asked what I think of those who, in the name of their religion, carry out such infamous activities. I replied, “Religion offers no shield for wickedness, for evil, for those kinds of things. The God in whom I believe does not foster this kind of action. He is a God of mercy. He is a God of love. He is a God of peace and reassurance, and I look to Him in times such as this as a comfort and a source of strength.”....

Great are the promises concerning this land of America. We are told unequivocally that it “is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ” (Ether 2:12). This is the crux of the entire matter—obedience to the commandments of God.

The Constitution under which we live, and which has not only blessed us but has become a model for other constitutions, is our God-inspired national safeguard ensuring freedom and liberty, justice and equality before the law.....

Now, brothers and sisters, we must do our duty, whatever that duty might be. Peace may be denied for a season. Some of our liberties may be curtailed. We may be inconvenienced. We may even be called on to suffer in one way or another. But God our Eternal Father will watch over this nation and all of the civilized world who look to Him. He has declared, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Ps. 33:12). Our safety lies in repentance. Our strength comes of obedience to the commandments of God.

Let us be prayerful. Let us pray for righteousness. Let us pray for the forces of good. Let us reach out to help men and women of goodwill, whatever their religious persuasion and wherever they live. Let us stand firm against evil, both at home and abroad. Let us live worthy of the blessings of heaven, reforming our lives where necessary and looking to Him, the Father of us all. He has said, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10).

Are these perilous times? They are. But there is no need to fear. We can have peace in our hearts and peace in our homes. We can be an influence for good in this world, every one of us.

Read the whole talk here.

The Pinewood Derby can be a good idea

Seriously, I think the most anticipated and the most dreaded part of cub scouts is the pinewood derby.
It is so much work and every boy is just sure his car is going to win but not every car can be a winner and it's so disappointing when they're not. Not every boy has a dad with computerized power tools and an Engineering degree.

But I think our Cub Master came up with the perfect solution.

The boys built their cars the night of the Derby, at the church 1 1/2 hours before the races started.
Brilliant!
Why have I not heard of this before?
The boys were given a paper with 9 car designs they could choose from or they could draw their own design on the grid provided on the paper. Then the papers were handed back in about a week or so before the derby. Three men in our ward cut all of the cars out then the night of the derby the boys sanded, decorated and applied weights and wheels.

The the races were on.

I've never seen so many close races before in my life. All of the boys were so happy to see who won and there was not one single tear shed that night. It was great!

Doodle's car was awesome and he won the "Best Design" award. He was so happy. So were we.

I highly recommend this approach to the Pinewood Derby.

Young Women and a lost tooth

I Love! Love! Love! my Young Women.

They never cease to amaze me. They are beyond brilliant and kind and beautiful. A triple threat if you will.

These pictures were taken on Temple Square and at the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building this July. There are quite a few girls missing but I had to share these photos anyway.

A little story about what was going on at my house while I was with the Young Women at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

After leaving the movie at the JSMB with the YW I turned on my phone to find a message from Doodle,

 "Mom, Sweet Cheeks just knocked out Mr.Man's tooth and I'm not sure what to do. There's a lot of blood. I was just calling to see what I should do. Okay? Yeah, Thanks. Bye."
Nice...

I called him back (of course), he had cleaned up the blood, gotten Mr.Man a drink of water and some ice and put the tooth someplace safe.

I was so impressed with his ability to stay calm and take care of the situation.

So I asked Sweet Cheeks what happened and she said something about a toy and it was an accident. 

I asked Mr.Man what happened and he said, "I was teasing S.C. and she didn't like it so she knee'd me in the face." 

I asked him if he learned anything and he said, "yes, not to tease S.C."

I don't think he'll be telling many people that his little sister knocked out his tooth.

Just a few YW items

I made a couple of hand-outs this week for a talk?/presentation/guest-speaker-at-a-yw-activity thing I did for my SIL on modesty.

If any one's interested in using them for any of their lessons or anything let me know and I can email you the file.

"Today I will seek" was the idea of our Stake YW presidency. It comes from the end of the 13th article of faith.

"If there is anything virtuous, lovely or of good report or praise worthy we seek after these things."

To seek is to actively try to obtain.

It's a reminder to daily find something to achieve/look for/acknowledge.

For example, Today I will seek....

Kindness

Friendship

Modesty

Honesty

Etc.

This quote is from a talk Elder Holland gave in General Conference, October 2005

Titled: To Young Women

You can find it by clicking here

I highly recommend it to any young woman, parent of young women or young women leaders.

Card Keeper Tutorial 1 -

So, thanks everyone for your input on my little temple recommend wallets.

The one piece single fold was by far the one everyone liked best.

After I finished sewing 20 of them I decided they would work perfectly to carry business cards in as well

and/or

gift cards

credit cards

club cards

So many options....so little time!

And they are so so simple to make. 

Seriously,

I sewed 20 in a little over an hour!

No Joke!

Really the only tricky part is sewing on vinyl but I have a super secret technique to share that makes it simple as can be.

I thought I'd share a tutorial with everyone

Just in case

you

Would you like to make one too?

Or possibly 20?

Lets get started.

Supplies

• Fabric scraps - 2,  6" x 4 1/2" pieces
• Clear vinyl - 2,    3 3/4" x 2 1/2" pieces
• Thread (coordinating)
• Scissors
• chalk pencil or something to mark fabric (optional)
• scotch tape (not optional)
• blind hem pressure foot (for sewing machine)
• pins
• iron
• chopstick or blunt pencil

Pin fabric right sides together
Sew all the way around the perimeter using a 1/4 seam allowance.
Leave a 2 inch opening near the middle of one of the long sides.
Trim excess fabric from corners.

Turn right side out.
Use a chopstick to push out corners.

Press with an Iron, making sure opening edges are turned in and even.

With the outside of your card keeper facing up find the center of the rectangle (should be about 2 3/4" in) and draw a line across using your chalk or pen. 

Top stitch over the center line you drew (lengthen your stitch for a cleaner looking top stitch).
Fold the rectangle in half along the center stitch line and press.

Now for my Super Secret, Super Tricky Vinyl Sewing Technique!

Scotch Tape.

Yes you heard me.

Scotch Tape.

Sewing on vinyl can be hard because it sticks to your pressure foot and then your fabric tries to go through normally but the vinyl stays were it was and you have a big ol' uneven mess.

But

if

you

put scotch tape on the bottom of your pressure foot covering the metal the vinyl won't stick to it.

I've read that a Teflon pressure foot will do the same thing but this works for me and is much less expensive.

So in the following picture I cut a small piece of tape and lined it up and stuck it to one side of the pressure foot and then trimmed off the excess. Then I did the same thing to the other side.

I made sure to leave  an opening where the needle could go through without having to go through the tape.

This pressure foot is my Blind Hem Foot (which I love for top, edge stitching).

To sew the vinyl pockets on you simply line up the edges of the vinyl with the edges of your fabric rectangle. 

Use the metal bar in the center of your pressure foot as a guide. 

Move your needle all the way over to the left position.

 Lengthen your stitch and top stitch the vinyl into place.

Each piece of vinyl will be stitched down on three sides leaving the center sides open to insert your cards.

Voila'! 

You're done!

Not too bad. Right?

Also,

I'm going to try and have a tutorial up for the other version in a day or two.

Happy Sewing!

Let me know if you have any questions.