This Is Us

For day 8 of our photo challenge, it's a woman or women who inspire you.  We chose this today because it's International Women's Day.   I personally have been inspired by so many women in the Bible and The Book of Mormon. Bible   Eve - Without her love and desire no one would have been able to come to this earth, gain bodies, and be able to become like Heavenly Father. Sarah - (Abraham's wife) her faith in the covenant that Heavenly Father made with Abraham, "I will make of thee a great nation." had to be strong.  It took decades for this covenant to come about. Mary - Jesus' mother.  Even though she was scared, she never wavered in her faith with Heavenly Father. She knew everything her son was capable of, and it shows when she asked him to help with the wine at the wedding dinner. Esther - Even though she could have been killed for speaking to the king, her husband, she knew it had to be done and would sacrifice her life to save her people....

  This evening Nick and I went to the Payson Utah Temple. Our nephew got his endowments taken out and we were invited to be there with him. It was such a special and wonderful experience. Nick and I are so happy that we could be there! If you read  This Post  that I wrote about a conference talk by President Russell M. Nelson, then you know how much I love the Temple. It’s such a wonderful and peaceful place to be! If I could, I would stay there forever! 🥰 When Nick and I went to Europe, we were going to the Frankfurt and Paris Temple but weren’t able to make it. The Frankfurt Temple was closed for renovations and the subway to get to the Paris Temple was under construction. So we will just have to go back so we can visit them. 😍 Here are two pictures from the Temple tonight. What temples have you been to? What temples would you like to visit?

A few weeks ago in Relief Society we discussed the talk by President Russell M. Nelson called  Overcome The World and Find Rest . It was so good and definitely something I needed to hear, read, and ponder. At the start he says: “But, my dear brothers and sisters, so many wonderful things are ahead. In coming days, we will see the greatest manifestations of the Savior’s power that the world has ever seen. Between now and the time He returns “with power and great glory,” He will bestow countless privileges, blessings, and miracles upon the faithful.” That brings some peace to me. It’s also nice knowing “how it all ends”.  It’s so hard to find peace and rest these days. It feels like the whole world is against you. That no matter what you say or do, the world tells you that you’re stupid for believing the things you do, or you don’t care about other people, or you need to get with the times. It’s hard to feel safe with all the hate and violence in the world. After reading this ta...

I know some people hate Monday’s. While I hate the kids having to go back to school and Nick going back to work, I enjoy Monday’s. I get to start the work week fresh and rested because I was able to go to church on Sunday and then rest. I can hopefully get the laundry done for that day and get some cleaning done. Also, for our dinner it’s Italian Night (we have a different “theme” every night of the week. You can check  This Post Here  for our list. So, I do everything I can to enjoy Monday’s instead of despise them. I hope everyone had a lovely weekend. We did…  Nick was working in Georgia the last two weeks and came home yesterday! 🎉  I hope everyone has a wonderful week. Ours is filled with birthdays. 🥳 

On Sunday in Relief Society, we discussed the talk by sister Michelle D. Craig  Wholehearted  from the October 2022 General Conference. I don't usually blog about our discussions, but I need to start doing it and all the time.  Then I can remember the feelings and impressions that I get, and maybe someone else needs to hear it. I don't want to type her whole talk, so please take the time to read or listen to it.  It's really good! I'm just going to type my feelings and impressions and hope everything comes out the way I want and feel it to. We all have hardships that we go through.  A lot of the time we feel so alone.  It feels like no one will understand and no one can help.  I know, I've been there. You feel so weighed down with sadness, confusion, depression, loneliness, and sometimes anger, that you feel like there is no help. I know that it's hard, but that is when you need to throw yourself into reading the scriptures, praying, conference talks, ...

No matter what happens today, please remember ✨Be Kind ✨Love One Another . Just because someone feels differently, votes differently, or see differently than you do doesn’t mean you need to hate them, despise them, or be cruel. We all are doing our best to make the best decisions. If we all stick together, love one another, be kind, helpful, and courteous we can get through anything! Satan wants all of us to be as miserable as he is, so he turns us against each other. Jealousy, Hate, Discrimination, Fear, Prejudice, all of it is his way of making us miserable. Let us be more like Heavenly Father and Jesus and love unconditionally! . Brichette and Xander are a little worried about going to school tomorrow. They are worried about how out of control and mean people are going to be because of the election. So, let’s all be the best us, and be kind. Be civilized about the out come and not get out of control. Yes, be disappointed, but don’t riot! Don’t you hate it when your children fight an...

  I started this blog over 10 years ago.  I wanted a place where family and friends who we didn't see all the time could stay up to date with what our family is doing and watch our children grow up. Some family and friends don't have social media, but they could follow our blog.  Also, this was before social media really became a thing. After I was laid off from my job, I didn't blog as much.  Then when we moved into our new home and I was so sick with Lydia's pregnancy I kind of stopped blogging. Recently I started going back through the older posts and realized what a great blessing it was to have this blog.  I wrote posts about things that I had forgotten about, or had forgotten the kids said or did.  I realized, even though it's public, it's my journal.  It's a place that I can put all our memories, and when the kids get older, they can come and see all those memories. Also, I love typing.  I love writing.  This blog combines so many of m...

Most of the time I don’t do much for myself. I feel happy when I do things for others, especially my kids and my husband. But... every once in awhile I will treat myself. Sometimes after I’ve dropped the kids off at school, I will drive to McDonald’s, Burger King, or Chick-Fil-A and get breakfast. Maybe just because or maybe it’s been a rough morning and I need a treat. Like this morning. The kids didn’t want to get up or go to school. They were crying and whining. We couldn’t find a water bottle, even though they were by the sink last night. It was just a rough and exhausting morning. So after I dropped our three youngest off at school (Brichette drives her and Xander to school) I went to McDonald’s and got a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit meal with a large coke. The ladies at the window were so kind and nice this morning which helped brighten my day. Remember... sometimes you need a treat to help brighten your day!

  In our daily scripture reading we came across this scripture: There are lots and lots of powerful scriptures, but at this time this scripture really stuck out to me. Let’s break it down some... “If all men (meaning everyone) had been, and were, and ever would be (so everyone from the time Adam and Eve left the garden to the time Jesus comes again), like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken FOREVER (I capitalized this); yea, the devil (satan) would NEVER (I capitalized this) have power (so he can’t persuade, influence, seduce, etc.) over the hearts of the children of men (everyone on earth). WOW!!! Can you imagine this? How wonderful would that be? Think of all the love, caring, help, ministering, charity, kindness, peace, etc. there would be in the world!!! No one thinking they were better than anyone else. No violence, rage, anger, hatred, cruelty, etc.  So please, as you go about your days, weeks, months, years, think about this scripture! Th...

So I have been thinking lately how often people say "I'm not having kids, because I don't want them to have to grow up in this awful world." Or they say "I'm glad I don't have to raise kids now days." Well, I'm glad to. We are grateful for our children. We are grateful for the opportunity to be parents. Is it easy, no. There is so much hate, violence, and suffering right now and it's only going to get worse.  Our hope is that we can raise our children, with help from Heavenly Father, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost, so that in this troubling world, there can be some shining stars to light the way for others and give hope. We hope we can raise them to become good people rubbing off on others and spreading happiness, hope, and love! We hope that we can do our job teaching them the Gospel of Jesus Christ so that they know they have a Heavenly Father who loves them, that Jesus Christ suffered for our sins so we can repent and that He died for us so we ...