We Got Egged!

We were sitting at our kitchen table doing a little puzzle when we saw the Bird's car pull up and the cutest cousins ever hop out.  

Char and Ella

They were busy, quick and sneaky.  If we hadn't been at our kitchen table, we wouldn't have spotted them.  However, I'm so glad we were able to watch them in action.  It brightened our day!

Look at Charlotte's determined face.  (Braddock is in the background. Hudson was up in the tree hiding eggs!)

As soon as they left, we ran out to search for the eggs.  Aubrey was a brave girl and cracked a confetti egg over Parker's head.

 After about four return retaliations, I think she was regretting her choice.

 Tanner grabbed a few and ran inside.  (Bryn and Bri were napping.)

Thanks Bird's for the Saturday love and excitement.  We miss you!

Heart Attack

Trying to find ways to reach out, serve and send love all at a distance...  

We decided to heart attack some family and a few friends.  

With ring door bells sending the alerts and everyone staying at home, we were caught about half of the time.   Can I just say, it was so nice to speak face to face to people we care about?!  (We spoke to them at a distance, of course.)

We thought we were home free at Kerry's house, but Holden popped out from the balcony.  We miss you Holden!!!

The Chris Vore's came out on the porch for a visit for a bit.  La has her new bird in that little box.

Grandpa took this picture of us from inside his house.  He has multiple cameras out front.  There is no sneaking up on him.

This has been mostly me and the girls, but Parker did come with me to heart attack one of his ministering families.  Their garage and front door were open, and we didn't get caught.  Victory!

The girls made an obstacle course for the Bird's while I put the vinyl on their window.  Brit sent the cutest pictures of the kiddos enjoying the challenge. 

I have a sweet friend from Japan who I also minister to.  She mentioned being a little weary about going out alone in public due to some discrimination towards Asians due to Covid-19 starting in China.  It broke my heart.  She is one of the kindest people I know, and I want her to feel safe and loved always.  We printed the symbols for hope and faith and then added them to a "you are loved" in English.  She sent me this picture and said she felt the love. :)  (We didn't even get caught at her house, but apparently she figured it out.  She didn't even ask me if it was us!)

The girls and I had a fun time stopping by a few places each day.  I hope our little project spread some hope, joy and love.

Teen Life

It's 12:08 a.m. and our house is rocking.  Such is the life with teens .

Aub is showering.  Brinley is on the phone laughing and talking with her friend Ashlyn.  Tanner just snuck into Parker's bathroom and doused him with a pitcher full of ice water. 

Crazy kids.  I am heading to bed.

Two days ago I woke up at 2:30 am to use the bathroom and noticed a few lights were left on in the other end of the house.  I stumbled out to flip them off.

However, the lights were not left on.  Tanner was still up reading, and Bryn was FaceTiming friends.

What's happening at your house?

It's Conference Time

We were going on week four of being home all day everyday.  I wasn't sure how I would do, much less how the kids would do, with sitting through 6 hours on Saturday and 4 hours on Sunday of General Conference.  I was worried it might be rough.  Also, if I were to just look at these crazy pictures, I might feel a little sad or irreverent about our conference experience.  

However, we had a wonderful weekend.  The kids did get a little restless sometimes but they chose to stay in the family room and listen.  I was amazed and thankful.  I kept saying little prayers in my heart and mind that they would feel the spirit and know of the truth of the things they heard.  The counsel given was amazing, of course.  It was a wonderful weekend.

Aubrey woke before the others and began making this elaborate fort.  She wanted her own little spot to enjoy conference from.  

Tanner, being the younger brother, is ALWAYS on the bottom.

Sunday night after conference, I was lying with Aubrey in her bed, and we were talking about our day.  She shared with me some of what she took away from conference.  Two things she said were 1. She felt like she should start working on family history.  2. She felt she should find ways to serve others more.

I felt so grateful that my thirteen year old would feel and share those promptings.   (And now the hardest part for each of us comes...to act on those thoughts and feelings.)

I loved the analogy Sister Cordon used on being sure our flashlights were actually lighting the path to help those who need it.

One thing President Nelson said was since we cannot attend the temple right now, lets take that time to do family history and indexing.  I am beginning to do that now.  Also, I saw a comment on social media from a lady who said, "Because I cannot go to the temple now and feel the spirit that is there, I want to make an extra effort to bring that spirit into our home."  I want that in our home as well.

This quote by Elder Clayton goes along with that sentiment as well.

Here are a few more pictures from our weekend of conference.

 We rotated places throughout the day as we listened to our leaders.

President Nelson announced there would be a solemn assembly on Sunday morning and so we wore our church clothes.

Parker and I started a 500 piece puzzle that we worked on throughout.  It was a tough one.  We finished it by Tuesday I think.

Bri made us a yummy brunch on Sunday: egg dish, hash browns and biscuits.

Occasionally one of us would grab the headphones so we could listen while we were doing something in another room.  I was getting dinner started.

This conference was centered around Joseph Smith's First Vision and the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  (You can read or listen to the talks here.)  Although it was announced that this would be the focus, I was still surprised by how many talks were almost solely on these topics.

It was wonderful to gain insights and direction from all the talks.

A few things I loved:
-The Lord loves effort and effort brings rewards.
-Turn to the scriptures to find faith and strength to act.
-The spirit can know what to work on today.
-Record spiritual promptings and answers to prayers.  This will bless you to remember God's love for you especially in hard times.
-Engage in the gospel.  Have the youth sacrifice and act.  It will make it go deep into their hearts.  Let the youth feel your love and trust.
-Satan tries to divide...divide men and women, parents, anyone.  God unites.  It was a good reminder to me to remember Brian's strengths and appreciate him even more.  (I do love that guy of mine a lot.)
-Seek revelation.  Reach out to others.  Pray in faith.
-Trust in Christ.  Come unto Him.  Our deepest efforts will and should happen in our own homes.
-In difficult times remember the greatness of God.
-Shine our lights towards the right people and towards the right paths, not just haphazardly
-Without The Book of Mormon and without the first vision, there would be no Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  I

I am so grateful to have the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life.  It blesses my life in every way.