Young Womens

I am having a lot of fun serving in the Young Women program at church. I love the women I am serving with, the girls in our ward are so great, and it's wonderful to be in there with Courtney. We recently had our YW in Excellence program on December 3. Our theme for the evening was "A Mighty Light to All the World." We decorated with lights and stars. A spotlight was read about each of the young women in which her talents and accomplishments were shared. Then each young women gave a mini talk about what she accomplished in her personal progress throughout the last year. I was very proud of Courtney because she memorized the entire "The Living Christ." It was something she worked on all year long. She and her good friend, Abigail, recited the entire thing at YW in Excellence. It was a beautiful evening for all the girls; they all shined in their unique ways.

The Modesto 8th Ward Young Women Me and Courtney, she's almost taller than me!

Our Young Women Presidency

This past Saturday we had our youth temple baptism trip to the Oakland Temple. It was a perfect day in every way. The weather was perfect and sunny, even almost warm compared to the windy breeze that is usually there on temple hill. The baptisms and confirmations went so smoothly. I got to hand out the towels to each of the youth as they completed their baptisms. It was a very peaceful and joyful day for me. It brought back a lot of memories of me doing temple baptisms as a youth. I must have been much younger then because all the leaders seemed so old and I don't think I'm old now. We are so blessed to have such worthy and righteous young women. All but two girls were able to attend. I am so grateful we have a temple close to our home. On the way home the ward paid for all of us to have In N' Out burgers. It was a little crazy ordering for around 40 people, but fun and memorable. Before I know it, Courtney will be going to the temple for her endowment/get married. This is her goal.

8th Grade Basketball Team

Courtney decided to try out for the 8th grade basketball team at school. She had never played on a school team before, but really enjoyed playing on the church basketball team. She was surprised at how many girls tried out for the team - at least 25. Only 12 girls made the team and Courtney was excited to be one of them. Lloyd was excited too since basketball is his favorite sport. Courtney had a lot of challenging practices and her team played a good season. They came in fourth in their final tournament. Courtney always played left wing. She enjoys playing team sports. She is our sporty, yet humble girl.

The Savage Middle School Girls' 8th Grade Basketball Team

Courtney really liked her coach, Mr. Granger, who is also her math teacher. Courtney got an A+ in math so he must think Courtney is pretty talented.

The games move so quickly it was hard to get great shots. The games were fun to watch though.

Great job, Courtney!

No Work for Two Weeks

I know I haven't been blogging in a while. I've been working almost every day (only half days), but it's still a lot for me. Well, I'm off work for the next two weeks so I'll be able to catch up on my blog. I finally completed my posts from November. I will also be joining facebook over the break as a Christmas present to myself. I've been wanting to join for a while, but knew I didn't have the time. I know I might get a little addicted to it so I wanted to wait until I had some days off. Hope you're all enjoying the season!

Our Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a special holiday for our family this year because Lloyd didn't have to work. I convinced him to run the Modesto Turkey Trot 5K (3.1 miles) with me. Since Lloyd hadn't just ran a marathon last month like I had, he needed to work up to running 3 miles. I am so proud he took my challenge and ended up being able to run the race on Thanksgiving morning. We also got Katelyn and Kylie involved in the fun. They ran the kids' half mile. Here we are before our runs.

The girls' race was first and here's a shot we got of Kylie near the finish line. Katelyn was right behind her and I missed her finish all together because I was taking pictures of Kylie. After the girls' race, Lloyd and I lined up for the 5K. It was pretty crowded; there were over 1100 people who ran the 5K. Since this race is shorter than most of the others I run, I tried to start out a bit faster. Yes, it was only three miles, but it was still a challenge. I wanted to sprint at the end, but just couldn't. I ended up finishing in 24:44which is a 7:58 mile average. Lloyd started out slow and ended up passing a lot of people at the end. I loved cheering for him as he crossed the finish line. He finished in 31:54 with a 10:16 mile average. It was a great way to begin the day for all of us. It may just have to become a family tradition.

After our "fun run" we had the missionaries over for a Thanksgiving brunch. It was wonderful with eggs, hash browns, ham, and crepes. We love to have the elders over especially on holidays. We want them to feel loved and have plenty to eat. They came over for Halloween too and will be here Christmas Eve.

After brunch, we headed to my mom's for Thanksgiving dinner (yes, more food to eat) in San Jose. We had a simple and relaxing Thanksgiving with Bryce, Chareen, Susan and Josh Anderson, and Ray. We tried something different this year - a deep fried turkey. It was okay, but we think we'll go back to the traditional way next year. It was a day to be with family and enjoy our many blessings.

In this picture Kylie is showing her true colors. I know I can be a real nag with the camera. I do feel so very blessed and grateful for my beautiful family. I just want to capture every moment before these kids are all grown up. My blessings make me so joyful.

Thanksgiving All Year Long

Thanksgiving has always been a favorite holiday for me. Yes, I do love that it involves eating, but that's not the main reason I love it. I love the concept behind it. I love taking time out to count my blessings and express gratitude for all that I have. I really try to make "thanks giving" a daily event for me. I've heard that people who are grateful for what they have experience more happiness in their lives. I saw a quote on a church's billboard that said, "Thanksgiving leads to thanks living." I try daily to have a thankful heart and realize that all my blessings come from the Lord. One way we can show the Lord we are grateful for our blessings is by expressing gratitude when we pray. Elder David Bednar discussed this in his conference talk, "Pray Always." He spoke about offering prayers of only thanks. I've tried this challenge before and it's amazing how many things there are to thank the Lord for. President Thomas S. Monson spoke about gratitude in his talk "Finding Joy in the Journey" I just want to share a couple paragraphs from his talk:

Said the Lord in a revelation given through the Prophet Joseph Smith, “In nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things.” May we be found among those who give our thanks to our Heavenly Father. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues.
Despite the changes which come into our lives and with gratitude in our hearts, may we fill our days—as much as we can—with those things which matter most. May we cherish those we hold dear and express our love to them in word and in deed.

When I taught third grade I always enjoyed teaching my students about the pilgrims and how they came to America for religious freedom. I am grateful to them, the founding fathers of America, and the Mormon pioneers. Because of all of them, I have the gospel in my life. For a few years now I've made a blessing mix that reminds us of all the sacrifices of the pilgrims. I got the recipe from my mom and like to layer it in a quart jar.

I attach a tag with these descriptions to it:

BLESSINGS MIX

*Bugles: Shaped like a cornucopia or Horn of Plenty, a symbol of our nation's abundance.
*Candy corn: Sacrifices of the Pilgrims' first winter. Food was so scarce that settlers survived on just a few kernels of corn a day.
*Nuts: Promise of a future harvest, one we will reap only if seeds are planted and
tended with diligence.
*Raisins: Harvest gifts of our bountiful land.
*M&Ms: Memories of those who came before us to guide us to a blessed future.
*Pretzels: Arms folded in prayer, a freedom sought by those who founded our country.

Even when I have a bad day, I always realize how very blessed I am. I just wanted to list a few of my greatest blessings. First, I am most grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, and His atonement for me. I would really have no purpose without Him and His plan. I am so
thankful that because of His atonement I can be forgiven of my many sins and mistakes. I am grateful for Jesus and the perfect example he set for me to follow. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband. I am so thankful we were able to be married in the temple and are sealed for eternity. Lloyd is a very patient, loving, and loyal person. I feel so honored to be his wife. I am so thankful for my five healthy children. I feel so blessed that I was able to have five children. My heart goes out to couples who aren't able to have children. I am so very blessed! My children are my greatest challenge and my greatest blessing. I am so grateful for my healthy body. I love to exercise and feel so thankful I can. I am also thankful for our jobs, especially in this economy. I am grateful for our warm home, our clothes, and our food. I often realize how much I take for granted and how so many others have less than me. I could go on and on about my many blessings. I am so thankful for all that I have been blessed with.

Midnight Showing of Twilight

Thursday, November 20 was the ultimate Girls' Night Out. It was the largest and most awaited Girls' Night that I've ever attended. It was the midnight showing of TWILIGHT! There were over 30 people who attended with our group (some teenagers, lots of Moms, a Grandma, and even a husband). We all bought our tickets in advance to attend the movie downtown at the Brenden Theaters. All of us love the Twilight series and could not wait to see how the movie would be.

Fourteen of us went out to eat before the movie. Kelly, Tanda, Lori, and Sherry

Lisa and Regina

Natalie, Ann, and Melinda

Amber and Julie

Jessica, me, and Stacey

More of our friends met us in line at the theater. There was a lot of excitement in the air as we waited outside the theater for about an hour. The line went around the block and was shown on three different screens. Several fans wore their Twilight shirts or dressed up like a vampire. It was amazing to see how many fans there are.Once they opened up the doors, we all scrambled to find the perfect seats. It was a bit crazy and chaotic. A lot of us got separated from each other, but we all found a seat. Then we just had to wait until midnight for the official movie date release (11-21-08). I felt a little wired. I think I had too much diet Pepsi at dinner and my body didn't know what to do with all that caffeine. Finally, a little after midnight, the waiting was over and the movie began. It began with Bella in Arizona (loved all the cactus plants) and showed her moving to Forks. Bella narrated throughout the movie. It was interesting to see how different characters were portrayed. I felt like Carlisle and Jasper were a bit over the top. I think Esme, Alice, and Rosalie were right on. Rosalie could have looked more model-like though. I think Kristen Stewart (Bella) and Robert Pattinson (Edward) did a thorough job with their roles. I guess my biggest disappointment came from the overall quality of the film. It seemed very low budget to me and the special effects weren't that great. I tried to go in with low expectations, but was still a bit disappointed. I thought the scene in the meadow where Edward shows Bella how he sparkles in the sun was weak. Jacob also seemed a bit awkward with his wig. It was a little over the top when they showed Carlisle biting and changing his family members, and when Edward sucked Bella's blood after James had bit her. I didn't really care for some of the cheesy comments throughout the movie, like when Eric shows Bella a worm at the greenhouse or how silly Jessica was when she tried on her prom dress. There are some things I really liked about the movie though. I really enjoyed the baseball scene. I thought James and the other vampires were interesting to watch. I was surprised at how nice looking Chief Swan was; I hadn't pictured him that young or good looking. I think the funniest part was when the Cullens were trying to make dinner for Bella and Rosalie broke the glass bowl when Bella said she'd already eaten. I did like the last scene at the prom. Bella looked really pretty in the blue dress, but I didn't like the sweater she wore with it. I read "Midnight Sun" the week the movie came out and I enjoyed reading everything from Edward's perspective. I think the movie did a good job incorporating some of the feelings and events that were described in "Midnight Sun." So there's my little review of Twilight. I've only seen it once and would like to see it again in the theater. A few friends told me they liked it better the second time. I guess they will be making "New Moon" into a movie. It will have a different director and I don't know if they'll be getting a different actor to play Jacob. I think it may have a bigger budget so the special effects may be better. "New Moon" is my least favorite book in the series, but of course I won't miss the movie. Thanks to all the Twilight fans who attended the midnight showing with me. I didn't let Courtney attend the midnight showing, but she saw the movie Saturday morning. By the way, we ordered some amazing Twilight bookmarks from ebay. Click on the link to see them. We especially liked #14 Twilight Bookmarks

An Early Christmas Present to Myself

I told myself when we were done having kids I'd get us all matching stockings. So I indulged this year and ordered these from Pottery Barn. I got an amazing deal by ordering early (November 10). They were on sale and I got free embroidery. I love looking at our new stockings. Even though they are for all of us, they're really an early Christmas present to myself.