Merry Christmas!!!

Reuben's new 'do

Oh, my baby!

Still cute.

Reunions

Family reunions and gatherings are on my mind. This makes sense as my husband has just come home from his deployment to Iraq. This reunion also helps us remember the promise of a sweet reunion with our baby David. It has been 10 years since we welcomed him into our family. I don't know how long it will be before we hold him again, but I do know we will if we are faithful and righteous.

President Monson gave a beautiful talk entitled "I know that my Redeemer lives." Please read it, since I cannot express my thoughts as eloquently as he did.

For the complete talk, click here:

http://lds.org/general-conference/2007/04/i-know-that-my-redeemer-lives-?lang=eng

And here is just a portion:

My brothers and sisters, we laugh, we cry, we work, we play, we love, we live. And then we die. Death is our universal heritage. All must pass its portals. Death claims the aged, the weary and worn. It visits the youth in the bloom of hope and the glory of expectation. Nor are little children kept beyond its grasp. In the words of the Apostle Paul, “It is appointed unto men once to die.”¹²

And dead we would remain but for one Man and His mission, even Jesus of Nazareth. Born in a stable, cradled in a manger, His birth fulfilled the inspired pronouncements of many prophets. He was taught from on high. He provided the life, the light, and the way. Multitudes followed Him. Children adored Him. The haughty rejected Him. He spoke in parables. He taught by example. He lived a perfect life.

Though the King of kings and Lord of lords had come, He was accorded by some the greeting given to an enemy, a traitor. There followed a mockery which some called a trial. Cries of “crucify him, crucify him”¹³filled the air. Then commenced the climb to Calvary’s hill.

He was ridiculed, reviled, mocked, jeered, and nailed to a cross amidst shouts of “Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe.”¹⁴ “He saved others; himself he cannot save.”¹⁵His response: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”¹⁶“Into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.”¹⁷ His body was placed by loving hands in a sepulchre hewn of stone.

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, along with others, came to the sepulchre. To their astonishment, the body of their Lord was gone. Luke records that two men in shining garments stood by them and said: “Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen.”¹⁸

Next week the Christian world will celebrate the most significant event in recorded history. The simple pronouncement, “He is not here, but is risen,” was the first confirmation of the literal Resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The empty tomb that first Easter morning brought comforting assurance, an affirmative answer to Job’s question, “If a man die, shall he live again?”¹⁹

To all who have lost loved ones, we would turn Job’s question to an answer: If a man die, he shall live again. We know, for we have the light of revealed truth. “I am the resurrection, and the life,” spoke the Master. “He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.”²⁰

Through tears and trials, through fears and sorrows, through the heartache and loneliness of losing loved ones, there is assurance that life is everlasting. Our Lord and Savior is the living witness that such is so.

With all my heart and the fervency of my soul, I lift up my voice in testimony as a special witness and declare that God does live. Jesus is His Son, the Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh. He is our Redeemer; He is our Mediator with the Father. He it was who died on the cross to atone for our sins. He became the firstfruits of the Resurrection. Because He died, all shall live again. “Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives: ‘I know that my Redeemer lives!’”²¹ May the whole world know it and live by that knowledge, I humbly pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior, amen.

Surprise! He's Home!

I'm dreamin' tonight of a place I love
Even more then I usually do
And although I know it's a long road back
I promise you

I'll be home for Christmas
You can count on me
Please have snow and mistletoe
And presents under the tree
Christmas Eve will find me
Where the love light beams
I'll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams

Christmas Eve will find me
Where the love light beams
I'll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams
If only in my dreams

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Cultural Weekend

It has been a busy weekend, filled with great performances!

My mom took the girls to the Nutcracker. They loved it. Leslie loved the athletic moves, flips, and cool Russian dancers. Evelyn couldn't help but dance and flit along while watching the beautiful ballet moves. Afterwards they were able to go stand on stage and offer a few moves...

Saturday we all went to the Polar Express Symphony. The kids loved jingling their bells, and watching Santa conduct!

Sunday we went to Music and the Spoken Word. Fantastic. What an awesome choir!

Ginger Bread stories

Last year Bob, Reuben, and I went to Dallas Texas for a few days. We saw huge gingerbread people and houses. Here are a few pictures...

This year, the kids wrote stories, poems, and descriptions of awesome gingerbread houses. Yum!

The Gingerbread House

By Jonas

I was walking down the road on a wintery day. Snow fell softly. I loved going on walks because then I could look at all the different houses and floor plans. Then, I froze. I had seen an actual Gingerbread HOUSE! My mouth was wide open, and my eyes were as big as saucers. The walls of the house were made of gingerbread bricks, and each brick was held in place by vanilla frosting. The fence was made of licorice, and the walkway leading up to the house was made of Oreos lined by gumdrops. The front door was made of a huge stick of gum, and the windowsills were made of Smarties. The shingles on the roof were made of Hershey's chocolate bars, and the chimney was made of Starbursts. The snow that fell in the yard turned to sugar the moment it touched the ground. I stood staring at the house for 15 minutes. Then, I saw the For Sale sign.

Two weeks later, I was living in that amazing Gingerbread House. It was everything I could have dreamed of. I was warm all winter because of the Cotton Candy insulation. The stairs inside were made of Crunch chocolate bars. The kitchen was spacious, there was an attic and a basement. Best of all, whenever I wanted a snack, all I had to do was take a bite of the fence in the front yard or the "snow" covering everything.

GINGERBREAD HOUSE

by Leslie

Gumdrops

Icing

Nerds

Gum-balls

Eggnog

Reese's cups

Butterfingers

Reese's pieces

Everlasting gobstopper

Apple pie

Dum dum lollipops

Hershey's

Oreos

Upside down cake

Skittles

Eat!

The ginger bread house

By Troy

We were making a ginger bread house. The roof was made of brownies, the fence was made of lollipops, the door was made out of a giant Hershey’s bar, of course the walls were made of ginger bread, the door knobs were made of Smarties, the grass was out of green frosted coconut, and the snow was made of Fun dip. I wish I could live in that house.

THE END