2009 facebook statuses...

I thought this was clever...certainly not all my statuses, but an interesting mix...

What the kids are thankful for (from our Christmas letter)...

Max is “thankful for Jesus Christ, our Savior, and our family and for hospitals!”

Sidney is thankful for the DS, and for his family and for when we go away being able to hug us and say, “I missed you!”

India is “thankful for Mommie and Daddie and Grama and Max and Sidney and Callie (our cat) and our house and for Jesus and Heavenly Father and the Holy Ghost and for our eternal family.”

Merry Christmas friends and family from the Cheneys!

The Cheney family is thankful this Christmas 2009…

•  We are so thankful Jesus Christ was born on the Earth, and we love celebrating his birth every year at Christmas. We love the songs, the stories, the decorations, the lights, the fun, the peace at Christmastime.
• We are thankful for our 9 year old India, for the choices she makes that bring her closer to her Heavenly Father, for the strong, fighting spirit she will always have in her, for the caring way she has about her.
• We are thankful for so many blessings from the LORD for serving when he asks us to in church.

• We are thankful for Frank’s job at ProQuest and that he wasn’t included in the last round of layoffs.
• We are thankful for a loving father who tirelessly works for the good of our family, who gives all his time to playing lightsabers and Webkins and XBOX.
• We are thankful for Grama Judy, who is visiting us now and helps Mom and Dad keep their sanity with frequent breaks. help and babysitting.
• We are thankful for good friends who help us along the way. What would we do without them?
• We are thankful to live where we grew up, to be able to see people we know and love all around us and to feel so at home where we are.
• We are thankful for Max, our almost 6 year old, for the sweet, kind spirit he is and for all the cuddles, laughs, precious prayers and smiles.
• We are thankful for extended families and the get-togethers. So many, we are proud to call friends.
• We are thankful that while we still have the responsibilities of two houses, we have renters in one of them to help us able to manage them easier.
• We are thankful for a loving church family that blesses our lives, supports our children and helps us find the way.
• We are thankful for the peace of the Spirit we feel at Christmas, for the Comforter and the love we know God has for each of us.
• We are thankful for the best husband EVER who is loving, thoughtful, patient and kind.
• We are thankful for those who came before us who make up our family tree with all its great branches and leaves. It surely is one only the LORD could fashion.
• We are thankful for a loving Father in Heaven who really knows us and truly helps us through every day.
• We are thankful for our 3 year old Sidney, for his OCD tendencies that make us laugh and want to scream, for his easiness, for his “I love you too!”s.
• We are thankful for blogs and facebook and how much easier they make it to keep up with how all our friends and family are doing.
• We are thankful for SO many blessings, uncountable really, for warm heat and warm beds, for clothes and toys and sweet-smelling spring flowers and fluffy, white snow and beautiful voices and tax returns and great books and good pizza and great restaurants…
• We are thankful that God loves us SO much that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).
• We are thankful for you, and we hope you have a wonderful Christmas and an amazing New Year!

With love, Frank, Angie, India, Max and Sidney
The Cheney family

Our rocking family...

I don't think anyone would enjoy these as much as we all did tonight, but I thought I'd share!

Hip Hop!

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Singing!

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Country Cheneys!

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Classic!

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Disco--this one whites Sidney's face out too much, but still cute:

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India the star!

India sang at the Ward Christmas party; well, Frank participated too, but he only hummed.  :)  Everybody did great, and it was lots of fun! 

Max!

Frank shared this on facebook today about Max...thought it was blogworthy.

Frank says, "So, in our house we say a family prayer before bed each night. A few days ago, Max (he's 5) was saying the prayer, and it was cute as usual. He was thanking God for stuff, then he asks for it to snow so that we can go sledding. Now keep in mind we are all sitting around heads bowed, quiet and he says "And please help daddie not to hurt his nuts..."

(if he said anything after that, I didn't hear it.) So I say "Huh what? First where did you hear that word?" He says "my cousins." Then I asked why he was worried about me. Apparently he was remembering an unfortunate incident that happened last year with me and a tree the first time we went sledding for the winter. It's true kids really do say the craziest things.  Love that boy!

Field trip today!

Sidney and I went with some friends to the State Capitol in Lansing today!  I went last when I was 15 or 16 with my 4-H Club, Rangers 4-H Club in Hartland, Michigan.  Since, the Capitol has been entirely restored.  It was gorgeous!  We also went to a really cool museum called the Michigan Historical Museum.  I love Michigan.  I love history; what's not to like?  It was really fun!

These are from the museum, lots of hands-on stuff for kids.

I'm thankful today for having such great friends and living in a great place.  I really am so blessed!  Thank you Heavenly Father.

Latest great songs by the PS 22 Chorus (they are so inspiring!):

traditions

My friend Julie Barb blogged about an interesting little tradition we have between us.  She called it the "Sisterhood of the Traveling gift bag," which is a clever little name.  I love Julie.  We've been friends for so long!  I really cherish and appreciate her.  Go read her blog and see the pictures: "Sisterhood of the Traveling gift bag."

Pictures

I've been working on adding pictures to my slideshows which takes a long time actually! Look directly above for one devoted to our July 2009 family reunion in Nauvoo, Illinois. It was awesome! Lots of new ones in the slideshow above it, 2009, too.

Teaching Young Women

This was my week to teach all the young women in our ward. I always am so nervous to teach them! I fasted this morning, a new and great experience for me, so that I would have the Spirit help me know what to teach and so I would not be sick or have a vertigo attack (from my Meniere's Disease) while teaching, that I wouldn't be nervous or hot, all the things I worry about. It went well, and I wasn't hot or nervous, and I didn't feel sick or dizzy at all. Heavenly Father answers my prayers, no matter what it is I ask. I did have an attack shortly after lunch today, and I have been having a lot of them, and I was so grateful that Heavenly Father kept me safe for teaching. I have a real testimony of fasting and know it really does change things. There is real power in it. I taught about being clean and mostly taught about President Hinckley, who I love dearly.

Some quotes from my lesson:

--My favorite was from President Hinckley: "Walk in the sunlight of that peace which comes from obedience to the commandments of the Lord."

-“Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” (Joshua 1:9). This is the new theme for the youth for 2010. It gives me great peace and lets me know the Lord is on my side! I have help!

- “One of the greatest weaknesses in most of us is our lack of faith in ourselves. One of our common failings is to depreciate our tremendous worth.” --L. Tom Perry

--“Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well...Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” --Isaiah 1:16–18

Happy Halloween everyone!

Our trick-or-treaters!

This is Max with his friend Philip Hampton and their teacher, Mrs. Wildman.

Halloween did come to our house, despite having the flu all week! India was a queen (of course), Max was Iron Man and Sidney was a lion. It was FREEZING out, but fun was had by all.

Stake Conference and the flu at our house!

We had Stake Conference last weekend. My feelings from it are that I need to go to the temple more, that that is where I will find the peace I need in my life. I thought that now that Sidney is the only one home, I can find a babysitter and go on Thursdays during the day whenever I can. I talked to my friend Sally Mikat about it, and she was feeling the same way, that she just needed to go. We are going to try and work out going together when we can! I'm so excited.

We couldn't go this week because all our kids got the H1N1 flu. Max and India got it the worse, and Sidney just a little. He was all ready on antibiotics for an ear infection, and I think it gave him some protection, thank goodness. Mom and Dad did not get it! I guess on Wednesday, Max's class had 18 out for it! It is running rampart here, and so many have had it now. Many in our church family.

Our Max!

We got an email from Max's teacher, Mrs. Wildman. We thought it was blog-worthy:

• "Max seems to be adjusting to the school routines and he seems to be doing really well. As I am getting to know his personality, I am learning what a genuinely sweet little boy Max is. Just the other day one of the other children said that another student was being "bad". I was trying to explain that the student is not bad and Max said "He is not bad, he just makes bad choices." I thought that was too cute! He was exactly right and for a kindergartner to express and understand that really made me so proud of Max. Keep up the good work at home Mom!"

Well, we love getting notes like that! Of course we know Max is a very special little boy, and we're always glad he remembers things we teach him. We feel blessed he’s in our family and are very proud of him! Thank you Heavenly Father for blessing us with Max!

India's hair

While we watched General Conference (yaay, church on tv!) today, we did a new hairstyle for India. How do you like it? It was hard to get the little bead openings onto her twists which are getting thicker and thicker.

I particularly liked Elder Bednar's talk (from the 1st session yesterday) and am excited to incorporate it into our Young Women In Excellence program in about a month. Hope you are having a great weekend.

Kirtland trip for my birthday, my amazing blessings.

The Relief Society in my ward (womens' organization) planned a ladies only retreat overnight the weekend of my birthday (this past weekend) to Kirtland, Ohio. This is a place of church history in my church. I have been there quite a few times, but I was looking forward to some time away from the kids and to myself to kind of refuel spiritually. I felt so guilty wanting to go because I know how hard it is on Frank with the kids by himself. But, typical best husband in the world, he was excited for me and encouraged me to go (I really love him). I was a little bummed about being gone for most of my birthday. I did get a call singing to me first thing Saturday and everyone waited up to help me open presents before Frank and I were able to go have a nice dinner (thank you America!) after I returned home.

It turned out amazing, honestly. I just really needed to hear the messages about Women of Light. I felt like it was all what I needed to hear. I really felt the Spirit a lot on this trip. It's exactly what I needed. All of the planners deserve all the credit because each part they planned was amazing. I was a driver, and I enjoyed getting to know the ladies picked for my car. We stayed at a friend of the retreat organizer, Lavon Maiersperger. The place was huge and beautiful and me and 45 of my closest friends stayed with them. :) Talk about good friends. Here's a picture of us watching a Brian Regan dvd. That guy is hilarious and CLEAN, thank goodness. We played silly games too. We also had a lot of yummie snacks. The food was awesome!
We toured lots of sites and felt of the history and spirit there. The missionaries called to serve their missions as tour guides to the sites kept remarking that they couldn't believe we were all from one ward! With all those women, he was sure we'd be a Stake! The Brighton Ward is fabulous. I feel blessed to be a part of it.
Here we all are in front of the Kirtland, Ohio temple. This temple isn't owned by our church anymore, but it was nice to meet on the grounds. President Hedquist, our Stake President, came down just to speak to us, and then we had a great testimony meeting. President Hedquist is a special man. He is going to be released from this calling in a few weeks.

A part of the retreat was some time scheduled for personal reflection that we could do what we wanted really. We were given an envelope that we were to open at that time which I thought were some questions to direct our reflection towards the theme, "Women of Light." Instead, we were given two letters. One was from our Bishop, Seth Cook. It was a great letter because you could tell that Seth felt the importance of a retreat like this for us and he wanted us to know how much he values us. He said, "I have pondered deeply to know what message the Lord would have me share with you. I believe it is to emphasize the potential you have to touch the lives around you. When I say you, I partially mean you as a group of Latter-day Saint women, but more specifically I mean you as an individual. I mean you, the one whose hands are now holding this letter – you will make a difference in the lives around you...I imagine you, Sister, as one of the fingertips of the ward; capable of reaching out the furthest and where the one-on-one touching and changing of lives happens. As a woman of light, a woman who loves and lives the gospel, you have light to share."

The other letter that I thought was questions turned out to be a LOVE letter from my sweet husband, Frank. Thank you so much Julie Robinson for getting all of these for everyone. I will always hold mine dear! It was such a surprise to me to have him there with me in the form of the letter, and I just balled through the whole thing. I really am so blessed! What I did to be given a man such as him I'll never know, but I am SO thankful for him. This past Monday was our 13th anniversary! Frank says I can share a tiny bit: "1994 - This is the year that I remembered how much I love you, the year that I found you again, the year that everything was made perfect again. 1995-1996 - Never in my whole life was I as sure about anything as I was when we got engaged and then married. There are just things in life that you know for certain and this was and is the most certain thing I have ever felt...That makes it 21 years that I have known you, 18 years that I have been 100% sure that I was in love with you, and 13 years that I have been married to you. What an amazing time it has been. The more I listen to people at work complain about this or that with their spouses, the more I realize how unique a love we have. To have your wife be your best friend as well is one of the greatest blessings a guy can have. I just know that someday when your hair is blue and mine is gone we will still be walking hand in hand along some path, break wall, or beach enjoying each others opinion on whatever we see and living, at least for that moment, without a care or worry in the world because we have each other. I love you Angie, and I always will." I'm crying again! Well, it was a great experience, really uplifting, and you wouldn't believe how happy I was to see Frank, India, Max and Sidney when I returned. I missed them all so much. After I read Frank's letter, I wanted to read my patriarchal blessing (a written blessing members of our church can get to help guide their lives). It is such a blessing. Again, as I read it, completely new things popped out to me in it that I never noticed before. I have such a testimony that it really is personal revelation to me, and I am thankful that I live in a time to be able to have it. I know it's not normal for me to write all this, but I REALLY want this blog to be like a journal (someday I'll get there...). Thanks for listening.

Quotes I like, Thomas S. Monson and Gordon B. Hinckley

Stolen from friends' blogs:

"If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware. The tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered around the house, the piles and piles of laundry lying around to be tackled, will disappear all too soon. And, you will, to your surprise, miss them profoundly." -President Thomas S. Monson

A reason for blogging: "You likewise will have significant experiences. I hope that you will write them down and keep a record of them, that you will read them from time to time and refresh your memory of these meaningful and significant things. Some of them may be funny. Some may be of significance only to you. Some of them may be sacred and quietly beautiful. Some may build one upon another until they represent a lifetime of special experience." Gordon B. Hinckley, 31 October 2006.

Mom came home with us from Nauvoo in July!

My Mom came home with us from Nauvoo! We had such a good visit. It's been way too long since we were able to spend a good amount of time together. She was such a help to me when I was pretty burnt out from having no time to myself at all. I really appreciated it. I didn't take enough pictures of her visit. We had a great time. We went to Frankenmuth, to the Ann Arbor Art Fair and did lots of stuff at home. Frank and I got to go out by ourselves a lot too. It was so nice and so needed. Mostly we got to live life together for a change. It was nice.

Mom also freed me up to be able to go to Girls' Camp for one night, just enough time for a great shaving cream fight! I love our young women!

Can you say catch-up? Nauvoo family reunion July 2009

Okay, somewhere between Max's last day of Preschool and India's horse camp, we had an amazing family vacation for a family reunion to Nauvoo, Illinois. This was the first reunion for my mom's side of the family. It was really great! It was great to get to know your family better. And it was fun to go to all the things to do in Nauvoo with family! This picture below was at Carthage Jail. I like Max's dance in the front. :)
The amazing Nauvoo temple...we had a family session where all the people from our family could go together, both a youth one and an adult one. It was amazing to be in the temple with people we love so much!

The kids all REALLY liked the horses everywhere. We really liked our carriage and wagon rides.

There was so much to do all the time. Kids at pioneer pastimes...

Going through the many pioneer shops and homes with Ruth and Jessi...

The four siblings, Tom, Max, Pam and Judy, missing Doris Jean, who passed away about a year ago...aren't they a good-looking bunch?

We grouped families by colors for pictures the first day. I think red was awesome for us.

This was cool but pretty scary! The oxen kind of did whatever they wanted. We were glad when they stopped and let us off!

Beautiful Nauvoo temple.

Beautiful family in the City Beautiful!

It kills me that we were not in this picture. Cell phone reception is horrible in Nauvoo, and we were trying to get our kids to sleep in the hotel and didn't know that that was when the BIG pictures were taken. Oh well.

It was really a great time. I can't wait for the next one. Our family is awesome!!!