I am so grateful for the "family" that I have through my membership in the Church. Wednesday night I was sitting in the foyer of the church, waiting for a meeting to begin. As I sat there, I saw members of the Harmony Ward (and a few I know from the Lacamas Creek Ward) entering the building for Mutual night. I was welcomed by teenagers and adults alike. I had a blast seeing so many of my "brothers" and "sisters". I felt such a strong sense of "family", brightening up my evening.

Yesterday we went sledding at Old Man's Pass up towards Mt. St. Helens. Following are some pictures from our super fun day.


LaMar likes this shot because I caught air. You have to love the grimace on my face!

Jarin

Ethan

Sage

LaMar--He knew Sam was shooting pictures so I think he gave the facial expression just for that!

Sam

Elsie

Sage was baptized on Sunday, January 18th. Sage was baptized by her dad. Her friend Alice Schmid was baptized by her dad, Grant.

Due to my lack of skills in french braiding, our friend (and my hair stylist) Callie Hill agreed to do her hair. It was perfect! It kept her long bangs out of her face and left her looking fantastic even after the baptism.

Last Monday, January 5th, was Sage's 8th birthday. She has been such a joy to have around lately. I hope it is a new phase that will last a very, very long time! She keeps commenting on all the new things this age brings to her. She will be baptized next Sunday, January 18th. She has her own copy of the scriptures. She has already attended one Activity Days. She is feeling quite mature!

Sam, Jarin, Ethan, and Elsie












Pretending to be orangatans










Sage, the photogenic queen













Sam "fishy" kissing





Saturday we took a family trip to the Oregon Zoo. For Christmas, LaMar's sister, Beverly, gave us a year-long membership to the zoo. This was our first trip with our new membership. The video is a little "thank you" to Beverly, viewable by all.

The other day I was reading President Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk that he presented during the General Relief Society Meeting where he spoke of finding "God's happiness". One of the ways to accomplish this is to exercise creativity. It occurs to me that there are so many outlets to do this. For example, I have seen a wide variety of blogs out there. Some of my friends are creative in the layout of their blogs. Some are creative in their profound thoughts. Some are creative in the gifts they made for their families for Christmas. Often we say things like "I am just not the creative type." Through President Uchtdorf's message I have decided that we are all creative--just in different ways--and in exercising those creative tendencies we can find joy!