The boys loved it. The boys both love looking at maps, so they picked up a map of the zoo and led us around.
First up was the baby elephant.
Here's a picture of them looking at the map.
Quincy just enjoyed the ride.
My favorite animal was the tiger.
And of course we had to see the llama.
Lunch time
Quincy may have gotten a bit tired of all the pictures.
Later that day we went to the playground.
We also hiked the Y, during spring break.
And we also had enjoyed General Conference during Spring break. The boys loved the conference board again.
Sunday afternoon we also did apostle treat bags. I had intended to actually make felt bags, but then I realized why not just use all the gift bags that I already have.
I printed these dot to dot pages of the First Presidency for Quincy and he used his magnetic pom-poms.
At the beginning of January we started back up with our General Conference Reviews. We had kind-of taken a break during the Christmas holiday. We started with President Packer's talk entitled, "The Atonement"
At the beginning of his talk, President Packer describes an experience he had in Western Samoa. I felt like this experience was what I needed to focus on.
Then I slowly read the account to the boys and found the different places on the map, so they could better understand the background to President Packer's talk.
The following is taken directly from President Packer's talk: (The Atonement, November Ensign 2012)
In 1971, I was assigned to stake conferences in Western Samoa, including the organization of a new stake on Upolu island. After interviews we chartered a small plane to Savai‘i island to hold a stake conference there. The plane landed on a grassy field at Faala and was to return the next afternoon to take us back to Upolu island.
The day we were to return from Savai‘i, it was raining. Knowing the plane could not land on the wet field, we drove to the west end of the island, where there was a runway of sorts atop a coral break. We waited until dark, but no plane arrived. Finally, we learned by radio that there was a storm, and the plane could not take off. We radioed back that we would come by boat. Someone was to meet us at Mulifanua.
As we pulled out of port on Savai‘i, the captain of the 40-foot (12 m) boat asked the mission president if he had a flashlight. Fortunately, he did and made a present of it to the captain. We made the 13-mile (21 km) crossing to Upolu island on very rough seas. None of us realized that a ferocious tropical storm had hit the island, and we were heading straight into it.
We arrived in the harbor at Mulifanua. There was one narrow passage we were to go through along the reef. A light on the hill above the beach and a second lower light marked the narrow passage. When a boat was maneuvered so that the two lights were one above the other, the boat would be lined up properly to pass through the dangerous rocks that lined the passage.
But that night there was only one light. Two elders were waiting on the landing to meet us, but the crossing took much longer than usual. After watching for hours for signs of our boat, the elders tired and fell asleep, neglecting to turn on the second light, the lower light. As a result, the passage through the reef was not clear.
The captain maneuvered the boat as best he could toward the one upper light on shore while a crewman held the borrowed flashlight over the bow, searching for rocks ahead. We could hear the breakers crashing over the reef. When we were close enough to see them with the flashlight, the captain frantically shouted reverse and backed away to try again to locate the passage.
After many attempts, he knew it would be impossible to find the passage. All we could do was try to reach the harbor at Apia 40 miles (64 km) away. We were helpless against the ferocious power of the elements. I do not remember ever being where it was so dark.
We made no progress for the first hour, even though the engine was at full throttle. The boat would struggle up a mountainous wave and then pause in exhaustion at the top of the crest with the propellers out of the water. The vibration of the propellers would shake the boat almost to pieces before it slid down the other side.
We were lying spread-eagled on the cover of the cargo hold, holding on with our hands on one side and with our toes locked on the other to keep from being washed overboard. Brother Mark Littleford lost hold and was thrown against the low iron rail. His head was cut, but the rail kept him from being washed away.
Eventually, we moved ahead and near daylight finally pulled into the harbor at Apia. Boats were lashed to one another for safety. They were several deep at the pier. We crawled across them, trying not to disturb those sleeping on deck. We made our way to Pesega, dried our clothing, and headed for Vailuutai to organize the new stake.
I do not know who had been waiting for us at the beach at Mulifanua. I refused to let them tell me. But it is true that without that lower light, we all might have been lost.
We talked about what it must have felt like to be on the boat. And how important the lower light was.
Then we discussed this quote from the talk:
I wanted the boys to understand how important light truly is. And since I can't send them off on a boat and have them be tossed by the sea and look for a light, this is what I decided on.
Several weeks ago I had seen this idea and thought it would be a fun idea for the boys to do during the winter time. After reading this talk, it seemed like the perfect fit.
Here is the pin, when I click on the link I can't seem to find it on their blog, so I'm not really sure who to give credit to.
When I told Weston want I wanted him to do, he just said OK and with in couple of hours it was all done.
Weston made a tunnel out of cardboard boxes in our basement. The tunnel went from room to room. And the only way to get through the tunnel was by a flashlight.
So by using the flashlight (relying on Jesus) we will safely get through the tunnel (life)
Throughout your life there may be times when you have gone places you never should have gone and done things you never should have done. If you will turn away from sin, you will be able one day to know the peace that comes from following the pathway of complete repentance.
And then we discussed how when they made a wrong turn in the tunnel they could continue to rely on the light to help them find the right way out.
OK, so here are a bunch of pictures
As you can see the boys loved it. They played in the tunnel for many days.
I started off by showing the boys three badges: Sheriff badge (which we had from a old Halloween costume), Firefighter badge (which I got from this link), then Weston's work badge.
We talked about each one and how you can identify someone by they badge they are wearing. The badge can identify what is important to that person.
We then watched this clip from President Uchtdorf's talk
We watched the clip once the whole way then we watched it again but stopped the clip several times to ask questions, such as:
What badge is President Uchtdorf talking about?
What was the precious gift that the Lord gave to others?
Then we spoke about the regrets that President Uchtdorf mentioned:
I Wish I Had Spent More time with the People I Love
I Wish I Had Lived Up to My Potential
I Wish I Had Let Myself Be Happier
These were kind of hard for the boys to understand since right now they don't have any major regrets. Their life is just full of fun and small adventures.
We then made badges. We talked about what was important in each of our lives and how we wanted people to identify us. I had made some small badges using two of my craft punches.
Hunter: Church, Family and Football
Walter: Family, Temple and Baseball (sorry for the blurry pictures)
Then we made one for President Uchtdorf: Temple, Family, Scriptures and a Airplane
What an awesome talk to review. I don't know if this is the first year that the church has put out these Conference Highlights, but they are perfect for kids.
As we were watching the movie clip I had to stop it several times to ask the kids questions to make sure they were understanding the background and the details. Some of those details included: Who is Pres. Eyring talking about? and where is this person? After we answered these basic questions, we discussed what a pavilion meant. When we think about a pavilion, the first thought that springs to mind is of course what shown in the Sound of Music (Ok, maybe that is just what I think about) . . .like this . . .
I wish I was still 16 going on 17
When I reviewed this talk earlier, I asked Weston if he thought that a pavilion in Joseph Smith's time is the same as it is now. We thought that it might not be so we took that thought to the dictionary and we found this definition: "A large often sumptuous tent"
So for our activity we took a sheet that I purchased at DI and we wrote some of our desires that cover us from God's view like we are in a tent.
God is never hidden, yet sometimes we are, covered by a pavilion of motivations that draw us away from God and make Him seem distant and inaccessible. Our own desires, rather than a feeling of “Thy will be done,”create the feeling of a pavilion blocking God. God is not unable to see us or communicate with us, but we may be unwilling to listen or submit to His will and His time.
- President Eyring
Afterwards, we placed the sheet on top of the kid's train table and had the boys crawl underneath. I held a picture of Jesus Christ in front of the covered opening in the train table and asked if they could see who was in the picture. After hearing a chorus of "No's" I took scissors and cut out some of the words that we had written.
The boys had fun peering through the holes and they could easily identify the picture of Christ that I was holding. Both of the boys seemed to get the point that if we cut out certain bad choices or worldly desires from our lives then we begin to remove the cover of the pavilion that impedes our view and understanding of Jesus in our everyday lives.
It was a lot of fun doing this activity and the payoff was later that night when Hunter prayed that he "could cut out whining from his life so that he would be able to see Jesus". Ironically, I think that if he could actually cut out whining from his life, I could probably see Jesus a lot easier too. Consider my fingers crossed that this prayer becomes reality.
Here is a picture of Presient Eyring with the card to remind us of this talk and activity:
Earlier last week I added vinyl to the wall, I think it adds a nice touch.
This week we started our General Conference Review. We began with President Monson's talk entitled "Consider the Blessings" This talk was a perfect reminder for me to remember not just the big things, but to look around and notice all the small blessings that come into my life every day.
I reviewed the talk last week, and looked for a couple of key points that I could relay to the kids. Two things stood out to me.
1. We should take an inventory of our life and remember not only the big blessings, but the small ones as well.
2. President Monson keeps a journal.
President Monson shared five examples of blessings from his life, he said, For the next few minutes allotted to me, I would like to share with you just a tiny sampling of the experiences I have had wherein prayers were heard and answered and which, in retrospect, brought blessings into my life as well as the lives of others. My daily journal, kept over all these years, has helped provide some specifics which I most likely would not otherwise be able to recount.
I know that this might not have been the point of the message, but I was quickly reminded of the importance of keeping a journal, so that you can look back and remember all of the blessings that your life holds. These were the two points that I wanted the boys to remember. So this is what I came up with.
I started out by having the boys watch this short clip.
I asked the boys to tell me what President Monson asked us all to do. We had to watch the clip three times, but the boys were able to come up with the right answer- take an inventory and look for the blessings large and small that you have received.
Then I told the boys that President Monson shared five examples from his life.
1. Providing counsel to a district president in Australia
2.Visiting a friend that was in the hospital
3. President and Sister Monson visiting a elderly widow
4. The young man that stopped to help them when their car broke down
5. The cultural celebration of the Kansas City Temple
I told the boys that President Monson was able to remember all these blessing because he kept a journal. And so I thought that they should write down our blessings in a new notebook.
The boys already have a journal, but these notebooks are for them to write or draw about a blessing each day. Inside the notebook I wrote two quotes from President Monson's talk: I have found that, rather than dwelling on the negative, if we will take a step back and consider the blessings in our lives, including seemingly small, sometimes overlooked blessings, we can find greater happiness.
And also this quote: (which I think is my favorite from his talk) The Lord is in the details of our lives.
The boys loved the idea and started working on their notebooks right away. And even tonight when I reminded them to write a new blessing down, they told me that they had already worked on it, earlier in the day.
I have one as well that I'm writing in each night.
If you are interested I got the idea for the notebooks at Under the Sycamore.
I basically followed the tutorial, but I only put four crayons instead of five. The notebooks I brought were 3x5.
The longer piece of elastic was 7 inches long.
The shorter one was 4 inches long.
On the longer one the first mark was two inches in and then another mark every 1/2 inch.
On the shorter one the first mark was 1/4 inch in and then another mark every 3/4 inch.
I sewed the elastics together at the marked spots with the shorter one on top.
Then I overlapped the edges of the longer piece 1 inch
I thought the notebooks turned out great, simple but effective. Wouldn't these also be great to take to church to keep the kids busy.
Then we added our review card to President Monson's picture. On the card is a drawing of a small notebook- just like the one I gave the boys, but green. And then we listed four blessings that we have in our family.
