New look!

I finally committed myself to sit down and design a new look! With the help of my SIL, Shelby and my cousin-in-law Erin (is there such a term as that?), I was able to create this new header. I'm working on getting the background changed but that requires a little more time.

More new changes are under way so stay tuned!...

General Conference Issue

I attended the YW General Broadcast back in March for the first time since I was in Young Womens. I loved sitting with the young women of my ward and being able to hear the leaders address the young women of the church! One talk that I loved in particular was Sis. Mary N. Cook's talk, "Anchors of Testimony". She spoke of the many ponds in Asia covered with water lilies and how they "added a serene beauty and sweet fragrance to an otherwise muddy and stagnant ponds. The leaves of the water lily floated on the water's surface, and a long, firm stalk anchored its position in the pond. The continued growth of the stalk ensured the flowers stability, even when torrential rains raised the level of the water in the pond." She likened the young women to this beautiful flower- "[their] freshness, purity and beauty and much goodness to our lives and to the lives of [their] families." They rise above the filthiness and temptations of the world and their testimony of Jesus Christ is their anchor. Their faith will strengthen and help their testimony grow so they can "rise above the evils of the world and maintain their position of righteousness."

I love this simple and beautiful analogy of faith and our testimonies! It helped me to remember that our testimony is something that needs constant care. It isn't something that you work to receive once and never have to take care of again; that it would always be there. We constantly have trials that test our faith but that's when you have to dig in your heels and stand "steadfast and immovable" and ride out the storm.

I'm working my way through the Conference issue and enjoying every minute of it! I wasn't able to watch conference this year and I had really hoped to. I was really disappointed when I got to Scrapaway and saw that the TV's were old enough that it didn't have closed captioning device built into it. (Note to self: to bring my own caption machine next time!) I waited patiently for the conference issue to come in the mail so I can read what I missed.

Now I just need to get a tub deep enough for me to sit in and soak while I read the conference issue. :o)

Eric is 40!!

I just had to give a big shout out and let everyone know that Eric turned 40 today! We kept it low key in our celebration (the party store was moving to a new store so I couldn't go buy black balloons and the works). We will have friends over for cake tomorrow but today was spent running errands and watching Kaitlyn perform in a play.

We spent a all morning and a little bit of the afternoon yard sale hopping for bunk beds and a dresser to prepare for doing foster care. Everyone who was selling bunk beds had already sold them by the time we got there. Ditto for dressers. If they were still there, you could clearly see why they were still there (only one place though.) So we came back home empty handed (well, we added a few more books and CD's to our collection) and disappointed. Everyone in Pocatello must be looking for a dresser and bunk beds.

In the afternoon, we went to see Kaitlyn perform in a play. Earlier this week, Kaitlyn decided to audition for a play called "Wiz of the West," a spoof of "The Wizard of Oz," put on by the Missoula Children's Theatre. They are a company from Montana that travels to perform at schools (the schools raise money to bring this company to their school). They arrive to the school and have open auditions for the students to be in the play. The company brings all the costumes, makeup, props, etc. All the kids have to do is learn the play! Eric and I were amazed and extremely impressed that the kids were able to learn the play (script), songs, and choreography in just one week! This wasn't just a 10 minute play, it lasted 1 hour and 15 minutes! There was only one adult in the whole play, all the other cast members were students from the school. Kaitlyn was a 'buzzard'. I'm not sure what the equivalent would be in the actual movie. I'll have to ask Kaitlyn that one. But it was an impressive accomplishment for the students to put on this play! I'll have to ask the performing company how in the world they got the kids to learn that quickly. It would definitely be helpful information to pass along to the new primary leaders when they are getting ready for their sacrament program!

Track Season!

Caleb surprised us this year by asking to join Track! He wanted to do it mainly because so many of his friends encouraged him to do it (sometimes peer pressure can be a good thing!). I had no idea he would be interested in something like running. He had his first meet last Wednesday. We got some pictures and thought they were pretty decent until our friend we were with let us look through his camera. Man, zoom lens sure make a world of difference! When looking across the field, we can actually tell which kid is Caleb! (From a distance, they all look the same, especially in uniform!) Our friend also took some pictures of Caleb so I'm anxious to see them! I was hoping to have them by now but no luck. I guess lawyers are pretty busy people. ;) I'll post the pictures from my camera tomorrow when I download them. Right now the "tech support" guy is sleeping so calling won't help. I don't want to put the photos in the wrong place (and then never be able to find it later) so I'll wait.

M.I.A.no more!

Hi everyone! I know many of you have been faithfully checking out blog, only to be disappointed because there hasn't been a post in a while. For that I apologize!

At the beginning of March, Eric and I started taking a class to become a foster family. We have thought about it for a while (a year actually) and we decided that it was something we need to do. As part of the process, we were required to take a P.R.I.D.E. class (Parents Resource for Information Development Education) on Tuesday and Thursdays from 6-9 pm for a total of 27 hours. Since Eric and I work during the day- 5 days a week- it was a pretty busy month for us. Not to mention that I was just called into YW so I've been going to mutual on Wednesday nights. Did I mention that I was also trying to gather camp information for the stake during all of this? All of the classes (except the very last one) has homework to be completed before the next class so we've also had to dedicate time to that. All in all, there hasn't really been much time to check blogs or even post on mine! This Tuesday (tomorrow) is our last class so I'm looking forward to that. I'm sure our kids are too because that means we'll be home more often now!

As part of the foster care certification/licensing process, we have to be approved by the state Health and Welfare department. They still haven't been to our house for a visit due to recent staff changes so we're not even close to knowing if we're the ideal family for them. This class has the highest attendance they've had in a long time (at least 16 pepople) plus a new staff member was added so they've been training that person. Those two factors slowed the certification process. (I imagine the classes and visits normally happen simultaneously.) We were hoping to wait until after we've had a visit or two so we know better how things are going before saying anything but this is taking longer than anticipated! We just wanted you to know that we are still here! More details will come later!

TOFW

OK- now my update for Time Out For Women presented by Deseret Book. The music was awesome and the speakers were fabulous! A new group called "Mercy River" did the singing on Friday evening and Jenny Oaks Baker played several songs for us on her violin. (I wish Kaitlyn could have seen her!) Mercy River is a 3 women group that sing hymns and other songs with a contemporary style. The ladies I went with said the group reminded them of Dixie Chicks as far as the sound goes. But that's the only comparison! They sang a lot of familiar church songs with just a little different beat. It was almost hard to sing it the right way when I went to church on Sunday! They just recently released a CD and it's definitely I will be buying in the future. Kenneth Cope sang on Saturday. Beautiful voice and wonderful lyrics.

The speakers were all wonderful and I enjoyed the insights from every one of them. Emily Watts spoke and she seems to hit the nail on the head with her observations of life as a mother. It helps me to realize that we all pretty much struggle with the same things and that most kids tend to follow the same patterns of behavior. She just makes you laugh out loud! Chris Stewart was another speaker. He is an ex-Air Force pilot. I can't remember much of what he spoke about, I just remember what he said was good. (I waited too long to write this post.) The author of "The Christmas Jar" (can't remember his name) was also a guest speaker. He spoke about handwritten letters. In this day and age, anything handwritten is almost obsolete and mail is almost reserved for bills, junk mail and catalogs! He challenged us to write more instead of type or e-mail. In the last year or so, I have been trying to do more handwriting in my scrapbooking layouts. I want my family to remember my writing, not the cute popular font of the time. The page will mean so much more to them with my handwriting on it. (I still type some jouraling, I just try to balance it with my handwriting.) All in all, it was a fun weekend and it was great to have a time out away from my daily resposibilities and worries. I came back home completely refreshed.

Oh- Elder Boyd K. Packer is the one who said that quote about faith that I posted in my last post. Apparently Elder Bednar said it in a recent talk but I couldn't find which talk.

Just some ramblings...

To start off with, I'm so excited because Sunday I cooked corned beef and it actualy turned out perfect! Hallelujah! This ends my 14+ year streak of chewy meat cooked in a crock pot. It doesn't matter if I put a lot of water in the pot or a little or change the cooking time, the meat still never turns out like the way I remember it being when I was growing up. So I gave up...until the corned beef.

Last month, my then-secretary in Primary, read a quote about faith that was so perfect. I just wanted to share it. I don't know who said it or where it came from. When I find out, I'll edit this post.

"Faith, to be faith, must center around something that is not known.

Faith, to be faith, must go beyod that for which there is confirming

evidence. Faith to be faith, must go into the unknown. Faith, to be

faith, must walk to the edge of the light, and then a few steps into

the darkness. If everything has to be known, if everything has to

be explained, if everything has to be certified, then there is no need

for faith. Indeed, there is no room for it. As we walk to the edge

of the light the light will move."

This weekend I will be attending Time Out For Women. A couple of weeks ago I got an envelope in the mail. In it was a letter saying "thank you for registering..." and tickets to both Friday night and Saturday Time Out. There wasn't a name or anything (except mine) on the letter so I have no idea who it came from! The letter came the day before I was released as Primary President so it helped to brighten my day (and distract my mind from being released.) I look forward to going to listen to the uplifting speakers and hear inspiring music. I'll let you know how it goes!

The anticipation is finally over!

In my last post I mentioned I was released from my calling as Primary President. The bishop told me there were about 10 different callings they were considering me for! For those who don't know, my ward pretty much runs on a "skeleton crew" (as my friend calls it). We have a hard time keeping callings filled because there's a high turnover of move-ins and move-outs. Our ward boundary has a few apartment buildings which ISU students rent, plus a lot of young families buy starter homes in our ward boundary (when they outgrow the home, they move). So there is constant change! (I learned that while I was in Primary!) I spent all of last week wondering what I would be doing next. On Saturday, after my wood badge beading ceremony (which my bishop came to) someone was asking me if I had another calling yet. My bishop was standing right next to me when I replied, "No, but I heard they want to see me so that means they already know where they want me to go!" Then I pestered my bishop into giving me the calling (instead of waiting for the counselor to do it). So we found a room where we could have privacy. Imagine my surprise when he called me to be a 1st counselor in the Young Women's presidency and camp director! I'm so excited to be able to work with the Young Women! I think it will be a fun and rewarding experience.

There are about 5 or 6 active young women in my ward. There are more that show up at the weekly activities and girls camp. It looks like I'll be able to go to girls camp at Camp Cumorah and see them enjoy the campgrounds that Eric and I helped prepare. So Marie- I'll be e-mailing you for fabulous activity ideas you have done in your ward! If anyone has ideas that you remember from days past, e-mail them to me! Since the youth meet weekly, you can never have enough ideas to choose from!

Oh, speaking of Young Women's- last wednesday the young men and young women met together and had a Spaghetti Ettiquette dinner. I peeked in when I dropped Caleb off and it looks like a fun idea! They had a couple (bishopric member and his wife) sitting at a nicely decorated table modeling and teaching appropriate behavior. They had other tables set up and covered with paper (with crayons on the table) and table settings so the youth could practice what they learn. Caleb had fun as well as learning a few do's and don'ts about table manners. This seems like something you could repeat every year! Refresher courses can't hurt- especially when you reach the dating years!