On Friday afternoon we had several stops to make, we went to my moms house, my work, Grandma Johnson's work, then back to mom's house for pizza and my parents tradition of taking their grand kids around their neighborhood.Even Paislee and Kailia went out for a bit, until it started to sprinkle.
Then it was on to the Alphins house for donuts, hot cocoa and chili. This is another tradition of Cory's from when he was little. (By the way if you need a real estate agent, Don Alphin, is the best!!) Then back to our house.
Trick or Treating was kind of lame around our neighborhood. It is nice having a quite neighborhood, except there are no kids to play with and come trick or treating. So the kids and Cory headed out to get some candy. We only had about 10 trick or treaters to our house! I have so much candy left over!
Yesterday morning was super Saturday. I really wanted to go cause they had some cute things. So Spent the morning creating with my mom and Lyndsy. But I felt rushed because...
Yesterday was Gavin's birthday party too. I begged old man Johnson (that's my nickname for Cory when he is being grumpy) to let us have the party at Jumpin' Jacks or something. To save me from having 12 kids at my house. But no!! We ended up doing a Rock Band party for Gavin. He LOVED it! We played Rock Band, and Rock Band 2 (our gift to Gavin) had cake ate pizza-- you know whats scare, carrying in pizza into a group of 10 hungry boys! I almost lost an arm! Luckily Bella, Taya's cousin was their to keep Taya company, other wise the poor thing would have been lost! But Gavin had a blast. I intentionally did not put any candy into the gift bags, because I figured most parents were like me and disgusted with how much candy was already in the house! It was tempting though.
Saturday night we went to Tucano's (YUMMY!) with my family. Gavin really wanted them to sing to him with the drums. You should have seen how cute he was. I would post a picture, but I forgot my camera! So we were trying to be cheap and kids 6 and under are free. So we were trying to tell the waitress Gavin was 6 and he pipes up, "No, I am SEVEN!" Opps, got caught in that white lie! Serves me right I guess.
After that week, I woke up today intending to play slacker and skip church (I know shame on me!) I was all settled on the couch with a bowl of cereal and PJ's just starting to watch a marathon of Top Design. When I was pushed off my seat and yelled at by the spirit "Get up and go to church!" to which I argued "Why me? and I don't want to!" But he wouldn't leave me alone! So I got the kids ready and myself. And headed to church. We were even there early!
I had been praying and looking for a way to bring the idea of service and the meaning of Christmas to the kids. Since the gimmes have already started.
Our bishop was making the announcements that you actually hear when you are early. And the bishop began talking about the service project that our ward does every year. It is called Operation Christmas Child. And they do it in conjunction with the First Baptist church here in Springville. You get a plastic shoe box, pick a gender and an age and fill it with appropriate items. The items are then sent to a third world country. Every year Cory and I buy and donate a gift in honor of Shaylee that we would have gotten her, to toys for tots. I had already decided to do this project in Shaylee's honor. When it hit me, I need to let the kids see us do this and participate in this with us. So I made up my mind right then that we would present the idea to the kids tomorrow in family home evening. So I was already happy that I had come. And then the Relief Society lesson was about service! The spirit I felt there was amazing! I left that room in tears, knowing why I had been thrown off my comfy couch this morning. But, the Lord wasn't done! The kids, all three of them, had primary lessons about serving others! I could not ask for a better moment to present the idea of service to them. I get chills even now, thinking about how this all came about.
So what a week! I am sorry for the lenghty post, but I need to get it all down! So thanks to those who made it this far.
4 comments:
You are so cute I loved that post I was in tears at the end too isn't it crazy how the Lord speaks to us I felt the same way that morning and little did I know I would bare my testimony for the first time in 8 years once I finally got to church...anyways for the brownie recipe it is sooo easy you get a box brownie, mix it up, poor half of the batter in the bottom of the pan then break up reeses baking bar (you can buy in the baking aisle at Walmart) fill the pan good with the reeses bar and then poor the rest of the brownie over the top and bake thats it call me if you have any questions or if you can't find the reeses bar.
Holy cow! i loved your post. you gave me tears. how brave of you to share that. i felt that way yesterday too. i usually ditch after sacrament to go home and feed babies, but it was a lesson on a gratitude and it was amazing. i needed to feel the Spirit, i haven't been to relief society in so long!
thanks for the brownie recipe kal. those were delicious!
Thanks Kalli! I plan on making them soon!
You guys went to Tucanos without us?! You jerks! Ha ha jk jk.. We should go to The Seafood Buffet in Mesquite when you guys come.. I miss you guys so much.. I hate that I miss birthdays and everything..
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