THANXGIVING - TWO WEEKS PAST

We had a FANTASTIC Thanksgiving!
Key Lime Pie made rolls:

Kotten Kandy made deviled eggs:

And Scott made mashed potatoes and homemade stuffing:

We spent the day with GREAT friends!  And we ate good food!  And we played fun games!
Amy and Mark:

Jan and Dave:

Nettie with Jelly Bean and Key Lime Pie:

Kotten Kandy with Marmalade:

Nut, Apple Pie and Juice:

And of course, Scott and I:

One of my favorite things?  My husband with babies!  Jelly Bean adores Scott!  And Scott loves to make him laugh.  There is nothing sweeter than a babies laugh!

Another favorite thing?  These two girls:

Aren't they the most beautiful young women ever?  And just think... Heavenly Father entrusted them to my care!  I'm truly thankful and blessed!

CRESTWOOD FESTIVAL OF NATIVITIES

How wonderful tonight was....  We went to our stake's Festival of Nativities.  It was so wonderful!  The displays were spectacular (and confirmed that I would like to open a nativity museum someday!)  The craft project was so cute!  The live music was fantastic (especially my daughters' performances - and their good friend, Muffin)!  It was a truly magical night!  I shared over 80 of my nativities (I actually own over 200 - yes, I'm crazy!  And yes, we display them every year!  Where?  EVERYWHERE - including the bathrooms, bedrooms, kitchen and cupboards!)
Check out the videos below of my talented daughters....

My sweet husband set up my nativities for the display.  (Another one of his hidden talents is decorating!)

Yup, these are all mine....

Key Lime Pie playing "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring"

Kotten Kandy singing "I Wonder As I Wander"

COLD, COLD DAY - ICE STORM

What do we do on a "Snow Day?"

Key Lime Pie makes cookies and cleans the kitchen.  She is especially proud of her empty dishwasher and sink.  (She had to take a picture to remember it!)

And Kotten Kandy decided to dress up like her mom did in the 80s!

Fun day!

SCOTT MADE A WEDDING CAKE

I have to brag for a minute:  My husband is AMAZING!  His talents are vast.  He is kind, smart, loves to learn, works extremely hard, is creative...  I could go on.  But one of his "hidden" talents is that he enjoys making beautiful cakes for our birthdays.  A friend asked him if he could make a wedding cake.  He had never made one before but said he would.  :-)  Here is his first wedding cake:

Isn't he AMAZING?!  I married a WONDERFULLY, TALENTED guy!

MY DAUGHTER'S TALK

A few weeks ago, Kotten Kandy was asked to give a talk in church about hope.  She is still getting compliments (3 weeks later) and everyone said she sounded much older than her 13 years.  I was really proud of her.  She wrote the entire talk herself.  Here is her talk.  (It's not edited for writing purposes as it was a oral speech, but I thought she really did well.)

Today I was asked to speak on hope. So, I decided to ask her a few questions.  I discovered that Hope’s full name is Hope Childress.  Her favorite color is Green (just like me).  She has three children.  Her favorite hymn is “Nearer my God to Thee” And her favorite Book of Mormon story is the story of the prophet Abinidi teaching wicked King Noah.

After I learned all this great trivia about Hope, my mom told me that Hope Childress wasn’t exactly what Brother Melanson had in mind when he asked me to speak about hope.  I guess hope isn’t just a wonderful woman in our ward, it also means:  “Hope is an emotion which brings richness to our everyday lives. It is defined as “the feeling that… events will turn out for the best.” When we exercise hope, we “look forward… with desire and reasonable confidence” As such, hope brings a certain calming influence to our lives as we confidently look forward to future events.”

Elder M. Russel Ballard says, “As we put our faith and trust to work, hope is born. Hope grows out of faith and gives meaning and purpose to all that we do. It can even give us the peaceful assurance we need to live happily in a world that is ripe with iniquity, calamity, and injustice.”

Hope is an abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promises to you. M. Russel Ballard, explains how much filthiness there is in the world today and then goes on to say that, regardless of this dark picture, which will ultimately get worse, we must never allow ourselves to give up hope! The Lord will always fulfill his promises to you. We see examples of the Lord keeping His promises so many times in the scriptures, like when the Nephites prospered in the promised land because they kept the commandments of God and when Abraham was blessed with a numerous posterity. The Lord’s promises are still being fulfilled today. He fills them in His own time and His own way. We need to do our part and keep our hope in His promises.

 Hope is manifest in confidence, optimism, enthusiasm, and patient perseverance. But we don’t get these four things all at once. Hope takes time, President Uchtdorf, explains it using the example of walking for the first time. You stumble, you fall, but eventually, if you keep trying, you walk and soon you’re running! The same is with building up your hope. You read your scriptures daily, you pray on your knees day and night and commit to keep the commandments of God. President Uchtdorf states that if we do these things, we will grow in our ability to “abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost,” as we more perfectly live the gospel.

Hope is believing and expecting that something will occur. My mom reads to my family every morning in the car on the way to this church building a book called Fishers of Men. In this book you begin to understand what life was like during Christ’s ministry for the Jews. They had great hope in the Messiah! They believed He would come.  But we know that when He did come, they did not believe He was the One. Hope (like the Jews had) cannot stand alone, it has to have faith. Steven E. Snow, a member of the quorum of the 70 explains that there are three kinds of hope:  Hope for things beyond our control, hope that leads to dreams and hope to gain eternal salvation. 

Hope for things beyond our control is like when you hope your favorite football team will win.

Hope that leads to dreams ultimately should lead to action to fulfill those dreams.

The third type of hope (hope that is a desire to gain eternal salvation through the atonement of the Savior) is the most important type of hope for us as members of the church of Jesus Christ.  This kind of hope is called true conversion.  

When you have hope, you work through trials and difficulties with the confidence and assurance that all things will work together for your good. When we were living in Arizona, my mom and dad were huge examples to me, of this. My Dad would get up every morning, starting with prayer and scripture study. Then he would go out and look for jobs. When we came home from school he would take the time to teach us about the gospel. I know those days were hard for him. I know it was hard for him to keep going, but because he did, we are here today. My mom was also a huge example to me. I remember every morning in the car she would ask if we had said our personal prayers that morning, if we hadn’t she would immediately fold her arms and pray. She also took those long drives to the school to teach us about Adam and Eve, and the Creation and fall. I know it was extremely hard for both of them to keep being hopeful, but they did, and that taught me a big lesson, to never despair, and to always have hope.

Hope helps you conquer discouragement. President Uchtdorf describes discouragement and despair as a staircase that leads only and forever downward. Then he goes on to describe hope as, a beam of sunlight rising up and above the horizon of our present circumstances. It pierces the darkness with a brilliant dawn. It encourages and inspires us to place our trust in the loving care of an eternal Heavenly Father, who has prepared a way for those who seek for eternal truth in a world of relativism, confusion, and of fear. A while ago, I was kind of scared for what would happen in the future. I was only focusing on the negative and thinking about all the things that could go wrong. My mom realized my mood, and asked me what was wrong. I explained, and she told me there is always Hope. And the Atonement makes that hope real. I wouldn’t be so worried if I trusted the lord, and truly wanted his will to be done. What a stunning realization that was for me!  I was in the pit of despair, but after hearing my mom and praying to my Father in Heaven I knew there was hope!

The scriptures often describe hope in Jesus Christ as the assurance that you will inherit eternal life in the celestial kingdom. Titus 3:7 backs this up, “That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Elder Neal A. Maxwell explains that with this knowledge we should, as disciples, reach out to all who, for whatever reason, have ‘moved away from the hope of the gospel’ and reach to lift hands which hang hopelessly down.

I believe that to choose hope is to choose life. To choose hope is to choose love. I hope, that we can all choose life and love, choose hope. I have a hope in Jesus Christ, I have a hope that if I do all that I need to do in this life, I will inherit eternal life in the celestial kingdom and live with my Father in Heaven.     

SUNDY'S SEVEN SABBATH SENTIMENTS - EDITION 22 (aka MIA)

I am so sorry that I have been missing in action the last two weeks.  I haven't been feeling well...

1.

I just finished reading "David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants" by Malcolm Gladwelll last night. The main message of this book is that underdogs and disadvantaged people who have experienced difficulty can actually be at an advantage because of it.  It was inspiring and helped me to think outside of the box.  I never thought of David having the upper-hand in the story of David and Goliath, but Gladwell helped me to have a paradigm shift.  David rose to the challenge of fighting Goliath and made use of what he was given in order to overcome the insurmountable odds he faced.  We can do the same thing!  I loved reading this book.

2.

Scott and I have been making our Christmas gifts this year together.  Last year we decided to do a "home-made Christmas gift exchange" with our daughters.  It was a huge success, so we decided to do it again.  We are branching out and making our gifts for my family and his family too.  It has been so much fun working along side my husband and creating.  We love working together.  And I am truly blessed that he is such a marvelous, creative man who enjoys spending time with me.  (I would mention what we are making, but people who are receiving these gifts read this blog.  You will just have to wait until after Christmas to see.)

3.

Speaking of Christmas.  I LOVE Christmas music!  My favorite Christmas carol is "Silent Night."  I love the message.  I love the simplicity.  I love the melody.  But all Christmas music puts a smile on my face!  I'm one of those people who gets really excited that two radio stations start playing Christmas music the day after Halloween!  There are only two songs/singers who I don't care for when it comes to Christmas music:  I don't like the song "Santa Baby."  It is way too commercial and I'll turn it off.  I also don't care for Elvis' Christmas tunes - just don't think his voice is right for Christmas music.

4.

It's definitely turning into winter here.  It is raining like crazy this morning.  And we had a dusting of snow last week.  The trees are bare and I have to scrape my windows to take my daughters to seminary every morning now.  I know a lot of people love winter.  I like it as long as I'm indoors and WARM.  I do not like to be cold.  I prefer summer!

5.

I need to give a shout out to one of my good friends, Jan Melanson!  She is amazing!  She is always willing to help teach my daughters sewing, cooking, canning, etc.  We try to go visit her every Thursday and have such a great time spending time with her.  She is talented, kind, long-suffering, and a great role model for me and my kiddos.  I love spending time with her.  And so do K2!

6.

Key Lime Pie went to a stake dance last weekend.  The theme was 80s.  It is really humbling when your daughter is laughing about the "ridiculous hair-dos" I used to wear in my teens.  While she and her friends were getting ready for the dance, Scott and I put on our 80s play lists for them.  It was so fun to reminisce and jam to Metallica, Wham, Debbie Gibson, Phil Collins, and Paula Abdul.  I think the girls looked great... except they wouldn't let me do their hair bigger....  They really needed taller.....  I tried.  I even bought AquaNet hairspray.  The highlight of the dance, for Key Lime Pie, was when a boy got down on his knees to ask her for a dance.  Whoa!  My daughter is growing up too fast.
P.S.  Can you believe we used to dress up like this on purpose in the 80s?!

7.

Kotten Kandy spoke in Church last week.  She did an amazing job.  Everyone said they couldn't believe she wrote her own talk.  She is wise beyond her years and sounds like an adult when it comes to spiritual things.  She truly loves studying the gospel.  I am a proud mama!

SUNDY'S SEVEN SABBATH SENTIMENTS - EDITION 21

What a busy week!

1.

Key Lime Pie and Kotten Kandy

Chief Engineer/Tactical Officer - Commanding Officer - Executive and Science Officer - Red Shirted Nobody

Halloween is in full swing in our country.  The girls attended 3 Halloween parties this week.  One on Thursday and two on Friday.  (Our ward Halloween Party was one of the Friday parties.)  We decided to show of our nerd sides this year.
We went as a fictitious crew from the Star Trek Enterprise.  Scott was our Commanding Officer, and a human.  I was an expendable, red-shirted, alien.  Key Lime Pie, a vulcan, was our Executive and Science Officer.  Kotten Kandy was also a vulcan, and our Chief Engineer and Tactical Officer.
We always have fun dressing up this time of year!

2.

Key Lime Pie, Applesauce, and Kotten Kandy

The girls participated in the first annual A Cappella Festival on Saturday night.  They had soooooooooo much fun!  They made new friends, and they LOVED singing the songs and performing.  The girls group did a barbershop version of "Feeling Groovy" made famous by Simon and Garfunkle.  Then they also sang with the boys group: "Lida Rose" from the musical, The Music Man.  The entire concert was wonderful.
Key Lime Pie was one of the leaders for her part.  She has such a great musical talent and can pick up any part easily.  Kotten Kandy sang soprano - and her stage presence rocks - she's fun to watch!  (Applesauce joined them and had a BLAST too!)  They are already begging to do it again next year.  :-)

3.

I am currently reading "The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas.  It is GREAT!  I wish I had read it sooner.  I'm only 1/2 way done but I can't put it down.  I love classic literature.  (The movie is cool too, but I do wish I had read the book first.  It is always better.)

4.

We have three SETS of missionaries in our ward.  (I love living in the mission field... there was never more than one set per ward in the west.)  One of the pairs are Sister missionaries.  They are AWESOME and are great role models for my daughters.  Key Lime Pie and Kotten Kandy have enjoyed going with them to teach some of the investigators they are teaching.  We had the sisters over for dinner on Thursday night (before the Halloween party).  They are AMAZING!  I love them!  And I love what they are doing!  Thank you, sisters, for being such great examples and mentors to my girls.

5.

My little brother, Zane, just got back from a vacation to Greece and Scotland with his family.  Since Scotland is where are ancestors hail from, he was especially impressed with the area.  He mentioned that he didn't know why our ancestors ever left because it was so beautiful and the people were so nice.  One kind lady told him (in a thick Scottish accent) that the reason our ancestors left is because "it's cold, dark and miserable."
I tell you this story because it has been "cold, dark and miserable" here in Kentucky this week.  It's definitely turning into winter.  We even had some snow flurries on Thursday.  And every morning, getting up for early morning seminary is getting more and more difficult, due to the freezing temperatures and the gloomy, darkened sky.  I think if Scotland is anything like Kentucky, I understand.  I don't like cold and dark.

6.

School has been keeping us busy too.  We are currently finishing up our study of American documents.  It has been fun sharing these great records with my daughters.  I'm worried there will come a time when many of our children don't know, or haven't read, these marvelous works.  Both girls are also working on their math, Portuguese, and science assignments too.  Kotten Kandy is taking piano and voice lessons.  Key Lime Pie is working on a music theory class (with me) and is LOVING her violin lessons.  And every other week, we have an art class.  They are learning about shading and drawing people.  I LOVE homeschooling.  So do they!

7.

I spent all week studying the Atonement of Christ.  I had to give a talk today, and that was the topic I was given.  It's been an emotional week, due to the studying and pondering on such a sacred subject.  (I cried a lot as I reflected on Christ and His sacrifice for me.)  I really do appreciate my Savior.  And I recognize that I need His saving grace in all I do.
Here is a copy of my talk (It's kinda long, so if you don't want to read it, I'll understand):

When I was a little girl, my grandma used to tell me stories.  She was the best story teller ever.  She used to tell me stories about Little Orphan Annie, or her sisters’ and their oddly shaped mouths, or a wild horse that needed love.  I loved all of her stories.  But there was one story that always made me a little bit sad, and I didn’t really understand it until I was a bit older:

There was a beautiful place where the trees were green, the grass was lush, and the mountains were tall and majestic.   The flowers always bloomed in this beautiful place - there were purple pansies and yellow daffodils, there were blue forget-me-nots and pink carnations and the white roses were large and gorgeous (but there were NO red roses.)

In this beautiful place there lived a popular and kind girl.  Everyone at school loved her.   Because she was so popular, many young men asked her to go on dates.  And so she would ask them to difficult tasks in order to take her out. 

There was a young man in her school, who finally got up enough nerve to ask the girl on a date.  She kindly told him that she would go out with him if he could get her a red rose.  The boy was heart-broken.  He knew that no red roses grew in the area.

That evening he went outside to the white rose bush that grew behind his house and cried.  He wondered out loud why none of the roses could be red.  All he wanted in the world was a red rose so he could go on a date with the beautiful girl.  A hummingbird heard his plea.  Now this hummingbird loved this little boy.  She had watched him grow his entire life.  She knew he was a good boy.  And she wanted to help him.

When the boy finally went inside, the bird decided she would help the boy.  She looked at the white rose bush and saw a beautiful white rose with a large thorn directly above it.  The young hummingbird flew as quickly as she could into the thorn and gave her life.  A few drops of blood from the bird dropped directly onto the rose turning it a beautiful crimson color.

The next morning was Saturday.  The young boy went out to the rose bush again wishing for a red rose.  He was surprised to see a beautiful red rose right in the middle of the bush.  He quickly cut the rose to take to the girl.  He didn’t even notice the small dead hummingbird lying on the ground beneath his prize.

As the boy ran towards the young woman’s house, he passed his friends playing a game of baseball.  They asked him to join them.  He answered that he couldn’t just then because he had to go give the red rose to the popular young girl.  His buddies started teasing him and began to beg him to play.  They needed another player to make the teams even.  Eventually the convinced the young boy to join the game.  He dropped the rose and ran towards his friends, accidentally stepping on the rose as he ran into the outfield.

Sometimes we, like the boy in the story, take the gift of Christ’s Atonement for granted.   Sometimes we get caught up in the everyday events of life and forget that the Savior, like the hummingbird, atoned for us and gave His life for us.  I never wanted to be like the young boy who took the gift of the red rose for granted.  But I have found myself, sometimes, taking the precious gift of Christ’s redeeming love for me for granted.

The past week, as I have studied the Atonement, I have felt gratitude and humility as I have revisited how I have been able to use the Atonement in my life.  Each of us have and will “taste the bitter ashes of life, from sin and neglect to sorrow and disappointment.  But the Atonement of Christ can lift us up.”  I think that the principle that has touched me the most, as I have studied and pondered, is that the Savior’s atonement has the healing power not only for sin, but also for inadequacy, and all that is unfair about life.

Why does the Lord allow suffering and adversity to come to us in this life?  - Because it is part of the plan for our growth and progress!  We shouted for joy when we knew we would have the opportunity to come to earth to experience mortality.  Dallin H. Oaks taught, “Our needed conversions are often achieved more readily by suffering and adversity than by comfort and tranquility.”

Sometimes the weight of the demand for perfection drives us to despair.  Stephen E. Robinson told a story about his wife that I could really relate too.  His wife and he were living in Pennsylvania.  Things were going pretty well; he had been promoted at work, he served in the bishopric, they had had their fourth child, his wife had graduated from college, passed the CPA exam and was serving as the Relief Society President.  They both held temple recommends and they had family home evenings.  Then one night everything seemed to crumble.  His wife completely checked out spiritually.  She wouldn’t participate in spiritual things, and she asked to be released from her callings.  When he finally got her to tell him what was wrong, she said something like this: “All right.  You want to know what’s wrong?  I’ll tell you what’s wrong.  I can’t do it anymore.  I can’t lift it.  I can’t get up at 5:30 in the morning and bake break and sew clothes and help my kids with their homework and do my own homework and do my Relief Society stuff and get my genealogy done and write the congressman and go to the PTA meetings and write the missionaries…” and she just started naming one brick after another that had been laid on her, explaining all the things she could not do.  She said, “I don’t have the talent that Sister So and So has , and I can’t do what Sister So and So does.  I try not to yell at the kids, but I lose control, and I do.  I’m just not perfect.  And I’m not ever going to be perfect.  I’m not going to make it to the celestial kingdom and I’ve finally admitted that to myself.  You and the kids can go, but I can’t do it all.  I’m not “Molly Mormon,” and I’m not ever going to be perfect, so I’ve given up.  Why break my back?”

Elder Robinson explained that his wife was trying to save herself.  She still had a testimony of Jesus Christ.  She knew Him as a coach, a cheerleader, an advisor, and a teacher.  She knew Him an an example and the head of the Church and as her Elder Brother.  She knew all of that, but she did not understand why He is called the Savior.  We can NOT save ourselves.  No one can.  No one is perfect, not even the Brethren.  Perfection only comes through the Atonement of Christ.  That is why we need a Savior.

When Elder Robinson explained to his wife how it worked, she was so grateful.  She said, “I’ve always believed that Christ is the Son of God.  I have always believed that He suffered and died for me.  But now I know that he can save me from myself, form my sins, form my weakness, inadequacy, and lack of talent.”

I love 2 Nephi 2:8:  “There is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah.”  There is no other way.  Many of us are trying to save ourselves, holding the Atonement of Jesus Christ at arm’s distance and saying, “When I’ve done it, when I’ve perfected myself, when I’ve made myself worthy, then I’ll be worthy of the Atonement.  Then I will allow Him in.”  We cannot do it.  That’s like saying, “When I am well, I’ll take the medicine.  I’ll be worthy of it then.”  That’s not how it was designed to work.

When I was a teenager, I was bullied.  Today the abuse I received (verbally, physically and emotionally) at the hands of young women who knew better would have been considered criminal.  Back then, I was told to ignore it and be the “better person.”  The bullying continued throughout my young adulthood.  It wasn’t until I moved away for college that it stopped.  But the emotional scars didn’t disappear so easily.  I was diagnosed with depression.  I went to many therapists and read many self-help books to combat the hurt that continued to linger.  A great depression had settled upon me.  Satan knew when to attack.  Finally, one day at Ricks College, I knelt in prayer to my Heavenly Father and poured out my heart to Him.  Through the Holy Ghost, I knew that I needed my SAVIOR, Jesus Christ.  I knew that only He could save me from this despair.  Through priesthood blessings and the power of the Atonement, I was able to move on.   I now know that all that is unfair about life will be taken care of by the Atonement.   The Savior mercifully let me know of my true worth and all would be OK.

I bear testimony to you that all that is unfair in life will be taken care of through the Atonement of Christ.  I have learned this lesson many times in my life.  I bear testimony that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that He is the Savior of the World, that He is MY Savior.  I pray that we will never trample the special gift that He has given us through His atoning blood.  I bear testimony of Him.  I love Him…  Amen.