Cake

Here is the first of the reception edits.

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Warren & Jeni

There is something to be said about the joy and memories cherished when it is a member of your family who gets married. But there is always a special place in your heart when it is the youngest of the family. It was a happy day and yet it is hard to watch the baby of the family grow up and start her own family. They are a beautiful couple and we wish them all the joy and happiness in the world. It was a wonderful day, yet busy. Glad to have had it all in one day. Glad to have had all the family around. Wonderful to see old friends and former ward members. Most of all glad to have a new member join our family at all the gatherings. We love you both and wish you the best.

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The Wedding

I know everyone is waiting for some online photos of the wedding. They are finally here. Some Anna took, other's Shaun did. I didn't want to wait for him to edit them all, so this is just how they are. Some with edits, some not. Just some of my favorites. Hope you enjoy them. DG

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Another funny video about family. Got to love these.

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Create

I loved this short video. It is a powerful summary of Pres. Uchtdorf's message he gave in the General RS broadcast. The music helps depict the message in such a wonderful way.

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Saving the Princess

Every home needs a princess. Here is a cute clip, I thought I would share.

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Look who is student of the Month

One thing I like about Abigail's school is how they do student of the month. It is before school, refreshments served and individualized to each child. Each child get an award and a pencil. Abigail's teacher wrote, " Abigail makes my afternoons a delight. She always has a smile and is ready to work from the moment she comes through the door. She is so much fun to work with and always has a kind word for her classmates." We are so proud of Abigail. She loves school and we are excited to share this big day with her.

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Using coupons to buy groceries with no money

The other day I mentioned about my great cereal deal I got. There are about 3 blogs out in the Portland area that have blogs dedicated to grocery store sales. I was checking them today to see what good deals were out there. I am so impressed. They make it a game to see how cheap they can get things. ie. there is a family of four that has a goal to spend no more than $50 a week or a max of $250 a month on food and other stuff. They often buy things for free and then trade them to others for services like babysitting. One, blogged about the cereal sale. She did two different transactions and came away making money. Check out her transaction on her blog at:
http://www.frugallivingnw.com/2009/03/call-me-crazy-safeway-trip.html#links

I am impressed with their frugality. I hope they keep up the great work. I know they have a big blogger following who is cheering them on. It is motivating.

But for me, I live too far away to make a half hour drive to get the each of the latest deal each week. I have to factor in gas into the equation, and then the savings goes down. Plus, Winco is awesome. I think overall Winco is much cheaper for our family, and I don't have to play all the coupon games. I think they match coupons too. Does any one know? I know Bi-Mart will match any of other stores sales flyers for exact items.

If you want to check out the other frugal shopper links. Here they are:
http://saving4myfamily.blogspot.com/
http://mamaloves2save.blogspot.com/
http://www.frugallivingnw.com/

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Cereal bargains

I am always amazed when I hear someone got cereal for $1 a box or less. I know there are people who do it often, but I never see those kind of sales and when I do they are often garbage cereal, full of sugar and coloring. This last week I did find a sale that was not too bad in my opinion. I refuse to pay more than $2.50 for cereal ever, but this sale was less so I decided to spurge and stock up. I ended up with 36 boxes of cereal. I got a few new ones on sale to try as a treat for the kids. Too bad I didn't have any coupons for these brand or I would have saved even more.

Here is what I got:
Life cereal (mainly plain, but also I got a couple varieties to try) $1
Kellogg's corn flakes $1
Kix (plain and a couple varieties to try) 1.49
Golden Grahams (a treat I have not bought before, since it is higher is sugar than I prefer)1.49
Chex (several varieties) 1.49
Fruit Loops (ok, so I had a weak moment here, but it was a huge box and I only got two) 1.50
Kellogg's raisin bran $1.67
Kellogg's frosted flakes $1.67 (shocked my family on this one, not on my normal okay to buy list)
Kellogg's Crispix 1.99 (A treat I have never bought before)

Any untried cereal, I bought only one or two of, so it doesn't sit uneatened on our shelf like the box of POPS that I bought a couple of months ago on sale only to find out that no one likes it in our house. Won't buy that one again, but now I am left with half a box of uneaten cereal. Our new selection now adds to the already favorites in our house of Honey nut cherios, shredded wheat, granola, cream of wheat and oatmeal.

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We are glad to have you.

Last night we went to Anna's choir concert. We are so proud of her. She did a great job. She is involved with two choirs. The first one is a small choir, but they work hard and preform like they are much larger than they are. The second is a larger choir that is open to everyone in school, as long as they are willing to give up ther lunch time a couple of days a week. The music they sang was very touching. I almost cried during it. The three song that stood out to me most was "Somewhere Out There", "Inscriptions of Hope", and "As Long as I have Music".

Though these links are not the the TMS kids singing. They are close to what was sang last night. They really touched me. Both when I heard them sing it for the Holocaust program last week and last nights choir concert.

One thing that stood out to me was the many of the songs sang by the choirs were about hope. I know that religion is forbidden in schools, but how powerful are the lyrics that they sang to help them get through difficult times. This seem to be such a difficult age and I am thankful to a choir teacher who teaches songs that strengthens and uplifts her students. Here is the text from Inscription of Hope:

"Inscription of Hope." Based on fragments of Jewish text found on a cellar wall in Cologne, Germany during World War II, it is believed to have been scrawled by a someone hiding from the Nazis.

I believe in the sun

even when it is not shining.

And I believe in love

even when there's no one there.

And I believe in God

even when He is silent

I believe through any trial

there is always a way.

But sometimes in this suffering

and hopeless despair

My heart cries for shelter

to know someone's there

But a voice rises within me saying

'hold on my child'

I'll give you strength, I'll give you hope

Just stay a little while

I believe in the sun

even when it is not shining

And I believe in love

even when there's no one there

And I believe in God

even when He is silent

I believe through any trial

There is always a way

May there someday be sunshine

May there someday be happiness

May there someday be love

May there someday be peace.

Everyone had an opportunity to do a solo. Those who did not do a solo had to do a speaking part. Everyone did a great job.

Anna you are growing up so quickly. We love and appreciate you so much. We think you are terrific and are so glad to have you be a part of our family.

The final song of the night was this one. Again I have left the lyrics, because I think the message is powerful to all, but especially to these kids at this age. When life can be more complicated than ever before.

AS LONG AS I HAVE MUSIC
Words by: Don Besig & Nancy Price
Music by: Don Besig

When the world seems far beyond me
And I have no place to go,
When my life seems cold and empty
And I feel I'm all alone,

Then a song that I remember
Helps to ease my troubled mind
And I find the strength within me
To reach out just one more time.

For as long as I have music,
As long as there's a song for me to sing,
I can find my way; I can see a brighter day.
The music in my life will set my spirit free!

When the road is dark and lonely,
And I feel I want to cry,
When the dreams I keep inside me
Seem to fade and almost die,

Then I call upon my music
And it helps to dry my tears,
And I know that I can make it.
I'll go on, despite my fears.

For as long as I have music,
As long as there's a song for me to sing,
I can find my way; I can see a brighter day.
The music in my life will set my spirit free!

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Getting your child ready for nursery

This was a question asked on a comment left on our blog. Feel free to add any of your own suggestions. These are my opinions and should not be considered official views of the church or our leadership of our ward, (ie. the bishopric or primary presidency) For an official letter to parents from the church click here.

Each child is different. Some are ready to go right into nursery, some are not. Some seem fine at first then learn to cry when dropped off.
Here are a few pointers I have found that make a difference.

1. A child needs to have been left with others. (those who have never been without mom, struggle more than others.) This also means being left without siblings sometimes too. Matthew has always been fine being left if one of his sisters were there, but it has taken some extra work to leave him alone. I leave him now once a week for an hour to play with a friend with no family. He now has a couple of really good friends.

2. Teach them to use two hands with a cup. We have used sippy cups in nursery in the past and and mini paper cups. I prefer the paper as a parent, so I don't have to worry about how well the cups were cleaned. We usually spend the first month training an new child how to drink from a cup. It only takes a month or less and they figure it out. Some parents try to drop off a sippy cup of their own. Bad idea. It causes fighting and tears. Sometimes another child will drink out of it. It just is more of a pain than it is worth. If a child is thirsty, they will learn to drink out of a cup or we will take them to the drink fountain.

3. Don't send personal items with your child. Nursery is a time to learn to share. Personal items are hard to share. They can get broke or lost. It is not worth it being turned into a bad experience.

4. Ask your nursery leader what songs are being sang. There are usually a few regulars and then one that goes along with the lesson and then some seasonal songs.
Our favorites are:

• Do as I'm doing
• If you chance to meet a frown
• If your happy and you know it
• Sunbeam
• I pray in Faith
• I am a child of God
• Happy Family
• I love to see the temple
• Head, shoulders, knees and toes

That is just to name a few. What I like about each of those above songs is we have either something for the kids to hold or an action for them to do. Most of the actions come out of the new nursery manual. Last week, our lesson was on love. I think my group is ready to learn a few of the sign language signs to the song love one another. Not all the signs, but some of them. Best of all they are found in the children's song book.

5. As nursery time is approaching, start peeking in the window (If that doesn't send other kids crying). If so peak into another class that is a little older. Point out the fun things they are doing in class. Let them know that soon they will be big and can do those fun things.

6. Lastly, have family home evening. Many one year olds can sit still for a 1-2 minute lesson, some can sit still up to 5 minutes. If they are not ready to sit still, don't turn it into a battle. They still can listen if they are up and moving or playing quietly. The lesson for them does not have to be long or detailed. The new nursery manual "Behold your Little Ones" is perfect for a FHE lesson. Often the lesson is about a song or a bible story. These engage these little ones for a short time. Also reading stories to your child helps them to learn to sit and focus.

All and all most kids learn to love nursery in a short amount of time. There is so much to do and so much to learn for both the child and the leader.

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Memoriable events of the day

Today was a memorable day.

Anna is now 5 foot 6 1/4 inches with no shoes on and much taller with. She is now taller than her mom. For that she is grounded until she reverses that.

Abigail gave a wonderful talk in primary. She wrote most of it. It was about family members have important responsibilities. We had to change a few parts. Like at first she said, Dad's job is to tell people what to do. We discussed it a bit and decided he had other important things other than telling everyone what to do.

Matthew learned a new song today. It is called "Follow the Pocket." He runs around singing "Follow the pocket, follow the pocket, follow the pocket, don't go astray..."

Shaun had a day of many first. First Bishopric meeting with all members there. First PEC meeting. First PPI with someone. I am not sure who. First temple recommend interview. First calling issued. First sacrament prayer correction. First fast and testimony meeting as Bishop.

As for me, well I am taking over the blog. Not because I am interesting. My post rarely get comments, but because some one has to do it and well the lot fell upon me. Though as time permits, we shall hear pieces from Shaun.

I went to nursery today. It was great. It usually is. I have grown to love those kids. I think I like them more and more each week. Some of them I could keep honestly if their parents ever wanted to get rid of them. I just would not want all of them all the time. Nine two year olds 24/7, would send me to the crazy house. Today I think one of the kids had an accident. At least it was not on me. Later I knelt on the floor and got my skirt wet. I wonder if it was water or the other. Oh well. Couldn't do anything then. Oh, one more exciting moment. Our door is hard to shut in our classroom. As someone was leaving today. They closed it and the clock bounced off our wall and landed right between two little girls. Didn't bother them one bit, but scared the day lights our of Yvonne and I. We changed the time and moved it over the chalk board. I think we will be fine now and now next week we don't have to change the time.

On a different note. I over heard someone saying what they were fasting for today. They said they prayed that their dad would be home more. All I could think to myself was that they were praying for their dad to be unemployed. Thank you Child your dad will be so thrilled. We seriously need to be careful what we ask the Lord for. For we don't know how our prayers will be answered.

Well that about sums it up.

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