2012 Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas to all our beloved Family and Friends.

It is with a happy heart that I sit down to reflect on this great year and its accomplishments. I recognize that nothing would be possible without the Savior, and it is this reason that we celebrate his birth and his life. I know that he lives. He is the fuel in all that I do. I strive to be better each day as I follow his example and learn to love as he loves us.

We send our love to all of you!

2012

Troy marches on at the head of our family. He is always encouraging us to do our best and challenge ourselves. He still works hard with our business and he plays hard: biking, stand up paddling and learning to kite surf. He is a great dad, always taking the kids out to play. He gets the good husband comment too, because he is a good guy and I am am lucky to be his wife. He has also been taking Spanish classes all year and he is hoping to get an opportunity to visit a Spanish speaking country really soon.

I have been trying to keep up with my crew and their passion for living and playing. I started and coached a Cross Country team at our Elementary school this year, which was a great experience. I also trained and competed in the TriLanai which was lots of fun, especially because my Mom came and watched the kids for Troy and I over the weekend. I started working again, doing home health care - very part time, but enjoyable to use my degree again. I am serving in the Young Woman Program at church now and that is fun because Sydney is in the group and we have a lot of fun.

Sydney is 14 and in 9^th grade. It took me about 9 months to come to terms with the fact that I have a beautiful high schooler in the house. (And that we have to get up so early for Seminary.) She is a perfect teenager except that she is very responsible, diligent and self motivated. She still swims on the Maui Dolphins swim team as well as the High School swim team. She played volleyball this year, charms the piano, draws really well, gets good grades, dances hula, and rides her bike like a champ.

Ethan is 12 and in 7^th grade. He got glasses this year which are really cute as well as helpful. He came in 6^th in one of his surf competitions this summer, competed in a couple of Mountain Bike races, and he really enjoys skate boarding. He also swims, but only because his mom makes him. He is a really good boy as well as very nice. He attracts all the kids in the neighborhood, so our yard is rarely empty and he never suffers from being the only boy in our family. Ethan is also a good student, plays the piano and the ukulele and he is a good brother to his sisters.

Ember is 8 and in 3^rd grade. Pretty as can be, Ember is very creative. She is always making something and in the middle of one project, she is thinking of the next. She designed and sewed her own skirt this summer as well as hand sewed several little bags. Ember is a great big sister, always helping Sophie do fun things. Ember continues to study the violin and played for our church Christmas party. In her school class this year she is excelling at the recorder as well as at her grades. She also did a couple of mountain bike races this summer, dances ballet, ran cross country and she has started competing in the swim meets!

Sophie is 5 and in Kindergarden! She was not too sure about school for the first few months, but she is starting to enjoy it. She was chosen to participate in the the school choir and they competed in the Na Mele Competition. The songs are all in Hawaiian and she frequently uses Hawaiian phrases in our conversions which is pretty cute. Sophie is an amazing Mountain Biker and competed in her first race. She also ran in one of the cross country races this year. She is all girl until it comes to competition, then she is all business. She is very excited to be a reader and she is working very hard at school. She loves ballet and she is also a great artist, filling up the house with her art work.

Thank you all for filling our lives with your love and friendship. Have a very Merry Christmas.

Hugs,

Troy, Amy, Sydney, Ethan, Ember and Sophie Anderson 

2011 Troy's Christmas Letter

ONCE UPON A TIME, LONG, LONG AGO THERE WAS A LITTLE GIRL WHO THOUGHT A LOT ABOUT GROWING UP. SHE THOUGHT ABOUT HOW SHE WOULD LOOK, WHO SHE WOULD MEET, WHERE SHE WOULD LIVE AND WHO SHE WOULD MARRY.

ONE DAY SHE WAS GETTING OLDER, BUT STILL QUITE YOUNG WHEN SHE MET A BOY. HE WAS TALL, QUIET AND VERY HANDSOME. SHE LIKED THIS BOY AND WANTED TO SEE HIM SMILE. SHE SPENT A LITTLE BIT OF TIME EACH DAY LEARNING ABOUT WHAT HE LIKED AND WHAT HE DIDN'T LIKE, SHE THOUGHT HE WAS GOOD AND SHE WANTED TO BE HIS FRIEND.

MANY DAYS LATER, WHEN THE GIRL WAS JUST FIGUREING OUT WHAT SHE WANTED TO BE, THE BOY ASKED THE YOUNG GIRL TO MARRY HER. SHE HAD GROWN TO LOVE THE BOY AND SHE COULD SEE HERSELF HAPPY AS HIS COMPANION IN LIFE.

THEY HAD A BEAUTIFUL WEDDING, THEY LIVED MANY HAPPY YEARS AND HAD MANY BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN. TOGETHER THEY SMILED, LOVED, LEARNED AND GREW. SHE GREW TO LOVE HIM MORE AND MORE AND HE GREW TO LOVE HER MORE AND MORE. SHE LIVED EACH DAY TO SEE HIM SMILE AND EACH DAY HE MADE HER SMILE.

HE HAD DREAMS BIGGER THAN THEIR SIMPLE LIFE. SHE HAD STORES OF ADVENTURE. SHE COULD NOT WAIT TO SEE WHAT WONDERFUL, AMAZING THINGS THE FUTURE HELD. SHE KNEW THE BOY WOULD MAKE HER HAPPY. HE DID.

MERRY CHRISTMAS BOY OF MY YOUTH

LOVE THE GIRL OF YOUR DREAMS

Grandma Rosie

One of the highlights of our year was having Troy's mother come out for a visit.  We affectionately call her Grandma Rosie.  She came out to enjoy our crazy schedule and see the kids.  We all loved having her and we were sad to see her go.

 Ethan wanted her to teach him to make sour cream enchiladas.  Yum!!!

 We took a day and went to the aquarium. 

Sophie's Student of the Month Lunch.

Talk: Charity The Pure Love of Christ

Charity is one of the most beautiful facets of the gospel.  It is amazingly simple but in order to understand how to live each day with the pure love of Christ emanating from us, we must become passionate about the topic and study our own complex natures so that we can remove behaviors that are not loving and kind.  We can then add in actions,thoughts and deeds that fill others with our shared charity.

As a young woman in high school I was blessed with a very good friend.  We spent a lot of time together as well as with each others families.  My friends name was Celeste and she had a Grandma that lived across the street from her.  We all called her Gram and she was the best kind of wonderful.  Gram could find the good in anybody or in anything.  Gram was a wonderful example to me in giving charity through kind words to everyone.  I could walk into Grams house feigns weighted down by all the pressures and insecurities of a teen age life and 30 minutes later I could emerge knowing I was worthy to experience all the good things in life and that they would all happen.  She had such a wonderful gift, her charity also known as love is still a part of who I am.

Why was Gram so able to see the good in everything?  I know it was because she practiced.  She had endured many hardships in her life, one being loosing her mother at a very young age.  This did not defeat her, it helped her have compassion and empathy.  She truly spent time each day building people up and sharing the pure love of Christ.

Why do we call Charity the pure love of Christ?

The gift of charity comes from the Savior.
Charity is there because Christ is here.
Charity endures into the darkest night through difficult trials and on into the sunshine because Christ does.
God so loves us that he gave his only begotten son, Christ.
Christ loved us so much that his infinite atonement made it possible for us to return back to our heavenly home, and into the presence of God's pure love.  Pure love.  No gall, no bitterness, no scarcest, just warn fuzzy love.

In Moroni 7:45-47. Moroni recorded the words of his father Mormon, who was a very good man and a righteous king.  Mormon promises us that such love, the pure love of Christ is bestowed only upon true followers of Jesus Christ.
Christ loves us and that is how he hopes we will love each other, with a pure, unjudgemental love.

I found a talk by Elaine S. Dalton on Charity.  She gave the talk at BYU Woman's Conference and it is a beautiful Talk.  I am going to share some of it with you.  Here is the link to the full text:http://ce.byu.edu/cw/womensconference/archive/2011/pdf/Elaine_Dalton.pdf

Sister Dalton tells the story of two little girls were born 12 weeks premature. One of the girls weighed two pounds and was struggling with problems ranging from breathing issues and troubling blood-oxygen levels and heart-rate difficulties. Her sister was two pounds, three ounces, and was considered the stronger of the two.

When the twins were a little less than a month old, the smaller of the two girls went into critical condition. Her nurse recounts that “she began gasping for breath, and her face and stick-thin arms and legs turned bluish-gray. Her heart rate was way up. Her parents watched, terrified that she might die.” The nurse did all that she could, and nothing seemed to work. She then remembered a common procedure that was used in parts of Europe that helped struggling premature babies that was called double-bedding. After the parents gave permission, the nurse put the two babies together in one incubator, hoping it would do some good. “No sooner had the door of the incubator closed than [the struggling twin] snuggled up to [her sister]—and calmed right down. Within minutes [her] blood-oxygen readings were the best they had ever been since she was born. And as she dozed, [her sister] wrapped her tiny arm around her small sibling”

I love this true story because I think it is what we can do for others. It is what we, as sisters, can do for each other, what wives can do for husbands, what husbands can do for wives and both can do for their children, and what each of us can do for everyone in the world. We are all God’s precious children; each of us is beloved. We are here to become like Him—to follow His example, the example of His Son, and to become as He is as we do as He does. 

In order to possess true charity, each of us must come to know and understand several things. First is our identity—who we are and who we have always been. The Young Women’s theme is true doctrine: “We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us, and we love Him.” His love is infinite and eternal. He loved us so much that He sent His Son to make it possible for us to return to Him once again. When we understand our identity, then that understanding defines all of our relationships. As C. S. Lewis said, “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal”.

“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal”

Second, we must be pure. Moroni’s final words to each of us in these latter days—a generation he literally saw—exhorted us to “come unto Christ, and lay hold upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing” (Moroni 10:30). His exhortation or warning to us was to be pure and virtuous! He was an eyewitness to what happened to a society who had lost their faith, hope, and charity because they had lost their virtue and purity. Why did he exhort us in this manner? Again, it is part of His message on charity and gaining eternal life and the need to “lay hold upon every good thing ... until the coming of Christ” (Moroni 7: 25). Why? That “when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; ... that we may be purified even as he is pure” (Moroni 7:48). The principle is never changing—purity cannot come from an impure source. Moroni teaches us that “a bitter fountain cannot bring forth good water; neither can a good fountain bring forth bitter water” (Moroni 7:11). Thus, pure love cannot come from an impure source. In order to possess pure love, we must be pure and virtuous! We are developing patterns of thought and behavior, and they must be based on the highest moral standards. And our personal purity in thought and action will entitle us to receive the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost.

So that’s third—since charity is a spiritual gift that is bestowed upon us, it comes as a result of the reception of the Holy Ghost. And since the Holy Ghost is given only to members of the Church, it follows that the fruits and gifts of this Spirit are given in their fulness to Church members. Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught this principle: “Men [and women] must receive the gift of the Holy Ghost before that member of the Godhead will take up his abode with them and begin the supernal process of distributing his gifts to them....Thus the gifts of the Spirit are for believing, faithful, righteous people; they are reserved for the saints of God” (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith [1985], 370–71).
And fourth, as we make and keep our covenants, the promises those covenants contain will help us become as the Savior and bit by bit, week by week develop the ability to love as He would love, until we will become possessed with charity at the last day. This is a process, not an event. And so we must continually, daily, step by step, keep moving in that direction, always remembering Him and keeping His commandments.

Practicing just like Gram did.

Charity is a spiritual gift that is bestowed from the Father to all who are true followers of His Son, Jesus Christ. The gift of charity comes because of the Savior’s infinite Atonement. It is more than outward actions—more than casseroles and canned-good donations; it is a condition of the heart. This I also know: it is a gift that is earned, sought after, and does not come easily because it is in direct opposition to the natural man or woman. It is bestowed, and it doesn’t come without patience, practice, repentance, and purity—but it comes. President Ezra Taft Benson described the process this way: “The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1985, 5; or Ensign, Nov. 1985, 6). Charity can not only transform us; it can transform the world. Imagine what it would be like to live in a society that was constantly striving to possess this heavenly gift. It would be a Zion society! And Zion is the pure in heart—pure hearts, pure people, pure love!

Because I get to serve in Young Woman, I thought this story of a young girl's struggle was very appropriate for todays talk: 

“I came from a family of four. My mother was LDS, but my father was intolerant toward the Mormon Church. There was great discord, many arguments, and much bitterness in our home. My parents quarreled constantly, both verbally and physically.

“We paid a price. At sixteen my older brother had been convicted on a narcotics charge and had been placed in a detention home. I was fourteen and headed down that same road.
“I had been baptized at eight and had always attended Sunday School with my mother. Now, at fourteen, I went to church only to get out of the house and keep peace with my mom.”
Then she said, “I’ll never forget the first Sunday some girls from my Mutual class came around to invite me to Mutual. Four girls! Two of them were cheerleaders at ... school [and] the other two ... I had, of course, seen at church and school and knew were popular and well liked.
And then she said, “How I hated those girls! I hated them because they were everything I wanted to be and couldn’t. I was nothing, I was low-class—I knew it and I knew they knew it, too. I hated them all. I took their crummy little invitation note and smugly lied that I’d be sure to make it out to Mutual. Of course, I never went.”
She said, “This story could have ended there. Those four girls had done their duty at the beginning of the year. I had been personally invited out to Mutual and had refused. What more could they do?
“Fortunately for me,” she said, “the story did not end there. In the months that followed, every Sunday one of those four girls would be at my door with an invitation. But she wouldn’t just drop it off and leave. Each girl would stay and talk to me for at least an hour. At first we would talk about the weather and about Sunday School, which were the only two things I had in common with them, and then we would sit through eternal silences.
“Gradually,” she said, “our conversations became closer. The girls always seemed so eager to listen to my ideas and problems. They never yelled at me or called me names. And yet I was still apprehensive and I still disliked them greatly. I never attended Mutual.
“Time went on, yet those same four girls never gave up. They took a special interest in me. They always said ‘hi’ at school and would stop and talk to me. They sat by me in classes. They found out which subjects I was flunking ... and would invite themselves over to study with me.
“I could not understand it. Why me? They knew the things I did—my reputation. Surely they felt my resentment toward them. Why did they keep on trying? I knew I was a lost cause. I felt pushed and cornered, my own conscience hurting. Still I fought them.”

Then she shares, “December 12 was my birthday. My family never made birthdays special. I got a ‘happy birthday’ from my mom and nothing from my dad, and I went through the school day not letting anyone know I was a year older. I planned on celebrating that night by sneaking out and going over to see some friends.
“At 8:00 that night the doorbell rang. I answered it and there stood my Mutual class. One girl had a cake in her hands and another a gallon of ice cream. They were all smiling and suddenly broke out singing ‘Happy Birthday.’ I didn’t even know how to react.
“I went to Mutual twice that month and once in January. But that was all. The three times I attended were great, and I felt a strange closeness toward those four girls, but the social pressure from my other friends was too great and after leading the kind of life I led all week, I just couldn’t face those Mutual girls. Still they befriended me and never judged.
“March 12 was a very dreary day in my life. I came home from school late. I had flunked an exam that afternoon and was very blue. I came home to find my parents in a very heated argument. Knowing how it would be, I went to my room and sat there, numb, just listening. I don’t remember much after that except losing all control.
“A few days later I gained consciousness in the hospital. For three weeks I lay in the hospital, and for three weeks not one of my friends came to see me. Not one! ... Where were they now when I needed their friendship?
“Instead, every day at 3:30 one of those four Mutual girls would be at my side. They were there every day. They brought me things to read, they sneaked in candy, and they brought in a transistor radio for me to listen to. We would do crossword puzzles together, and they would tell me the latest happenings at school. They never asked what happened and I never offered to tell.
“After I got out of the hospital I began to go to Mutual. I finally realized that those four girls who had taken an interest in me really were sincere. Not only had I grown to like them, but now I felt a bond of love between us. My life seemed to be going so much better. I was happier than I had ever been.
“April 2 was a day I shall never forget.... During the final period of school, the principal walked into the room with a note for me. I was to go home immediately. ... What was wrong at home?
“By the time I reached the house I knew something dreadful had happened. I raced through the front door and almost collided head-on with my dad. I looked up into a ghostly white, tear-streaked face.... He was trembling all over and could only mutter, ‘She’s gone, your mother’s passed away.’”

She said, “I was stunned. I turned and I began to run. I ran and ran and my tears mixed with the rain. I ran until I was exhausted, but I did not stop. My face was swollen and my head hurt. Still I ran. Then, suddenly, I saw from the opposite direction someone coming toward me. I paused and wiped my eyes. Could it be? One of those four Mutual girls, the girls who truly cared about me? One of those girls was running through the rain for me. I began to run again, and when we met I threw my arms around that girl and we both collapsed to the ground. I sat there crying, and she cried with me.”
Then she relates, “In the years that followed, I became one with those four Mutual girls. I learned to care, really care about others and to give of myself. I found that by helping others my own problems diminished.
“When the most important day of my life came, I knelt across the altar from my sweetheart and in the reflection of mirrors were those four Mutual girls, ... with tears running down their cheeks. They had made this possible for me.
“I’ll never know why I had been so important to them. Me, a nobody. I can only thank my Father in heaven for those girls and pray with all my heart that there are many more like them in his Church” (name withheld, “‘How I Hated Those Girls!’” in Jay A. Parry, Everyday Heroes: True Stories of Ordinary People Who Made a Difference [2002], 73–77). 

Thank you for being the ones with charity. You are not ordinary, you are the Lord’s elect. You know what it means to make and keep sacred covenants, and because of that you are striving to “always remember him” in your thoughts and your actions (see Moroni 4:3). By your small and simple acts of charity, you are changing the world. Don’t get discouraged; don’t give up. Your light, your love makes all the difference. Will each of you commit today to reach out and light up the life of another person daily? It doesn’t take much, and it doesn’t have to be grand—just a smile, a loving touch, an arm around, a compliment. Will you do that with me?

The world teaches us that it is all about winning. The Savior teaches us that winners help others succeed. The world teaches that we have no responsibility for another’s actions, decisions, or failures. The Savior teaches us that we can change lives, influence choices as we reach out, forget ourselves, and extend a hand of charity. President Thomas S. Monson reminded each of us of this eternal truth when he said: “In a hundred small ways, all of you wear the mantle of charity. Life is perfect for none of us. Rather than being judgmental and critical of each other, may we have the pure love of Christ for our fellow travelers in this journey through life. May we recognize that each one is doing her best to deal with the challenges which come her way, and may we strive to do our best to help out” (“Charity Never Faileth,” Ensign, Nov. 2010, 125). 

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

(Thank you Elaine!)

Aunt Marge

As a small child, one of my saddest memories was watching a robin call for its mate after my cat had ended its companions life.  The robin was so sad and so mournful that he broke my heart.  I wanted to comfort him and make him understand, but how do you comfort a bird and explain what happened and tell him how very sorry you feel for his loss.

Today I learned that my Great Aunt Marge Allen passed away.  She was very old, very sweet, very loved and very tenderly cared for by my Sweet Great Uncle Bob.  When my brother called to tell me about my Aunts passing, he said my Uncle Bob was carrying her clothes around looking lost.  Oh how my arms wanted to reach out and comfort him, to make him understand that the emptiness could just be temporary.  She is still his Marge, if he could just...

We have some cardinals that like to visit our home.  They are a family of 3.  They have grown along side my children and I really like them.  One got stuck in a trap today.  It was a trap that we had set out for a rat.  It died.  It was more than my little heart could take.  I felt so sad for the remaining cardinals.  How could I help them feel better?  How could I tell them how sorry I feel.

My Aunt Marge has been an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter day Saints her whole life.  She is the reason that my father is active today.  She faithfully went to church her whole life.  She faithfully ached every day for the day when her Bob would join her.

The birds seem to move along fairly quickly after a loss.  Life depends on it.  I hope they find love again, I hope I again hear the little chirps that brighten my day.  I hope they forgive me.

I pray that the loss numbs any pride, bridges any hesitation and ignites desire.  May death be the catalyst for eternal life, eternal marriage, eternal happiness.

I love you Aunt Marge.  Birds of a Feather....

1 year ago I was 36

One year ago I turned 36 and I started a post on doing 36 random act of kindness for my birthday.  I am following up as I just cleaned off my desk and found the sheet listing all the things that my family and I did to celebrate my birthday:

1.  Wrote Nana

2.  Wrote Aunt Marge and Uncle Bob

3.  Wrote Grandma and Grandpa

4.  Got up early to play Legos with Ethan instead of doing yoga

5.  Put a gift out for the trash man, put it on top of the trash can...he got it!

6.  Put a chocolate bar and a note in the mailbox for our mail lady

7.  Paid for the order behind us in the drive through line a McDonalds.

8.  Gave a chocolate bar to the bank teller.

9.  Bought lunch and a drink for the guy with a hurt leg and talked story for awhile.

10.  Quarters

11.  Quarters

12.  Went to the laundermat and filled the machines with quarters and left notes encouraging them to do a random act of kindness.

13.  Quarters

14.  Quarters

15.  Took Apple Strudel to the life guards.

16.  Delivered groceries to awesome friends

17.  Tipped the Ice Cream girls at Gelato

18.  Picked up trash at the beach

19.  Took the kids surfing and gave lots of positive encouragement to Sydney

20.  Signed Carolina up of the Kids Club

21.  Read Stories to all the kids in the Barns and Noble kids section

22.  Gave a random lady a $5 Starbucks gift card

23.  Bought 8 Cake sticks and shared them with my friends

24.  Took the kids to buy Fathers Day cards

25.  Took time to listen and encourage a friend that was upset.

26.  Took a letter that Sophie dictated to me.

27.  Read to the Kids.

28.  Babysat the neighbors

29.  Took the kids paddle boarding

30.  Picked up trash at another beach

31.  Babysat Eden 

32.  Made a new friend at ballet and sat arm to arm enjoying each others closeness

33.  Gave the lady at the store my pen 

34.  Picked up trash around our neighborhood

35.  Took some visitors surfing and taught them to standup

36.  Massaged Troys Legs

It took me one week but it was the Best Birthday ever!!!  Share the love....

Rose Buds

My Mom just send a package containing some old reports that I had written in my early school years.  I really enjoyed reading them and I loved this one:

When a rose grows it starts as a tiny bud protected by a green thorny covering.  As it grows the protective covering starts to open and the color of the tiny rose appears.  Slowly one by one the tiny petals grow and open up to give light to the other petals.  This goes on until every velvet petal is in full bloom and a masterpiece has taken place.

For this to take place the rose needs water, soil, fertilizer and sunlight.  These aren't anything special, but they are vital to the flowers life.

Just as the bud of a rose blooming into a beautiful flower is in its own way a miracle; so is the beginning of a friendship.  In the first stages of friendship the green thorny protective covering has to open up and allow communication to take place by sharing feelings and letting a little bit of your colors to show thorough.  Then slowly as time goes by and trust comes into play, it acts as the fertilizer in the soil.  One by one another part of you opens up and your true colors shine out.  Under each petal there is something new to be found, and the water that keeps them growing strong is just like the bond that is growing between you and your new friend.

Time is all that is left to secure your friendship.  Time is what proves loyalty, honesty and dependability.  Sunlight is the time, because the sun is always sure to rise in the morning and set in the night.  Always there proving its loyalty, honesty and dependability.

Friendship, just like a rose, is a masterpiece, but takes time, and patients and special ingredients.  The biggest difference between them is that a rose is seasonal, and withers away shortly after it has reached full bloom.  A friendship can last a lifetime, if it doesn't get taken advantage of, or destroyed by jealousy.

Friends are worth more than any amount of money, and should be treated as they are priceless.  Without friends our world would be lonely and empty of roses.

I don't know when I wrote this, but it was typed on a typewriter and my mom must have typed it, because there are not any mistakes.

May all of your lives have a full bouquet of friends and roses!  Thank you for making my vase full.

Ember's Baptism Cake

Ember Rose Anderson

Jerrilee always makes the most beautiful cakes.  When you were baptized she and Papa Rick came to your baptism and after your special day we celebrated with a beautiful cake creation.  Here are the meanings behind the cake decorating.

The Story of your Cake:

White Cake:  For Purity and a Clean Heart

8 Roses: for the Age you were Baptized

Yellow Flowers and Butterfly:  God gave you a love for growing things and a love for his creations.

White Pearls: Stand for God's Seeds or "pearls" of wisdom he will give you, when you trust in him and ask him for guidance.

Proverbs

 5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

West Side

Ward Camp.  Flemmings Beach Park.  Taking the long way around.  Blow hole, heart windows, silly kids, happy dog, lots of stuff.  Too much sun.  Summer Fun!

 

 Uhhh, Mom there is a hole over here!

 I want to see!

I love Exploring.

We Love Maui.

Thank goodness for nice big sisters to carry Sophie back up the hill.

What a view.

Rock Surfing.

Getting into the Barrel!

Even Numbers

Siblings are a wonderful thing.  I have always been an advocate of even numbers of children just because there is no one left out.  I know that this is not always the case, even in my house, but lately the harmony of 4 has been so sweet.

Ethan and Ember love to play legos and today they have worked on circus tricks.  I need to video their trick, but basically Ember launches Ethan off the end of our high king size bed and he does an ariel flip landing on the massive pile of pillows that they have collected from around the house.  The funniest landing was when they put Sophie's toddler mattress on the top and when Ethan landed on one end of the mattress, the other end popped up and hit him in the face.

Sydney loves to play dress up with Sophie.  This morning Sydney did her hair, dressed her up and took her out side for a photo shoot.  These are some of my favorites.  She is out for hire!

The other craze in our van is the game Nash Bridges and Jinks.  If you don't yet play Nash Bridges, here are our rules:  When ever there is a yellow vehicle without any logo's on it, be the first to yell Nash Bridges.  If two people get it at the same time, then the first to say Jinks gets the point.  

( I guess it is from the Nash Bridges TV show )

Like most silly kids games there is no real point, but it is fun and adds some variety to the "punch buggy" or "slug a bug" game.

On the rental car bus the other day, the kids were playing and some people from Australia said they play the same game, but call it some thing different.

Summer Skirts

Ember loves to make things.  The first week of Summer she would not rest until we went to the fabric store to pick out some material for a ruffle skirt.  Sophie and Ember's best friend, Eden also picked out some material to make a skirt with.

Today Ember made her skirt, and wore it to church.  She has amazing focus and concentration, not to mention budding sewing skills!

Sophie is a very persistent kid, so she managed to get me to make her skirt in the first week after getting the material.  We made it while my other kids were off on adventures with the neighbor kids.  She was so patient while I made her skirt, and then decided that it was more fun as a dress.



Sophie is also the prettiest tom boy I have ever met.  After finishing the skirt, she walked up to Ethan's friends house with Ethan and then proceeded to skateboard in her new skirt until all the seams needed reinforcing and repairing.  She wears it all the time and trades between skirt and dress options!

Next...Eden's Skirt.

Peter Pan

We have the most wonderful ballet studio that we are a part of.  It is run by a wonderful woman in a rustic old county building that is full of character and history.  My girls and even Ethan have taken part in its productions.  The studio is the Alexander Academy in Kula and it is just our speed; donation based, trade for chores, honor system and lots of community love.   

 Ember the fairy and Sophie the Star were cast members of this years Peter Pan production.

Sophie was so happy to finely be on stage!

 Ember was beautiful and very graceful!

 The driver and the paycheck.

 The full costume.

Easter Eggs

I have wanted to make these eggs for many years and since I am lucky enough to get to do sharing time on Easter this year, I thought I would finally make them!  

We are going make them for FHE tonight.

All you need are plastic Easter Eggs, a sharpie to write the numbers on the eggs with and some simple things you can probably find around the house.  Each item is listed by the corresponding scriptures to tell the Easter Story with an object lesson.  Print out the list, cut, put each scripture topic in one egg with its object and get ready to tell the story!

1. Matthew 26: 14-15 3 dimes

 14 ¶Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests,

 15 And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for ^athirty pieces of silver.

2. Matthew 26:26-27,39 Sacrament cup / Bread

26 ¶And as they were eating, Jesus took ^abread, ^band blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my ^cbody.

 27 And he took the ^acup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ^bDrink ye all of it;

39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and ^aprayed, saying, O my ^bFather, if it be possible, let this ^ccup pass from me: nevertheless not as I ^dwill, but as ^ethou ^fwilt.

3. Matthew 27:1-2 Rope

1 When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death:

 2 And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to ^aPontius Pilate the governor.

4. Matthew 27:15, 17, 21, 24-26 Soap

 15 Now at that feast the governor was ^awont to ^brelease unto the people a prisoner, whom they ^cwould.

17 Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ?

21 The governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas.

24 ¶When Pilate saw that he ^acould prevail nothing, but that rather a ^btumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this ^cjust person: see ye to it.

 25 Then answered all the people, and said, His ^ablood be on us, and on our children.

 26 ¶Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had ^ascourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.

5. Mark 15:16-17 Purple Cloth

16 And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Prætorium; and they call together the whole band.

 17 And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of ^athorns, and put it about his head,

6. Matthew 27:31-32 Nail

31 And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him.

 32 And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.

7. Matthew 27:35 Dice

35 And they ^acrucified him, and ^bparted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my ^cgarments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.

8. Matthew 27:50-51, 54 Rocks

 50 ¶Jesus, when he had cried again with ^aa loud voice, yielded up the ghost.

 51 And, behold, the ^aveil of the temple was ^brent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did ^cquake, and the rocks rent;

 54 Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.

9. Matthew 27:57-60 Strip of white cloth

 57 When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathæa, named ^aJoseph, who also himself was Jesus’ ^bdisciple:

 58 He went to Pilate, and ^abegged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered.

 59 And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,

 60 And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great ^astone to the door of the ^bsepulchre, and departed.

10. Matthew 27:60, 66 Round Stone

60 And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great ^astone to the door of the ^bsepulchre, and departed

66 So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.

11. Mark 16:1, 2-6 Spices

 1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.

 2 And very early in the morning the ^afirst day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the ^brising of the sun.

 3 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?

 4 ^aAnd when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.

 5 And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, ^aclothed in a long white garment; and they were ^baffrighted.

 6 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is ^arisen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.

12. Matthew 28:5-6 Leave it Empty

5 ^aAnd the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.

 6 He is not here: for he is ^arisen, as he said. Come, see the place where the ^bLord lay.

Field Trips

I just found this on the list still living as a draft.  I don't remember why I did not post it, maybe it was waiting for pictures, but I don't think it need pictures.  -

Thursday, May 5th was the day Troy and Ethan left on a field trip with 60 of his classmates for Oahu.  They had so much fun sleeping on the USS Missouri and Troy came home with a new respect for how good Ethan is.  He also came home unbelieving how different 5th grade maturity can be.

Monday, May 9th, 2011 was the day I left with Sydney and 14 of her classmates for the Big Island.  It is always an education traveling with the kids that have been part of the dinner conversations over the past year.  Puting faces with the stories and the names.  Puting the parents with the kids.  We have a good kid, there are other good kids out there and it is the parents that are creating these good kids.  There are also plenty of screw-balls out there and that too is the direct off-ect or lack of effect of parenting.

So I feel that if I am to have an opinion on the status of parenting, and if I do not like what I see, then I need to have some suggestions for improving them:

1.  Learn to control your tongue.  Swearing is not cool.  Swearing is offensive, dirty and trashy.  If you don't allow trash to come out of your mouth, then hold your children to the same standard.  There is beauty all around, talk about the good you see.

2.  Respect.  Saying "yes" or "no" when asked a question,  looking the person in the eye when you are talking, smiling at everyone and being friendly.  Not hard.  Good Manners.  Respect.

3.  Be willing.  Try.  Do.  Accomplish.  Help.

That is all, just three little things that I think will make us all better parents and examples.  If we can teach these things to our kids then the world will be a better place.