WC - "Choose Ye This Day to Serve the Lord"

Julie B. Beck
General President of the Relief Society

She spoke at the opening session on the first day of Women's Conference. I was in such cramped quarters that I didn't get to take as good of notes as I wanted, just thoughts and impressions as I was waiting for the next class. I wrote that I so hoped I would get the chance to find it online or that they would replay it on BYU.TV so I could listen to it again. Wouldn't you know she gave a condensed version of the same talk in our Regional Conference on May 2nd!! Even hearing it twice I still hope to get a printed version to study it out more. Anyway, here's my notes from both times I heard it.

"We each are pivotal in the success of our families. - Be like Rebekah."

She talked about how We need to be lionesses at the gate of our homes. What's important to us will show in our lives and homes. We need to guard and protect our families and homes.

**When our priorities are not in order, we lose power!**

We need to prioritize with Heavenly Father's help. Take paper and pencil to our personal prayers with Him, so we can write down the promptings and inspiration that comes, so we won't forget.

She suggessted 3 categories

Essential - these things include ...
personal revelation
reading/studying the scriptures
fasting & prayer
keeping/making covenants
attending sacrament meetings & temple

Necessary -
homemaking- keeping a house of order, meals
It's important to make a place for the spirit of the Lord to come
Love and support Husband, spirit of meekness
Value things that are important to Salvation

Nice to do -Nice but won't save us
crafts
hobbies
recreational activities
travel
lunches with friends, etc.

I thought it was way interesting to hear her talk about how spending time at "lunches with friends" and what the world deems as "time out" is the nice to do list and is not life saving stuff! We need to spend more time serving and loving our families. But if we really organize our time and work on the mandatory (essential) and important things, we'll find we actually find time to do some of those things that are on our "Nice to do" list. Just remember they are NOT important and will not hlep us achieve exhaltation!

She said that single sisters are every bit as important in the Lord's work as married sisters!

She also strongly suggested that we take the time to really study and learn why we are here and what our purpose is.

WC - Sacrifice & Selflessness in Marriage

Here is my first attempt at writing my notes on some of my Women's Conference classes or discussion notes. I chose a shorter one this time due to lack of time this morning.

Sacrifice & Selflessness in Marriage
"Be Ye All of One Mind"

By Paul & Heather Savage

' "True marriage is based on a happiness which comes from giving, serving, sharing, sacrificing, and selflessness" (Pres Spencer W. Kimball). Marriage may require couples to economize, adjust priorities, postpone plans, or move away from family. How can we be a better "sacred support" and help meet for our spouses?'

(This is the synopsis that made me choose to come to the class)

I felt like they didn't stick to the synopsis quite as much as I would have liked, but my notes reflected a good way of thinking about it.

"We need to continually look at our spouse through the Saviors' eyes. Treat with kindness and love."

She really spent a lot of time explaining why we need to be one. That God intends for us to be one in marriage. Lots of quotes and scriptures. (This wasn't a question in my mind, I didn't need the proof that this was important, but maybe somebody did. So I felt this was wasting precious time.)

But I wasn't disappointed with this way of looking at our relationship with our spouse...

"We are emulating the Savior when we love our spouses with all our hearts. We MUST ACTIVELY repent and forgive in marriage. By always remembering Christ, we remember and better see and love our spouses as Christ does.

To remember Christ and forgive when our spouse has done something to hurt us, is keeping our covenants to always remember Him."

At first I didn't think they were very helpful at all, Or really stuck to the subject. But as I have reread my notes over the last few weeks and pondered this, I've come to the realization that as we put Christ first in our lives and in our marriages, as we repent and really strive to become better, as we strive to see our spouses as Christ does...It does help us to be a "sacred support" and help meet for our spouses!

ooooohhhh, I'm soooo Sore!!

I am sure feeling it today! I worked almost the entire day in my yards, yesterday!

I spent 3 hours in the front, 2 hours on the side and 3 more hours in the back. It is starting to look so good! I should have taken before and after pics, sorry you'll have to take my word for it! :)

I can't believe how much more there is to do, yuck! I am so looking forward to getting my vegetable gardens planted. Oh how I love fresh vegies from the garden. I sooo hope they do as well as last year!

I'm hoping to get more done in the next few days, but I don't know if the weather will cooperate, or my body for that matter!! LOL

Seminary Graduation!

I can hardly believe it's that time of year again!

This one really crept up on us. I vaguely heard the announcement last week, but didn't put it together that it was this week! It seems silly to have graduation when they still have 3 weeks left, but it makes sense to want to not be competing with all the other graduation events going on!

Our Stake Pres, Cory Hanks once again gave a fabulous talk! He told another story about an activity he did as a Bishop with his Young Women at camp one year. They took the girls out tree hugging. They blind folded the girls walked them around a grove of trees got them all disoriented then "hooked" them up to a tree and told them they had about 10 minutes to get to know their tree. He talked about how amazing it was to watch them all blindfolded the differences of how each one went about getting to know their tree. Some took it very serious, some just sat down against it and fell asleep. Others set out very meticulously feeling every branch, knot and curve of the tree. Then they brought all the girls back together and likened the tree to their Savior. How seriously are we getting to know our Savior. Also that our Savior knows us very well. Then without blindfolds, they were challenged to go find their tree! He said again, it was amazing to watch how these girls went about looking for their tree. He bore a powerful testimony of the love of our Savior and of the love of our Stake Presidency to these young Seminary Graduates. I feel very blessed to have such a wonderful and powerful Stake President! Every time he speaks, it is an incredible experience!!

Congrats to Ben!

Congrats to the Bountiful 20th Ward Seminary Graduates!!

State Track Meet

Melanie and I packed up the girls and spent the whole day at the BYU track! We left right after sending the elementary kids off to school. We got there about 9:30ish. We missed his first race, the 110m hurdles. He placed 14th, which means he didn't make the finals, but still did a great job.

When Melanie and I first got there we found a place on the bleachers and right away knew it wasn't going to work with the girls even for a few minutes. So Mel went in search of a better place. She found a nice patch of grass right under the score board where we could lay out some blankets and let the girls run around a little bit. It was perfect!

She took them for a walk and found an even bigger patch of grass and they rolled down it for a little bit!

On Friday, the weather was so back and forth, real sunny and warm, then lots of clouds and pretty chilly. Here we are waiting for the last race!

Ben ran in the 4 X 100m relay and they placed 5th which put them in the finals to race the next day! After lunch he ran the 300m hurdles, he placed 7th which also put in the finals to race the next day! 2 for 3 pretty great!! Then the very last event, he ran the first leg of the 4 X 400m relay and they placed 2nd, Made the finals for the next day! It was a long, but productive day.

The girls did great, considering that we were there 9 1/2 hours before we finally left. Melanie was invited and decided to spend the night with Holly, as we were dropping her off, Ben was invited and decided to stay as well. They all ended up staying with Andrea and Garrett. It made it so much easier for him to not have to get up so early on Sat to go back on the bus. (Thanks, guys!)

I drove back on Sat morning and we were lucky enough to get the same patch of grass! It was a good spot! Jennie and the girls showed up to watch Ben run. It was fun to visit inbetween the races and play with the girls!

Ben's 4 X 100m relay placed 4th in the finals. Ben went on to take 7th in the 300m hurdle finals, only .3 seconds behind his personal record set in the region meet! The coaches decided to pull Ben from the final 4 X 400m relay and run another team mate. They took second place.

It was fun, but it sure made for a long weekend!!

Utah Interest Report

Kim is finally done with her Utah Interest Report! They used to make them do a county report in 4th grade, now it's a Utah Interest. Which means they can pick any one or thing that's Utah based to study and do a report on.

Kim chose to do Lagoon! We've been working on the whole thing for 2 1/2 months! This had several components...

Poster

Written report - notes, rough draft, then final draft

Oral report - She chose to do a puppet show. I really didn't think it would work, but she pulled it off and it's actually pretty cute!

Project - she chose to make a diarama

Region Champions!

I spent a very freezing Thursday afternoon at the Woods Cross High Track for day 2 of Ben's Region Track meet. I couldn't believe how cold it could be with the sun shining so bright!! It took me hours to completely thaw out!!

Our Men's Bountiful High Braves left there Region Champions!! Our girls took 3rd, which actually was pretty good since we really didn't have many girls compared to the girls team that took first.

Ben left there with a pretty big smile because he not only placed well but also made some personal records in some of his events!

He took 2nd in his 110m hurdles! He was so happy to have barely snatched 2nd place from behind! Then when he ran the 300m hurdles, he was doing so good. I had the hardest time picking which pics to put in. I couldn't resist so many!!

Last of the warming up, right before the race. Look at how high he jumps!!

He made it to the first hurdle first, but was a little behind the leader coming around the curve.

It was truly amazing to watch him reach that last hurdle together and actually take the lead on the last hurdle and take 1st place!!

He was so happy with himself! He was timed 5 coming into this final and took 1st place. His coaches just swarmed him!!


Then he ran two relays. His 4 X 100m team took 3rd. They were happy with that because they were kind of thrown together as a team. His 4 X 400m team took 1st!!

On the Medal Podium! 300m Hurdles.
Look at the height difference on these guys!!

Medal Podium for the 110m Hurdles.





Medal Podium for the 4 X 400m relay!

Even though I was freezing sitting there, it was definitely a great day for running!! He came home with 3 medals and a GREAT BIG SMILE!! Way to Go, Ben!!

We have State Track Meet at BYU tomorrow and Saturday!

5 Stitches!!

Tuesday night I was out, when I got a call from Doug wondering when I was going to be home. Fortunately, I was on my way, because he said that our Little Tiffy Girl had fallen in the hall and split her chin! She probably was going to need stitches!

I got home and sure enough it needed stitches. I took her to the urgent care close to our home, we had to switch from IHC due to our new insurance. It's actually closer than the insta care! We got there and for a while were the only ones there.

She kept telling them she didn't want a shot. How do you calm her with out lying to her?! The nurse said "I" won't be giving you any shots! I chuckled at that! I just told her don't worry about a thing, we are going to fix your chin so it doesn't hurt anymore! Won't that be great!!

We got her on the table and prepped for the Doc. They put a topical anesthetic on it at first, she seemed real comfortable with that. They had to wash her with that funny brown soap, and cover her face with a paper to keep the area clean. I think there's a method to their madness!! She couldn't see a thing! The nurse was at her head, holding her steady and I was holding her hands.

Then he did something I hadn't seen them do before. Before actually inserting the needle into her owie, he dripped the numbing medicine right on the opening of her owie and let that numb it just a little more, so when it came time to actually giving her the shot all it took was a little distraction. I told her not talk out loud but to think in her head the answers to the questions I was asking her. I had her think about what would be her most favorite birthday party? What kinds of things would you want there? So the nurse and I both kept coming up with things for her to think about. She didn't even squeeze my hands! She had no idea she was getting a shot!

She was a little uncomfortable with the little bit of tugging she felt as he stitched her up, but she was fabulous and held very still until it was all done! 5 stitches in all! We get them out on Monday!

She got an otter pop and some tokens to spend in the vending machines in the lobby!! I was having trouble taking pics with my new phone, but here's a couple!

I hesitated to tell her she actually got a shot, but decided that it could be a teaching moment, too. When I asked her, she was surprised to find out she did get a shot! We were able to talk about how it doesn't always have to be scarey to get shots!

She couldn't wait to go back for her check up yesterday, she got another otter pop and more tokens to spend in the vending machine. She already can hardly wait for Monday!

All in all, it wasn't too bad of an experience!

Scout O Rama

May 1st was the annual Scout O Rama at the Sandy Expo Center.

Melanie and I met Doug there on our way home from Women's Conference.

It's just a huge fair like atmosphere. Tons and tons of booths of cub related games, activities, belt loop opportunities, etc. It was crazy noisy and crowded!!

Our pack did a Paper Pirates Booth with paper hats, swords & pirate eye patches!

The kids had fun and never want to leave no matter how long we stay!

They had a couple of rock climbing walls, they even let Nattie Bug try it. Here are some pics...

Playground Tag!

The last couple of weeks (not last night) it has been great outside FHE weather. We love it when we can go to a park and run around and play!

We usually try to play ultimate frisbee, but the kids have started a new activity called playground tag! They literally run all over the playground chasing and tagging each other. They seem to have loads of fun with it. Even Doug gets into these kind of games!

Last week, we had to stop and come home because it just wasn't Steven's day. He kept hurting himself. First he rolled his toe while playing ultimate bare foot, so he was limping all over. Then he cut a corner on the playground and whacked his knee. Then he was chasing Shawn a little too close and got his hand kicked. Then as he was running up the slide trying to get away, he hit his head on a metal bar! I am so surprised he didn't break something. I must mention he did feel much better the next day!

Women's Conference

To pick up where I left off...Doug and I got home from Canada at just before 4pm on Wednesday to greet the kids as they came home from school. I had just enough time to unpack, do a load of laundry, pack, make sure Doug knew what to do for the kids (schedules, homework, etc.) and get back out the door to head to Women's Conference in Provo.

Wouldn't you know it, I put my load of laundry in and my washer decided not to spin dry! The transmission had quit! I knew I was having some trouble with the machine itself, but it wasn't consistent. Well it decided it was finally done. I had to hand wring out my clothes to get them in the drier, & call the repair man to come before the weekend. Fortunately, he came on Thursday and fixed my machine on Friday. While he was replacing the transmission he noticed the pump was going out, too. Doug decided to go ahead and let him replace that too. It cost just about $450! Ugh!! The good news is that my machine is just about a brand new machine now. I've replaced everything in it except for the motor!

Anyway, back to WC. We finally got out of here around 6:30pm. A little later than planned but we got there and checked in just fine. Not too crowded. We grabbed a bite to eat and hooked up with Andrea and Holly, my nieces. We picked our classes and planned our day.

The next couple of days were filled with spending time together and running all over BYU Campus attending wonderful classes & opening/closing sessions & doing service projects! It was great! We got to see a really fun Shadow Mountain Concert, with Michael McLean, Hillary Weeks, Dallen Van Bailles, Alex Boye, Mercy River and the Fab 5 from America's Got Talent on Thursday night! It was So Fun!! I'm hoping to get a pic of the 4 of us at the concert from Holly. For some reason Mel or I didn't even think to bring a camera. :(

I think one of the best parts was getting together and sharing our notes and thoughts on the all the classes we attended! It was like being able to attend more than the six that there was time for!

One of the things we were challenged to do when we got home, was to share what we learned with family and friends that didn't get to come. So I've decided over the next couple of months I will post some of my notes and thoughts on some of the classes I was able to attend (or swapped notes on).

We checked out of our room on Saturday morning and headed over to Holly's apt where she cooked us some waffles and scrambled eggs! I've never had tomatoes in my scrambled eggs before, it was yummy!

We stopped by Annie's to pick up Emily's scriptures that she left there after the baby's blessings. It was fun to see her and the boys!

Then we headed to the Sandy Expo Center to meet Doug and the kids at the Scout O Rama!

Happy Mother's Day!!

First of all, I want to wish all the mom's who read my blog a very Happy Mother's Day!!

The day sure went fast. We have church at 1pm, so the morning was spent getting ready for church and by the time we got home and got dinner done it was after six! I had both Shawn and Jon show up to wish me a Happy Day! That was way cool. Ben made me brownies with white chocolate chips and oreo pudding as a topping. Pretty yummy!

Some of my girls came upstairs this evening and gave me my presents, one of which was a pop up book. The other was a dance/song. You might recognize the tune if you have little girls in your house that like Barbie movies. :) I thought it was pretty cute that they would take the time to put this together. Thought I would share with you...

Wasn't that just the cutest thing??? I love it!!

Orchestra Concert

Emily had her first and last Orchestra Concert this week!

She has been taking a violin class at school twice a week since the beginning of the school year. Not a whole lot of exposure, but enough to know that she wants to take it for a whole school year, 5 days a week, next year.

Our orchestra teacher teaches at our High School, Jr. High, as well as 5 Elementary Schools. So about 5 of these teachers got together and combined all their Elementary students in one Monster Concert! It was huge! I can't even begin to guess how many kids were there!

I got there just as they were starting and lucked out and got a seat in the back by where she was. She had her back to me, but at least I could see her!!

This is one with her best friend, Stephanie.

April Pack Meeting

I'm still playing catch up on posting from being gone last week.

Pack Meeting this last month was about treasure hunting, or finding animal tracks. The kids had to go searching outside around the building to find and identify animal tracks. It was pretty simple, but the kids seemed to have fun! We were so glad it finally stopped raining long enough to do this, but it was still cold! When they identified all the animal tracks on their paper they came in and showed their paper for a treat!

Aaron is working hard on his Wolf rank. He is half way through now, he should be getting his beads at Den this week. He's also been working hard with his Dad earning some belt loops. At this pack meeting he earned 3 belt loops, Chess, Collecting, and Computers.

Way to go, Aaron!!

Trip to Canada

Doug left for Tennessee for an IT work retreat on Thursday (Apr 22nd). I had to ask him what's in Tennessee? He said it was one of their sites. It was basically a team building trip. A lot of people he works with live and work in different states. This is a way to get them all together and get to know each other better.

Anyway, We got him home about 4:30pm on Sunday night. As he walked in the door, I asked him how he was doing and was he very tired? He said not too bad. I said, cool, how about we head to Canada tonight???

He said, what?? I got a call from Brent over the weekend that Aunt Belle (one of Grandpa Forsyth's sisters) passed away and her funeral was on Monday. I looked into flying, but it just wasn't going to work, money wise and time wise. We just couldn't get there in time on a plane, not to mention that it was almost $1,000 for each ticket! Brent also mentioned that their Dad wasn't doing real great. I thought this is a great excuse to go to Canada and see their Dad!

Doug went along with it and within about 3 hours, we were on our way to Canada!

Since I am not a good long distance driver, we decided to let me drive first while it was still light, somewhat. This was just before 8pm. Doug slept first. I was amazed that I made it all the way to Dillon, MT before I was getting too sleepy to drive anymore. That's about 4 1/2 hours and a whole tank of gas! I feel very blessed because that is so not like me. The last time we drove all night to get there, was when Grandma passed away. The only reason I made it then was because I had Jon in the car ahead of me on the walkie talkie talking to me the whole time! I was on my own this time, so I feel very blessed to have been able to stay so awake!

We switched off and I slept and Doug drove. I guess he was more tired than he thought. He didn't make it a couple hours and he was getting tired. I had to get him talking to me about his trip to Tennessee to keep him awake. He made it to Shelby, ID. We switched off again, and I drove across the border at about 6am, Monday morning!

As we made the turn toward Del Bonita, Doug gets this idea that he wants to go to Raymond and find the house he lived in when his family lived there. I was tired enough that I told him if he wanted to that was fine, but he would have to drive there. So we switched drivers and I slept some more.

We found the house, he took the pictures he wanted. He was surprised the see that from the outside, it really hadn't changed all that much!

We got to Diana and Ron's at about 8am. Just in time for breakfast! We got ready and left for the funeral. It was very nice and tons of people were there! It was like a huge family reunion! There was lots of visiting and reminiscing. It was so awesome to see Grandpa and kiss him several times! (I'm hoping to write a little something about him on his blog soon.)

It was kind of cool to walk around Cardston Cemetery and find and visit several graves of ancestors whose names we recognized! We weren't back at Diana's until 4pm!

We continued to visit and enjoy being with family, Merlin & Delores, Brent & Karen and their boys were there. We got up Tuesday morning, and visited some more! There never is enough time for that!! :)

We went to find some Canadian candy to bring back to the kids and Doug had to check out the coins at the bank, then we were off. We didn't make it very far to find, we both were pretty tired from our long weekend. We did make it to Dillon, though, and decided to stop and get a room to sleep.

We got home Wednesday afternoon just in time to see the kids get home from school!!

We forgot a camera, so we took some pics with Doug's phone. I'll have to see if he'll send them to me and add them later.

What a Week!

Just a quick note, I haven't been posting because I'm trying desperately to play catch up!!

We went to Canada on a last minute trip for a funeral and to see my father-in-law.

Then Melanie & I left for Women's Conference.

We got back in time spend some time at the Scout O Rama with Doug and the kids on Saturday.

I've been cleaning and getting kids ready to finish the school year!

I'll post individually, soon, I hope!