My birthday

 We had a lot going on for my birthday. I decided I wanted us to go to the Thanksgiving Point gardens to see the Scarecrow Festival. So we got up and ready in the morning and went. It was such a beautiful crisp fall morning, and it was just lovely walking through the gardens. The leaves on the trees were gorgeous, and I felt so happy. I loved being out there with my little family. 

After the gardens, we went to kitchen 88 for lunch (it was my request that they take me out to lunch on my birthday 😆). Then we went home for a little bit. We watched a fun kids movie, and Daniel made some graveyard dip. 

I got very many texts and calls. And Sarah and DeAnna came over in the morning to drop by some of my favorite treats and snacks. 🥰 Also, someone mysteriously delivered crumbl cookies to my door without leaving a name or a note. I asked probably 10 people if they had sent cookies to me, but they all said no! So I still have no idea who sent them! 

And then we went to Mom and Dad Holbrook's house for Emily's Halloween party.It was very fun. The kids dressed in costumes, played games and did crafts, we all ate some good food and played with cousins and chatted. We won a prize for spookiest food, and everyone sang "happy birthday" (unnecessarily) to me.

It was really a great birthday. 

Camille's 9th Birthday

 On Camille's 9th birthday, we went on a hike in the hills above the Draper Temple with some of our friends. It was a beautiful hike, about 2 miles long, through the trees. The leaves were changing colors, and everything was red and orange and yellow and green. We had so much fun! Sawyer did really well hiking. He walked for at least half of it, with me carrying him on and off throughout the hike. My kids are becoming such good little hikers, and I think they really love it. 

We went home after our hike, and Daniel was back from a 2 day trip he'd taken to California for work. Camille opened her presents then. We have her a cute little witch Squishamallow, a diamond painting notebook, and a couple of craft sets. I think she was happy. 

The kids played for the rest of the day, and Brooke and Camille shut themselves in Camille's room to play with her new stuff. Mom and dad gave Camille some oven bake clay and this book of how to make clay figurines, and all of the kids had so much fun with that all day long. I made a cheesecake that afternoon. 😊

Camille requested burritos, cucumbers, and French bread for dinner, and cheesecake for dessert. (I made a little bit fancier burritos for myself and Daniel) The cheesecake was mom's chocolate chip cheesecake that I used to eat for my birthdays growing up. And it was so good. It felt so nostalgic for me to have it. 

We had a friend birthday party for Camille yesterday, a week after her birthday. She invited a bunch of little girls for a craft themed party. We over-planned for this party... she really wanted to do crafts with her friends. Plus we did don't eat Pete as friends were coming over, and that took a long time for everyone to have a turn. Then, she wanted to do this drink game, where they drink from cups, but can't see what's in them and they have to guess. We had to cut that game out in the end, because we just didn't have time. 

Camille picked 3 crafts from this book we got from the library to do at her party. We got the supplies, but I think our biggest mistake was not trying out the crafts beforehand. Our glue gun didn't work very well with the materials we were using, and so some of the crafts didn't turn out as well as we'd hoped. 

We took a break before the last craft to have Camille open presents, to sing her "happy birthday", and to eat cupcakes and have snacks. I asked the parents if their kids could stay another half hour so that we could finish our crafts. And we ended the party with a dance party in the basement, while we waited for parents to come get their girls. 

I think Camille had fun, though she was disappointed not to be able to do the drink game she'd wanted to do. But I asked her after, and she said she was happy with it. I personally don't think it was my best work with a party. 😒 Things took longer than I'd planned for, some of the crafts didn't work out very well, and I felt all rushed for time. But it's fine. If Camille was happy, that's all that mattered. 

Things I'm loving about Camille right now: 

• She is so snuggly
• She loves to craft and create things. Currently she's loving diamond painting crafts
• She loves reading nonfiction books. Normally when we go to the library, she comes home with a stack of books about a certain subject: astronomy, gemstones, animals, etc. I love that about her. She's so curious and she had a keen mind. 
• Along those lines, she asks such great questions. It's clear to me that she thinks deeply about many things. 
• She's always reverent for scripture study and lessons. It seems she is just drinking it in and learning a lot about the gospel. And that she takes it seriously. 
• She's amazingly helpful. Over the past few months, I've noticed her making great efforts to be a help to the people around her. She's been very kind to her siblings, as well, helping them and sharing with them and doing things for them. It is so awesome! 
• She loves making new friends. It seems whenever we do a new activity, she comes home saying that she's made a new friend. Usually, though, she forgets to ask for her name. 😆
• She loves her stuffed animals, especially her Squishamallows. They get a special place on her bed. Gramma Holbrook gave her a giant witch one for her birthday, which goes so nicely with the one we gave her. 
• She's a great eater! She's not very picky and usually likes the food I make for dinner. I love that she has such a sophisticated pallet. 

Stake Conference

 10/28/23

• We are led and taught by a series of experiences with the Holy Ghost 
• Enhancing power to make our home feel like heaven so that someday heaven will feel like home -- connecting sacred times and holy places
• Strengthening the rising generation should be the center and focus of ward council; Strengthening the rising generation is key and necessary to prepare the world for the 2nd coming
• Reread 2 Nephi 31 -- focusing on the doctrine of Christ (the 2nd most important piece of ward councils
• When I am called to a calling, I have complete authority to act in my calling
• I can use these principles in our youth council meetings with the younger young women class
• Start thinking about doing family councils -- what does this look like??
• Create a home, a place, where my children can come and feel renewed from what they are experiencing in the world; to feel rest from the world -- how can I do this??
• Prepare my girls to receive the endowment when they graduate from high school -- they don't need to be serving a mission or getting married!!
• Look up the talk "not even once" by sister Nelson -- help our children to begin with the end in mind

10/29/23

• The Lord has the power, He can do His own work; but He invites us to help Him with His work, so that we can be changed, so that we can be sanctified, so that we can be transformed to be like Him. 

We missed Elder Johnson's talk on Sunday because of technology issues. We were watching the streaming of it at our building instead of the stake center, and so we didn't hear much of his talk. DeAnna sent me her notes on his talk ❤️:

10.27.23- Elder Johnson

How to Come Closer to Christ

1. Become and engaged learner

 study His words, especially in the Book of Mormon... Almost every 2 verses mentions Christ. If we study it every day, we will make better decisions everyday. 

2. Receive his ordinances. 

Partake of His covenants. It will not be possible in the coming days to survive spiritually without the guiding influence of the Holy Ghost. 

Attend the temple. 

Partake of the sacrament. 

3. Minister to the One

   Pay attention, (the letter in the mail box) listen to the Lord and Minister based on need. Not just cookies or a note. How can I pray for you specifically? What keeps you up at night? Pay attention to the one. 

He testified of how Christ knows and understands. Get to know Him. Trust Him. Spend time with Him

37 Wishes for the Future

1.  My marriage to be stronger and better
2. Travel to Ireland 
3. Live in a foreign country for a while
4. Teach fitness classes
5. Read 1000 books
6. One day be in the temple with all of my children
7. Get into family history
8. Have a cool garden
9. Hike timpanogos again
10. Take Julie to Disneyland
11. Teach my kids how to be responsible, capable adults
12. Start a "man school" and "woman school" for the kids when they are teenagers
13. Learn about the earth
14. Surprise Daniel with a trip
15. Use my real camera more (pictures always turn out so much better) 
16. Become a true scriptorian
17. Go back to school
18. Memorize the Living Christ with the kids
19. Volunteer for something I'm passionate about
20. Serve a mission
21. Do what my Patriarchal blessing instructs and learn about all the things
22. Be here when the 2nd coming of the Savior happens 
23. Become a temple worker
24. Write a book and have my kids illustrate it
25. Take the kids on a trip to church history sites
26. Improve and maintain my health and fitness; prevent disease
27. Become a more generous giver 
28. Make picture books for each of my kids
29. Do a year of service with the kids
30. Accompany a singing group on the piano
31. Cook through Chloe's cookbooks
32. Have a minimal house
33. Create a minimal wardrobe
34. Read all the books on my to-read list
35. Be more comfortable in my own skin
36. Change my mindset about food and my body
37. Develop amazing relationships with Daniel and my kids

Things to Remember

•  Sawyer hated wearing shorts in the summertime. He always cried when I put them on him, and if I let him choose, he always chose pants. He certainly has opinions about his clothes. 
• Jack said the other day that his favorite animal is a bear, which surprised me. I guess I don't know what his favorite animal was before... a shark, maybe? We are reading Gentle Ben for school, so maybe that has changed his mind to love bears now. Cutie. 
• A few weeks ago, the girls made these cute peg dolls at girls club. They used yarn and fabric and markers to make hair and clothes and faces. They turned out so cute, and the girls have been playing together with them on and off. This morning, when I went in to wake Camille up, I saw her cute dolls set up on her windowsill. It just struck me as so sweet and cute that she put her dolls up there in a certain way and was concerned about taking care of them. We left them at Gramma Holbrook's house one day shortly after she made them, and she was so sad about it. But we took them back next time we went to their house. 
• The girls have been obsessively doing diamond paintings lately, every time I read out loud to them. Aside from Gentle Ben, we're reading Where the Red Fern Grows together (not with Jack). They are loving it, because it's about dogs. 😂 
• The past couple of days, all 4 of my children have been cooperatively playing together with Legos, building cars and cute little guys and doing some deep imaginative play. I love when they do stuff like this. 

• Jack has been going through a phase I don't love: getting angry about every thing. He often gets mad at me for the littlest things, and it's so hard sometimes to get him to do school. He just wants to do whatever he wants to do, and he gets so angry whenever he is imposed upon. 
• We've been going to Cornbelly's a bit, and the kids have been loving it. We're not going as much as I hoped, with our passes. But we have a lot going on this October. 
• I took the kids on a field trip yesterday to the Bean museum at BYU. We learned about animals in a presentation, and then we walked around the museum looking at all the animals there. They loved it (but Jack was grumpy almost the whole time... later he said he liked it. I have a hard time understanding this).
• The kids finished their evil scientists class yesterday as well. I think overall they liked it. It was space science themed this term, and they make rockets and did the egg dropping experiment and learned about dry ice. It was a fun little class. 

General Conference Notes

9/30/23 Morning Session

Elder Bednar

• Press forward in the path of your duty; to about serving and living the gospel quietly
• Personal message: ministering is important; don't neglect this great commandment from God

Sister Amy A Wright

• We need to receive and act on revelation
• Simplify and focus on the light -- a magnifying glass focuses and intensifies light

Elder Robert M Daines

• Personal message: get to know God and His character; make a greater effort to follow the 1st great commandment -- to love God with all your might, mind and strength
• Our covenants are really about personal relationships and can cure spiritual face blindness

Elder D Todd Christofferson 

• The gathering of Israel is the most important work going on in the world today -- more important than medical and technical advances, than scientific discoveries, or anything else. 
• What can I do to further the work? How can I shift my priorities and focus to allow time for family history and temple work? How can I share the gospel to those around me? "Never pass up an opportunity to testify of Christ."

Elder Ian Ardern

• Compassion is an attribute of Christ -- develop compassion, it grows out of love for others, charity
• When we love God with all our hearts, He will turn our hearts to others

9/30/23 Evening Session

Sister Tamara Runia

• Sometimes you will be prompted to correct; but most of our interactions with loved ones needs to be positive and loving and hopeful; need to be more patient with my children
• Show hope for your children
• I CAN PERFECT MY LOVE FOR OTHERS
• Create the home that my children (and others) want to come to

10/1/23 Morning Session