Winter Update

A brussel sprout snowman the boys made; we were out of carrots

This is why my boys are feeling under the weather right now; as soon as the snow began to stick they were in it.....for hours and days. I couldn't get them in and when I made them they protested until I threatened and now they're regretting and I'm paying with lack of sleep. I don't know about you guys but we get nasty sore throats when we have been cold for an extended period of time. They were already coming down with something and this made it super yucky.
We visited the Salt Lake temple the other day. The boys enjoyed playing in the streams east of the temple as well as the nativity scene just north of it. We recently had conference and I picked up the Ensign conference edition to read it and after reading wasn't feeling especially inspired. I was just reading to read it. However, I recently picked it up again and couldn't put it down until I was forced to. I was amazed at how much I didn't pick up before and am excited to resume reading and marking again. It feels right and comforting to read the Ensign and words from the scriptures.
This was a quiet corner I found at temple square. Unfortunately some family came in and demanded the spot for family pictures. It was a zoo. We tried to get there early but there was an accident on the freeway and we were delayed and forced to walk with the hordes.
We got our Christmas tree up the day after we got back from our trip. Although it was a little hectic during the time, we enjoy having it up for as long as we can. Of course the decorations have since been rearranged who knows how many times and a string of lights have burned out.

For the second year in a row, we've been reading stories/scriptures and singing Christmas songs from a thick handbook someone compiled and someone in our ward had shared with all of us. For a variety of reasons we don't do it everyday but we do get around to it most days than not and also try to catch up. Chris and I get a good chuckle every once in a while because we hear each other chocking back the tears as we try to get through the stories. Of course during one, I was more than chocking back the tears and I was o.k. with being laughed at. It was funny.

Nothing cuter than a nativity scene with your own kid in it

This was at our ward Christmas dinner/program. He's pretty out going; I would have been mortified as a kid to do anything like this. After the program, he told me he has been wanting to be in the school choir because there are songs he wants to learn. (I think I could do that at home; there are songs I've been itching to learn as well) He was really inspired by the choir that came in. He is a really good singer and enjoys it. I thought many times about getting him up for the 7 a.m. choir practice his school holds to prepare for their Christmas concert. If only it were at a different time......he's not a morning person.
A neighbor recently returned from his mission and a recently baptized friend of his came down for a visit. This neighbor called us up to hang out since he thought we could help out somehow. See she is from Japan and has been studying English in Canada. She has concerns. And I thought we could get together and do some fellow shipping/missionary work. I remember when we had our new converts as missionaries and how we hoped so badly someone would take him/her under their wings. I have a very tender spot in my heart for new converts and especially for our Japanese brothers and sisters. It's all so close to home.

Come to find out she is from a town near Okazaki City where Chris served for a whopping 13 months and happens to be my maiden name. She will be attending that ward upon her return next week. She has a lot of tender feelings and fresh with the excitement of her recent baptism.

I think we were able to help her and I hope she will remember to endure to the end. We chatted a lot but in the end really all we have to give her is living example of the blessings of staying faithful and strong through the hardships that will follow. We had a lot in common in that both our mothers were against our choice and our dads were fine. She had voiced concern about how this choice will affect her relationships with her family. Very valid. I say, move on, live your life and they will see the blessings.......it's exactly what happened in my life......my family has seen much good come out of that choice I made years ago to join the LDS church.

We went to dinner at Los Hermanos and headed to BYU's Harris Fine Arts Center where we attended a string chamber concert and checked out the art displayed around the building. The one above caught our attention. All the art was great but this one stopped us. Since I enjoy photography, I was looking at the details of the portraits and dreamed about the day I can take portraits and edit like that. I liked each picture for different reasons, in all the eyes stood out but I liked the color in one, the glasses in another, the smile of one, etc. Turns out this was the display taken down and put back up because it deals with gay people. You can read more about it here at Deseret news. It even has a link to the artists photography blog; which I really enjoyed. https://secure.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705269360,00.html

Being in the art center and checking out all photography was inspiring and I was regretting my choice of major for a second.
And of course, I will add that I just LOVE my kids and my hubby. They are my light, my heart, my song. I worry and worry and worry. It's just what I do. And everyday there is something in my prayer directly related to them and more often than not strength to do something I feel is important at the time in relation to them.