Sunday, December 30, 2007
Pencil Me In...
Addie’s Baptism will be held on November 21st 2009, probably around 11am with a lunch to follow. It’s a Saturday, and I am pretty sure we can get all of you a place to stay or a very inexpensive room at the hotel where I work in the summers. So save the date!
Heidi’s Baptism will probably be on her birthday, Sunday, April 15, 2012—IF the world as we know it still exists, that is. We are prepared for Jesus to come in 2012, but we’re hoping the Mayans were right about December instead of it being in April. So pencil it in, just in case.
Since we’re pretty sure about Armageddon and all that, we really don’t have any plans for James’ baptism, but if you’re the plan-ahead/ just-in-case type, it’ll probably be Saturday, September 6, 2014. Be there or be black balled! (Hey, I learned where that word came from on The Secret History of the Freemasons!). It will probably be pretty cold on all of those dates, so pack accordingly and don’t forget your snow chains.
HA!
We Love Ally!
Dress Up Princess!
2002: Ally & Addie
Our Provo House 2002: Ally & Uncle Sam
Summer 2003: Three cuties at CHICO
March 2005, Utah: Ally picking up rocks in Uncle Willy's yard
2006, Montana: Ally & Addie with fancy hair
July 2006: Montana Swim!
2006: Ally at the Ranch in Montana
Fun with SIDEWALK CHALK
April 2007: Melanie, Ally & Addie on teh Father-Daughter Campout in Moab
Winter 2007: Ally & Belle
First Day of Secodn Grade, 2007...
Saturday, December 29, 2007
The Weather Outside is Frightful
I just wanted to post a couple of comments before I start posting the Christmas pix. First of all, I was adn still am pretty sad about Benazir Bhutto's assassination. It's hard to know just how honorable or corrupt her government really was, but I always admired her. She was elected as Prime Minister of Pakistan when I was a junior in High School (I think) and I remember talking about her in government class, how weird it was that in Israel and Pakistan they had female leaders and we still didn't have many in the US. And I thought she was so pretty! Anyway, I was just glued to CNN Thursday morning and have felt a lingering sadness for the enduring violence and determination of Al Quaeda, even after we have fought them for 6 years. Sometimes I just wish we could cut loose on them and get out...sigh. I think the climate in Pakistan is more significant to us than we know right now. I mean, she was killed mere miles from where bin Laden is supposed to be hiding (Brent, I watched a bunch of news reports given in Urdu this week! It's a real language afterall...how useful you must be as an Urdu speaker!)
Also, I found this GREAT blog about Sister Beck's talk...I thought I should post the link because it's well done. CLICK HERE to get the crux of the argument and some sound reasoning and strong testifying. I know it's sounds so cheesy, but I find myself saying so often, "Why can't we all just get along?" It's still so weird to me that adult women still do junior-high-ish things to eachother, backstabbing and smack-talking, when sisterhood is SUCH a better and neccessary option! I am thankful that Heavenly Father has been teaching me how to look beyond words or behavior to understand intent and thoughts, and make friends rather than enemies. I want to get really good at that! I just wish ALL women could be teammates rather than competitors.
Well, bubby is crying and we are trying to decide what to do for dinner. I wish you all the happiest Sabbath! I'll work on posting photos this weekend.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Merry Christmas From Heidi
Untitled from MelinFamily on Vimeo.
My favorite line: "Rudolph with your nose so bright, won't you drive my boughs of holly, falfalalalalalalala."
Saturday, December 22, 2007
The Season of Giving
Friday, December 21, 2007
I am the President of the Julie Beck Fan Club...
Did you know about the crazy backlash against her talk last October? The talk (that was in my top five--awesome!) definitely struck a (guilty?) chord in many sisters and I felt so sad about that. I LOVE Sister Beck, always have, and not just because her haircuts rock. Here is the text of the SUPPORT SISTER BECK email I got--please follow thae links if you agree. I think my own email list could fill the list of 2000 comments, and that would be a nice Christmas present for the GRSP :
An Answer to support: Tonight when President Hinckley said, "It's Christmastime. What can I do to lighten your burden?" I thought of Sister Julie Beck, General President of the Relief Society. I think her responsibilities as General President must be heavy indeed. Especially when recently, there was a lot of unfortunate and unnecessary controversy about Sister Beck's general conference talk It has bothered me that so many people have been so vocal about their displeasure with her talk. There have been websites and blogs dedicated to tearing her apart as well as her words of guidance and wisdom. It seems that sometimes liberal voices are the only ones that make themselves heard. We can change that!
Wouldn't it be great if we could get 2000 women to send their support to Sister Beck this Christmastime?Like the 2000 mothers of the Stripling Warriors - we could stand united and strong and let Sister Beck know we stand beside her! If you would like to let your voice be heard, please send an email (or forward this email) to:
motherswhoknow@gmail.com
Put your name and city and state in the subject line. You can include a message to Sister Beck and her counselors if you'd like. Once we reach 2000 emails - from women or men - I'll send Sister Beck the password to the email account so she can see all those who support her and read the messages if she'd like. It's a quiet way to let your voice be heard. Please forward this on to all you know, who know.
President Hinckley's words will hopefully encourage us to band together and stand strong and immovable for what we know to be right. Sister Beck quoted him saying, " If [the women of the Church] will be united and speak with one voice, their strength will be incalculable... It is so tremendously important that the women of the Church stand strong and immovable for that which is correct and proper under the plan of the Lord." Sister Beck said, "As a disciple of Jesus Christ, every woman in this Church is given the responsibility for upholding, nurturing and protecting families. Women find true happiness when they understand and delight in their unique role within the plan of salvation. There is eternal influence and power in motherhood."
PS: My top five conference talks, at least right now, are Good, Better, Best (Oaks), O Remember (Eyring), The Only True God (Holland), By Faith Not Fear (Cook), Mothers Who Know (Beck). All of these spoke to issues I 've had lately, especially defending my decision to strictly limit the activities in which my kids participate, just because I want our family and our time together and influence on eachother to remain foremost and strong.
Also, I have a hard time with the women arguing that Sister Beck's talk was insensitive to women who don't have children or have to work, etc...HELLO! The talk is called "Mothers who know"--implying it's addressed to Mothers. As in, IF you are a mother, and IF you want to raise sons (and I think it works for daughters, too! ;) like modern day stripling warriors (aka good missionaries, covenant-makers & keepers, etc.), THEN these are the things you know and do. It never said, "LDS women should..."--no shoulds, just knowing and doing. Believe me, after spending 12 years of my adulthood as a SINGLE, CHILDLESS member of the church, I know that there is a lot of focus on homemaking, motherhood, and wifehood in the church and it can get uncomfortable. But I knew for certain I was doing all I could do to live the gospel and I was at peace with my life and my decisions. I could speak up in lessons and conversations and find ways to apply the discussions to myself and other women who were not mothers or wives, but faithful LDS women all the same. These kinds of talks were not offensive to me because they are true--there are lots of good ways to do things, but there is a best and right way (like Elder Oaks said). I knew that I would strive to live those standards the best I could when I finally was in that situation (and I do). I also have a testimony that Heavenly Father will help us sift through the cultural expectations of Mothers and Wives and find our priorities. It's not one size fits all, but the church and mother/wifehood offer a smorgasbord of opportunities and ways for us to develop the essential attributes of Faith, Hope, and Charity. I think some detractors would benefit from Elder Bednar's "It Mattereth Not" talk from last year!
FAMILY LETTER 07.28.19
Dear Loved Ones, We have just ...