Home Decor 2019: Results

Thanks to all who made your guesses. Ready to see if you got them right?

1. Sophie

2. Peter

3. Phoebe

4. Cooper

Thanks to everyone who played!

The Child of Hope

In an effort to give a little more time to guess who made which gingerbread house, I'll delay revealing the answers until tomorrow. For today, I will share Cooper's last talk as a Primary kid. Yesterday was his last day in Primary. The next time we go to church he'll be one of the Young Men.

He was pleased to get to speak on his last Sunday. He was asked to speak about something he learned during the last two weeks of Come, Follow Me. He reviewed the lessons from the manual and chatted with me about them while I wrote my own talk for church (which I'll probably share on Wednesday). Then he got to work writing. He pointed out that in the past he's dictated while Bryan or I have typed, so this was a different process for him to work so independently.

I think it's the best talk he's ever written.

Jesus, the Child of Hope

What wonderful things can a child do? Run, laugh, play, wonder. Jesus was a child of wonder and hope. He brings us hope and lightens our lives. Even when he was a little newborn baby, he brought us joy. Jesus was sent to Earth for a reason. He was on a mission. He made it possible for us to have exaltation, which is to return to Heavenly Father, and be like Heavenly Father. He came on Earth to teach us. To help us. To serve us. He atoned for our sins so we could live with him again. He loves us.

Mosiah 3:5 says, “For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men, working mighty miracles, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, causing the lame to walk, the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and curing all manner of diseases.”

This is one of the many great things Jesus can do.

John 3:16-17 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”

Heavenly Father's plan is for us to live with him again. To do this we must obey the teachings of the Lord, and follow the example that Jesus set. We must grow in wisdom and stature.

Jesus died for us, so we can return to live with him again. We will be judged out of the book of life. We will know our mistakes, and Heavenly Father and Jesus will know our mistakes.

Revelation 20:12 says, “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.”

Jesus has experienced what we have. He has felt what we felt. Whether it is happiness, anger, or distress, he is always there.

We must obey, and repent so we can return to live with him again.

I have a testimony that there is a plan. We will return to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ if we strive to learn the teachings of the Lord, and if we have hope. I know this to be true. I say these things, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Home Decor 2019 Edition

Remember last December when the kids decorated gingerbread houses, then you all guessed who the artist behind each house was? The kids got such a kick out of your responses that they asked me to do it again. So, dear readers, I present this year's entries.

Who do you think made each house?

1.

2.

3.

4.

Gingerbread House Joy

This is how Topher started our afternoon of decorating gingerbread houses. He held onto the bag of icing with me while I stuck his small house together.

He quickly realized the fun decorations on that house tasted pretty good.

It was downhill from there.

He concluded our holiday adventure with his favorite activity: a bath.

Christmas Day in Pictures

Merry Christmas Eve

The Architect

Cooper spent his last day of scouts building gingerbread houses. Because there were only two boys in his age group, he was able to build an entire kit. Mostly I'm sharing this picture because I think this is a great picture of Cooper.

What's In a Name?

Who are those guys? Bert and Gary? Bert and Harold? -Cooper, while discussing Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street

The Life Changing Magic

On Monday Topher was feverish, grumpy, wouldn't sleep unless he was held, had no appetite, and had many meltdowns over very small things. He fell asleep in my arms during Family Home Evening.

photo credit: Cooper

On Tuesday, after twelve hours of sleep, he was back to his normal, zany, fun self.

Sleep is magical.

The End of the Pack

Tonight was our final Cub Scout Pack Meeting. Our Cub Master, who also served as a Webelos leader with me for a long time, pointed out that she and I were called to serve in scouts exactly three years ago today. It's amazing that we've been in a ward long enough to be in one calling for that long.

We celebrated our final day of scouts by doing a service project for a woman in our ward who will be ninety-three on Sunday. This included herding eleven children in and out of her assisted living facility without damaging property or residents. It was tricky, but we did it. And she was thrilled by the decorated Christmas tree they delivered and the Christmas carols they sang.

All the Cub Scout leaders were told tonight that the lot of us are being released and not to worry about implementing the new program that will begin in January. And then there was serious celebrating.

Comparatively Speaking

"I'm not saying yours is the worst, I'm just saying that I really love the one in the box." -Sophie, comparing blue box mac and cheese to my homemade variety.

One Down, One to Go

The concert is over.

There were some last minute excitements that popped up, like a misunderstanding that resulted in the garland decorations and the 3M hooks that held them in place being removed. Thankfully, we had a box of assorted 3M hooks from various places we've lived, so Bryan and a member of our Stake Presidency were able to put the garland back up less than an hour before the concert.

And we started late, but only by five minutes.

The music itself was wonderful. Our Primary sang Samuel Tells of Baby Jesus while the big boys (including Cooper) played hand bells. That was really cool.

I called on my stage manager skills (and listened to Bryan's wise suggestions) to keep transitions smooth and quick. I handed out cue sheets to the four different choirs that came and to the various small group numbers, so everyone knew when they needed to walk up to the stand. All entrances were on the left side of the stand, all exits were on the right. As one group exited, the next one entered. We didn't have any lag time due to transitional traffic.

My big stress last night wasn't the choir number that I directed or making sure that everyone else knew where they needed to be when. No, it was the duet I was part of. I have not exercised my voice enough recently. I was out of shape vocally and having a hard time. After a pretty lousy run through after choir, Bryan gave me a blessing of comfort. That helped tremendously. We were the penultimate song on the program, not including a closing congregational hymn. The song was not perfect, I dropped my harmony twice, but I hopefully did it in an inconspicuous way. Our blend was good, our voices were strong, and the message of the song came through, and that's what's important.

And now to prepare for the musical Sacrament Meeting next Sunday.

Here We Come A-Caroling

Remember that cryptic post about December swallowing me whole? Well, one of the reasons the month feels overwhelming is taking place this Sunday night. Our Ward is putting on a Christmas Concert. Our choir is singing and three other choirs are joining us, including one we found out about on Wednesday. Add to that a song from the Primary and five solos or small group numbers and there's a lot to plan for. I'm not in charge, but I'm putting in a lot of time giving second opinions and helping to plan. And I'm writing the narration, but that's the fun part and not a burden.

Anyway, I will be much calmer when the concert is over.

Lift

One night last week, after the younger kids had gone to bed, Peter stayed up and built a LEGO automaton.

Persistence

He's still trying to make these doll shoes fit...

Charting His Progress

Topher finally had his eighteen-month checkup yesterday, now that he's nineteen-months old. The nurse that measured him the last few times we were there didn't measure from the top of his head, she measured from where the back of his head hit the exam table while lying down. Each time I saw that this gave an inaccurate measurement, but I didn't say anything.

Today I was determined to speak up. Thankfully, it was a different nurse, but I still watched to see what she would do. She measured from the top of his head. I told her how the other nurse had done it and she seemed surprised her coworker didn't know better.

Last time, when he was incorrectly measured, Topher came in around the thirtieth percentile for height. Yesterday he was measured at the seventy-fifth percentile.

Yeah, that seems right.

The Final Month of the Year

I told someone recently that we're essentially done with our Christmas shopping and that I have several gifts wrapped and under the tree. It came off as bragging. I quickly explained that I wasn't boasting about how prepared we are. Nope, I was trying to reassure myself that it's okay that I have a ridiculous amount of stuff to do this month because at least that one thing is done.

December is trying to swallow me whole.

That is all.

Personal Stylist

"What?! I made that cute little bun all by myself?!" -Sophie, amazed at her own handiwork.

Filtering Phoebe

Yea Verily

"Thou shalt not use thy vocal cords for rudeness."- Cooper, during dinner tonight, speaking from personal experience.

Hey Topher, Are You Trying to Watch a Show?

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas