FHE on the Articles of Faith

FHE = Family Home Evening.

These last few weeks we have been going through the Articles of Faith as our lessons. One a week. It's amazing how much you can get out of one little Article of Faith. And I'm really gaining a testimony of them. They seem so simple, even the Primary kids can memorise them. But as we've been focusing on their meanings we're really getting it. They really are what we believe.

Articles of Faith

of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

1. We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.

2. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression.

3. We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

4. We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

5. We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.

6. We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.

7. We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.

8. We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.

9. We believe all that God has reveled, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.

10. We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.

11. We claim the privilege of worshipping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

12. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.

13. We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul - We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

--Joseph Smith

Rubber Band Flip

Sicily has the most contagious laugh there ever was. She thought this game was HILARIOUS. Her and Jared played it for over 15 mins. But when I pulled out the camera she kept posing, so Jared took the camera so she'd actually laugh for all of you. Enjoy!

Trumpet Anyone?

I was making dinner the other night, and it was so lovely outside I had the back window open. When along through the window comes the lofting sound of a trumpet. Our 12 year old neighbor just joined the School Band and was obviously outside practicing.

I gave them a phone call to compliment him on his work. :) His mom was so embarrassed that I could hear him 2 doors down. I thought it was hilarious.

He came right over to show the kids and let them each have a go. :) I love having good neighbors.

Things Really are Bigger in Texas

Our little neighbor brought these "little" guys over to show us. They are snails she found by the bayou. And no I did not enlarge them with the computer. Can you believe those things?!? Look at their trails, YUCK! I would NOT want to find those in my garden.

Navigator of the Month

Once a month for the entire school year each teacher submits 2 names, one boy and one girl. These names are then put before the Principal who picks 1 student out of every class to be the Navigator of the month. London and Aspen have been in the school for 3 years and never been chosen, not that that's bad, they've just never been picked. Yet Phoenix is in the school for 1 month and he gets picked as NAVIGATOR OF THE MONTH!

As you can tell, he is SOOOOOO very proud! Way to go Phoenix!!!

Crazy Girl

This girl is growing faster every week. I took her in a bit ago for her 3 year old well check and found out she's as big as an average 4 year old. 95% for her height and weight. People think she's older than she is till she starts talking, then they start asking questions. Big body, sweet little girl.

And one crazy girl too, I think she hangs out with her siblings a bit too much.

Trampoline Time

The kids absolutely LOVE when Dad comes out and jumps on the trampoline with them. Aspen, I think, loves it the most. She'll encourage Jared to make her fly, scares me to death, but they love it. Sicily makes him hold her the entire time, so he definitely gets his workout. And if London joins the pack, watch out, he'll steal your bounce before you can say "Jump!"

But sometimes they are not big fans of the height. Phoenix was not a happy camper for a few minutes. For those of you that have never seen it before, this is his Completely Ticked Off - Scared to Death - I Think I'm in Pain Look! Sometimes it makes me laugh because it's just so dramatic. Trust me, he was up and jumping again about 2 seconds after I took this shot, he was totally fine.

Sisters

Every now and then as a Mom you have those moments you want to always remember.

Things calm down in the evening and you pop in a movie for a little relaxation time for you kids, and this is what happens. Sisterly kindness and love. These 2 will snuggle up with a warm blanket and a good movie all the time. They're both little cuddlers, so if Mom and Dad are not sitting down they'll just snuggle up on each other. I'm so glad they're such good friends.

Flag Football

London's season of Flag Football is almost wrapping up. But he's had a good run, and plenty of running.
It's been so fun going out every Saturday at 12:30 to watch their games. London's played Center, Half Back... and I really don't know because I don't know Football all that well. Jared really should be the one writing this post.

But as his Mom I know London's having a ton of fun. He's made a bunch of new friends and gets more confident everyday. Way to go London!

Gator of the Week

Aspens entire class had to make an All-About-Me poster and this is what we came up with. Pretty much everything you ever wanted to know about Aspen. She's a good little kid!

We Got a New Dog

We'd like you to meet our new 10 month old puppy, BEAUX. Isn't he the cutest!?!?!
Our neighbors Auntie just moved into a small apartment and felt bad leaving him in there all day while she was at work. So he needed a new home with kids and a big back yard. They literally brought him up to our door and asked if we wanted him. :) The big price tag of FREE sold Jared right then and there. I talked to the owner and got his personality low-down and as of Noon today, he is ours.

He has all his shots, is already fixed, can play fetch, loves to run, doesn't bark at all, is completely potty trained, stays off the furniture, and is awesome for now. He still kind of freaks out Sicily, but she's getting used to him.

The tiles in this picture are 12 inch tiles, so they'll give you an estimate of how big he is. He weighs about 25 lbs and is 16 inches at the shoulder.

Come by and say hi whenever you want. He loves people, especially kids.

1st Loose Tooth

It's loose, it's loose, it's finally loose!

Phoenix got his first 2 teeth at 4 months old, so we have been waiting to see how young he would be when he got his first loose tooth. Well, he's 5 1/2! Not too shabby.

He's holding out and trying to loose it at school. Loosing a tooth at school is right up there with "Your 15 Mins of Fame!" You may as well have been crowned King for all the kids that go home and tell their parents, "Phoenix lost his 1st tooth at recess today!" So funny.

It's not gone just yet, but we'll keep you posted.

Biggest Flake Ever

My kids always get excited when they're having cereal and all of a sudden the Shredded Wheat or something, "Has 2 stuck together!" They think it's the coolest thing.

So I had to agree with Phoenix this last Sunday. That is "The biggest Bran Flake I have EVER seen!"

Warm Fuzzies

We have a Warm Fuzzy Jar in our house to encourage our kids to do good deeds for each other and others. Every time they do a good deed with out being asked they get to put in a warm fuzzy. Then when our Jar is full we get to go out for Ice cream at places like Marble Slab Creamery. Then the jar is emptied and we start over.

Aspen got a little anxious one day and dumped the box where they're all stored all over the kitchen. But she did then clean it up with out being asked so she got an extra warm fuzzy.

Oreo

I found a couple more shots of Oreo I wanted to post before we moved on to the rest of our lives. Sicily was always so cute with Oreo, nervous if she bounced around too fast but so excited when she stayed still long enough to pet. A little head of Cauliflower never hurt anyone.
The number of times I had to chase this bunny back down the stairs...see how her ears are all pricked up. She knows dang well she's not supposed to be up there. :)

We'll miss you little Oreo.

Oreo Passed Away Today

We've had some bad luck in our house this month. First Charlie passed then today we found Oreo gone too.

We don't know what killed her but all that was left was fluff and fur. Our yard is lined with chicken wire so we know it wasn't a dog. We're thinking raccoon or possum. I found her, thank goodness it wasn't the kids.

So now she is buried with her best friend, Charlie. Right about on his head, Jared said, because that was one of her favorite places to sit. He'd lick her and lick her, they'd play tag and eat each others food. Unless Charlie was really hungry, then he'd bump her around to the other side of his bowl so they could eat at the same time.

Oreo was Aspens sweetest little pet for the last 4 years. She started out sleeping in Aspens room in a little cage. Look how cute and tiny she was!

Just a little ball of fluff. Who wouldn't want to bring her home. And yes, we are positive she was a girl. Aspen was very specific that she wanted a girl bunny. Oreo's Birthday was Easter 2007, so she was about 3 1/2.

This is our very fast neighbor friend, Sophia, one of the few that was quick enough and gentle enough to catch up with Oreo and be able to pet her once Oreo was let out into the back yard.

Phoenix sometimes caught her and sometimes didn't. :)

No she wasn't all just fluff and cuddles. Being a rabbit she did like to burrow.

And she ate every leaf off of this tree. At one point she made her way into my garden and ate EVERY little green plant I had just planted the day before.

Oreo was a good fluffy bunny. She was an indoor/outdoor pet. She loved to be snuggled, and would lick your feet if you stopped petting her. Jared would never pet her long so she'd hop around and around his feet, finally thumping her feet on the ground and leave behind a little round present of "thanx for not petting me." She usually got thrown out of the house when she did this. :) We loved to feed her strawberries and watermelon because her little white face would be covered in red juices. Then her little tongue would dart all over cleaning her off.

Oreo was an awesome pet. I would recommend a bunny to anyone, especially if you can't have cats because of allergies, like us. Bunnies are sweet and snugly and we were lucky to have our Oreo for so long.