Talking in Church

Scott and I got the opportunity to speak in sacrament meeting today. Don't feel left out that we didn't invite you. We forgot to invite ANYONE, including someone to "wrangle" the kids. That was fun, let me tell you.

I was scheduled to speak first, but Liam told me, "I need to speak first, Mama." I asked him what he wanted to talk about, and he said, "I don't know," with a frown. I suggested Jesus, and he replied, "Yes, I can do that." So, I lifted him up and let him talk for a few moments. He said, "I like Jesus. He is nice. He loves me, to a number that nobody knows. Probably 1000 and a half." If you weren't aware, Liam likes to quantify things on a scale of 1 to 100, so Jesus being at 1000 1/2 is pretty impressive. Then, Tommy wanted to talk. I lifted him up and he said, "Hi, I love you," and then buried his head in my shoulder. There were a bunch of oohs and chuckles over that.

My actual talk was on President Monson's conference talk, "The Divine Gift of Gratitude". It was a real "deer in the headlights" moment for me. Not only do I have to paraphrase the Prophet, but I am not sure I am as grateful as I ought to be anyway. However, I managed to muddle through and I had several people compliment me on it afterward. So, I must not have made too bad of a showing for myself.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to pay much attention to Scott's talk (on "The things that are really important" or something like that) because my "things that are important" were being squirmy and noisy. Tommy started singing a mix of "Jingle Bells", "I am a Child of God", and "Teach Me to Walk in the Light" at not quite his top volume while Dan tried to get up on the stage to be with Daddy or play the piano (whichever he came to first). Liam was just trying to get my attention any way he could. Thankfully, my friend Chelsea came over and bribed them to calm down with a baggie of crackers. Her husband, Jeremy, is our "active" home teacher. His companion always seems to have "something else" to do instead of visit, but Jeremy is very consistent.

Also, I found out that starting on January 1st, LDS Social Services no longer requires a Bishop's referral for counseling. So, tomorrow, I am going to "self refer" us so that we can start family counseling to help best deal with Liam's Asperger's syndrome. I'm not sure when that will begin, but I will keep you posted on our advancements. Leigh, LDS Social Services may be something that you can look into, too.

New calling

So...I was asked to go visit with Bishop May this morning. When I went in, he said "I could put you in the hot seat and ask you why you are here." I told him I had a few ideas of why. He asked what and I said either it's about the Singles Ward or a calling. He said it was about a calling. Then he started going into how sometimes we get callings where we aren't always the most confortable. Then it hit me. I said that I now have an idea of which calling. He asked what I thought and I said Relief Society teacher. He said, "Yes." Then asked how I felt about it. To be honest, I'm perfectly fine with it. In fact, I'm excited to teach. They announced it in Sacrament this afternoon, and I've had so many people come up to me and tell me how excited they are that I'll be teaching. That just makes it that much easier for me to teach. To know that I've got so many people behind me.
I was thinking this afternoon about all the callings that I've had. And now with this one, I will have held a calling in every auxillary that I am able to have a calling in. Lucky me. :)

Luke Loves to Learn

Luke is really enjoying preschool and learning so much. I volunteered a couple of times this week and his teachers couldn't stop telling stories and pointing out how smart he is and quick to respond to all the questions.

I agree - he is a smart cookie!

Emeline is growing up!

It's hard to believe that she's nearly 4 months already. She is awake more during the day and sleeps less. She is trying to figure out what to do when she's awake. I'm trying to help her be happy on her own. Luckily for her, all 3 of her brothers like to play with and entertain her :-)

I just had to share this cute picture of her learning to like the exersaucer.

New Years Eve Celebration!

Thank you again to Dan & Brenda for hosting a great New Years Eve celebration. Good food, good movies, good games, and great family!

We enjoyed sleeping over again this year. This time Christa and Liam stayed too. We had waffles for breakfast, followed by games, pizza for lunch and more games. We had a lot of fun!

Christmas & Sick Children

It seems that about half the time we have at least 1 sick child for Christmas and this year was no exception. Alex was sick on Christmas Eve, so Quint stayed home with him and Emeline while I took Corwin & Luke to Mom & Dad's for our traditional celebration. We had planned for Quint to take them for a short visit on Christmas day while I stayed home with the sick. Fortunately Alex's fever broke and he was much better before going to bed on Christmas Eve and we were all able to go celebrate.

Other than spending a few hours with Quint's family, our own little family spent the day together. It was relaxing and an enjoyable day. Corwin & Luke were sick the next day though - I'm glad it was just a 24 hour bug.