We love you all!! And I cherish our eternal family bond.
These were on my phone from last December:
Evalyn was talking to Henry. "There are so many boys I don't know who to marry. Lance, Kenton, Flynn. Henry said, "You can marry me." She replied, "I love you but you can't marry people in your family or cousins that's the rules."
Gordon got 100% on his research paper and his teacher was very impressed she said it was close to college material.
Eden performed in her first ASL concert. And I was nearly in tears. She was beautiful and you could tell she felt every word she was signing. I was so moved by it, it is hard to explain. It is such a joy to watch your children grow and see them develop talents and share them with others. I had so much joy I could just burst.
Evalyn has Eden to give to for Christmas ad she has been adding to Edens present. All the coins she has found around the house. :) I am so impressed that she hasn't been keeping them for herself. And she is sooo excited for Eden to see her "Bonus" present on Christmas morning. Then, later that night when Evalyn was going to bed and she was worried about having bad dreams I suggested dreaming about what it will be like to watch Eden open her gift, her reply was,"oh that is a good one" (with a big grin on her face)
The other night I asked the kids to help clean up the kitchen and everyone was finishing up something then they were coming. But Evalyn came right away and cleaned up the whole kitchen. She even put foil on things to put away in the fridge. She is growing up so quickly!
Eden, "there are a lot of people in my class that like me...(referring to boys) and then Gordon piped in... "well yeah, because you are really pretty"
Girls talks:
Eden's-
I believe the words of Jesus Christ when He taught about the parable of being yoked together. A Yoke is a device that is put around the necks of animals to harness them together. Like two Oxen being yoked together side by side. The yoke of Christ is a symbol for discipleship or being willing to follow Him.
On my baptism day Sister Knight shared a story about this that I have thought of many times. She was running a race and saw two runners running very close together. She couldn’t quite understand how they were running so close together and not getting tangled together and causing one another to trip. The closer she got she realized that these two runners were actually tied together. She then noticed that one of the runners was not looking at the path as closely as the other. And that is when she realized that one of the runners was blind. This blind man was tied to the other racer so that he could run in the race. He would not be able to do this alone. The racer that could see had agreed to have this blind man tied to him. He knew that he would need to guide him along the race. And the blind man knew he would need to have faith and trust in his friend that he would keep him safe. These two runners were yoked together.
When we are baptized we all chose to yoke ourselves to Christ. He can see the path when we can’t. In Matthew chapter 11 it says, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart :and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” I really like that he promises us that if we yoke, or tie ourselves to Him, that we will find rest, or in other words, peace.
I have a testimony that if we stay with Him along the way and have faith we will get to our destination and reach our goal. The Savior will help us find our way through the path of life and help lead us back to our Father in Heaven.
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Ella's-
Hello my name is Ellanor and I believe the words of Jesus Christ when he taught that he binds us to make us free and Satan frees us to bind us. Christ ‘binds’ us by giving us commandments to follow and rules to abide by. He then frees us by promising us if we obey we will have eternal happiness. Satan on the other hand, frees us to bind us. He frees us by telling us it’s okay; you can do whatever you want, such as smoking, drinking, and stealing. He tells us that we can live in the moment and that we don’t need to worry about any consequences. And then Satan binds us.
Some may confuse being bound by Christ as being restricted or held back in some way, but that it not the case at all. To help explain what this means take this analogy for example,
There was a very young boy. It was his first experience with kite flying. His father helped him, and after several attempts the kite was in the air. The boy ran and let out more string, and soon the kite was flying high. The little boy was so excited; the kite was beautiful. Eventually there was no more string left to allow the kite to go higher. The boy said to his father, “Daddy, let’s cut the string and let the kite go; I want to see it go higher and higher.”
His father said, “Son, the kite won’t go higher if we cut the string.”
“Yes, it will,” responded the little boy. “The string is holding the kite down; I can feel it.” The father handed a pocketknife to his son. The boy cut the string. In a matter of seconds the kite was out of control. It darted here and there and finally landed in a broken heap. That was difficult for the boy to understand. He felt certain the string was holding the kite down.
The string is like the commandments. Many people think the commandments are holding us back from fulfilling our purpose in life. But really, they are what keep us from falling to the ground. The string, or commandments, is what helps us to soar higher. It doesn’t bind us down; it is what is allowing us to fly.
In John chapter 8 it reads, “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
I know that if we follow the commandments of Jesus Christ we will be able to soar high and reach our full potential in life. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
And now here is one just from the other day,
Evalyn is working on memorizing her poem for this grading period. The poem goes:
What can I give him?
Poor as I am,
If I were a Shepherd,
I would bring a lamb.
If I were a Wise man,
I would do my part.
What can I give Him?
Give my heart.
She started..."What can I give Him, Poor as I am. If I were a leper I would bring a sheep" we all started giggling. :)
Gordon just finished his first season doing cross-country. And he got better and better as the season went on. We are so proud of him, trying something new and sticking with it and pushing himself. Practice everyday after school in the crazy Arizona heat! His Personal Record for the season was a mile and a half in 10:24. And the main reason he signed up for cross country was because he wanted to be in good shape for when basketball try outs came around. He went to try outs and he put forth lots of effort. There are two teams 'A' team and 'B' team. He thought there were lots of guys that were better than him. He really wanted to make the 'A' team but thought he would be put on the 'B' team. Then when the list was posted he made the 'A' team!!! And the first couple games he didn't start but he played at least half of the game. Then the last game he was a starter! We are so proud of the young man he is and the hard work he puts into everything he does. He is also still on the National Junior Honors Society. He volunteers and helps out around campus with different events. He truly is a wonderful young man.
Ellanor is keeping very busy as well. At school she is doing Violin, in the Sign Language Club, and in the Girls who Code club. And just recently she has signed up to be a part of Girls with Sole. She has been setting goals to push herself. I signed all the kids up for a Bubble Run. I thought there would be a 1 mile fun run in addition to the 3.2 mile (5k) run. Ella was a little hesitant to run a whole mile, but she decided she would do it. Then the morning of while we were there waiting for the race to start, I quickly learned that there was no 1 mile fun run...only the 5K. Ellanor did the whole thing and at the end I asked her, "You did it! How do you feel?" She said she felt really good. I then told her that she had just run over 3 miles...she replied, "no, Mom is was only the 1 mile fun run". She had no idea...I then explained my confusion and that she just ran the 5K. I really feel like it unlocked something in her. She now knows she CAN do hard things!!
Eden is also in lots of after school activities. She plays the flute, is a lead in the musical, and is in the Sign Language club. She also just signed up for the club, Girls on the Run (same one as Ella just for the younger grades). She is such a hard worker and you can tell she has so much fun doing it all. When she was trying out for the musical she was more excited to hear that her friends had received certain roles. Then when we heard she had a call back for a lead she was very excited...there were 7 girls trying out for 4 spots. She was beyond excited to hear she had snagged one.
Russell is also in the Sign Language club with the girls and he is doing a great job. It is really fun to watch the three of them practice together at home.
Evalyn is doing really well at school. They just started taking spelling test and she has gotten 100% the last two weeks in a row.
Henry is so fun to have at home all morning, just he and I while the other kids are at school. His favorite thing to do is to wave to the kids as they are leaving for school, if he ever sleeps in and missing sending them off he is a bit sad. I love that he loves his siblings so much.
Life is very full at this stage and I feel like I am in the car a lot, and there is always dishes to do and laundry to fold...but I am trying to enjoy the little moments. I am not perfect at that, I sometimes let the tasks of the day take over but sitting down and writing about these moments help. I feel so very blessed to be the mother of my amazing children. They bring me joy every day! I am so grateful a loving Heavenly Father has entrusted them to me for this time while they are on earth. Parenting can be hard, but I have the best partner :) I love you all so very much and I feel so blessed for your love, example and encouragement.
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