Baptisms

This morning Kiersten and I went to the temple. She was going to do baptisms for some family names my mom has given me and I was going to do some initiatory work. I thought I would walk her in first and make sure she was settled. Before I knew it I was in the clothing line and getting clothes to do baptisms.

We had 16 names so while we were waiting in the line with all the craziness around us (for some reason it was EXTREMELY busy today), I decided to stay and do some baptisms. Kiersten could do eight and I could do eight and then we would flip them for the confirmations.

I have never done my own family names. These were names of people connected to me. And I haven't done baptisms since I was in college. It was just a wonderful way to spend the morning.

 

Favorite songs

Our list of favorite songs for this year.

Alex: ABCs
Ashlyn: Just Give Me a Reason, by P!nk
Nathan: Hall of Fame, by The Script
Erik: Safe and Sound, by Capital Cities
Kiersten: Gone, Gone, Gone, by Phillip Phillips
Missy: Forever Young, by the Tenors
Tyler: Demons, by Imagine Dragons

Of course this didn't come close to filling up the time I needed with all our photos, so I added some other favorites from this year.

Home, by Phillip Phillips
Let Her Go, Passenger
Brave, Sara Bareilles
I've Seen Hell, from North and South soundtrack, by Martin Phipps
Ho Hey, by The Lumineers
We Are Young, by Fun
I Dreamed a Dream, by Anne Hathaway
Set Fire to the Rain, by Adele
Try, by P!nk

When we visited my brother Matt in Logan earlier this month, he introduced us to the group The Tenors singing the song Forever Young. Wow!! Their voices were powerful, the lyrics were powerful. I fell in love immediately and not only had new favorite group, but a new favorite song as well. 

 

"Forever Young"

May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
Let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the sky
Climb on every rung
May you stay..
Forever young

 

 May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth and see the light surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
May you stay..
Forever young

 

 Forever young
Forever young
May you stay Forever...

 

 May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation when the winds of changes shift
May you heart always be joyful, may your song always be sung
And may you stay forever young

 

 Forever young
Forever young
May you stay Forever Young

 

 And may you stay
May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you stay
Forever young

Projects completed

I have found that with myself if I have things going on I tend to accomplish more. When life slows down, I slow down with it.

November and December can be two of my busiest times of the year (Oh, don't let me forget the month of May).

With Christmas looming, I had two BIG projects I wanted to complete. First was my blog book which I started two years ago. I finished that up the end of November and got to open it today and enjoy it.

I guess I wasn't the only one interested in it. Kiersten literally read it cover to cover, skipping some of the longer posts.

I was so happy with how it turned out and am starting another year which hopefully won't take two years to complete. This has become my new scrapbooking which I hated to do anyway. I love that Blurb has a copy of my book and I can print it again any time I want.

My second project was a slide show I wanted to do for Christmas Eve, starting a new tradition. That entailed getting a year's worth of photos organized which normally I do, but for some reason this year I fell seriously behind. I had so much fun putting Tyler's birthday slide show together that I decided to do the same with all our photos from this year. Early in the month I asked for everyone's favorite song. And of course they all wanted to know why. It took me up to the 23rd to get it done, but I did. After our Christmas Eve festivities at grandma's house, we came home and watched 2013 in Review. I actually added last Christmas Eve and Christmas Day photos at the beginning to get them excited about Christmas morning.

Again, I was so please with how this particular project turned out. Everyone was in agreement that we have a new Christmas Eve tradition.

* * * * *

As I'm writing this post, Alex came up to me and said, "Mom, it's nice to be home." I looked at him and asked if he liked home because I had absolutely no idea where that came from. Then he clarified, "Dusty says that all the time."

Oh boy! We're quoting movies now. His favorite movie right now is Planes. He could watch that over and over and sometimes does. Another favorite quote of his: "You make joke? You leave me no choice."

December, so far

Here's a peak into our December so far:

Countdown chains. I spiced it up a little this year and put the names of Christ on each ring with a scripture to look up. Part of our scripture morning routine consisted of scripture reading, opening our advent stocking and the taking down a loop.

Snow, cold, more snow, even colder, some more snow. Can I bribe whomever is in charge of the snow machine to turn it off after the first of the year? I think I've had my fill.

Thankfully we took advantage of Temple Square and the beautiful lights before all the yucky weather settled in.

Twelve Days of Christmas. Our family has done this for quite a few years now and every year I ask if the kids still want to do it, and every year it's a resounding YES even though they always get the jitters when it's their night to deliver. This year was kind of fun because we decided to do a family who happens to live in our ward boundaries and has several girls Kiersten's age. She has come home from Young Women's with stories to tell about what these girls have been saying and how desperately they want to know who it is. We've never had these particular circumstances where we've been able to hear how it's gone from the receiving end. That part of it has made it especially fun this year.

Orchestra Concerts. Tyler travels about twice a year and one of those weeks is always the middle of December. There are some years I'd love to call his executives and give them a piece of my mind. It always seems to be the week of performances and parties. Kiersten had an orchestra concert; Nate had one too. Erik had a basketball game. ALL ON THE SAME NIGHT! Thankfully Grandma was here to help chauffeur kids to different places.

Tabernacle Christmas Concert. My brother-in-law scored some tickets and since Tyler was out of town, my sister Natalie got to be my date. I loved every minute of it, but especially the organ solo. The organist worked magic with his feet and literally danced over the pedals.

Commencement of potty-training. Don't ask why I decided to pick the week of all the craziness and Tyler not home for the week . . . but I did. We are not quite 100% there but he's working on it and loves washing his hands by himself.

A combined act of giving. At my sister's wedding in November, us siblings decided to forgo exchanging gifts for Christmas and instead put our money to better use.

Our brother Matt is trying to start a business, has got some debt he's working on paying off from a former business, is moving home to Ferron, and his sweet wife Angelene is expecting a second baby in April. Unbeknownst to them, the rest of decided to gift them some money. I collected it and then became the delivery man (or woman). A few Saturdays ago I woke up and realized we had the entire day with nothing on the agenda and rare beautiful weather. So we headed to Logan to deliver our gift.

Thankfully we had a good excuse that we were actually in Logan to help celebrate Jordan's birthday (Angelene couldn't believe we would come all that way to give them a gift; I also just left the gift with instructions to open after we had left.) Matt has rigged up a fun swing that my kids loved to play on. It was reminiscent of my grandma's old swing she used to have at her house in Hyde Park.

A birthday celebration. We did in fact celebrate with a yummy dinner which Jo was kind enough to make for us. Jordan even made the comment that he hadn't ever had anyone over from his family for his birthday (probably because it's in December and close to Christmas). So I was glad we had made the trip to Logan that day.

Community Christmas concert. Erik is still not really intrigued with the piano, so I told him he could join the ward choir to fulfill his music obligation to me. That pretty much meant I was joining too so he could get to practices. I don't sing. My Primary congregation knows that even though I'm not afraid to sing out anyway. I started as a tenor to help Erik who technically should be an alto [or possibly a soprano :)]. Some day that voice is going to drop. Then I moved to alto to help our two altos and really so Kiersten could keep me on tune. So with that long introduction, the reason we were at the First Annual Community Christmas Concert was that our ward was asked to sing a number and at the last minute Nate was asked to be a narrator . . . in front of at least 800 people. I was bummed I didn't even think to bring my camera.

Preschool Christmas party. Alex was so excited to have everyone over for our party, and I was a little nervous no one may come due to all the snow that fell during the night and continued to fall during the day. But they came and enjoyed a craft, story, a game of Don't Eat Pete, presents, and a short Christmas movie.

An adult neighborhood dinner and white elephant exchange. This is a tradition that's been going for several years now and we love it, especially the exchange of crazy gifts. It gives us all a good excuse to leave the children behind and enjoy some laughs and camaraderie. Kiersten and Erik were kind enough to donate (or their mom asked them to donate) their time to babysit my new neighbor's four children, three who are 15-month-old triplets, and whose husband is pretty much gone a lot working in Colorado. I wanted to give her an evening out to meet some others in our neighborhood.

I think December sure makes some of us a little tired.

Announcement to the shepherds

Tyler had a friend who was literally giving away all his books . . . boxes and boxes of books. We made a trip one day to his house to see what he had and came home with quite a few. I found this little treasure that I've been enjoying this Christmas season.
One of the articles I've read so far had a few paragraphs about something I've always misread. I actually had to pull my scriptures out to make sure it did indeed say flock and not flocks. I even put my kids to the test one morning during scripture study; I had them listen for a word that is constantly read wrong and then had one of the read the scripture (Luke 2:8). They failed so I had to finally show them the word flock.

The following is an excerpt from what I've been reading.

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord, And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. (Luke 2:8-12)

One of these verse is frequently misquoted: "Keeping watch over their flocks by night." But the verse does not say flocks, pural, but flock, singular. One scholar explained the significance: "There was near Bethlehem, on the road to Jerusalem, a tower known as Migdal Eder, or the watchtower of the flock. Here was the station where shepherds watched the flocks destined for sacrifice in the temple. . . . It was a settled conviction among the Jews that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, and equally that he was to be revealed from Migdal Eder. The beautiful significance of the the revelation of the infant Christ to shepherds watching the flocks destined for sacrifice needs no comment." The flock mention in the scripture, then, apparently was the one used for temple sacrifices, and the shepherds thus had responsibility for the most important flock in the region.

--Gerald N. Lund, "The Birth of Jesus Christ Was on This Wise," Christmas Classics, A Treasury for Latter-day Saints

My first blog book

Monday, December 2
I've been working on turning this fun little blog into a book that will hopefully get looked at more than just by me. It's only taken me two years to get the year 2011 completed. When I began this seemingly minute project in 2012, I thought I would work backwards until I had every year completed. What I quickly realized is I started with the biggest year that had the most posts. So it's taken me awhile.

But what should have been completed a year ago is finally . . . 

off to the printer. I'm so excited for it to come back.

Friday, December 6
Wow! They are timely. When I sent it off, the estimate for having it back to me was around the 12th of December. It is here and I'm so excited for Christmas morning to see how it turned out. This is my gift to my family this Christmas season. They may not appreciate it as much as me, but one day it will be invaluable.
Christmas morning can't come soon enough.

Temple Square

Every year around Christmas we try to visit Temple Square. It's just a fun tradition we do and the kids admitted to me this time how much they really enjoy going.

And every year I watch the weather; well because I always watch the weather and plan my life around the weather . . . shopping, running, errands, trips out of town, gardening. I really should have been a weather man. All that money wasted on a business degree and my heart really loves weather because frankly it affects every person's life in some way or another.

Okay, that was a bit of a tangent. So last week I was watching the weather and seeing very warm numbers on the screen followed by very cold numbers. Tyler and I made a quick judgment call and decided to hit Temple Square last Sunday. We've been before in freezing cold weather and unquestionably, it just isn't that enjoyable. I don't think we've ever visited on a Sunday and I thought it would kind of quiet. Um, I think I'm not the only weather watcher out there. Anyway, the warm weather made for a very pleasant evening and I'm relishing in those memories at this moment as I write this post and it's a balmy 10 degrees outside only a week later :)

This year we especially loved the luminaries and different nativities. Kiersten especially loved the sign language luminary. 

 

I love this picture. My kids can be such goofballs. But they are my goofballs and I sure do love them.

Christmas Newsletter 2013

The Leary Family  2013

Alex (3) would prefer everyone call him King Alex after being dubbed “The King” by Grandpa. He ran his first mile race, raised both hands as he finished last and yelled “I WIN!” He also knows the ABC song inside, outside, and upside down much to the dismay of his family.

Ashlyn  (8) fell in love with soccer, roller-skating, and the sewing machine. Our little fire ball now knows it’s okay to run through the house screaming “FIRE!” when there’s a real fire instead of nonchalantly telling mom, “There’s something wrong in the kitchen.”

Nathan (11) doesn’t like heights we learned this summer as we visited the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon. But he does like getting up early (like 6am early). He’s usually off to orchestra or math before the school day even begins.

Erik (13) admitted to getting a bit cold during a scout overnighter when his sleeping bag failed to make it into his pack. Oops! This summer he became his own businessman, washing windows for the neighbors, and he also landed his first striped bass which threatened to pull him into the lake.

Kiersten (14) loves high school especially sign language and seminary. She is no longer the tallest sibling . . . Erik has outpaced her, and regency-era movies have become a staple in her life. She has more piano students which translates into more cash but less time for play.

Missy learned to use the fire extinguisher before any major damage was done to the house (you really shouldn’t forget and leave honey melting on the stove). I’ve also come around on my canning stance: it is a rewardingly fun hobby.

Tyler is sure turning 40 isn’t quite “over the hill” yet. He set up his own home theater system like a pro and designed and built Tetris-shaped garden boxes for use this spring. The gopher hunt continues as he attempts to exterminate those pesky critters from the neighborhood.

                                         Merry Christmas!

Lock down

Today marks three years that we've lived in Lake Point. I can't hardly believe that we've been here that long. Seems just like yesterday that we were moving in.

My neighbor called me this morning to ask if my kids went to Rose Springs Elementary  because apparently there was a lock down at that school. She told me that gun shots were fired at a house and that the house number was 745 Country Club. My brain started reeling and I told her, "We lived right by that house. Our house number was 6 . . ." and my mind went blank. "It was 6 something."

Well, I guess we've been away for awhile because I couldn't even remember my old address (and for the record it was 761, not 6 something).

Anyway, both elementary schools were in lock down along with the high school. I even called the high school to find out what was going on and the principal answered the phone on the second ring. We chatted for a minute and he assured me that things were under control . . . kids were not allowed in the halls and nobody was allowed in or out of the school. I hung up the phone quite impressed that I actually got through and was able to talk to someone who had some answers.

Kiersten was lucky enough to spend some extra quality time in biology and didn't get lunch until school was pretty much done for the day. 

Same with Nate and Ash . . . no lunch for quite awhile. In fact Nate, a 6th grader, got to eat with the 3rd and 4th graders and since the 4th graders got there last, they, not the 6th graders, got to take advantage of going back for seconds, something Nate relishes. He was a little miffed when he came home today about that particular aspect of his day. I swear that boy is going through a growth spurt. He can eat and eat and eat.

And to add to all the excitement, we got our first real, official snowstorm of the year, snow that is going to stick around because those dang Canadians love to blow their cold air our way [no offense Amber and Aaron, but I sure wouldn't mind if you kept the cold to yourself :)].

Happy Black Thursday . . .

er, I mean Thanksgiving.

Give it a few years and we'll be celebrating Black Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

We were at Costco last night and as crazy as that store can be, leaving me wondering if I should switch back to Sams, one reason I'm happy to be a patron is they give their employees holidays off to be with family. We discovered that on Memorial Day during our Phoenix trip when we were looking for a cheap place to feed the kids and discovered Costco was closed. How refreshing! So thankful for stores that value employees and family.

I'm also thankful for a brother-in-law who decorates my house for the holidays and LOVES it. Because I really don't enjoy it that much and don't have an eye for decor.

I'm thankful that since moving into this neighborhood three years ago, a bunch of boys have moved in also who are Erik's age and they've all become friends.

I think Nate is thankful to finally inherit Erik's shirt. He's been eying it up for awhile. I thought it was quite fitting that he wear it today.

Book Club

I've been part of a book club for almost 8 years now. I don't think when it started that any of us thought it would still be in existence 8 years later.

Initially, it began in conjunction with the Gordon Lane Ward as part of the mini groups the General Relief Society for the LDS Church wanted to see implemented. After several years we converted it into just a regular old book club. Really, the only difference was it was no longer announced in Relief Society and we didn't have to get the bishop's approval on our book list.

Several of us have moved and keep coming back and one member is now part of a different ward due to a ward split, so it really does feel like an actual book group. There are around 12 regulars and a few of us that are on and off.

We take turns hosting at each others homes. The hostess gets to pick the book to read for the next month and the previous hostess brings treats (rarely do you ever host and provide the treat too). One month, usually January, we discuss our book and then watch a movie. In November we do a book exchange and then don't host in July or December since those are some crazy months.

It has really stretched me in some of my reading and given me a reason to read things I would never have picked up otherwise. I think my most surprising read has been Dreams from My Father by President Obama. I don't like him as a president, but I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed his memoir and found that he is a good writer. To date we've read 84 books as a book club (my record keeping isn't 100% accurate; I'm sure I've missed recording a couple). Of those 84 I have read 71. That's a pretty good track record.

It would have been so easy to skip out when we moved, but I'm glad I keep going. It keeps me involved with old friends and keeps me reading. If I'm not reading the current month's book, I'm reading to hopefully come across one of those gems I can pick for my month. Although I will admit that I have picked a couple of duds that I didn't even like.

Anyway, here's our book club list since February 2006, in alphabetical order. I've put a star by the ones I really enjoyed. The italicized ones I have not read. The bold ones I really disliked. 

A Room with a View . . . E.M. Forster 

A Train to Potevka . . . Mike Ramsdell

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn . . . Betty Smith
*Alas, Babylon . . . Pat Frank 
All the Pretty Horses . . . Cormac McCarthy 
At Home in Mitford . . . Jan Karon 
Band of Brothers . . . Stephen E. Ambrose 
*Black Like Me . . . John Howard Griffin 
Christmas Jars . . . Jason Wright 
Cold Sassy Tree . . . Olive Ann Burns
*Cutting for Stone . . . Abraham Verghes
Dandelion Wine . . . Ray Bradbury
*Dreams from My Father . . . Barack Obama
*East of Eden . . . John Steinbeck
*Ella Minnow Pea . . . Mark Dunn
Emma . . . Jane Austin
Falling Leaves . . . Adeline Yen Mah
Flowers for Algernon . . . Daniel Keyes
*Follow the River . . . James Alexander Thom
For One More Day . . . Mitch Albom
Gods and Kings . . . Lynn Austin
Half Broke Horses . . . Jeanette Walls
Heaven Is for Real . . .Todd Burpo
*Jane Eyre . . . Charlotte Bronte
Juliet . . . Anne Fortier
*Life of Pi . . . Yann Martel
Little Women . . . Louisa May Alcott
Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand . . . Helen Simonson
Molokai . . . Alan Brennert
*Mrs. Mike . . . Benedict Freedman
My Antonia . . . Willa Cather
*Nothing to Envy . . . Barbara Demick
Of Mice and Men . . . John Steinbeck
*Peace Like a River . . . Leif Enger
Persepolis . . . Marjane Satrapi
*Phantom . . . Susan Kay
Plain and Simple: A Woman’s Journey to the Amish . . . Sue Bender
Pride and Prejudice . . . Jane Austin
Seeking Persephone . . . Sarah Eden
Shattered Silence . . . Melissa Moore
The Anatomy of Peace . . . Arbinger Institute
The Bean Trees . . . Barbara Kingsolver
The Blue Castle . . L. M. Montgomery
The Bluest Eye . . . Toni Morrison
*The Book Thief . . . Markus Zusak
The Burning Within . . . Ranelle Wallace
The Chosen . . . Chaim Potok
*The Color of Water . . . James McBride
*The Count of Monte Cristo  . . . Alexandre Dumas
The Devil’s Arithmetic . . . Jane Yolen
*The Dovekeepers . . . Alice Hoffman
The Five Love Languages . . . Gary Chapman
The Five People You Meet in Heaven . . . Mitch Albom
The Giver . . .Lois Lowry
*The Glass Castle . . . Jeanette Walls
The Good Earth . . . Pearl S. Buck
The Great Gatsby . . Scott F. Fitzgerald
*The Guernsy Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society . . . Annie Barrows
The Help . . . Kathryn Stockett
The Host . . . Stephanie Meyer
The House of the Scorpion . . . Nancy Farmer
*The Hunger Games . . . Suzanne Collins
*The Kitchen House . . . Kathleen Grissom
*The Kite Runner . . . Khaled Hosseini
The Last Lecture . . . Randy Pausch
The Lost Wife . . . Alyson Richman
The Memory Keepers Daughter . . . Kim Edwards
The Peacegiver . . . James Ferrell
*The Poisonwood Bible . . . Barbara Kingsolver
The Rent Collector . . . Cameron Wright
*The Scarlet Pimpernel . . . Emmuska Orczy
The Secret Life of Bees . . . Sue Monk Kidd
The Sunflower . . Richard Paul Evans
The Winter Sea . . . Susanna Kearsley
The Woman in White . . . Wilkie Collins
*These Is My Words . . . Nancy Turner
Three from Galilee . . . Marjorie HolmesTo Kill a Mockingbird . . . Harper Lee
Tuesdays with Morrie . . . Mitch Albom
Twilight . . . Stephanie Meyer
Two from Galilee . . . Marjorie Holmes
When the Emperor Was Divine . . . Julie Otsuka
Wish You Well . . . David Baldacci
Zen the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance . . . Robert Pirsig
 

Lake Powell

Do you remember the days when kids actually went to school? . . . For an entire week?

It seems my kids have more days off than they're really in school.

For some reason they had a Monday off a couple of weeks ago so we decided to head to Lake Powell to try some striper fishing.

Well, rule number 1: Don't try to get on the lake right before a storm. The wind was threatening to sink our little boat. Even though the sky was clear, the waves did not help our fishing cause.

Rule number 2: If by chance you get a fish on your line, you had better pull and reel with everything you have or that whale might just suck you right in. Erik had experience with rule number 2.

And that's about it. We came home with two striper so I wouldn't call it a wasted trip although in previous years we've hauled home a lot more.

My kids have never been to Lake Powell, so for them this was certainly an adventure.

We love fish tacos and striped bass is one of the best fish when making them. In my opinion the sauce is what distinguishes a good fish taco from a bad one.

* * * * *

Fish Tacos

white fish (cod, bass, tilapia) 
¼ c. green onions, thinly sliced
¼ c. fresh cilantro, chopped
3 T. mayonnaise
3 T. sour cream
1 t. lime rind, grated
1 ½ t. fresh lime juice
¼ t. salt
1 garlic clove, minced 
tortillas
fresh limes
salt
cabbage or coleslaw

Bread the fish with some flour and cook in a pan with butter until it flakes easily. For the sauce combine the green onions, cilantro, mayonnaise, sour cream, lime rind, lime juice, salt, and garlic in a small bowl; set aside. To prepare tacos, divide fish evenly among tortillas. Squeeze fresh lime juice over fish and lightly salt. Top with coleslaw and sauce. 

Note: For an easier meal, you can use fish that’s already crusted and bake according to directions on the package or cook up some fish sticks.

Three book reviews

MY STORY
By Elizabeth Smart
 
Elizabeth Smart gets 5 stars and more in my book. Her book whom she coauthored with Chris Stewart only gets 3. I have to think having Chris Stewart on the team didn't help; I've never cared for his writing style. I've seen interviews with Elizabeth who is very well-spoken and eloquent and kind of expected the same from this book. But that just wasn't the case.

However, that said her story is absolutely remarkable. I remember the day she was kidnapped and followed all the news stories up until the day she was found, another day that stands out vividly in my mind. I wanted to read this book for the details which the public didn't get a lot of when she was found (she simply tells us what happened to her without getting graphic and tells a lot of what she was thinking and why she didn't do some things we as the public expected her to). Kiersten is that same vibrant 14-year-old and I couldn't help thinking through the whole book, could Kiersten have endured what Elizabeth did and come out of such tragedy to become the person Elizabeth is today. She only briefly tells at the end how she has been able to rise above her ordeal without any real medication or counseling. And quite simply it has been her faith, her faith in a God who knows her and loves her. Many who are not religious will question why a God would allow such horrific crimes to happen to people, especially children. But she knows that God gave man his agency and he cannot stand in the way of that. However, she does detail several experiences she had that left her knowing God knew what she was going through and that he had not left her alone.

Her mother also gave her some advice shortly after her return that was really the start of her healing process. Her mother told her that her captors had taken 9 months of her life that she would never get back and to not let them have one more second of her life. Elizabeth needed to move forward with her life and be happy. That would be the greatest punishment she could give two very evil people.

If you overlook the writing, the story is simply one of the best about survival and rising above the scourge of the earth to become someone extraordinary. 

* * * * *

THE POWER OF EVERYDAY MISSIONARIES
By Clayton Christensen

What a great book on such an intimidating topic as missionary work, especially member missionary work. I actually checked this book out because I loved his book How Will You Measure Your Life? but it sat on my nightstand until it had to go back to the library. I was going to return it on my way out of town and after reading several chapters, decided to keep it, finish it, and pay the late fees. I did not regret that decision. This is a book every Mormon should read who is sincerely wanting to be a better missionary. It gives you ideas to think about, it gives real-life examples of ordinary people who simply opened their mouth to their friends and had amazing results. I read it in 2 days but I would really recommend reading it over time and contemplating some of the ideas and actually putting them to work. This actually got me excited about my own missionary work and left me thinking, "I can do that!" 

* * * * *

INFERNO
By Dan Brown

It was pretty much like every other book I've read of his (suspense, fast-faced, a lot art, foreign places), and as much as I liked his other books, I really did not like the premise of this one. I thought Dan Brown took a very political stand against families and procreation. I consider myself extremely pro-family and felt that this book was very much against families or at least the rights of every human being to decide for themselves in regard to their own familial life, which is pretty funny to say since it's suppose to just be a suspense book. I think Dan Brown couched his personal opinions very smoothly in this book, and I'm not sure I'll read another one of his.

Sleigh Ride Fantasy Duet

I have now watched this video several times and love it every time.

I even bought the music and will try to convince Kiersten to play it with me. Except convince is the wrong word because she will totally be on board with it; it's just going to be finding some time to practice.

And play is the wrong word because I'm coming to the realization that Kiersten has become a much better pianist than me simply because she practices. She could probably sit down have this piece nailed down in no time. Me? I'm going to need a lot of practice before we can actually attempt to play it together.

Halloween

Today I felt like such a scrooge.

I just really don't like Halloween.

And I really don't like dressing up.

This is the extent of my costume . . . an orange shirt with a black shirt over it. I've at least got the right colors.

I don't even do costumes for my kids. I send them downstairs to the orange bucket and let them peruse through all the costumes I had as a kid. Isn't my mom nice to give me all that? I don't know how I got to be so lucky. I guess being the oldest has perks sometimes.

Erik came up with Alex's costume . . . a pumpkin pirate. I think I'm a little biased. He's by far the cutest pumpkin pirate I've ever seen.

Ash flew off in typical witch style like every year.

Nate traded in his ninja mask for a ski mask and became a robber instead.

Elder Leary, aka Erik, was such a hit at a trunk-or-treat several nights ago that Scott decided he wanted in on the action and they became a companionship. Elders Leary and Ruebush. Has a nice ring, doesn't it?

Kiersten was the candy goddess, although she sure had to be quick on her toes to beat Alex to the door.

I guess I don't mind Halloween if I have someone to take my kids door to door (Erik took Alex this year) and hand out the chocolate while I relax with my own cup of hot chocolate and a handful of my own miniature candy bars.