My Thought

As the New Year approaches I always try to figure out what my goals are for the next year, my "resolution", it is more of a thought that I keep with me all year. As I was reading through someone who is very close to my heart's blog I came across this...and it is my thought of the year:

A reminder of the 3 things that we take with us in this life as taught by Elder Holland at Ashley's(the daughter of the Elder that taught and baptized me-she was 5) Funeral. 1. Our Families. 2. Our Character. 3. Essential Ordinances

1. Family is our first priority in our home but making the time more meaningful is my specific goal.
2. Since I am not perfect and no one is there is always something in our characters we can work on. What I am going to work on is being a better listener. SO if you catch me thinking about what I am going to say next, or interjecting instead of listening correct me.
3. Since I have participated in all of my essential ordinances my goal is to make sure my children are learning of their importance on their path to return to Heavenly Father.

GLIMMERS 6

*Santa's Elves came and brought us our Christmas PJ's. We know now Santa can get in with the magic key he brought!!!

*SANTA CAME- we had such a fun morning, with cinnamon rolls, a great big breakfast, and PRESENTS!!!!

*We had Christmas with G&G Kepler and Granny on Sunday and decorated cookies how fun!

*We baked cookies all day one day or should I say mom did with intermittent help from us all!!!

*A few of us got the flu but it was quick and we are all fine now. Lesson: When you see a cart at the store and think I wish I had a Clorox wipe avoid that cart like the plague!

*Mom has been disinfecting the house like a crazy woman!

*We missed Great Grandma's Christmas Party today to insure she doesn't get sick or anyone else for that matter and it looks like only a couple of us are going to get sick!

*Thanks to everyone for all of our gifts!

*Family Home Evening Lesson- Thank you to Heavenly Father for the best gift of all His Son Jesus Christ! May this season bring joy to your hearts and remembrance of Him on High!

The Hardest Part

This is the hardest part of Christmas for me. I have been up since 4am because I can't sleep. I can't wait for the kids to come down and see the Christmas tree, the presents, their once empty stockings full and see the looks on their faces. The joy on their faces with the reality Santa has come is priceless. It is 5am now and I am cooking cinnamon rolls in hopes the noise in the kitchen will wake them up. All the lights are on and Christmas music playing and yet they sleep. How much longer am I to wait....

15 years ago

I was at a Christmas Party and very anxious to get home. I couldn't explain it but I just needed to be home. I had been up all day starting at 5:30 am shopping and cooking getting ready for a Christmas party at my house the next day: Christmas. I went to my Grandma's Christmas party around noon and took frequent naps which was odd for me but I attributed it to getting up so early and running around and then headed to another family gathering it was at this gathering I needed to leave and was quite insistent about it and so I left around 10:00pm. I called my mom for last minute parking plans and were she would be sleeping etc. Then took a shower and headed to bed. I then called her again to ask what it looked like when your water breaks and she explained it to me. I was due Christmas day but my Dr assured me first time mom's never have their babies on their due date. Well he was worng! As soon as I hung up the phone with my mom my water broke. I couldn't believe it either I was going to have my baby in 1/2 an hour or in 24 1/2 hours or I was having a Christmas Baby! 8:16 am Christams Day I had the most perfect baby boy!
It is hard to believe that it is has been 15 years from that day! He is the best thing that has happened in my life without him my life would have went in a very different direction.

How do I go about describing him:
HE IS incredibly outgoing with a titch of shyness
HE IS Genuienly Funny
HE IS determined. When he puts his mind to doing something it is going to get done.
HE IS Considerate
HE IS Athletic
HE IS good. He has a good moral compass.
HE IS a goofball at times
HE IS Musically inclined..I will miss him singing when he leaves home!
HE IS fun!
HE IS my son.

My heart soars seeing him grow and progress. Take chances and reach new heights. My heart saddens to watch him stumble and fall but again to see him pick himself up and try again, repent, move forward, move on, move upward again how my soul is filled with joy. He is my son and I love him more than I can express in this life time. My prayer is he knows it!

COOKIE MAKING DAY

SUGAR COOKIES

2/3 C butter warm
¾ C sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 C flour


Beat butter, sugar and baking powder until combined plus 1 minute. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add 1 cup of flour at a time and mix. Divide dough into 2 balls refrigerate for 3 hours.

Roll out ½ inch thickness and make cut out cookies. Bake at 375 for 7-8 minutes. Decorate as desired . I use Pillsbury vanilla frosting.

FIVE MINUTE FUDGE

12oz semi sweet chocolate chips
1 C other chips
14oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla
8oz nuts of choice
½ cup dries fruit of choice

Grease 8in round cake pan.

Dump first 4 ingredients in to saucepan: on low heat for 3 minutes.

Cover can from milk in wax paper.

Add nuts and fruit to chocolate mixture.

Put can into center of pan dump chocolate into pan adjusting the can to center. Let cool with can in
center. I add red and green M&M’s for a wreath look.

ELDER PETERSON COOKIES

These cookies got the names from The Joker. The Elder that taught and baptized me loved these cookies I made and so the name has stuck through all these years Elder Peterson Cookies!



1 12 oz chips
¼ butter
1 can sweetend condensed milk
2 C flour
1 tsp vanilla
1 bags Hershey Hugs

Melt butter add milk and chips until chips are melted add vanilla. In a large bowl add chip mixture to flour; mix until flour is mixed in. Unwrap Hugs and wrap them in a 1 inch ball of your chocolate mixture. Bake at 350 for 6 minutes. DO NOT over cook. They will look shiny and look not done but believe they are. Let cool on pan for 5 minutes and let finish cooling on wire racks.

OATMEAL COOKIES

1 C firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 melted butter
1/2 sugar
1 egg
1/4 water
1 tsp vanilla
3 C oats
1 C flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
cinnamon

Heat oven to 350. In a large bowl, beat brown sugar, butter, and sugar for 1 minute. Add egg, water and vanilla: beat well. Add combined oats, flour, soda, and salt; mix well. Add cinnamon to taste.

Drop douagh by rounded teaspoon fulls onto ungreased cookie sheets. I sprinkle them with Christmas sprinkels to add a little yuletide cheer. Bake 11-13 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

SNICKERDOODLES

1 C Warm Butter
1 1/2 C Sugar
2 Eggs
2 3/4 C Flour
2 tsp Cream of Tartar
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tb Sugar
2 Tb Cinnamon

Cream first 3 ingredients, stir in flour, cream of tartar, soda, and salt. In seperate bowl combine 2 Tb sugar and 2 Tb cinnamon. Roll dough into 1 inch balss and the roll into sugar coating entire ball. Place on cookie sheet roughly 2 inches apart and bake on 400 for 8-10 minutes.

Cracks me up!!!

My laid back boy is becoming a full blown ham. To give an example of his hamminess the other day we are eating dinner(we have benches for the kids not chairs) and he makes the sound you make before a really dramatic sneeze(AHAHAH)the next thing you know he fakes sneezes so hard he falls right onto the ground all propelled by him pushing himself off the bench at just the right moment to make it look like he sneezed so hard he blew right off his seat. Of course he recieved the desired reaction from the peanut gallery and proceeded to do it over and over until the laughter subsided!

GLIMMERS 5

*We got new hot chocolate mugs and if you know my mom guess what is on them?

*We had a Christmas party with my Grandpa and Grandma Neal and my Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Neal. We ate and of course opened gifts. Granma Diane even brought us chocolate santa cupcakes, my favorite!

*We spent a lot of time in the car on Tuesday doing service and we all had a fun time until the very end!

*The princess was Mary at preschool this week and she made a gingerbread house too! It was yummy! She was nice enough to share with me...eventually!

*My mom planned a wonderful party for my class again, we all had so much fun!

*Another snow day-we stayed in our jammies all day and watched Christmas movies!

*We wrapped and wrapped!!!

*Did you know my mom finished her book? We did!!!

*Santa came to our house this week!!! He brought us the magic key since we don't have a fireplace. He drops it off to us before Christmas with a note reminding us how great we have been this year and to keep up the good work!

*Did you guess? they are.... SNOWMAN cups! my mom loves snowmen oh yes she does!

GLIMMERS 4

* 2 snow days
* I built a gingerbread house at school made out of candy
* In gym I had a snowball fight
* Decorated for Christmas
* We made gingerbread houses at home with corkboard and foam sitckers
* We painted ornaments with dad
* For Family Home Evening we learned about the 10 Lepers and the importance of saying thank you
* We played in the snow
* We rented Horton Hears a Who and watched snuggled in blankies while sipping Hot Chocolate
* We did lots of stuff for other people this week and I am tired of being in the car

NOTE: Glimmers is composed by The Brain with permission from mom and is a weekly glimmer into the lives of moms 4 little Jewels

Finally Done!!!

I have been writing a book for a little bit short of a year now and it is finally done. I always have more ideas and I could keep on writing for years. As with all good things they need to come to an end and I am so excited to be done!!!
I probably won't ever publish it accept for those for who it was intended but it still feels good to be DONE!

A year in 6 lives -2008

(we don’t use names on our blog so look to the right and you will see our pictures and our nicknames so you know who I am talking about in my letter) .

Let’s just say our year started out with a BANG literally. My prince charming (okay so he is mom’s but he is my first one too) was in a car accident and if you don’t believe in miracles if you see my dad he is one! If you have any doubt God Our Eternal Father hears and answers prayers with the whisperings from the Holy Ghost or miracles occur in our day, you should talk to him he has quite a testimony to bare. He works hard and plays hard and that is one of my favorite things about my daddy. He might come home exhausted but he ALWAYS …ALWAYS takes time for us. Playing legos or games with the Brain, star wars with the Laid Back One, chess or sports with the Teen, and what do you play with a Princess….princesses of course!!! Before all of the fun mentioned above begins he ALWAYS…ALWAYS walks in the door and says, “Where is the most important girl in the world?“ and he goes and finds Mom and gives her a hug and kiss! They are best friends you know and I can tell you from experience that once they become a united front on something there is NOTHING that can tear them apart -NOTHING!
I have a best friend too…The Brain! We however can become easily divided but we always come back together to go on grand adventures together! He started kindergarten this year and is learning so much. He loves his teacher and quotes her frequently. He has also been teaching me how to write my letters and spell some words like CAT and BOOK too! He is one smart boy and Mom is great at channeling that mind of his toward good. Mom is used to him building things with legos or kinex. She even has gotten used to him creating birds our of sticks, rocks, pinecones and found feathers or creating other flying devices. She has gotten used to him making droids out of twist ties and turning his hands into robots, transformers, spiderman or any other thing his mind can imagine. Kindergarten however has brought a whole new world to his imaginings. He has found that the construction paper and large rolls of paper with tape, crayons, markers, staples, glue and other miscellaneous craft items can become anything and our home has become crafting central. If any of you know my parents you know where he gets his imagination from but in the department of crafting items you can look straight to Mom. She loves crafting with kids and has always had an abundance of materials available for when inspiration strikes. With Mom the inspiration is occasional this however is not the case with the Brain it is daily and if you don’t believe me come over sometime around 4pm it looks like a craft store exploded in our home. We have hats, solar systems bigger than our table, he makes books-boy do we have books , to name a few The Life Cycle of a Pumpkin, How to make a Snowman, the Solar System, Seasons, On the Go the list can go on and on all hand crafted by him, we have pictures lining his bedroom walls large and small. He is ALWAYS thinking…ALWAYS!
The Brain is ALWAYS thinking well we have a teen in our house and he is going through that not thinking phase this year and the growing thing too! He has grown not just up as in height this year but as a young man. It is amazing how trials can shape you and this fall was a shaping moment. When faced with a trial he was awe inspiring. He went from a goofy 14 year old to someone who showed great maturity, compassion, empathy in face of tragedy. Mom truly enjoyed watching the touching moments with him and his soccer teammates/friends as they rallied around each other, to lift each other up, to strengthen each other. I am sure it is something none of the boys will ever forget. They might have gotten a low blow early in their soccer season but that strength , the unity that came from tragedy lead to triumph. They went undefeated 13-0-0 scored 69 goals with 4 goals allowed. Mom also scored 3 new sons out of the deal and for them she is grateful! It is always nice to hear, “Mommy!” and now she has 3 new voices to hear it from whenever they see her. The Teen is still goofy, the joker in the family and a freshman this year. As I said earlier he played on the JV team soccer team but he also had the opportunity to help out the freshman team. It was one busy soccer season for him and us but we love it. He is enjoying high school with the pep rallies, off campus lunches, Friday night football, and all the other happenings of high school life and to help make right choices when there are plenty of opportunities for wrong he goes to early morning seminary(scripture study at church) at 6:20 am for an hour before school. It has been nice to see his commitment to going and enjoying his time there and the knowledge he receives. Mom says it is like putting the Armor of God on everyday before school. I am not the early morning type but I am sure my other brothers and myself will do the same thing. The Joker also enjoys young men’s(he has the best leaders and daddy is one of them) at church and is working on his Eagle Scout. He is a lot like daddy he works hard but he plays harder and he ALWAYS takes time for family activities ALWAYS (usually being the biggest kid of all)!
I have talked about the biggest brother and the brainy brother and now I will tell you about my littlest brother. He is mom’s Laid Back Boy. He goes with the flow around here and is mine and the Brains shadow except for when Mom goes hunting for him and he is ALWAYS snuggled up in her bed ,blankie in hand, thumb in mouth rubbing his silkie on his nose, sleeping- ALWAYS. I think he sleeps as much as the teen does these days. When he is awake we have fun playing together when the Brain is gone at school. And when I am gone to preschool(except when Mommy herself teaches me) Mom has the unusual treat of having fun with him all on his own. He likes to play with blocks and his dinosaurs(they even used to be the teens) With me the Princess he plays kitchen, we cook ourselves into a frenzy(even borrowing mom’s stuff sometimes). He is very smart my little brother, do you know he can read even the same stuff the Brain reads. He has known what all of the ABC’s look like and sound like since he was 2. If you think kids do not pay attention he is a perfect example of someone who takes everything in without you even realizing he is doing it. The Laid Back Boy has also become very funny always doing crazy faces and stunts to get us to laugh and we do. Our most favorite thing for him to do is his silly face but besides that he is quite the little break dancer. He is so strong for his size and Mom is always surprised of his new moves he does right in the middle of any open floor and I mean any(think grocery store, restaurant, the school)UGH! With all that dancing going on like I said he gets tired and yes if Mom is busy it is her bed he goes to for sleeping but if Mom happens to be sitting down it is her he finds and so do we all to be quite honest. You don’t think that someone has four sides until you have seen my Mom cuddle us all at movie night. I don’t know how she does it but she does and we all love it!!! Mom has helped me to this point of the letter and now it is Daddy’s turn to help.
If I am the princess, Mommy’s the Queen! She decides to let Daddy get up first most mornings, and you know why? She keeps her bed warm for us! That’s right, we ALWAYS come downstairs and head straight for her, whether it’s for a cuddle or a tickle, or maybe just to talk (sometimes we let her know that we are ready for breakfast, NOW J). Warming beds isn’t Mommy’s only trick! Sometimes we have so much energy around here that we don’t know what to do with it and it starts to spill out all over the place (the Joker calls that wrestling). When it does, Mom is right there to help us do something better with that energy, whether she’s teaching us to work together to get a job done or she’s helping us learn a new craft to make, she is ALWAYS ready to engage our minds and hearts ALWAYS. When we’re sad, she ALWAYS finds that special thing that makes us laugh and laugh, whether it’s making fun of us (when she knows we’re faking) or tickling and playing with us, Mom can make anything feel better! Ya know, it’s funny, she always says she can’t sing and Dad is the real musician in the house, but she is ALWAYS at the piano, plucking away at a church Hymn until she knows it, and NOTHING can stop her until she’s got it NOTHING except blood or fire. Then comes the best part, she’ll sit us down with her and teach us the words to sing next to her! I think I’m going to be just like Mom when I grow up, and Dad seems to be fine with that!
NOTHING in our life comes before the love of our Savior. We are ALWAYS trying our hardest to follow His teachings and His example ALWAYS! In this Holiday Season this is our wish for you as well find your Saviors love for you ,discover the path Heavenly Father has laid before you and wants you to take, and as you are walking down that path ALWAYS listen to the whisperings of the Holy Ghost ALWAYS(I hear it can come in handy sometimes) !!!

Love, The Princess and the rest of my family too!