Year End Review

The bishop recommended looking back on the year so I did and am amazed at all we've been blessed to see, do and learn this year.   These are all things that someone did for the first time this year.

M and I did personal progress in 10 months this year.
P got bikes for the whole family and we took a family bike ride.
P and G trained and rode bikes to Gtown
B learned to read.
I got lasik.
P started to wear reading glasses.
I wrote 2 hymn tunes and submitted them for the new hymn book.
We went tubing at Rock Spring.
We launched rockets at the park.
G found $100 and gave it away to someone who responded to the online lost and found ad.
I was in the stake production of Savior of the World.
We put up Christmas lights.
I facilitated an online Personal Finance class for my family.
G got the N7 upgrade for his Cochlear Implant.
P and M are playing in the community band.
We got 2 tandem kayaks.
P got a side job with reddit.
We bought a brand new dishwasher.
We went to Marineland.
M, lP and I went to disney with the choir.
I served on staff for Woodbadge and learned that leaders train their replacements.
We went to a trampoline park.
I lost 30 lbs and have kept it off for 6 months.
M went to girls camp, life guard camp, gymnastics camp and Matanzas camp.  (yikes!)
lP went to science camp in Gtown.
G went to Palmyra with the stake, scout camp and Cyper security camp (in AL).
I went to the temple monthly (until Savior of the World practices got really busy).
We saw President Nelson speak at a regional conference in Orlando.
We did a 4th of July parade in our neighborhood.
We did the Terrain Race (G, M, lP) and I did the monkey bars!
G started high school full time.
M is in the jazz band and teaching piano lessons.
We went to the Kennedy Space Center.
P built a rock climbing wall.
G went to DC with his school.
Ladies camp out.

All of these good things were made possible because P is awesome.  We are so blessed.  Not having a newborn makes a lot of things easier, we are finding.  Also, not having major things like moving or taking care of my Dad's finances, means we have time to do a lot of fun adventures.

I'm in a show!

 Our Stake is doing Savior of the World.  We've been working on it since September and are finally presenting it this weekend.  It has been really fun, though a lot of time.   I'm grateful for the sacrifice of time my family has made so I could be in this show.

Our ward has so14 people in the cast and crew including 4 leads, assistant director and sound.  But don't forget village woman #5.  That's me!  I've really enjoyed doing this show. 

Tonight right before the last song I looked at the audience and saw someone rub their eye and it unleashed my own tears.  All good. 

New to me

Yesterday I thought I was going to be teaching Sunday School for the deaf ASL class.  I prepared a lesson but it wasn't like stellar.  We had a lot of concerts and parties last week...  But I was prepared.  Then there were 7 visitors from UT!  So I was nervous, but willing.  Thankfully MS had also prepared to teach so I let him ; )  Having prepared to teach the lesson myself I had a lot more fun in the class and got more out of it. 

One idea that was new to me was this, Christ volunteered to provide an infinite sacrifice, to cover the sin of humanity with free agency to really sin.  Satan volunteered to get the glory/credit for being the savior of a people who would all return, because there would be not sin, because there would be no free agency, and he would pay no price.  Rent seeking behavior Satan.  

"God does not begin by asking us about our ability but only about our availability, and if we then prove our dependability He will increase our capability."
-Neal A. Maxwell

Describing events in the premortal life, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught:
“Christ volunteered to honor the moral agency of all humankind even as He atoned for their sins. In the process, He would return to the Father all glory for such redemptive love.
“This infinite Atonement of Christ was possible because (1) He was the only sinless man ever to live on this earth and therefore was not subject to the spiritual death resulting from sin, (2) He was the Only Begotten of the Father and therefore possessed the attributes of godhood that gave Him power over physical death, and (3) He was apparently the only one sufficiently humble and willing in the premortal council to be foreordained to that service”

Christ did not start out with the capacity to be the Savior of the World.  But he did have the willingness to allow us the opportunity for growth at great personal cost.

You know those manipulative stories about a child who is willing to give blood to save a sibling with cancer, but then it turns out they were willing to give their life for the sibling?  I hate those stories.   But I love the Savior who was/is willing for us to have freedom to choose.  Without the choice to obey, we could not progress and become like him, who is like Heavenly Father.

Parties and Performances

This is one heck of a week.
Monday, walking downtown with a visiting friend.
Tuesday, choir practice at the same time as ward Christmas party.
Wednesday, activities for all 5 children.
Thursday, homeschool party, choir practice/party, band concert.
Friday... breath, get some work done.
Saturday, parade, Play practice, concert.
Sunday, church, concert, choir practice.

This represents about 28 hours of attending these activities plus 6-10 hours of baking for them.  Next week I have a lot of rehearsals and 3 performances for Savior of the World.  The following week will be so not busy!

VHS TV

When the church upgraded to flat screen TVs the old VHS combo units stayed in a closet for a few years.  Then the bishop asked me to find out if anyone wanted them as he planned to throw them out.  We took one home and it has lived in the boys room for a few years now.  The children have a collection of VHS tapes and it's a nice thing.  We don't have any VHS I wouldn't want them to watch.  Riverdance, Fantasia, Lion King, Sword in the Stone, Sound of Music and Old Yeller are always good.  We also have some ASL tapes that are fun for them to watch and we don't have access to the content on any other platform.  Old school, way cool.

Ladies camp-out