Thanksgiving

        What if you woke up today with only the things that you thanked God for yesterday?

Thanksgiving seems to be shoved aside by merchants each year as the Christmas decorations get put out on the shelves at the same time as the Halloween decorations in effort to get the shoppers spending money earlier and earlier for the holiday season. I wanted to take time to make some decorations for Thanksgiving this year that will reflect the gratitude that I have for my many blessings. I think we need to make sure that we are saying many more "thank Thee" prayers and less "please" prayers.

In Luke 17:12-19, we read-- "And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off; And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus,Master, have mercy on us.And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said,Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise,go thy way; thy faith has made thee whole."

I pray that I always remember to say "Thank-you" so that my Savior knows how grateful I am for everything that he has done for me. I pray that I never get too busy to hear the sound of birds singing. I pray that I will always be amazed by the intricate work of the spider's web when the morning dew is glistening in the sun as the drops are suspended from the delicate strands. I pray that I remember to stop to "smell the roses" and to look "through the eyes" of a child. Life is beautiful even when it is filled with adversity. I have even learned to say "thank you for the struggles" in life. That is what makes us strong. May I always be the one that remembers Him and never one of the "nine who forgot!"  I am very grateful....may I always make sure to tell Him.

I spent today working on a box to put on our Thanksgiving table but I plan to leave it there afterwards and just change the decorations with each holiday or season. I filled the box with Thanksgiving decorations and two branches that we are going to use for our "gratitude trees" this year. We will hang paper leaves on the little trees as part of our Family Home evening next week.Each leaf will have something that we are thankful for printed on it.

 It's hard to see in the photo,but I used a wood burning tool to burn the words "Oh May My Heart Be Full Of Thanks" on the side of the box.

                                     

"Count your blessings;name them one by one. Count your blessings,see what God has done!"

The Living Christ Tree and Book

In December 2009, I gathered ornaments or crafted some to represent each phrase of  "The Living Christ The Testimony of The Apostles The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints. I also made a book with pictures of each of these ornaments and why I chose them. That was the 5th year anniversary of my son's death on Christmas Eve 2004. As you can imagine,Christmas changed that year and forever more but my testimony of the "reason for season" as never changed. I wanted something to leave my children that would be a symbol of my testimony that sometimes God calms the storm around His child and sometimes He lets the storm rage on and He calms His child....either way, He is still God and I am still His child and I know that the adversities of life will only make us stronger when we put our trust in Him.
These ornaments have become one of our Christmas advent celebrations. We also use it for Easter. I have a plan for another activity this year that I will be sharing later:

Here is a sample of the pages in the book:

Here are the ornaments that I used to illustrate the phrases in "The Living Christ."

I painted little wooden books to represent scriptures to symbolize that Jesus is the Jehovah of the Old Testament and Messiah of the New Testament.

I painted a plastic ball ornament blue and glued a satellite view world atlas on it to represent the Earth. "He was the Creator of the Earth."

One of my favorite missionaries made the little sandal out of cardboard, felt and an old watch buckle to symbolize the Savior's baptism because of the scripture in Mark 1:7 where John the Baptist "preached saying,There cometh one mightier than I after me,the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose."

                                             

I chose this dove because it is a symbol of peace as well as for the Holy Spirit.

"He walked the streets of Palestine, healing the sick,causing the blind to see,and raising the dead.

My testimony may have started as a tiny seed like an acorn but it has the potential to grow into something huge and solid over time with a little cultivation until I reach my full Divine potential.

I chose this little china cup to represent the Sacrament because of the fruit painted on the side that reminded me of the last lesson that the Savior taught his disciples in John 15:1-4

These were chosen to symbolize the crown of thorns and the nails that were used to torture the Savior, but I imagine that the words that pierced his soul,hurt him to greater depths than we can comprehend. He was slain for those who spit the words and for us as well.

This ornament looked like drops of blood to me so I chose it to symbolize Luke 22:43. I pray that I always remember the depth of the Savior's love for me every time that I look at this ornament.

"I solemnly testify that His life,which is central to all human history,neither began in Bethlehem.....

....nor concluded on Calvary.

I found some plastic wheat and some beads and leaves that I tied together with ribbon to symbolize a bundle of "Firstfruits" that the ancient people were commanded to sacrifice in similitude of the Savior.

"As risen Lord,He visited among those He had loved in life." (I used the red heart with my son's picture  to symbolize that Jesus loves him and we will see him again one day)

"He also ministered among His "other sheep" (John 10:16) in ancient America.

I took the wings off a plastic angel ornament and painted it gold to represent the Angel Moroni that tops   LDS Temples today.

I made this ornament to symbolize that the Savior's hair is as "white as snow." I also put a picture of him inside the ball that is rather difficult to see but as you peer into the ball, your own face is reflected also symbolizing that we are to reflect His countenance in our own faces.

I painted this wooden image of a sun to symbolize the brightness of His countenance.

These ceramic hands not only symbolize that the Savior is now "on the right hand of God" but they also symbolize the prayers that He said in our behalf. The right hand is also the "covenant hand." I pray that I will always remember the promises that I have made my Father in Heaven every time that I look at these tiny praying hands.

I chose these keys and painted this temple ornament to represent the keys of the Priesthood and the sealing powers that have been restored.

I picked up this stone in Nauvoo when the builders were clearing the ground for the new foundation where the new Nauvoo Temple was to be built. There were small piles of them there that were believed to be from the original Nauvoo Temple. I tied wire around it and added a metal rose with Jesus's name to symbolize that He is the "rose of Sharon" and that He is my "rock" upon which my faith is built.

I chose this Lion and Lamb ornament to symbolize the millennial peace after the Messiah sets up His kingdom on earth.

This little crown represents that He is "king of kings"

This glass heart and the glass block with the transparent view of Christ symbolizes how the desires of our hearts are transparent to our Lord. It also symbolizes the purity of heart that we should seek. The glass block symbolizes that He is totally pure in heart and that we will one day stand before Him to evaluate our own purity.

"He is the light, the life,and....
the hope of the world.

...and He employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for He cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is His name.

I found this ornament shaped like a gift so I placed the Christus inside to symbolize that Jesus is the "Matchless Gift." I liked that it looked like a cage because it represents that the grave and death could not hold Him.

I found the original idea for this posted on a wonderful blog entitled "Keeping Christ in Christmas" but it was years ago so as soon as I find the name of the person's blog that posted it there I want to make sure to give her credit for such a beautiful idea that has brought so much to our family Christmas traditions. I hope that this will help someone else to remember to keep the true meaning of Christmas in their hearts this and every year as it has helped me.

The ornaments are part of our Christmas advent celebration since I was able to find a candelabra type stand to display them on (as pictured above) This year I am going to place them in little burlap bags and we will hide them as part of a scavenger hunt before hanging them on our larger Christmas tree. 

P.S. After many days of searching the internet, I finally found the person who originally posted this idea for The Living Christ Tree. Her name is Teresa Hirst and her blog ,Illuminate Everyday,can be found at www.t,hirst.com

Mind Your Mama!

There once was a cute little boy who was brave and strong but the little boy had one problem that always got him into trouble. He wouldn't mind his Mama. She would let him go outside to play with his two older sisters and when Mama would go to check on him just a few minutes later, he would be gone.It wasn't that Mama wasn't watching him. He would sneak out of the house when she went to check on one of his sisters. He could run soooo fast! He was always climbing,jumping, running, moving from one spot to the next! Before you realized it, he had disappeared!  His poor Mama would be so scared! She would go door to door asking the neighbors if they had seen her little boy.She would be terrified that something horrible may have happened to him.She only had one little boy and she loved him so much! He never understood why Mama was so upset when she finally found him.
One day he went to the zoo with his Mama and his sisters.There was a very low fence around an area that enclosed a pen where turtles and rabbits were and small birds with long skinny legs and long skinny beaks walking around. Inside the pen was a sign that said,"Careful! Birds may bite!" Mama warned her three little children to not reach over the rail.The two little girls obediently followed Mama and walked away but of course when she looked back, there was her little boy reaching over the rail and pointing at one of the birds. Mama saw the bird cock its head to one side so that it could get a better look at the little boy.She tried to hurry back to move the little boy away just as he leaned further over the rail and said, "Look,Mama, the bird just stands there! He doesn't even move when I point at him!" Imagine his startled little face when the bird suddenly jumped up and bit him right on the nose! Not only did it bite, but it hung from his left nostril in sheer determination to teach a hard-headed little boy that signs mean what they say and sometimes even Mamas know what they are talking about. Imagine how those little girls giggled all day every time they pictured the bird dangling from Brother's nose! Mama snickers about it even to this day!
One day when the little boy was almost 6 years old, he went with his Mama and his sisters to visit his aunt in the country. When his Mama called him in to lunch, he was nowhere to be found! He had been outside with all of the other children while their mothers had prepared lunch. Where could he be? Everyone called and called his name. Mama said, "Everyone be quiet! I think I hear him. Can you just imagine how scared she was when she listened with all her might and realized that his little voice was calling from far,far away? But he wasn't calling from the left of her or from her right. He was yelling from somewhere far,far away.....ABOVE her! Can you imagine how fast her heart beat when she finally looked way up into the tallest tree in the yard and saw her little boy swaying in the top branches of the tallest tree in the yard! How did he ever climb that high? His aunt lived where the only Fire Department was a little rescue squad with no ladder that would reach that high and he might fall before they could get there. He was so high up in that tree that Mama, grandmother,and his aunt  had to lean their heads back as far as possible while standing at the bottom of the tree trying to look up to see him!They had to walk way out in the yard away from the tree and hold their hands over their eyes to block the sunlight so they could see way up high where Mama's little boy now clung in fear and screamed, "Mama, Help ME!!! All poor Mama could do was pray,"Please God, don't let him fall. If he does,Please,Please let me be there to catch him so that he doesn't die!"His aunt and grandmother called to him from the bottom of the tree and Mama kept telling him which branch below to place his feet as he slowly climbed down.Mama was so glad that he didn't get hurt that all she could do was cry and hug and kiss him.
One day when the little boy was about 8 years old, his family stopped at a rest stop while traveling. When the little boy got out of the car,he realized that they were parked next to an 18-wheeler truck and said,"Look Mama, this truck is so big I can fit under it." Mama grabbed him just as the driver put the truck in gear and started to drive off! Mama was so glad that she had managed to rescue him again but boy was she mad! Why couldn't this little boy see danger? He never thought that his actions could cause him to be hurt or even killed!
When the boy was 13 years old, he went camping with his Boy Scout pack. He was an amazing Boy Scout. He had more badges than any of the other boys in his pack. The scout-master sent the boys to gather firewood after they set up camp. The boy was the only one with the proper scout requirement to carry the ax so he was the one that the scoutmaster authorized to be in charge when he sent them off to get the firewood before sitting down for some peace and quiet by the fire.After a while the Scout-master began to worry a bit since it seemed like they were taking more time than he had expected to get the wood and return.He could hear them talking near by and he could hear the sound of chopping so he assumed that surely they would be back any minute. He had lost track of how long they had been gone so imagine his surprise when he heard all the boys yelling, "RUN! RUN! RUN!" Those boys had chopped down a 30 foot pine tree! (that is about how tall the tree was that the little boy had climbed that day at his aunt's house!) The Scoutmaster had a dilemma on his hands since they were camping in a State Park where it is generally frowned upon to chop down 30 foot pine trees.So he did what any good Scoutmaster would do....#1)  he gave them a good verbal thrashing and then #2) he chained the tree to the back of his truck and drug it about a mile down the road and pushed it into a ditch! #3) he made those criminal tree chopping boys pick up every bit of wood chip evidence!( He feels safe to confess this to the world now since he feels that the statute of limitations for tree crime must surely have expired after this many years.)
By now Mama had grown accustomed to being told that her boy had misbehaved in school, at church, at scouts, at his grandparent's house or at a friend's house. He wasn't always "trying" to get into trouble. He had a good heart. He had a wonderful quality that many admired in him. If he thought of you as a friend or as weak and vulnerable, he would protect you. He always felt sorry for people that other people rejected or picked on. He would take the punishment for you if he thought that you were going to get in bad trouble for something that you had done. He also would never tell on you if you were his friend, But the boy would not follow rules. He wouldn't mind Mama. He feared no punishment of any kind. He never felt that rules of any kind applied to him. He chose friends that had different values than the ones that he had been taught. He did things that he was taught not to do. And on Christmas Eve 2004, he died when he was only 21 years old.
Mama misses her little boy.She always will. But Mama has learned to see the mercy in Heavenly Father taking him at the age of 21 and sparing him more suffering than he had already experienced or might have faced had he lived longer. Mama will always love him and will go door to door when she gets to heaven and ask, "Have you seen my little boy? I know he's here.He always had a good heart."
                                       
 To A Child

Do you know who you are---little child of mine---
So precious and dear to me? Do you know you're a part of a great design
That is as vast as eternity?
Can you think for a moment how much depends
On your holding the "Iron Rod"?
Your life is forever---worlds without end---
Do you know you're a child of God?

Do you know where you've been, little child of mine?
It is hard to recall, I know;
Do you ever remember that Home divine
With the Father who loves you so?
Do you sometimes review how He took your hand
And placed it within my own,
Saying,"Here is a child from Angel-land---
Not a gift, but a precious loan"?

Do you know where you're going, child of mine?
Are your eyes on the road ahead?
Do the spires of His castle gleam and shine
Where the sun grows golden red?
Are you taking enough for your journey, child?
Does your lamp cast a steady glow?
Can you hold your course when the storm is wild?
You will make it,my child, I know!
                                 -----Ora Pate Stewart

Family Home Evening

I'd like to share something that we did for F.H.E. (family home evening) one Monday night. I also used this for a small group of children at church. Just for those who may  not know, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints members are to set aside one night a week, typically Monday, to spend quality time with their families doing an activity of some kind and/or a lesson. We begin and end with prayer, sometimes include a song, and always have refreshments.
The first thing you'll need is a 3 prong pocket folder:

Fold the outside covers in half vertically so that they meet in the middle of the inside where the prongs are. These type of "books" are sometimes called "Lapbooks" because the child can  hold them in his lap and work on them. Now your book will be long and narrow and your front and back cover will form "pages" in your lapbook.The photo below is showing how the cover of the folder is folded in toward the inside middle where the prongs are.

I folded an orange piece of paper in half and glued the back to the right side of the cover where you folded it to the inside. I folded another green piece of green paper or cardstock in half and glued only one side to the left cover that was folded to the inside. (I think you will be able to understand how I did it by the following photos.)  This will give you 2 more pages to decorate. I then added a paper pocket to the bottom left and cut the orange paper just above the pocket to form a flap that will open. I added some strips of papers stapled only at the top so that the kids could write something about each member of their family (on the green page on the right). I also used some more small squares of  papers to form "flaps" that open where they are able to write more about their family.

The paper that is glued at the top of the orange side has "Tell me about yourself" where they answer questions about themselves. I printed out some fun family  activities on white paper and glued them to strips of green paper and placed the strips inside a little snack size bag to put in the pocket on the left side.These are used as ideas for the kids to select something fun to do on family night. See how the new pages open to the middle in the photo below:

The new flap that was made when you cut the top of the orange page opens and reveals that above the pocket is a poem about "My Family"  which was glued to the inside orange page. I also put a message or article from a church magazine that the child could give for the Family Home Evening lesson.After you insert these in the pocket and glue the poem to the orange page,glue a decorative paper to the inside of the flap and close it over all the stuff in the pocket.

(Glue a photo of the child to the inside page of the flap that you put the decorative paper on).

 Glue a family photo in the box on the right side or cut pictures of families out of magazines for this spot.

Here's what is inside the book. I stacked 3 kite shaped papers together and stapled them in the middle to form "pages" and then glued them to the inside of the folder. You could cover the inside of the folder with colored paper too but I left the pocket of the original folder visible so that the kids could put more things in them. The kites tail has several colored strips of paper to write things about their favorite color,their eye color, the color of their room,etc. The doghouse roof opens and so does the red part of the doghouse so that they can write the names of their pets and draw their pet's picture inside the house.

 Write the songs on the clouds.

They write things about their favorite toys,games and activities on the kite.

The right side folds to the inside and then you will decorate the green page that you added at the beginning,

 I added a pocket at the top of the left page for the kids favorite recipes for Family Home Evening treats. The little cartoon is one of those pages where you can circle things that are hidden in the picture. It also depicts a family sitting around the table at meal time.

 They can draw pictures of their favorite foods at the top of the page on the large blue square or glue pictures from magazines on it.

I also laminated this little recipe from the magazine that I used earlier and put it in the pocket.

I reduced a copy of "The Family-A Proclamation to the World" and laminated it to put in the front pocket and used a knit loop that comes with the kits that little girls make hand-made potholders with to wrap around it so that it would stay closed.

This makes a cute keepsake to give to them when they are older or to give to Grandma for a gift. Here's a final look at the inside with the flaps on the inside closed....

Here is the inside with the flaps open. See how the roof is a large square of paper that is folded in at the sides to form the triangular shape? Inside the door is a picture of a family to color and they are also able to draw picture or paste real photos of their own family member on several pages inside the door.

 The tree is folded the same way but is a circle shape that cut with a scalloped edge.

 This is the doghouse with the flaps open:

 Inside the window flap:

Our Family Totem Pole::

We have a total of 17 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild but we have 5 who live with us who  belong to my 3 biological children.This pole has the faces that they painted of themselves, their moms and my son who died in 2004, my husband and me, and of course they wanted the family pet, Sadie, for the top! We placed this pole to represent the part of the family who live at this address but that doesn't mean that the others aren't family too. These are just the ones who make up the family living here. I wanted to get the other grand- kids to do the art work for their families when they come to visit one day. This was an activity that we did for Family Home Evening along with making a Family Flag.

It has the Hawaiian word Kealani ( pronounced Kay-ah-lah-knee) which means "light from Heaven" or "Heavenly light" and the number 3 to remind us of Heavenly Father,His Son,Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit who love us and are ever present to guide us.