Pictures from 2011

Sledding over Spring Break

Watch out Bryan!

Beautiful Ally

There he is!!!

At the Railroad Museaum

Jane loves her Daddy!

Beautiful Jane

The Biker Bowns

What adventure is Billy Roundup having now?

Power to resist temptation comes from B of M

“It is not just that the Book of Mormon teaches us truth, though it indeed does that. It is not just that the Book of Mormon bears testimony of Christ, though it indeed does that, too. But there is something more. There is a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path. The scriptures are called ‘the words of life’ (D&C 84:85), and nowhere is that more true than it is of the Book of Mormon. When you begin to hunger and thirst after those words, you will find life in greater and greater abundance”  ( Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, Nov. 1986, 5–7).

Every Latter-day Saint should make the study of this book a lifetime pursuit. Otherwise he is placing his soul in jeopardy and neglecting that which could give spiritual and intellectual unity to his whole life. There is a difference between a convert who is built on the rock of Christ through the Book of Mormon and stays hold of that iron rod, and one who is not.  ( Ezra Taft Benson, “The Book of Mormon Is the Word of God,” Ensign, Jan 1988, 3)

I challenge you all to make a goal to personally read the Book of Mormon again at least once this year and hopefully read at least part of it with your children too.  

"Be willing to take reasonable risks"

“Be willing to take reasonable risks.  We live in an age of reason, logic, facts, and figures.  These can be useful if kept in subjection to faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ.  But if they ever take precedence over faith in Him, then they are not useful and can be very harmful.  I have found in my life that most of the good decisions I have made may not have been made if they were based solely on logic or reason. . . .”

“. . . Nephi was determined to do what God wanted him to do, even with logic to the contrary.  The scriptures tell us in 1 Nephi 4:6 that he went forth not knowing beforehand what he should do but knowing he should obey God and get the plates. . . .

“I suspect had he listened only to reason, Nephi and his brethren would still be waiting outside the walls of Jerusalem.  I sometimes wonder if by our listening to reason and logic too much, and not trusting God enough, we may find ourselves waiting outside the walls of His holy city.”

-Elder John H. Groberg, ( “Trust in the Lord”; [CES Fireside, May 1, 1994], 3, www.ldsces.org)

I really like this quote.  I think it is so easy in our day to rely too heavily on our own strength and on the wisdom of man to the point that our faith in God's willingness to provide miracles grows weaker.  It is good to be self reliant and I am a big proponent of that too so I guess we have to find a balance.  When we are doing our best to take care of ourselves and to help others - the Lord will provide a way for our needs to be met.  And it always works out better than we could ever have worked it out on our own.  I have seen that happen so I know it's true!  God is aware of us and our needs so let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power and then stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the arm of God revealed.  (See D&C 123:17) - Trust in the Lord = Have Faith!

Be free and not entangled in sin

I can't remember how it happened but somehow when reading 2 Corinthians 5, I ended up in D&C 88.  What a cool section!  The part I was especially enjoying today was verses 86-126.  It starts : "Abide ye in the liberty wherewith ye are made free; entangle not yourselves in sin, but let your hands be clean, until the Lord comes."  Then it gives a great description of the winding up scenes of the earth and finally verse 117 starts "Therefore . . " and goes through a list of things we can do to be ready - to be free and not entangled in sin but to have clean hands until the Lord comes.
     There are many things listed a few of which include the well known verse "Cease to be idle; cease to be unclean; cease to find fault one with another; cease to sleep longer than is needful; retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated."  I had never put that in the context that this is counsel for how to abide in liberty and not be entangled in sin and to have clean hands.  But I can see where it certainly works for that purpose!
     Some others include:
"Seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom, seek learning, even by study and also by faith."
"Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing . . . "
"Cease from all your light speeches . . . from all your lustful desires, from all your pride and light mindedness. ."
"See that ye love one another; cease to be covetous. . ."
"And above all things, clothe yourselves with the bond of charity . . "
"Pray always, that ye may not faint until I come . . ."

What a great family!

Search diligently and cleave unto every good thing

So I have been reading the New Testament. 1 Corinthians 13 was today's reading.  It's the chapter about Charity.  So when I finished reading in the NT, I decided to go to the Book of Mormon and read about Charity in Moroni 7.  I love this chapter!  There are so many great things - so valuable for the world we live in today!  But before I got to the discussion about charity, I was distracted and impressed with the discussion about how to know and identify the "peaceable followers of Christ"; they are those who have "a peaceable walk with the children of men".  "By their works ye shall know them; for if their works be good, then they are good also."  (Apply that test to the "Occupy -" people who say they are nobly trying to protect the little guy and then go about raping and tearing down and . . . )  Back to Moroni - later he says in verse 19: "Wherefore, I beseech of you, brethren, that ye should search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ. (emphasis added by me but this message was written with us - this day in time in mind.  He is beseeching people in a future day to do this, not the Nephites or Lamanites of his day because he added this to the record after he had gone into hiding at the end.) His warning -  "Ye should search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil."

The other message I got distracted by (I never made it to the Charity verses) was the phrase "lay hold upon every good thing."  He uses that phrase or a part of it in 7 out of 10 verses in a row - verses 19-28.  It is through Christ and His atonement and our faith in Him  - that's the way to lay hold of every good thing.  The thing that really stuck out to me today was in verse 28.  It says  ". . . and they who have faith in him will cleave unto every good thing;"

My first question - Is it fair to say then that if I don't cleave unto every good thing I don't have faith?  Or maybe better said - don't have sufficient faith in Christ?  If so, then the solution for those times we struggle to cleave unto good things, when our works are not always so good, is to strengthen our faith in Christ.  Maybe that is stating the obvious - or maybe not.  And the next question is - how does a person increase their faith in Christ?  Ponder on that one - the answers are simple to state but require some pondering and planning and desire and determination to apply to the person who looks back at me in the mirror!

Christmas in Seattle

We spent Christmas in Seattle with Julie, Ruston and family. We had a lot of fun watching little ones experience Christmas. Julie continues to amaze me with all she does for her family and many others in her circle of friends. Her generosity is boundless. I was struggling to keep my head above water when I was in a similar situation. Ruston is also great to help with everything.

Zach, Julie and Luke

Ruston and Josh

David checking out his stocking.

I wonder what it could be?

Brooke, Zach, Josh and Luke with Julie

Grandpa using his new rear view mirror to see what's going on behind him.

David and Josh

Brooke in her "cute" pose as she calls it, Julie, Luke, Josh, Zach, and Ruston

Brooke is thrilled with her candy cane. This is the cutest pose of all - sheer delight!

Zach is trying out the Clementine. I think he decided the skin wasn't so great.

Josh and his new Jumping Bike complete with front and rear suspension.

Luke is trying the candy. He decided it was good

and in fact ended up with the candy cane in two pieces, out of its wrapper and sucking on it.

Zach

Luke

Josh with his new vacuum cleaner

This one really works - no more wasting time with a toy.