Remembering Christ

Christmas is the time to think of Christ, learn of Christ, and try to be more Christlike. One way that we try to focus on Christ during Christmas is I hang a piece of paper with this on an empty wall:

Christ

Holy One

Redeemer

Immanuel

Son of God

Teacher

Messiah

Almighty

Savior

Then each night we read a story about Christ's life and hang a picture of that story on the wall. By Christmas, the wall is full of pictures of Christ to help us remember Him and to try to be more like Him.

Howard W. Hunter: "We must know Christ better than we know Him; we must remember Him more often than we remember Him; we must serve Him more valiantly than we serve Him...What manner of men and women aught we to be? Even as He is." (3 Nephi 27:27)

One of my favorite Primary songs is "I'm Trying To Be Like Jesus"
I'm trying to be like Jesus; I'm following in His ways.
I'm trying to love as he did in all that I do and say.
At times I am tempted to make a wrong choice,
But I try to listen as the still small voice whispers,
"Love one another as Jesus loves you.
Try to show kindness in all that you do.
Be gentle and loving in deed and in thought,
For these are the things Jesus taught."

I'm trying to love my neighbor;
I'm learning to serve my friends.
I watch for the day of gladness when Jesus will come again.
I try to remember the lessons he taught.
Then the Holy Spirit enters into my thoughts, saying,

"Love one another as Jusus loves you.

Try to show kindness in all that you do.

Be gentle and loving in deed and in thought,

for these are the things Jesus taught."

I hope that we can all remember Christ this Christmas season!

Christmas Jars

Christmas Jars by Jason Wright is an inspirational novel about the true spirit of Christmas...giving. It is about saving loose change throughout the year in a pickle, mason, peanut butter, or whatever jar you may have and then finding someone during Christmas to give it to. It is so neat the read about the contagious nature of the jars and how kindness is spread and eventually returned. It is a great book to read before Christmas!

Lion House Dinner Roles

Mmmmm...Thanksgiving was delicious. I am still full! My assignment was the rolls and these babies are the only rolls that I will make. They turn out great every time! Don't be intimidated...they are really easy to make.

Lion House Dinner Roles

By: Lion House

• 2 cups warm water (110-115 degrees)
• 2/3 cup powdered milk
• 2 Tbsp yeast
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 egg
• 5 to 5 1/2 cups flour

In a large bowl, combine water and powdered milk; stir until milk dissolves. Add yeast, then sugar, salt, butter, egg, and 2 cups flour. Mix on low speed until ingredients are wet, then for 2 minutes at medium speed. Add 2 more cups of flour; mix on low speed until ingredients are wet, then for 2 minutes at medium speed. (Dough will be getting stiff and remaining flour may need to be mixed in by hand). Add about 1/2 cup flour at a time and mix again until dough is the right texture. Dough should be soft, not overly sticky, and not stiff (it is not necessary to use the entire amount of flour).

Scrape dough off sides of bowl and pour about one Tbsp of vegetable oil all around sides of bowl. Turn dough over in bowl so it is covered with oil. (This helps prevent dough from drying out). Cover with plastic and allow to rise in warm place until double in size, about 45 minutes.

Scrape dough out onto floured surface. Turn dough over so it is floured on both sides. With rolling pin, roll out to a rectangle about 18 inches long, 8 inches wide, and 1/4 inch thick. Brush with melted butter. With pizza cutter or very sharp knife, cut dough in half to make two strips about 4 inches wide. Make cuts through strips of dough every 2 inches, making about 18 pieces of dough. (I am usually able to get about 30 pieces.)

Starting with the short end, roll up one piece of dough, with butter on the inside.

Place roll on parchment-lined or sprayed pan with other short end down on the pan. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough. Be sure all rolls face the same direction on baking pan. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise until double in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Bake at 375 for 15 minutes, or until light to medium golden brown. Brush tops of rolls with melted butter.

Enjoy!

Blessings Branch

Happy Thanksgiving!

To help my kids express their gratitude, we did a little family activity together. I put a branch through our light fixture in the kitchen. I gave each person five paper leaves with a string tied through them. We then wrote down something that we are thankful for on each of our leaves and hung the leaf on the branch. Our branch was full of all that we have been blessed with. Some of my favorites were lights, my bed, slides, and good friends. We are so blessed!

Open Your Eyes and Look Around You

This last week has been a real eye-opener to me. The threat of Aaron being really sick has made me realize that I have been taking things for granted...my children's smiles, laughter, eyes, stories, and endless questions. I need to cherish each day with them because I never know what may happen tomorrow. Life is so precious and beautiful...we just need to open our eyes and notice it!

I love this little clip about living in thanksgiving daily:

"Our minds have the marvelous capacity to notice the unusual. However, the opposite is true as well. The more often we see the things around us, even the beautiful and wonderful things, the more they become invisible to us. That's why we often take for granted the beauty of this world. Even those we love. Because we see things so often, we see them less and less. Those who live in thanksgiving daily, however, have a way of opening their eyes and seeing the wonders and the beauties of this world as they're seeing them for the first time. Look around you. Notice the people you care about. Notice the fragrance of the flowers and the song of the bird. When we open our eyes and give thanks for the bountiful beauty of this life we live in thanksgiving daily."

Have a GREAT Thanksgiving tomorrow as you notice all of the beautiful blessings that surround you!

Answers

The waiting is over. We received the best Thanksgiving gift...answers for Aaron's health problems. After further tests yesterday we found out that Aaron has a swollen kidney due to a blockage in the tube from his kidney to his bladder (UPJ obstruction). We saw an amazing urologist who told us that this is a fairly simple problem to fix and it may even be the answer for his abdominal migraines...it was probably this making him sick all along. From here, he has a few more tests to determine the extent of the UPJ blockage and then we go from there...probably surgery. But at least we have answers and I am SO GRATEFUL for that!

• I am SO GRATEFUL for good doctors
• I am SO GRATEFUL for modern technology
• I am SO GRATEFUL that Aaron is on his way to being healthy
• I am SO GRATEFUL for Aaron's good attitude and courage
• I am SO GRATEFUL for my hope and faith that keeps me going during times like this
• I am SO GRATEFUL for my wonderful husband who stays calm and positive
• I am SO GRATEFUL for friends and family who dropped everything to help
• I am SO GRATEFUL for answers!

What a great Thanksgiving this will be...I am SO GRATEFUL!

Waiting

Have you ever had one of those pivotal moments that you know may change your life? One of those moments that you can't wait to come because you are so anxious; yet you don't want it to come because of what you might hear. I am waiting for one of those moments.

Last week, I posted about Aaron's abdominal migraine episode...well it has turned into something much different. We waited and waited for his symptoms to subside but he wasn't getting any better. On the fifth day of him not eating and abdominal pain I had an awful conversation with Aaron that went something like this:
"Mom, you know how there are some sicknesses that make people die?" I tentatively replied "Yes." "Mom, what if this is one of those sicknesses....I don't want to die before Thanksgiving and Christmas." I held it together as best as I could while I told Aaron that we will do everything that we can to help him get better. We decided that we couldn't wait any longer.

Eric and I took Aaron to the ER that night where they gave Aaron IV fluids because he was so dehydrated and performed x-rays and blood tests. It was so hard to see Aaron in so much pain. They finally got the IV in after 3 tries. Then we waited for any news. The doctors told us that the x-ray showed that something, probably his spleen, is enlarged. He explained what that could mean...leukemia plus a lot of other things that I didn't hear because I was focused on leukemia. Then the waiting was endless with that possibility hanging in the back of my mind. Luckily the tests came back negative and his blood work was fine so they sent us home and told us to see our pediatrician on Monday....more waiting.

Over the weekend, Aaron started eating and acting more like himself so I was very hopeful today. But we found out that this "mass" has gotten bigger and we are now waiting to go back to the hospital for further tests where we will wait to hear what is wrong.

I am sick of waiting, but I am scared to hear what all of this waiting has been leading up to.