Our Family History

In our family this week... Last Sunday, August and Ben headed out to the farm to work while Grandpa was out of town.  They came back on Friday afternoon. Seth went into the Dr. on Tuesday for an ingrown toenail and then was back to Football for Wed and Thursday. He left Sunday afternoon for Scout Camp to be a CIT (Counselor In Training). He also had some friends over last night to celebrate his birthday. They hung out, watched a movie and ate cake and junk food! John's big news for the week was he had Carpel Tunnel Syndrome Surgery on Monday morning. He took a few days off of work to recover. It's still pretty tender but it's not slowing him down! As for me, I had a Bunco night on Thursday and won the prize for most Bunco's (a $15 gift card to Chipotles).  Friday morning I headed out to take the YW on our Overnighter (our modified "Girls Camp").  My 2nd Counselor (Jamie Seeley) asked her uncle if we could use his cabin and he was gracious enough to say Yes!  We had a wonderful time and had 16 girls attend :)  When I arrived home, I was met with a HUGE surprise.... John and the kids had planted flowers in 3 of our planters and had them displayed out on the front porch and had purchased another plant for the yard - they were soooo beautiful made the house look so inviting!  Not only that... he and the kids had worked really hard and tidied up the house as well!!  AND... he purchased me a (new to us) Washer and Dryer set!  He had sold his Bayonet collection to pay for all of these wonderful surprises for me!!  I know he enjoyed his bayonet collection so it really meant a lot to me! He is such a wonderful husband and dad who is always putting his family first!  Seth left on Sunday to Camp Morrison to be a CIT (Counselor In Training) for Scout Camp. He and his friend, Ryker Meyer went up together. Rykers parents drove them up and John and I will be responsible for picking them up on Saturday. On Sunday evening, I went to a Stake meeting where they introduced us to a new curriculum that we are to start using for the youth. It will be introduced to the church, as a whole, the beginning of 2013. It puts a lot more emphasis on the teacher being spiritually prepared and very familiar with the doctrine to be taught and then letting the youth be the guide of how the lesson unfolds. There are no more traditional manuals - but there are unit topics each month, along with several "outlines" that are to be chosen as a ward for each of the weekly lessons.  I'm actually really excited about this new approach!

In our homeschool this week.... with August and Ben gone and John having surgery and me getting ready for the YW campout - no formal schooling was done.  I'm beginning to think that formal schooling isn't going to take place until things calm down a bit and we get back into a more "traditional" routine - which might not happen until August.  Until then, we'll just keep reading and try to play some more games together as a family that are learning based.

My favorite thing this week was... HANDS DOWN coming home to my wonderful family that had worked so hard to serve me by cleaning the house and beautifying the outside!

I'm grateful for... again, probably the love that John has for me and shows me on a continual basis!  He is so courteous and kind and always putting me first. I couldn't ask for a better eternal companion.

My goals for this week... Today during the closing song of Sacrament Meeting we sang "I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go" and the very last line of the chorus reads: I'll be who you want me to be. Lately, I haven't been feeling like I have the type of relationship that I want to have with my Heavenly Father and have been praying about it. As I sang that song today, the spirit witnessed so strongly to me that I can find myself closer to Him if I will live my life as those lyrics state - to BE who Heavenly Father WANTS me to BE.  I've thought more about this this afternoon and thought that this week, as I go throughout my day and I'm DOING the things Heavenly Father wants me to do... am I SAYING the words he wants me to say... and I BEING who he wants me to be.  So that is my goal this week :)

Photos from this week I'd like to share...
These first 2 photos you can see the colorful planters that John and the kids did in the background behind the girls....

Seth with Mom and Dad just as he was leaving for Scout Camp

Some of the YW during the overnighter