Boaz's first scout camp

I didn't get a picture the day he left. Silly mom fail moment. But the lovely scout master sent some pictures from camp itself. 

It was so weird not having him here for a week. It's the longest he has been away. I'm super glad he is home. 

Hanging in the back of the group. 

Again hanging in the back of the group. On the way to see the sequoias. 

Feeling small in huge nature. 

Dirty boy home in my garage. I'm loving the hair. He wore all his underwear, that makes me happy. But he only wore two pair of socks - I sent six pair. That makes me a bit squeamish. But it was scout camp, I'll have to be happy with the underwear.

He worked on three merit badges. It's slower in CA. We have been working on four at home, we still have a bit to go but are progressing nicely. 

He grew the week he was away playing in nature. We had to measure. 

This picture looks like he made it. 

This picture show he still has a ways to go. Soon I'll be the shortest, but I still am tall(ish) for the very short moment. Shhh - don't tell him, but I think she is shouching just a bit to balance the stick on his head. :)

Scripture

I am so sad for Jeremiah. He was called to witness the destruction of his people. A bit like Mormon and Moroni. 

Today a sad little verse caught my attention. 

He is pleading for the earth to choose redemption. 

I think the same plea applies to the earth now. Please listen. Please pay attention. Please be saved. 

Two down and now four more to go.

The family keeps growing and I love it.

Two sweet twin girls are a month old. One is getting ready to come home today and hopefully the second tomorrow.

The pictures have been so fun to see on Facebook and Instagram. We are so lucky to be able to see people we love grow and develop. 

I'm excited to meet them. But in the mean time, I'll send the quilts with Craig and Boaz next week.

I love that all the blocks are different. It's bright and happy.

The triangle showing the back fabric.

This nine-patch is fun and has some of my favorite fabrics.

The backs and the bindings are the same. They both have the same muslin for the contrast.

Happy quilts for sweet girls. Maizy and Zoey. Welcome to Earth and welcome home.

Saturday treats

We discovered yesterday that Craig has never seen The Princess Bride. Josh, Boaz and I were incredulous. It is such a classic movie, we couldn't imagine that he had never seen it.

Plans were made. Josh's friend, Cara, was invited over, and I asked Josh what dessert he wanted. This question was met with enthusiasm and a definite answer. I headed to the store to get what I needed for cheesecake. It has been over a year since I've made cheesecake.

I was a bit worried, I usually let cheesecake chill overnight. I wouldn't have time for that today. I don't think it even got the required four hours.

The movie was fun for everyone. Craig was a bit surprised that he had seen it. He had a cultural hole in life that he never knew about. 

After the movie, we dug in. 

I snapped a picture before we actually cut into the cake.

The brownie bottom was more like fudge. I baked it in a water bath at first and had to take it out for it to firm up a little. I was on a timer though because I was supposed to meet Craig at the mechanic to bring him home after he dropped off his car. The ganache looks excessive. I should have only used 3/4 cup of cream instead of the full cup. Oh well. I didn't get any complaints. All the chocolate didn't melt, hence the bumps in the top. Still it was good.

After the movie and cheesecake, we played a few rousing hands of cards. It started off with some of my cards being hidden. I probably counted my deck six or seven times to make sure I had all 52 cards. It's been a while since we played. It was fun to break the cards out.

After Cara went home, Craig and I went to dinner at Macaroni Grill. It is a new favorite. Craig took this picture to taunt the boys a bit. We brought Chick-fil-A after. So they got a dinner they liked too.

All in all, a happy Saturday, full of good food and fun family times.

Relief Society Lesson

As a member of the presidency, I get to teach a few times a year. I get to choose my topic. It took me a long time to decide what I wanted to talk about. I reviewed the scriptures that I have ponderized. I reviewed the General Conference talks. And I found a paragraph from President Uchtdorf that caught my attention.

I started with a scripture from 2 Peter.

Peter gives us a good list on how we can develop the Divine Nature within us. It certainly isn't a definitive list, but it a great list to start with. 

With the idea that I got from President Uchtdorf, I decided to create a list of the opposite attributes and define the natural man.

Diligence.               Vs.        Sloth

Faith.                      Vs.        Fear

Virtue.                     Vs.        Vice

Knowledge.            Vs.         Ignorance

Temperance.           Vs.        Self-indulgence

(Self-control)

Patience.                  Vs.       Frustration

Godliness.                Vs.       Worldliness

Brotherly Kindness.  Vs.      Cruelty

Charity.                     Vs.      ?

I wanted to talk about the list before we discussed the opposite of charity.

I know that I fluctuate between the two lists. I struggle to live with faith and banish the fear that comes knocking at my soul. I have written about that topic a lot in my Ponderizing scriptures.

I came up with this idea on Thursday. The very next morning, I took Josh to get some blood work done. I thought I would give time for the morning rush to get over. But I underestimated the demand in this huge city. We waited over an hour to just get called to turn in our paperwork. My phone was home charging so I didn't have a distraction. After we turned in our paperwork, we still had to wait before we could enter the magic door. Finally we were called, along with an older lady. Josh no sooner gave up his chair to her, than she turned to me and asked if she could go first because she had an appointment. After the crazy long wait, my patience level was way down low, and my inclination to show brotherly kindness was failing fast. I must have rolled my eyes. I was very ungracious as I said okay. And honestly, the timing didn't really matter. She went in to see the vampire first, but he puttered around and we were finished at practically the same time.

Later I saw the inconsistency in my behavior.

Charity is the crowing attribute. To remind us what it really is we read in Moroni.

And then I pulled out the Uchtdorf quote.

That last sentence is powerful. Pride is the defining characteristic of Satan.

Life is lived inbetween the extremes. How do we climb back up when we sink into the natural man? The answer is the Atonement. Because of Christ we have the time and the space to learn and change. We don't have to be defined by our weakest moment. Because of Him, we can overcome the natural tendencies and strive to attain the divine nature.

Also a huge part of this process is forgiveness. Christ offers us forgiveness and provides help for us to overcome our weaknesses. It is imparitive that we forgive as we want to be forgiven. It is so much easier to say than for me to do. I understand the logic, but is it hard to summon the required emotion. This is a main purpose of our life laboratory. 

I also shared a quote from President Eyring.

I said it was from October 2015, but in review I didn't find it there. It has stayed on my radar because of my Pinterest account. Even though I don't know when and where he said it, I am fairly certain this quote is President Eyring.

Instead of looking at the list as a ladder or stairs, it is more like the top of the pool. All the attributes work together and we don't have to attain them in order. So the Eyring quote speaks to the same idea. The higher ground is a higher plane or an elevated life style. 

I finished it off with a quote from President Monson from this past conference.

May we accept the invitation to live a higher or more elevated life. May we choose God in our lives and learn the Divine Nature. May we prepare ourselves to accept the gift of the Atonement and embrace charity. May we live contrary to the world and be a godly people I so pray.

 

Hummingbird nest

This spring I saw a hummingbird nest. It nestled in the long branches of the tree across the fence. The hummingbird patrolled my back yard zipping around my patio after I went out. I didn't see the babies, they are so small. I didn't watch for the fledglings. It was too far away and I didn't pull out the binoculars to monitor them.

Today I am hoping they are safe.

Yesterday Boaz and I were annoyed as the gardeners started trimming trees at 7 am. The buzz of the chainsaws droned on for over an hour -- there are a lot of trees on our street.

I didn't think about the nests. I didn't worry about the hummingbirds.

Today there were loud birds in my back yard. They were new. I didn't recognize them. They were not the cooing doves. They squawked and trilled their agitation. I finally put it together. They must have lost their home.

The tree looks like this now. There is a lot of daylight between the branches. Yesterday I was thinking maybe Craig should trim out tree.

This is our tree. The other tree used to be this full. I wonder how many nests were destroyed and how many birds have been displaced. 

I hope the hummingbirds that buzzed my patio are okay and will come back next year. I hope the upset birds in my backyard find new homes and find peace.

Meanwhile, we will deal with the falling leaves and yellow seeds that sprinkle our patio. I've decided not to trim the tree.

Scripture

I have finished Isaiah and am now reading Jeremiah. I always feel bad for Jeremiah. He prophesied to an unrepentant and defiant nation. He saw destruction coming and he was called to stay and witness his country self-destruct. 

It is so gloomy. I struggled, but just had to write about this verse. 

However, we are promised a different ending than Jeremiah. The Lord told Elisha there were still 7,000 men who had not bent the knee to false gods. The nation would be punished, but not destroyed. 

There are more than 7,000 who are still faithful. We will not be destroyed utterly, although I believe we will be chastened. We must come to the point where we acknowledge that He is God. 

So we are still laboring in the harvest. We still have work to do and souls to save. I am glad my fate will be different than that of Jeremiah. We will live and overcome the evils of the world and welcome Him home.