LDS Living Magazine and FHE

Darren and I have set some new family goals, one of which is to have FHE every Monday night. We really want to make sure that weekly Family Home Evening is in place as Trevor grows up so that it will be a righteous tradition for our family. But, having FHE and coming up with a lesson is easier said then done, until I subscribed to LDS Living's Email Magazine. Each day of the week they send you an email about different gospel topics. Monday's email always includes a FHE lesson complete with a scripture, thought, song, object lesson, story, activity, and a recipe for a dessert. It makes FHE completely foolproof and some of the recipes have been really tasty. I download the .pdf file for each lesson and save it to my computer for future use.

Another huge help to our FHE has been the Interactive Church Music Player found here: http://www.lds.org/churchmusic/. In case you aren't familiar with it let me explain. This website has the sheet music for any song in the hymn book or children's songbook. You can print out the sheet music for a family member to play on the piano, or if you are like us and do not play piano, the website will play it for you, with or without words. Having the piano playing in the background not only helps us sing the correct tune, it helps us feel less embarrassed singing aloud.

I feel so blessed to live in a time where the internet is available and I am grateful for the ways in which it helps us gather information and share it with others. You can subscribe to LDS Living's Email Magazine by going here: http://www.ldsliving.com/ldsmagazine.asp. Take a minute to subscribe and make a goal to have FHE every Monday night. I know that your family will grow closer together and you will be blessed for your efforts.

Giving Kisses

On Saturday we had a BBQ at my dad's house and took the babies swimming. My nephew Devin is almost 10 months old and loves to give kisses. Here are some pictures of him giving Trevor kisses. Trevor was moving around so much that Devin missed the first time, so for the next kiss he held his head still so he could give a good one. Haha!

Rafting the Cedar River

Many of you know that Darren and his best friend Darin (it is confusing, and it gets worse as they are both engineers too!) have been taking raft guide training this summer. They are having a blast and in his excitement Darren purchased a 12' raft from a co-worker and for the 4th of July we all (Trevor included) rafted the Cedar River. The complete story is on my website...Check it out!

ABC's of My Life

A--attached or single? Attached
B--best friend? Oh how I need frequent doses of Laura Jex
C--cake or pie? Cake , but it has to be moist yummy cake like Michelle makes
D--day of choice? Friday – that is the one might of the week Darren is usually home
E--essential item? Gum…I’m addicted
F--favorite color? Yellow
G--gummy bears or worms? Bears
H--hometown? Ballard or Burien
I--indulgence(s)? When Trevor is napping I read a whole lot more than my husband thinks I do.
J--january or july? January - it's my birthday month!!
K--kids? I love Baby Trevor
L--life is incomplete without: Chocolate
M--marriage date? August 9th, 2003 (We are coming up on 5 years!)
N--number of siblings? 1 sister, 1 brother
O--oranges or apples? Tough call…I like both a lot
P--phobias or fears? I’m still a little bit afraid of the dark. Hearing Trevor is the ONLY thing that gets me out of bed at night.
Q--quotes? “Sister Ignatius taught me in Sunday School that "in the beginning there was light," but to me, it was always an incomplete sentence, which God should have known to amend: in the beginning God created light...to read by.”-Lorna Landvik from "Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons"
R--reason to smile? Darren and Trevor
S--season of choice? Spring
T--tag 5 friends: Laura, Kate, Charise, Hannah, and Noelle (If they have time they are all very busy ladies!)
U--unknown fact about me? I used to have constant double vision, but now it only happens when I get tired.
V--very favorite stores? Are eBay and craigslist considered stores??
W--worst habit? I take over telling a story that my husband has started…he hates it when I do that.
X--x-ray or ultrasound? Ultrasound because you can turn your head at look at the screen (even though I can never tell what they are looking at).
Y--your favorite food? I am a carnivore…I like steak.
Z-- zodiac sign: Aquarius

Trevor is 6 Months Old!

Everyone has always told me that babies grow up so fast and it is true. I can't believe that our little boy is already 6 months old. He is learning and developing so much every day I am amazed. Just in this last month he has started eating solid foods, found his screaming voice, and discovered his toes. He has started sleeping 6 hours stretches at night and last night he even slept 8 hours straight in his crib. What a joy and blessing he is to our family.

Watch out Frank Sinatra...there's a new old blue eyes in town.

He's getting so strong. Not too much longer before he'll be crawlling all over the place.

(Check out his website for more pictures: http://trevorrhales.googlepages.com/)

Ode to Jamie on Graduation Day

Yesterday my little brother graduated from high school. It was a long haul getting him there, but he passed all four sections of the WASL and with my help completed his senior project on finding a job. I wrote him a candy bar poem and put it on a huge piece of cardboard. This is what it said:

Ode to Jamie on Graduation Day

At Camp Waskowitz you got to work with the SOUR PATCH KIDS and the RUNTS.
You taught them about being a miner and you even wore jeans for once.
At WELS graduation I was proud of how you have grown over 12 short months.

The WHATCHAMACALLIT was hard to pass; Gregorie’s plot to hold you back was sinister.
So trying your best you passed all four, knocking the skeptics on their keister.
And U-NO what they say about smarts, that they come from your dear older sister.

So, don’t worry about the SNICKERS, from those who think you’re absurd.
Only the people who are jealous will call you a 4-letter word.
Just be happy with the job you’ve done; who cares if they think you’re a NERD.

I know you’re glad that high school is done, but there’s a ROCKY ROAD ahead.
When life gets hard you can’t just ROLO, pretending that you’re dead.
Now that you’re an adult it’s time that you started bringing home the bread.

So, happy graduation Jamie, I knew that you could do it.
Though there were times I thought to myself, “Maybe he won’t pull through it”.
I wanted to get you something sweet, a 100 GRAND should do it.

I love you MOUNDS,
Mindy, 6/12/08

Now, Jamie has always been one to stand out in a crowd, but yesterday at graduation he really stood out because he dyed his hair royal blue and he pierced his ear. (I am pretty upset that he pierced his ear, but I thought the blue hair was a nice touch.) Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy.

Pyrex Does Break

Today I found out that if you knock it off the counter with your elbow hard enough, Pyrex is not indestructible.