More of our journey

Today, Elena and my sister Jennifer did some deep cleaning of our living room. The window was washed, piano keys thoroughly cleaned, baseboards scrubbed, and wall vents removed and cleaned. My sister did most of the work, but Elena helped and was very happy through the process. The best part was the conversation that went on between my sister and my daughter. She is learning so many great things from so many great people. What a wealth of education. I'm grateful to have family members to assist me with my girls and their hope chest journey.

The best season of the year

The beautiful colors everywhere, the cool nights, and beautiful days remind me that it is time for fall. I love the fall!

When it is fall, I get back into the cycle of devouring books. Something about the chilly nights, makes me long to curl up with my family next to the fireplace, and read a great and inspiring story. I think we will read Carry On, Mr. Bowditch. This book always inspires a desire for improvement through education, and bettering ourselves despite opposition and difficulty. Definitely a favorite classic of our family. What are some of your favorites? 'Tis the season to read again and I love ideas. It feels natural to me to begin studies and projects again that have been put off during the warm summer months when we spent the time instead playing late into the evenings and lazily sleeping in. It feels good to renew routines, and just feel the natural cycles of this amazing Earth.

I think the rest of the family is feeling it too. Elena is spending hours reading her books. (She has read over 25 chapter books in the last month.) Alexia is writing and painting and reading. And often times I find them playing together quietly in corners of the house, creating, imagining, and learning together. They play church, store, school, house, dress up, and even create houses. Oh beautiful girlhood! I wish I could always see the beauty in the little things they do, instead of feeling overwhelmed with my agenda (which feels so insignificant as I write this) I want to treasure these moments in my heart always. We are in the middle of fall break right now, so McKay is home, and I can sense in him a desire to be at school learning. Although he has been drawing and studying fish, it is hard for him to separate himself from the frolicking girls, and the busy baby.

Book learning is perhaps my favorite part of the hope chest journey. I just reviewed the talk given by Elder Christofferson in the most recent general conference. I am inspired by this man's words. He is a teacher of the principles of freedom. I was truly moved. So many things to learn, so many things to do. I feel the weight of the responsibility we have to change the trends of society, but I also feel a great hope and support that we truly can do this. It starts with me and my family, and I believe the key to this change is through education. I believe that the main purpose of education today is to train the masses for jobs. I don't want this for my children. I want my children to have moral education, or what Donna Goff calls, "education of the heart, mind, and hands."

Liber Tea Luncheon

This is the name of the luncheon that we have as part of Princess Academy. Today was our second meeting for princess academy, but our first official luncheon. It was quite a success. We had so much fun. One of the other families in the group hosted, and they did an incredible job. All of us had lunch together, which we all contributed to and helped clean up, we discussed the book Little Women, and learned to embroider and paint on fabric. We have been dreaming and scheming ever since about embroidering projects that we want to start. (Possibly Christmas gifts for grandmas and grandpas.) What a great skill to know. I feel that I am growing leaps and bounds right along with my daughters. Thank you Kennisons for such a wonderful afternoon.

While driving to Fairview this evening, I was pondering many things. One of those things, is how grateful I am for the amazing friendships I have been blessed with throughout my life. I was thinking about my life and the things I have been able to accomplish, and the thought came to me that I could not be the person I am without the people who have strategically been placed in my life. I am indebted to each one of them. So if you are reading this, chances are you are one of those such people. I thank you for the impact you have had on my life, and I hope that in some small way I have been able to impact yours. A quote from Joseph Smith illustrates some of my feelings:
"How good and glorious it has seemed unto me, to find pure and holy friends, who are faithful, just, and true, and whose hearts fail not..."

Random Pictures

The new toy

so for months now I have been having trouble uploading pictures, but McKay finally got it worked out. A few months ago Clarence bought a new toy and he and McKay have been gone fishing as frequently as possible. I don't go much because I get motion sickness so easily, but Clarence has taken all of us tubing on the back of the boat a few times. It has been lots of fun, and a great relationship builder for he and McKay. These pictures are from 2 fishing trips, one at Strawberry Reservoir and one at Utah Lake. McKay wants me to point out that the huge catfish in the picture was caught by him and not his dad.

Castles in the Sky

This month for Princess Academy, Elena and Alexia and I are reading Little Women. We just finished the chapter entitled Castles in the Air. It was very inspiring and we decided to make our own "castles" by writing down some of our dreams and the things we would like to accomplish into our princess diaries. This was a great opportunity for me to see what is in my girls' hearts and will help me better plan my educational goals for them. I have been thinking a lot lately about creation, and what a beautiful process it is. When God created the Earth, he created it spiritually first. What a beautiful concept. I have been feeling the need lately to "spiritually create" my realities. This also agrees with The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey wherein he states the first habit as Begin with the end in mind. If we have a plan, we can create. I am so excited to create beauty in my life and teach my children the principles to do the same. What an amazing world we live in. The opportunities are there. We just have to imagine them and they will be ours, with a little work and a little faith.

Our Hope Chest Journey

In times not so long ago, little girls created hope chests. These chests were filled with things that would help them to be wives and mothers. Maybe an heirloom family bible, christening suit, wedding dress, hand made items, etc. would be included in the chest. What you could not see in the chest was the education and training that went into each item placed therein. Often a girl would begin at around 8 years old to fill her hope chest assisted by generations of women in her life. This is the vision of Donna Goff, the woman who created Princess Academy: daughter of a king and the Hope Chest Journey. I am so grateful for her vision and for sharing it with others. I desire to begin documenting our hope chest journey, or the things that we are learning to prepare us to be queens. Some of the things we are working on are:

Pillows: The girls decided they wanted to learn to sew little pillows to put on their beds. They are each making two, one to keep and one to give away. Elena wants to hand sew her pillows and Alexia wants to use a sewing machine. So far we have gotten the fabric and have cut it out.

Princess Diaries: At our last meeting for Princess academy, (which consists of a group of mothers and daughters) we each made princess diaries to record things that we are learning on our hope chest journey.

bedroom designing: The girls cut out pictures of bedroom sets that they want for their bedrooms, and glued them in collage format into their princess diary. (I am doing the same thing for my house) We are going to work on finding older but sturdy furniture so that we can learn to refinish and reuse.

Baking: Elena has been doing a lot of baking. At least once a week she helps me bake bread or she makes snacks for everyone with me loosely supervising. She is getting quite skilled in the kitchen. This is a picture of some cookies she made completely on her own. I just answered questions.

We are having a wonderful journey thus far.