Thursday, March 29, 2012

Flowers- CHECK

One by one, I'm ticking things off my list and am almost at the end. THANK GOODNESS! Yesterday morning, Mesa and I got up early and got to Hobby Lobby when they first opened so we wouldn't have a lot of other people in our way. We went up and down the flower aisles and picked flowers out one at a time till my hand was full. We got the handle piece and the lace "cone" the handle settles down inside of and some pretty silvery ribbon. All together,.... $70!! Her dress alterations don't cost that much! (at least so far they don't....knock on wood)
Today I worked on assembling her bridal bouquet. Want a peek?
I've also finished the corsages for the Moms and Grandmas. In this picture, you'll also see one boutonniere done. I haven't finished all of those yet. SORRY GUYS! So want to see those too?
I'm thinking I'll go back and add more babys breath to these.
I forgot to take pictures of the bridesmaids flowers, but they are done too. They get long stem white roses with ribbons. They are simple, yes.. and I'm not paying off any credit cards doing this. I've been lucky and smart in a lot of areas. Yes,...I am saying my prayers and giving thanks!
We're almost at the finish line!

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

The Bridal Shower

Mesa does not enjoy the spotlight, although she does enjoy individual attention. So that made her bridal shower quite tough on her nerves, but she was a good sport.

Her maid of honor planned games for us to play... one of which was to dress Mesa up in a toilet paper wedding dress. So out came the pack of toilet paper rolls and the younger girls gt busy dressing her up. They wrapped the paper around and around here. I pulled her hair up (it started off down) and pinned it up for her. And while I was there, I made her a veil and put it on her. The veil is one of her favorite parts of the wedding outfit, so I enjoyed doing it. She actually looked pretty wrapped in paper LOL! She won't let me put it on facebook,...but she said I could blog and put it here! She thinks nobody reads this ;)




Sunday, March 25, 2012

Cool & Cooler

I'm a cub scout. I'm proud of being a cub scout. I LOVE CUB SCOUTS! I wish I had been one as a kid and wish I could stay in them for as long as I want to!

So yesterday, cub scout leaders (as well as several other positions that interact with young boys in the church) attended a large area (multi-stake) training session called "Little Philmont". I got to go and I drug my whole family with me since Mesa is my assistant den leader and should have been there, and Tommy wasn't comfortable with me driving by myself to Sandy Springs for an all day thing. That meant I didn't have a babysitter and the boys went too. I made Morgan wear his uniform also :) Manti would have! This particular meeting was pretty cool because of who the speakers were.

Anyway, we started with a general session, that led to break-out sessions and we could choose 2 classes and then a lunch break and a general session to wrap things up. Well we arrive at 8am as we're supposed to. We got inside and learned that the first hour was a "meet and greet." I so hate those.... let me tell ya,... I HATE those! I can't even stand when we do things like that in classes at church! I seriously hate that. So we all just sat on our bench the entire hour, waiting for it to start. Just about 10 till 9, this man in a suit walks up to us. We had seen lots of men in suits....mostly stake presidents or young men presidents or bishops....people without a large reason for wearing a uniform. They all milled around and socialized and we just sat. This one man though walked down the aisle in our direction and glanced at our family filling up the bench. He did a double take and stopped. He held out his hand to shake hands with Tommy and said "this looks like a family of scouters. Nice to see it's important enough to make it a family affair." Tommy thanked him and introduced himself, then he introduced each of us one at a time. The man kept smiling and looking at us real close. Then he says "so this is your whole family? And you love scouting this much?" And I said "well its all but one of us. Our oldest son is an eagle scout, and he is currently serving a mission, so he's not here with us." The man's face lit up and he smiled bigger and asked questions like where was he serving and how long had he been out and was he loving it since it is dramatically different than Georgia. We answered and the man just smiled more and more....and never told us his name. Someone came up an interrupted him so they could have a minute of his time (you know how people with no manners do) so this man looks back at Tommy and I with this apologetic look on his face and it was striking how noticeable those thoughts were on his face. He stepped off with the other person and I looked at Tommy and said "who do you think he was?" Tommy said he didn't know, maybe the Young Men's General President......
And then the meeting started with our stake president introducing the key speakers, Elder Gay, the area seventy, and Brother Beck....the YM General President....the man who stopped to speak to our family.

COOL!

Ok so that was an awesome experience, don't ya think? but I can top that still.

Today was treated as Fast Sunday because next week is General Conference. The service started and it came time for testimonies, so Brother Harcrow started the meeting with his and then he sat down. Nobody got up. It was SILENT (wish it was always that quiet!) in the chapel! The father of the family sitting behind me was trying to encourage his children to get up and share their testimonies. He kept saying "it's your turn!" to each child one at a time and none would go, they just laughed at him and said they didn't think so. My boys were being so reverent, I was impressed, and didn't think much more about it. The silence just kept going though! So I looked at Morgan and said "guess YOU could go up there." I was teasing a bit,... but he took me literally and said "what would I say?" About that time, a man got up and started sharing his testimony, so I told Morgan to listen to the things he said and see what his mind thought of. The man got into details about how he developed a testimony of this one aspect of the gospel through reading a particular book and he commented on the contents of the book. I saw on Morgan's face that he was totally overwhelmed and lost. So I leaned over and whispered to him that Brother Barron had told us he had a testimony that he wanted to share and he was describing HOW he came to get that testimony and was explaining what it meant to him. Morgan said "so what could I say?" I told him he could say anything he wanted as long as he was telling us about his beliefs and what his heart told him was important for others to hear him say. I told him to start by telling us he wanted to share these thoughts and then tell us things like he's grateful for his testimony and he could say he was grateful for Manti serving a mission and how much he loves his family...(you know the typical things kids will say in their testimonies). So Morgan got scared. He was physically shaking,... but he jumped up and headed to the stand. Someone else got there first, so he sat down and waited his turn on the stand. That person ended and Morgan popped up. He said he wanted to bare his testimony because he knew the church was true and was so thankful to have a brother serving a mission. He told everybody how much Manti had taught him before leaving and how kind and loving he had been with him. He told us he wanted to be like that one day. He said Manti's example was an important part of Morgan's testimony, then he ended and all but ran to the bathroom he had to go so bad. I had tears....I admit it!
So we sit for a bit and listen and Jared leans on me....not just to take a nap, but leaning HARD to get my attention. When I looked at him, he said "I'm scared to go up there." I told him he didn't have to, so why was he scared. He said he wanted to go up there and was scared because he didn't know what to say. I told him he could go if he wanted, but that he had to do it all by himself. I stood him up and turned him to face me so he could see how many people were behind us....lots! I asked if he thought he could talk in the microphone to all those people (he's never been willing to talk in teh primary programs). He said he could but what did I want him to say. I told him I don't tell kids what to say. If you can't do it by yourself, then you shouldn't go up there. I told him if he wants to, I would go up and sit till he's done. I told him he can say anything he wants that tells people about what he believes and what is important to him. I asked if he had a testimony about Jesus and about missionaries and if he was thankful that Heavenly Father put those important things in his life. He said YES and that he could do it, even by himself. So I got up with him and we walked to the stand. Someone beat us up there, so we sat on the bench behind the bishop. We waited and then it was Jared's turn. He got up and suddenly all these big men were pulling out the stool that only gets used for Primary programs and the podium was moving down. Jared grabbed the microphone and planted his lips right on it and started telling us he wanted to share his testimony, he knows the church is true, he loves his family and is glad Heavenly Father put us together,....he still knows the church is true,.... and ends in Jesus' name. He then bolted off the stand and out the door...he had to go potty too.

Well he was out of the room before I could stand up, so now I'm on the spot and have to speak too, so I got up and it was SUPER brief! I expressed appreciation for my children's teachers and examples who were a part of planting those seeds of testimony in them. I said I've always known of their role in my children's lives, and how they were a part of sending Manti on a mission and Mesa to the temple to marry a worthy young priesthood holder. I expressed my gratitude for being called to work with cub scouts that I could return some of those teachings to THEIR children and that was about it. I went and sat down. In just a few minutes, JOHN got up and went to the stand! Now I'm dumbfounded! John is a convert, recent one! He's never born his testimony before! He can talk your ears off too, so I was thinking "what on EARTH will he say?" but he did such a great job. He commented on it being nice that his future mother-in-law looked at him as a WORTHY young priesthood holder. He wrapped it up in about 2 minutes and was back in his seat.

COOLER!!!

Towards the end of the meeting, another young boy wanted to go follow the example of my boys and he shared a testimony too. After church, we're driving home and Morgan has heard umpteen comments and compliments on his bravery and good example and expressing his heartfelt feelings (and tears) for his older brother like that, so he was proud of himself too. We're driving and he says "I think we expired other primary kids too today!" I nearly fell apart laughing and asked him who did he kill? He didn't say anything....I asked if maybe he INspired the other kids....he turned red and was suddenly a little more humble :D

Monday, March 19, 2012

Wedding update

We're right at 1 month before the wedding. What's been done?
  • engagement pictures taken
  • invitations made
  • most invitations mailed (and we know more people than we have stamps for, so the bulletin board at church got an invitation too)
  • photographer scheduled
  • dress purchased
  • cake planned for
  • bubbles purchased (and basket for them to go in)
  • veil purchased
  • vases/picture frames (with pictures already inserted)/pottery purchased
  • bridal shower planned
  • registered at Walmart and Target
  • Jared's suit purchased
  • ribbon purchased
  • wedding band purchased
  • mints (handled by Kitty)
  • tablecloths (handled by Mama)
  • some kind of candies (handled by Cindy- John's stepmom)
  • blank thank you notes on hand

What's left to do:

  • alter dress to be temple appropriate
  • dry clean the dress?
  • decide on jewelry
  • get suit for Morgan and one for Tommy
  • figure out flowers for bridesmaids/mothers/grandmothers DONE
  • get marriage license
  • get temple clothes (my dress from my sealing may work, cross fingers!) Dress DONE, portions of needs DONE (thanks Mom!)
  • bridal bouquet doing this 3/28
  • figure out punch/nuts/dishes/plates/napkins/cups paper stuff (THANKS MOM) punch bowls & ladles (THANKS MOM) punch I can handle, nuts (THANKS SIS. G!)
  • beaded piece for the veil
  • get ribbons on bubbles doing this 3/28
  • put together flower arrangements (after purchasing some more) Need extra ribbon, but came up with a great alternative....growing in my own yard!!!

Ok, so what am I forgetting?

Not all of those things are too difficult,...but some of them worry me to pieces. Feel free to pray for me....or come visit and help with some of it :)

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Random Spillage

My feelings are quite hurt today and since I don't see much improvement for another month and half at least, I figure I'm on my own to find better things to think about---or let wounds fester. I hate festering wounds, so enjoy my random thoughts in an effort to cheer myself. Perhaps you'll also find something cheerful to think about in the process.
This are Christmas cards the kids made for Manti and his companion. They are ornaments cut from wrapping paper and glued to cardstock. We used ribbons to help decorate them. The kids wrote letters inside each card. Both Manti and his companion seemed to like them and they sent letters and gifts back home for them.
These are "woggles" I made for my cub scouts. They were supposed to be learning to tie a few basic knots and some of them got so frustrated with it that I thought some cordage would be thrown and tears would fall. Luckily it didn't go THAT far, but I did feel bad for them because I've been frustrated before too. So at their next pack meeting, I had one of these for each boy. For them, it wasn't significant, but for me it was HUGE because this is not an easy knot to learn how to tie, and I did it. It took me a good little while, but I did it, and I did it 6 times! A few other adults were impressed that I figured out how to do it, and that made me feel good,... but the bigger thing for me was experiencing their frustration as I tried to learn a knot by following only drawings.
This is a poster that was in the foyer at church. I didn't make the poster, but I did plan the Preparedness Workshop with the help of one of my committee members (name witheld since I don't have her permission to put it here). I had low expectations for this event for several reasons: 1- it was right after a weekend of storms and our men were all asked to go help with clean-up. 2- it was on a weekend...people are oftentimes selfish with their weekends (myself included). 3- It's not a popular topic oftentimes. Well, we asked most of the auxiliaries leadership to take a subject we gave them and to make something of it. I got very little info back that they were working on it, (and that makes for reason #4) but they actually pulled it off quite nicely. One person said to me "if we teach even one person, we've done a good job." He was right,...and shouldn't I look at it as....every SINGLE person is worth the effort? I hope I'm worth that kind of effort to SOMEBODY, so they should be also! I was looking at it that Mesa and John might be "the one" so I just planned on them being the only one to come,... and was pleasantly surprised to see more than that.
We had our cub scout Blue and Gold banquet pack meeting recently. Our theme was Survivor,...like the tv show. In the show, the contestants work in teams to start with, so each family was a team and we got strips of cloth to wear to identify us as teams. We made family flags too. Then we played games. One game was to build a tower using a small amount of marshmallows and straws and get it to stand on its own 24 inches tall. When we succeeded, we earned our bowls. Then we chose a family member to stand on a can of pineapples and balance with one foot for a full minute. Jared won this one for us, earning us some cups. Then the last game was what you see Morgan finishing. We chose a family member (funny, they were all boys) to fish gummy worms out of a plate of chocolate pudding. When you found them all, you earned your family forks...and then you could eat dinner. It was a fun night and as you can see, Morgan was great at his part in the games.

I think this is funny. We were watching tv the other night and I kept noticing a splotch on the screen. I got up and went to look- it was a gigantic ant! Seriously, that thing was huge! When I realized that, it was sitting on someone's face,... and more faces kept getting graced by that bug. I finally took a bunch of pictures of him. The ant was watching TV with us LOL! I circled him to make sure you could see him too.
This is me. See my medal? I have achieved and received the LDS religious award for scouting's adult leaders called On My Honor. It is an award that requires 3 years of service and an interview with the bishop to obtain,...and I did it! I am very proud of this!

Ok, I'm out of ideas and still feel like saying things I shouldn't if I want to keep the peace, so I think I'll go cook supper now. Thanks for reminiscing through my recent history with me. I guess perhaps I AM a bit cheered, so maybe this was somewhat successful after all.