Staying Connected

After a bath and an Oreo or two for dessert, we decided to give my niece, Abby, a call to wish her Happy Birthday Eve. Lucy loves talking to Abby and Oliver on the phone. She laughs her head off the whole time. I just love the look on her face as she waits to hear what they'll say next.

Little Miss Lucy

Lucy begged me the other day to "PLEEEEAAASE play barbies" with her. As I've explained to many of you, I really do not enjoy playing pretend with Lucy's little toys. I would much rather play 100 games of Go Fish or read 60 books to her than sit down and play barbies. But....being the amazing mother I am, I gave in and tried really hard. Well, I devised a plan to get out of pretending. My barbie (AKA Princess Aurora) decided it was time for a family photo shoot. So for 15-20 minutes, Lucy and I put the barbies in different poses. Here are the results:
Lucy has been cracking us up lately. The other day she was pulling on both sides of her belt and trying to get it to reach up by both of her shoulders. I asked what she was doing and she said, "I'm trying to make Olivers!" What she meant to say was overalls. She has a cousin named Oliver.

Yesterday she came up to me and said, "Hey, Mom! Is this giddy-upping?" Then she proceeded to gallop down the hallway. When I told her what it was called, she said, "Oh yeah, that's what I meant."

YES on Proposition 8

Many of you may not know about Proposition 8. I felt I should do my part to get the word out. Even though most of my readers aren't California voters, this is something that will affect all of our lives in the years to come.

Proposition 8 is an initiative measure on the 2008 California General Election ballot. If passed, it will be an amendment to the state constitution stating that only marriage between a man and a woman will be valid or recognized in the state of California. A few years back, 61% of the people voted these same words on another proposition, but recently the supreme court over ruled it and made same sex marriage legal. If Proposition 8 passes, this amendment will not allow that to happen again.

Jason and I have been working alongside many of our ward members on the "Yes for Proposition 8 Campaign". Many other churches and organizations are taking part as well. We've gone door to door to registered voters in hopes of educating people about the Proposition, encouraging them to get out and vote in favor of it.

When the campaign started a few months ago, I had my own small, personal struggle with the idea of going around and telling people my beliefs and how I felt regarding the issue. I was extremely anxious about starting conversations with neighbors and going door to door. But, after hearing the leaders of our church express it's importance and after studying out the repercussions of legalizing same sex marriage, I know that it's something I have to give my full support and time to.

Please take the time to check out the following websites: www.preservingmarriage.com and
www.protectmarriage.com . Articles at these sites explain things much more clearly than I can. It's not simply about allowing gay marriage or not. It will be required to be taught in the schools as equal to heterosexual relationships. Age appropriate information regarding sexual relations within those marriages will be taught. It will more than likely lead to religious liberties being questioned and taken away: bishops unable to perform civil marriages because they won't perform same-sex marriages, religious adoption agencies shutting down because they will not place children in same-sex marriages, etc., etc.

California law gives marriage-related benefits through civil unions and domestic partnership to homosexual couples. They lose nothing if this proposition passes.

If you have questions, please check those websites out!! California voters........get out and vote!

General Conference Tidbits

General Conference was fabulous! I had a very uplifting 2 days. So many talks that were given seemed just for me.

Side note: For those who don't know, General Conference is a meeting held twice a year by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (of which we belong). We hear from our beloved prophet as well as his apostles and many other leaders of our church.

It seemed like a lot of the talks had some good one-liners. I found myself listening for them with each speaker. Here are some of them that I've been thinking a lot about today and I hope to be able to put into practice and make stick:

"Seek to simplify"
L. Tom Perry

"You don't know everything, but you know enough."
Neil L. Anderson
This one spoke to me. I sometimes feel overwhelmed with the idea of missionary work and sharing what I believe with friends. I worry my knowledge of the gospel is too weak and I won't know answers to questions. I need to remember that although I don't know everything, I know enough and how can I not share what I know! Which leads me to the next quote:

"In the strength of the Lord I can do all things."
Elaine S. Dalton
Lots of overwhelming things are coming my way. Jason is deploying the beginning of next year and if I think about it too much, my heart starts racing and I can't breathe. I know by myself I would be in trouble, but with the Lord's help I can do all things.

"We cannot afford to be superficially righteous."
M. Russell Ballard
This one hit home. If I really evaluate my life, I find myself falling into this trap. I go to church, we pray with our children and have family home evening, I fulfill my church calling. From the outside looking in, I'm doing pretty good. It's the times when I'm alone that I fall short. I need to have consistent scripture study and more meaningful prayer. The time is now!

"In the process of waiting for these angels, may we all be a little more angelic ourselves."
Jeffery R. Holland

"Never let a problem to be solved be more important than a person to be loved."
President Thomas S. Monson
So powerful! Sometimes I need to just chuck the to-do list and sit and listen to my kids!! He also said in that same talk "Choose not to focus on what is missing in your lives, but on the abundance." I can most definitely work on that!

I hope all those who got a chance to listen to the talks enjoyed them as much as I did. Interested in reading more? Visit www.lds.org

The boots make a comeback......

Lucy is in love with her boots all over again. She insists on wearing them nearly every day.

The Dark Side

Well, I did it. I went and got my hair cut and dyed. I needed a change and a change is what I got. I usually go a little darker in the fall, but this is oh so dark for me. I like it a whole lot more than I did yesterday. I was told it will fade a bit.
It feels a little like Halloween came early for me and I have a wig on. I'll try to enjoy the brunette life for a couple months and then bring back some of the blond I'm used to.

Future Missionary

We had an exceptionally fun family home evening last night. Our lesson was on missionary work. We showed Lucy some pictures from Jason's mission in Australia. She almost couldn't believe that he was a missionary! We talked with Lucy about the importance of missionary work and how she can share what she knows about the gospel and Jesus with her friends.

We gave her a little homemade badge like the missionaries wear and she and Jason went knocking on doors (around the house) pretending to share the gospel. I would answer the door and she introduced herself to me as Sister Ray and then she and Jason would proceed to answer questions I had about "her" church. I was very impressed by how much she knows! She had a great time pretending with us and I felt like she really understood what we were trying to teach her.

After the lesson we had some cookies and milk with the kiddos. In this picture Jason is behind me making crazy faces trying to get them to smile for me.
Family home evening has become such a fun time for our little family. We look forward to Monday nights and I really try to think about what the kids need to hear that week. I'm amazed at how much they soak in even with just the short little lessons that we do.

Before bed we played an intense game of hide and seek. I hid Lucy on one of the shelves in the pantry. After finding her, Graham decided to join her.
We then told Lucy that she was going to have to sleep there that night and so Graham decided to help her out. He kept bringing her toys and laying his beloved blanket on her. Then he gave her a hug and a kiss and told her good night. It was so sweet! That kid sure keeps us laughing!