Tropical Weather Hits Anchorage

The week started off with really cold weather. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday all hit -10, which isn't too unusual for Anchorage, but is more common starting late January. This year we just haven't had much snow or any clouds to warm things up.

So on Friday things did get warmer and when we were outside Julia was commenting on how nice it feels. She even started to take her coat off. It was after all a balmy 6 degrees out. Luckily on Saturday we got some snow and the tropical weather has stayed--I think we hit the 20s today. Nothing like Alaska weather to provide some perspective.

Primary Program

Today was the annual Church Primary program, one of my favorite Sundays!  Julia and Ethan are part of our Church's primary, and once a year the Sacrament meeting is set aside for the primary children to teach about Jesus, giving talks and singing songs.  Julia and Ethan memorized their parts and did a wonderful job saying them by themselves in front of the whole congregation.  They both wanted to wear their "future missionary" name-tags, and I couldn't wait for Christmas to bust out Julia's new Christmas dress (courtesy Grandma Little) to wear for the occasion.  We are really proud of them and their testimonies of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and willingness to share them.

This guy still has another year before he starts Primary.  Christian would have loved to participate though.  At least he got to go to the program practice yesterday and sit up on the pews with them.

The whole crew before church.

Julia's 6th Birthday

We celebrated Julia's birthday last weekend, and it was the first time she wanted to have a party with friends.  She invited a few from her school, some from church and one from the neighborhood.  Her main concern for her birthday party invitations was making sure no one felt left out, including her brothers.  Joshua headed up the games, which included pinning wings on Tinkerbell, popping balloons, doing a scavenger hunt, going to Jerusalem, and a few more.  It was so fun to watch the kids interact with each other and to talk with some of the parents of kids she mentions from school.  I think the kids all had a great time, and Ethan and Christian really loved participating too.

Her actual birthday fell on a school day, so we sent her to class with oatmeal raisin cookies, since there is a rule in the school district against bringing cupcakes or unhealthy snacks for birthdays (sad!).  That afternoon Joshua took off work and Julia opened presents (thanks Grandmas and Grandpas for the wonderful things you sent!), and we went shopping and came home and, at her request, did some family tackle and painting (not at the same time).  She has been really into drawing and painting and dancing and anything art related, so she loved having a new easel and art/craft supplies to try out, and a dance instruction video to dance to.  After cake, we let her stay up after the boys went to bed for some one-on-one checkers and painting with Mom and Dad.

We feel so lucky to have Julia in our family.  She is so smart, considerate, caring, unselfish, affectionate, creative, and has a desire to always choose the right.  She is a wonderful sister, and a great helper in our home, and always amazes me with her complex thoughts and ideas.  She loves beautiful things, but at the same time loves to roughhouse with the boys and play pirate ship with them; and she loves to read (about any topic).  We love you Julia!

October

October went by really quickly around here, ending with the first layer of snow on the ground and way too much candy!

Elliott is 10 months old now, and crawling everywhere.  He is pretty much the cutest thing we have ever seen (spoken like a true mother, right?).

The kids had their first face painting experience--and LOVED it--at the Fall Festival hosted by Julia's school.  Christian requested Batman, Ethan Spiderman, and Julia a cat.  They held still for the whole painting and were bitterly disappointed when they found out they could not leave the paint on overnight.

This is Julia's pumpkin--she drew a cat face pattern for me to carve out.  Joshua did a scary face for the boys.

Everyone with pumpkin faces!

Joshua and the kids (minus Elliott) heading out to trick-or-treat, Alaska style.  We stuffed them in as many layers as possible, so they looked like little marshmallows with a costume pulled tight over the top, then with hats, gloves, and boots on top of that.  It was in the mid 20s after all, which gets chilly after staying out for an hour and a half.  Christian's bat costume, which was heavy lined fleece, best lent itself to the bundling process because it was roomy on the inside.  I am always surprised at how many kids venture out every year in the weather, but they still seem to.  I got the lucky job of manning the candy post at home with Elliott.

Highlights from General Conference - Part 2

Another talk that we both really liked was Elder Nelson's talk on missionary work. You can read it here.

Ask the missionaries, they can help you!

We both served missions for our church. I served in Taiwan for two years starting at the age 19. Rebecca served in Brazil for 18 months starting at the age of 21. At the start of this conference the church leadership made an announcement that young men can now serve a mission starting at age 18 and young women can serve starting at age 19. If you have ever been curious about what missionaries in our church do, then you will want to read this talk. In this talk Elder Nelson gives some background on missionary work and then describes many of the ways that missionaries might be able to help you.

Highlights from General Conference - Part 1

General Conference was great. We thought we would post on some of our favorite talks, so if you didn't get a chance to watch it all you can check out some of the ones that we liked.

The first one that we wanted to post on was a very touching talk by Elder Shayne M. Bowen titled "Because I Live, Ye Shall Live Also." You can access it by clicking on the following link.

BECAUSE I LIVE, YE SHALL LIVE ALSO

In this talk Elder Bowen addresses the subject of coping with the death of a child. He shares his own experiences from when his child passed away and how the gospel changed his sadness and anger into hope and gratitude for the resurrection. Although he is specifically talking to those who have lost a child, the talk has application to anyone who is grieving with the loss of a loved one.

General Conference

This coming Saturday and Sunday we will be watching General Conference. General Conferences are held twice a year and are composed of talks from our church leaders including the Prophet and members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. If you are interested in learning more about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, this would be a great opportunity to to do so from your own home. Sessions are broadcast at 10 am - 12 noon and 2 pm - 4 pm MDT on both Saturday and Sunday. Sessions can be viewed online at lds.org or on BYUtv. Click on the link or use the widget below to learn more.

October 2012 General Conference