Daddy Had a Birthday!!

This week was Brydon's Birthday!  He is getting so close to 30 now and next year he will be in trouble.  I already have big plans!!!  But this year I took it easy on him and just made some cupcakes for his office and then made everyone sing to him.  We had to make him blush a little bit.  I have to admit these were pretty great cupcakes.  I found this amazing frosting that is truly the best chocolate frosting EVER!!  It is light and fluffy and has a great chocolate flavor.  I found the recipe on this blog Brown Eyed Baker.  It is worth checking out and trying. 

Happy Happy Birthday, Daddy!!!  We love you!

B-1 Bomb Loaders

This week, Caleb and I got to go on a tour of the training center for the B-1 Bomb Loaders.  We were able to learn about all the different types of bombs the B-1 carries and how they work.  It was really interesting and the B-1 is a fascinating, killing machine.  I am constantly amazing at the technology and power our military has.  We are truly a force to be reckoned with.

The sign that greeted us as we entered.  Got to love military humor.

They actually have fake full sized B-1's without wings that they practice loading.  These are the stairs up to the cockpit and then Caleb inside the cockpit.  We decided that it wouldn't be very fun to sit in those seats for 14 hours plus.

Some of the different bombs the B-1 carries.  They are amazing.  Many of the bombs have GPS trackers that are accurate within 3 meters.  They also have new missiles that allow the plane to release them and then fly away as the missiles hover over a target until we are ready to have them actually hit a target. 

This is how the bombs are attached inside the B-1

It was really neat to see one of our base's specialties.  The B-1 is very impressive and I couldn't believe the fire power it carries.  Caleb falls more in love with planes everyday!

2011 Ward/Primary Activity--Scripture Boot Camp

This year the 2011 Primary theme is I know the Scriptures are True.  So to help support this idea, our Primary came up with the idea to host a Ward Scripture Boot Camp.  We are largely a military ward and we thought the play on military concepts would be fun.  The activity turned out really nice and I am so grateful to everyone that helped us out and came to the activity.

The poster we used to help promote the activity.  I really like the title "The Righteous:  The Few The Proud".  We are mainly Air Force here but it works!

Our invitations.  We invited everyone to come for "In-processing" at 18:00 and then we would have a Commander's Call at 18:30. 

COMMANDER'S CALL

Our 4 Commanders!  Spiritually we figured Commanders are really Prophets.  We featured Alma, Nephi, Joseph Smith and Noah.  These "Commanders" introduced themselves as prophets during the Commander's Call and were asked to share ways that their prophet would promote scripture reading.  After they were finished, families that had been "in-processed" then met with their assigned Commander.  Each family had been given a colored dot.  Here is what the dots stood for:  Green- Joseph Smith's Zion's Camp, Blue- Nephi's First Battalion of Nephites, Red- Alma's Stripling Warriors, and Yellow- Noah's Sailors.  The Commanders were their guides to four Duty Stations.  Families spent about 20 minutes at each Duty Station and when they heard the song Follow the Prophet they would follow the Prophet to the next station.

THE DFAC

The DFAC is the Air Force Dining Facility.  For this station we featured light refreshments of fruit, vegetables, cheese, and crackers.  We decided that this room would be New Testament themed and focus on our Savior Jesus Christ.  Soft music played and people could look at the pictures of Christ.  It was meant to be a more quiet, spiritual room.

PT

PT is the physical fitness training used in the military.  So to be spiritually fit, we need to study and know our scriptures.  For this station, we did scripture chasing.  The teams were given a scripture story that they had to find.  The team that found it before around 1-2 minutes, could then do push-ups or sit-ups to earn extra points for their team.  It was a pretty exciting room to be in.

MANEUVERS

This was a fun room for the family to play together.  One of our Valiant boys planned and set up all the activities in this room and he did a fabulous job.  I was so proud of him.  He set up 5 mini stations that included:  cotton balls with spoons racing,  dancing, bowling, hula hoops, and a balloon bouncing race.  Everyone had a lot of fun there.

 

BASIC TRAINING

For Basic Training, our Bishop and his sweet wife taught tips and ideas on how to have family scripture study.  They stressed the importance of reading the actual scriptures as a family and not just using picture books.  We should try to read scriptures as a family every day.  They did a wonderful job and we are lucky to have such a great and supportive Bishop.

USO ENTERTAINMENT

To end the evening, we had everyone meet together again and had prepared a video featuring pretty much all of our primary children.  The children talked about their favorite scripture stories, primary songs, and how they know that Jesus loves them.  You can view the video here or just scroll down to the next post.

If you have any questions about the activity, just leave a comment below and I would be happy to help out with anything.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve in Primary and be surround by these wonderful children and great people.  It truly is the best calling in the church.

Abilene Primary Video

For a Ward Activity we hosted in June, we made a Primary video that features about every child in our Primary.  We asked the children questions about what their favorite scripture story is, what is their favorite primary song, and how they know Jesus loves them.  The answers are priceless!  And they remind me how lucky I am to work in Primary.  I am not a professional videographer but I think the final product is worth watching.  It is about 20 minutes long.



A big thank you to the Primary President in Philadelphia who gave me this great idea!

Nauvoo---City Beautiful

I was so excited to finally get to see Nauvoo, IL, and we even got to have my parents come meet us there.  Brydon loves this little town and we would have loved to have been married in the temple there, but our winter wedding would have been rough.  Nauvoo was once a bustling city mainly populated by the Mormon pioneers that had just escaped extermination orders in Missouri.  They were refuges that founded the city on the banks of the Mississippi.  It was originally a swamp and after battling illnesses, they drained the swamp and built a city that rivaled the size of Chicago at the time.  They eventually were able to build a beautiful temple there.  After only about 8 years, unrest began to plague the Saints in Nauvoo, and it was decided they would leave the city before they were attacked by the mobs again.  In the middle of winter, they quickly cleaned their homes, packed what they could in small wagons, and began the journey west outside of the then United States to find religious freedom in what is now known as the Salt Lake Valley in Utah.  In the 1960's, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints began work to restore this now abandoned city and in 1971 dedicated the visitor center there.  It is now a place where visitors can go to see what Nauvoo once looked like in 1839.  Many houses have been rebuilt and the temple was also rebuilt.  Hundreds of missionaries serve there and tell the stories of the Saints that lived in the homes or help teach people how to make items from the 1800's.  They also put on wonderful shows and pageants and the best part is that the whole thing is free!!  It was so wonderful to see a place that has been such a part of our history as members of the church.  Sorry there are so many pictures, but for journaling sake I just had to record all the neat places we got to see.

Our first view of the Nauvoo temple at night.  Caleb and my Dad sitting by one of the well loved statues of Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum Smith.

One of the few original Sun Stones from the original temple.  Another original stone is actually in the Smithsonian in DC.

Brydon had first visited Nauvoo after he graduated from High School with his parents. They took these fun pictures in the Statue garden and so we had to update them with our own family now.

It is a beautiful garden!

On the wagon ride with the whole family.  It was great to get a tour of the city.  I was surprised by how big it really was and there was so much to do.  Each house had missionaries that greeted you in authentic clothing and taught you what they did there in the 1800's. 

This is the Browning Gunsmith shop which is where the Browning Gunsmith company began.  Of course we had to go inside there.

Caleb checking out the horses from our tour.  My dad was particularly curious about them and I think was scoping out some future missionary plans.  I think my parents would make great missionaries in Nauvoo and my dad would love driving the wagons.

One whole building was dedicated to letting the children learn how to make essential items.  These are some pictures of Caleb making a rope that he got to keep.  We also learned how to tie rugs, make candles, make bread, make buckets and clay pots.  Caleb loved it!

The Trail of Hope was my favorite.  This is the trail the Saints took as they headed into the Mississippi River to head West.  The trail is full of plaques sharing courageous stories from people's journals.  I can't imagine leaving everything behind to enter the unknown wilderness with my family in the middle of winter.  They were amazing people.

The Mississippi is gorgeous and it felt very "Huckleberry Finn" like.  The wagon pictured shows the size of the barge that would carry the wagons across the river.  Eventually the river froze so they could just cross on foot.

As the last of the Saints were leaving, their beloved temple on the hill was being burned down by the mobs that took over the city.  Can you imagine looking back and watching everything you just worked to build being burnt down?

We visited the cemetery and it was so sad to see so many children's graves.  When the Saints first settled Nauvoo, so many people were sick and so many children died.  It makes me so grateful for modern medicine and a strong healthy son.

Caleb and I had recently read a story in The Friend about John Taylor going back to Nauvoo and saving his son's favorite toy, a rocking horse.  I was shocked to actually see the real horse.  The other picture is of the floor in the Masonic Temple that was above the City Hall.

I am standing by the Red Brick Storehouse where the Relief Society was started.  It is now the largest women's organization in the world and I am proud to be a member.  This home is the prophet Joseph Smith's home and is where Emma Smith, his wife, lived out her life after her husband was murdered.

The Nauvoo Temple is so beautiful and I was lucky enough to go through a session of this temple with my parents.  I also love this statue of Joseph Smith and Hyrum as they are riding to Carthage, IL to turn themselves in to the authorities there.  Their last look of the city.

Not far from Nauvoo, is the city of Carthage. This is where the Prophet Joseph Smith was taken and held prisoner. Eventually a mob stormed the prison and killed Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum

We feel so blessed to be members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We are so grateful for everything the early Saints of the church sacrificed for us and we know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet. It was so amazing to get to visit such historical places.