Meet the Mormons

My missionary son challenged us to go see Meet the Mormons, an informational film made by the LDS Church about the very different lives of six devout members.  The film will be in mainstream theaters on October 10th.  In the meantime, you can watch the trailer below, and also get a free download of "Glorious," a song from the film sung by David Archuleta, at the Meet the Mormons facebook page.

Balm of Gilead

The start of each homeschool day hears us singing a hymn and reading scriptures and discussing some spiritual topic.  Right now we are focusing on prayer, and this includes keeping a prayer journal.  The prayer journal has some copied scriptures and quotes, but it's mainly to keep a record of how our prayers are answered day to day so we can both see and remember God's hand in our personal lives.

Hymn #140, "Did You Think to Pray?", was of course the first hymn we sung.  We talked about everything in the song, including words we didn't understand.  No one was sure what "balm of Gilead" was or what it had to do with praying.  A search led to this wonderful talk, "The Balm of Gilead", by Apostle Boyd K. Packer.

An addition to our daily hymns and scriptures, I've been reading a page from this book each day:

Norman Rockwell has always been one of my favorite artists, so I was delighted to find this book, along with its companions, Simple Acts of Faith and Simple Acts of Friendship.

Try keeping a prayer journal so you can see how your prayers are answered!

I Know

Listening to a Jenny Phillips CD before church, I felt the need to share one of my favorite of her songs.  It is a special thing when a song expresses exactly what is in your heart.  "I Know" is my testimony, amazingly and beautifully written and sung by another witness.  

I used this song as the theme for a camp for young women a few years ago.  I wanted so much for these beautiful daughters of God whom I love to KNOW who they are and where they came from; to see the Father, His Son, and His plan in all the wonders of life and feel His watchful care deep within their souls.

Someday I want to make my own video for the song, so the video is as personal to watch as the song is for me to listen to and sing.  But for now, so you can hear it, here is Jenny's video.

I Know!

Geology Rocks! (And it tastes good, too.)

The second week of our geology unit (the week following the field trip) came with lots of hands-on activities. The two main resources I'm using for activity ideas are:

and Adaptive Earth Science Activities --a 78-page PDF of fantastic hands-on activities from RockCamp in West Virginia.

Layers of the Earth:

A hard candy CORE surrounded by a soft, gooey marshmallow MANTLE.

Cover these layers in a molten chocolate CRUST that cools.

Eat your homework!

Peleg, Pangaea, and Plate Tectonics:

Cutting up the continents as puzzle pieces to make Pangaea

Graham cracker TECTONIC PLATES on orange frosting MANTLE

Subduction

Making mountains

Destruction of a strike-slip fault

More strike-slip action
(And from the frosting on her face you can tell she's eating her homework again.)

These activities were followed up with worksheets and notebooking pages, which included Alfred Wegener, Arthur Holmes, Harry Hess, Genesis 10:25, 1 Chronicles 1:19, D&C 133:23-24 and D&C Commentary.

We also tried out our first National Parks Mystery. Having kicked off our unit with a trip to Yellowstone (and wishing we could have spotted wolves) it was only fitting to read the Yellowstone mystery.  I'm not sure what I expected, but it was not what I expected.  Still, it wasn't a bad read.

Fifty Nifty

One of the most useful things I've carried throughout my life from elementary school is my memory of the song Fifty Nifty United States.  I really can't say all the times it's been useful to have all 50 states memorized alphabetically.  Most recently, however, I was able to put this fount of knowledge to use on our trip to Yellowstone when, having banned electronics, my kids needed something to do.  I quickly wrote out all the names of the states for them individually and got them playing the license plate game.  They were amazed that I could crank out all the states, and we were all amazed when we found a license plate for EVERY state at Yellowstone National Park!

Here are two useful videos for learning the song.

The Scriptures and Ecology

There was a great quote that stood out to me in one of the geology books we are reading.

"If we took all of the Earth's products out of our lives, we would be hungry, naked, and shivering in the dark." - Duane Leavitt, an Earth Science teacher in Maine

The book was talking about the treasure chest that Earth is. Of course, EVERYTHING comes from the resources of this good earth, but sometimes I think we forget that. It's like new inventions must be magic or something and not a new understanding or repurposing of the metals, minerals, plants, and animals found here. There is no interstellar mail order going on, so of course everything is derived from what this planet has to offer.

Because of the truthfulness of this, I knew there had to be scripture about it. I came across a terrific article from a 1972 New Era that was a great addition to our science studies, What the Scriptures Say About: Ecology.  My favorite scripture pertinent to this is Doctrine & Covenants 59:16-20.

So, I gave the kids an assignment to use the quote and scripture and make something reflective of the things the earth provides that means something to them.  Here's what they came up with.

P5

P3

P4

Choose thy Love, Love thy Choice

When I was newly married I frequently saw the following quote hanging in the home of someone I worked for:

Choose thy love, love thy choice.

I thought it a wise proverb, vowed to remember it, but at the same time wondered that anyone would need to be reminded to love his or her spouse, a choice of the heart that surely continued forever.

Now, 21 years later, I see the wisdom in having such a motto ever in sight. Life is full and busy and demanding and however good our intentions we humans often neglect the things--and people--that matter most. Between children and careers and all that goes with them it is often our beloved husbands or wives who get the least and worst of us even though at one point in our lives we vowed never to let that happen.

Promises to keep...

In The Family:  A Proclamation to the World, it says: 

"Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other..."

I believe that the words in the Proclamation were chosen with extreme care. Obviously, we're supposed to take our relationships with our spouses pretty seriously. More than that, we are supposed to act. Love and care are verbs! Further, the words solemn responsibility beg contemplation and understanding. In this instance responsibility is referring to a duty we took upon ourselves with an oath and something we are accountable for. But the beauty of the phrase comes in the synonyms for solemn:  sincere, earnest, honest, genuine, firm, heartfelt, wholehearted, sworn. Think about the one you pledged your love to and think about those words in your actions!

I'd like to offer 6 suggestions for helping us all love and care for our spouses more.

1.  Establish and keep your own traditions as a couple. Whole family traditions are important, to be sure, but I'm talking about some custom practice(s) that belongs to just the two of you. It can be simple or silly, or something profound. My husband and I have been taking "selfie" photos of the two of us on our travels since our honeymoon--long before it was a cultural fad. We have a collection of these pictures of us in the same pose but in different places as we grow old together. I still giggle when we take them. 

 Celebrating our 13th anniversary hiking above Cascade, Idaho

2.  Listen. Fully engage in conversations, with eye contact and an earnest desire to know what's important to your spouse. Then honor the needs and wishes expressed and actively work to make life better for your spouse.

3.  Kiss.  And kiss again.  Hold hands.  Be the attentive, affectionate person your spouse needs and fell in love with.

Celebrating our 20th anniversary hiking in Colorado

4.  Be present. Spend time together without distractions.  Some of the best time my husband and I have spent together has been playing board games and eating ice cream after the kids are in bed. 

5.  Do something old, try something new.  If there are activities you both really enjoy, do them together as much as is responsibly possible.  Hiking, fishing, tennis, golf... strengthen commonalities and make memories. But every now and then, try something new together, too.

Climbing a glacier in Alaska

6.  Count the little things.  A happy marriage is an accumulation of a lot of little things. From baking his favorite cookies to wearing those earrings he gave you to not complaining about a meeting he must attend, from wearing her favorite cologne to doing the after dinner cleanup to giving her the best seat, do the little things for your spouse and notice the little things your spouse does for you.  And for goodness' sake, say "thank you!"

Somewhere in my lifetime of reading I came across an interesting insight from a Jewish Rabbi who was talking with someone about arranged Jewish marriages versus the typical American marriage. He said, "You take something that is hot and you quickly let it go cold. We take something that is cool and we slowly warm it up."

Really, it's about conscious effort.  I know that Jesus Christ, our Savior, is conscious of each of us and our spouses and He knows us well. I know He stands ready to aid us in strengthening our families.  Every family begins with a marriage.  Keep yours warm!

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This first appeared as a guest post at We Talk of Christ for Celebrate the Family Proclamation hosted by two lovely and inspiring sisters in the gospel,  Montserrat and Jocelyn.  Tomorrow begins the second week of posts on strengthening families--don't miss a single one!

My Cup Runneth Over with the Spirit of Temples

Like David of old, sometimes my heart is so full of gratitude and inspiration and the Spirit that I want to sing and shout acclamation. Psalm 23 is both a reverent psalm and a joyous one (and if you want a real treat, you need to listen to Spencer Forsey sing "The Lord is My Shepherd" from Liken's film David & Goliath).

Today was the rededication of the Ogden Temple. Our stake center was an extension of the temple as we watched the dedication via satellite. This is the second temple in just two years that my entire family has been able to participate in the dedication of all together.  It is such a wonderful feeling for a mother to be in such a sacred place with all of her children there with her!  The spirit and messages of the dedication were powerful and touching today and it was truly a celestial experience so big and beautiful that "my cup runneth over."

Also beautiful is the Ogden Temple itself.  A few weeks ago we went to the open house to tour the renovated temple and it was breathtaking, both in the architecture, design, and furnishings, and in the awesome and reverent feeling the walls house.  It was over too quickly and I so wanted to linger.  I can't wait to go back now that it's dedicated!

I LOVE this church!  I love temples!

Families are forever.
Thank God for temples!

You Never Know

I'm sitting here going over the coming week's schedule and to do list (and even then multitasking) and came across this Mormon Message while going to look up a scripture for something else.  I LOVE the ending!

Have a good week, doing the things HE needs you to do.

The Best First Week of School

Last week we kicked off our school year and our geology unit with a week-long field trip. It was the best first week of school ever! We hiked about 25 miles, drove a lot more, and took in the wonder with nearly 3000 photos. This is just an itsy bitsy, teensy weensy sample.

*Note:  We field-tripped with some friends, so sometimes not all the kids in the photos are mine!

Celebrate the Family!

It's time again for the annual Celebrate Family blog share.  I will be one of many guest writers over on Jocelyn's blog this year.  Keep your eyes and hearts open the next couple of weeks for lots of good stuff on strengthening families.  The celebration kicks off tomorrow!

National Wildlife Day

All things bright and beautiful

All creatures great and small

All things wise and wonderful

The Lord God made them all

Each little flow'r that opens

Each little bird that sings

He made their glowing colors

He made their tiny wings

September 4 is National Wildlife Day. It's supposed to be about two things:  raising awareness for endangered animals and appreciating U.S. zoos, sanctuaries, farms, etc. for helping to preserve wildlife.  For my family today it was about getting outdoors and taking delight in whatever creatures we could find, along with any other beautiful aspects of creation.

Along with a covey of quail and a weasel, we spotted many varied and colorful insects. The boys made a game of trying to catch some of the insects by tossing their hats to trap them, while their sister made a point of giving reverent resting places to any insects she found which had died.  I enjoyed spending a good amount of time outside on a lovely day, practicing my hobby of photography.