Happy New Year!

This being the last day of 2009, I should wish you all a Happy New Year.

However, I don't feel like talking about any holiday today.

I just got back from Wal-Mart where I could by Valentines AND Peanut Butter Eggs for Easter.

Makes me irritated!

Meanwhile, I did receive a GREAT gift for Christmas . . . . .

Adobe Photoshop CS4!

Yippee!

Here's some of my latest scrapbook pages -- I've also been toying around with t-shirt designs.

Fun stuff!

A Quilting We Will Go

Hmmmmm . .. .


Tons of quilting stuff the last few days.


My sewing room has never seen me so frequently.


This is a joint quilt between Melanie and I.


She pieced together the multi-colored squares and I assembled the rest.


Kellie did the machine quilting, which is very cool!


Melanie started this quilt about two years ago and received it back, finished, as a Christmas gift this year.


She did a great job picking the fabrics and piecing the squares (her first time doing so).

(My photo taking skills have not been hot lately, I need to work on it)

For Jen

I was challenged by my husband to write this post after our Vincent family Christmas party.

I hope it helps . . . .

A Story

Many years ago a young lady (18 years old) married into a great family. Although she was a really great girl, she was also slightly insane (let's leave that for another story).

When the insanity finally went away - it left this young lady wanting her new in-laws to like her. She worried constantly what her in-laws thought of her, and tried to find ways to endear herself to them. And while she may have been thought well of, she never believed she was.

At one point, she made an effort to help and support her new parents, believing that if she did, they would think more highly of her. But the results of her help seemed disastrous. Her father-in-law expressed to another family member that he did not consider her part of the family.

The long time concerns of being liked by her new family seemed confirmed by the fatal statement. She was heartbroken - for a time. . . .

As in all good tales, the curse became a blessing.

Thinking that all hope was gone for having her in-laws like her, she finally gave up worrying what they thought of her.

What unexpected freedom!

Time spent with her new family became easier, she felt more in control of what made her happy, she had freedom to choose how she participated.

And surprisingly, she became more interested in each of her new family members. Instead of worrying about what they thought of her, she just wondered what they thought at all. After looking at herself for all those years, she finally was able to look at them.

Now, letting go of worrying about what other people thought didn't turn her into a saint, by any means. She still doesn't show her concern for her family as well as she should, and she's not the most helpful person either. But I think she's got more capacity to be those things than she ever did when she was worrying about what people thought.

The End

Great story, eh? Sounds like it could be a story about me, except I
would have to admit that there are still occassions when I worry about what people think of me. But thinking about this story on occasion does help me put things back into perspective -- which I could definitely use after melting down after Primary today.

I can't wait to be perfect!

Block of the Month

I've nearly caught up with my Block of the Month club, which American Quilting is hosting.

Here's a look at what's been done so far.

I have two blocks left to do --

Both are applique!

Also, here's a little recording of Josh and Melanie playing "Away In A Manger".

It's the song they performed at the ward Christmas fiasco.

We Will Build A Snowman

Craftee time at my house.

Here's what we put together:

I've got a few other fun ideas,

but they may have to wait for next year . . .

A Must Read

Get tissues first!

Click HERE

"There is in every true woman's heart a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity; but which kindles up and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity."

Open Letter

An open letter to my fellow ward members:


************************

Dear Ward Members:

Merry Christmas, from the primary president!

I figured I should write you a note sharing the holiday spirit in case you didn't receive the message at the ward Christmas party on Thursday.

There may be many extenuating reasons you may have missed the primary's Christmas wish about the true meaning of the holiday. Such as:

You didn't come.

You were distracted by the donkey-clad boy who nearly fell of the stage, several times.

You were busy obsessing that Santa wasn't showing up the the WARD Christmas program.

You couldn't hear the song the Young Women sang and thus missed the message of a Silent Night, Holy Night.

You kept wondering what the primary president's child was laughing so hard at -- the whole time.

Your mind was busy anticipating the eventual clubbing of primary children by a staff wielding shepherd.

You were stuck in nasty traffic on the freeway, and even in an accident (hope you're okay Craig).

You were fortunate to have been out of town on business and missed the whole holiday fiasco.

I should pause to mention that I was the responsible person who tossed 'Breakfast with Santa' out the window this year.

I had thought a more spiritual message would be appropriate.

Sadly, there was hardly a spiritual moment to be found as we barely whispered the words to the songs, and potentially bored a few members into a coma.

So, once again -- MERRY CHRISTMAS from the 9th Ward Primary, in case you missed it on Thursday.

Sincerely,

The Soon-to-be-Released Primary President

Trim The Tree

Spent an enjoyable weekend having Stake Conference.

Elder L. Tom Perry visited our stake,

And during the Sunday session compared the story of Jesus' birth,

Found in Matthew and Luke,

To the roles of husband and wife in the gospel.

It was amazing!

I'd try to paraphrase what he said, but I couldn't begin to do it justice.

Instead, just trust me it was a great weekend --

And enjoy these little Christmas treasures from my decorated tree!

(P.S. No swear words were used in the decorating of my house this year -- yippee!)

Utah Children's Choir

Tis the season for me to give shameless plugs!

This shout out goes to the Utah Children's Choir,

Who receives a grant from the Esteemed Pleasant Grove Arts Commission.

I was honored to introduce the choir,

And their talented director, Kay Asay,

At their Christmas concert last week.

I enjoyed the concert A LOT!

(Except for the part where I had to talk in front of people,

And Ethan announced he needed to vomit,

Before I talked in front of a lot of people)

The bulk of their songs were religious in nature,

And for Christmas-time -- it was perfect!

No Santa, no Jack Frost, no Reindeer.

It was beautiful and uplifting!

I admit I cried during the Littlest Angel song.

The wonderful news about this little choir

Is that they've been asked to perform with the Mo-Tab Choir!

They will participate in the Christmas Program,

Along with Natalie Cole!!

And David McCullough (author of 1776 and other books)!

They will sing as part of the Music and the Spoken Word on the 13th as well.

This is a talented group of singers,

Youth from the ages of 6 - 18 can participate (although boys are discouraged after their voices change).

And they are looking for new choir members.

Please, take a look at them this holiday season,

And see if you know someone who would love to join them.

You can find their website at: http://utahchildrenschoir.com/

Small warning -- everytime I try to watch one of the videos or music clips on their website -- my computer crashes.

I've written this post three times so far because of it.

I nearly posted a nasty-gram to UCC, except I remembered their beautiful music ---

And I'm still remarking on the talent they have in singing (not web making)