"There is no habit, no addiction, no rebellion, no transgression, no apostasy, no crime exempted from the promise of complete forgiveness. That is the promise of the atonement of Christ." Boyd K. Packer - Ensign, Nov. 1995, 20

Happy Friday!

photo courtesy TrombaMarina

Personal Responsibility

"There’s one responsibility which no man can evade, that’s the responsibility of personal influence. It’s what you are, not what you pretend to be, that [matters]."

-David O. McKay

Six Quirky Things

Melissa tagged me. But I don't know if I can think of six quirky things...I'm just so normal! Not.

1. I stole this one from Melissa--we've been best friends for a long time, but we're so different. We don't like any of the same things. But our husbands are like twins--they're exactly the same. It's so weird.
2. I read a lot. A LOT. I don't know why. It just happens. I've actually slowed down a bit lately...I'm down to about one book per week. I don't know why that is, either. Hmm.
3. I used to be a total slob. I'm not totally organized now, but I've gotten a lot better. I think it happened after I had Little Boy--I just realized that it was my responsibility to "make" our home, and it became really important to me.
4. I don't like to wear socks or shoes. Unfortunately, I live in a very rainy place, so I can't go barefoot as much as I want to. Wet feet would be even worse than shoes.
5. I'm Mormon. Is that a quirk? You decide.
6. I love dishes. Doesn't that make me sound so domestic? Maybe I should say this: I love weird-looking dishes. Anyway, I'm not allowed to buy them--no room in my kitchen or my budget. But I do spend a lot of time gawking at them.

So...those six things don't sound as quirky as I thought they would. Or maybe I'm just so quirky that I can't even tell anymore. Hmm.

Photo Tuesday Extravaganza: Apples, Pumpkins, Pirates, and Clowns

Last week was a busy week. Here we go....

My mom took us apple picking at a local farm. I had never picked an apple before. Lame, I know. But in my defense, I have picked other fruits. Just not apples. Anyway, it was fun.
Little Boy was a little uncertain at first. It was his idea to get in the cart, though.


See? Farm. I don't know how big the farm is, but it looked...big.


All done. We only picked the one bucket-ful. Little Boy was so cute---my mom, my sister, and I would pick the apples; then we would hand them to Little Boy and he would run down and drop them in the bucket. He loved it.

On the day before Halloween, we went to my mom's house to carve pumpkins. Actually, my sister carved a pumpkin and Little Boy colored a pumpkin.
 
Here he is, Sharpie in hand. I was smart enough to put an apron on him, but not smart enough to notice his exposed sleeves. D'oh! Anyway, he colored all over that thing. It was awesome.


Isaac helped get the other pumpkin started.


These are the finished products. Nice, huh?

And then...there was Halloween. I posted earlier about not trick-or-treating, but we did dress up. For fun, I guess. Little Boy dressed up as a clown this year, just like last year, but in a different clown costume. Look:


This is last year. He wore Isaac's (and Isaac's brothers') old clown costume from when they were little tykes.


Arrrrrrrrrrrr. This year, Little Boy wore the clown costume that my siblings and I wore when we were little. How's that for family traditions? And from both sides of the family! But Little Boy did not just dress up as any old clown....


...he dressed up as a clown...that golfs. A golfing clown.

That wasn't really part of the costume, but he carries that putter around with him all the time. He wants to be just like his daddy, who is also a clown that golfs.

Happy Sunday!

photo by Travis S.


"It is something to supply clothing to the scantily clad, to furnish ample food to those whose table is thinly spread, to give activity to those who are fighting desperately the despair that comes from enforced idleness, but after all is said and done, the greatest blessings that will accrue . . . are spiritual. There is more spirituality expressed in giving than in receiving. The greatest spiritual blessing comes from helping another."
-David O. McKay
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Church Quote of the Day


 Three-year-old girl: "There's Sister Cook*!"
Girl's mom: "Mmhmm."
Girl (pointing to Sister Cook's husband): "And there's her grandfather!"