Here's a picture of Faith and Jaylee a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was cute of them posing.

Here's a cute picture of Brody smiling at his Grandma the other night while his mom and dad were at the gym. We had fun taking a few pictures while they were gone.

I just typed a whole post and lost it when I went to add some pictures. I was telling about our poor dog, Blackie. He lost a toenail and has been chewing at his foot and it is infected and swollen. I bought an E-collar to put around his neck, The first collar he could still get at his foot so I got another one that was bigger. He was still managing to get to his foot though so we put an ace bandage around his neck to hold it in place and then Ron used duct tape to make it hold. Then we wrapped up his foot after putting peroxide and neosporin on it. He looks pitiful. He runs into things and hops like a rabbit. I really feel sorry for him. Sometimes my inheritance is a pain in the behind. Anyway I hope this works so we don't have to spend a fortune at the vets. I know I'm cheap but I bet it would cost a few hundred dollars. Hopefully this will work and it will heal so I won't have to.

"SPIRITUAL GIFTS"

Today was my turn to teach the Young Women's lesson. (I am a Beehive advisor) It was on "Spiritual Gifts." I only had about 20 minutes for a lesson that said you could take two weeks to do. It went pretty good though and the girls were receptive. The objective was to learn that by developing our spiritual gifts it will enrich our life and others. We discussed D & C 46:6-26 and wrote down the spiritual gifts that were mentioned. Our high councilman in his talk mentioned these and then when I was setting up my room, the teacher that was in the room before me mentioned his lesson and it was very similar but went on to talk about charity. I told the girls this and said that charity is a special gift to have and to pray for it. I used Heather as an example because her and Heath have that pure love of Christ. The love they show for the little girls in Haiti (way before they had even met them) is the true love of Christ. That is one of their gifts!!! I am so proud to have had Heather in my home as she grew up. She came with that special spirit and and she continues to use this gift that God has given her along with many others. So this is a kind of tribute to a wonderful daughter and son of God who I love with all my heart!!! Their children are indeed blessed to have them as their earthly parents!!! My sons and daughter-in-laws have special gifts too and their children are blessed to have them as their fathers and mothers. They love their children and you can see it in their eyes and on their faces as they interact with them. They all have such good hearts. I have the best family in the world!!! And also the best extended family!!!!

"Our gifts and opportunities differ; some are more visible and impactful....We all have at least one gift and an open invitation to seek 'earnestly the best gifts." (D&C 46:8) (Neil A. Maxwell)

How can you recognize your spiritual gifts?
1. Pray and ask for help
2. Obtain and read your patriarchal blessing which may identify some of your gifts.
3. Observe traits and talents that seem to come naturally to you.
4. Accept calls from priesthood leaders.
5. Notice compliments you receive from others.

One Y.W. in the Miamaid class started telling the girls what she saw in them, the teacher was really moved from that. It touched the girls hearts and hopefully it will help them recognize their gifts.

So, I challenge each of you to start looking for your spiritual gift or gifts. You have at least one of them. For some reason this lesson touched my heart and has given me the desire to find my gift. Whatever that may be. I do know that Christ lives and that he is my Savior. I want to be good enough to live with him again and to have my family with me forever. Satan works hard on me and makes me feel like a nothing but I know deep inside I am a child of God and I pray for the strength to be a better person and to find my gift. I know...preachy mom!!! But this is in my heart and I want us all to make it and be together forever. Satan is out to ruin the family and each of us individually. So together we can be strong and we can make it and help each other along the way. I LOVE EACH OF YOU!!!

My little grandson Brody, smiling BIG at Grandma's house last night. His daddy bought him the cute camouflage outfit for Christmas!!! He will be 8 weeks old tomorrow. I can't believe it. Isn't he the cutest?

Christopher and Brody

Kisses from daddy!!!!

Here's a picture of Christopher at around 6 weeks old. Isn't he a cutie pie? What do you think...does Brody look a little like his daddy?