Lessons of a Car Crash and Kind People

I got into a pretty serious car crash Monday Evening...I'm not sharing this for sympathy or attention.... I don't deserve it but that is a lesson for a later time. 
It's actually been a really emotional and hurtful thing for me both physically and mentally. But I just can't get these thoughts off my mind and feel a pressing need to share them for whatever reason that might be:
I was reminded of the raw reality that I am not in invincible, I can be broken. Life can change so quickly....it is a gift not to be taken for granted. Luckily I was wearing my seat belt but I can tell u that a day won't go by that my kids will ever not wear their seat belt again, no matter how short the drive or how annoying it may be to them.
Second, I am so thankful for kind people. There really is so much good if we look around. As I sat dazed after the impact, I turned my head and watched as two men at the intersection got out of their cars and ran toward me. The one who came to my window had long brown curly hair and a bearded face. He was wearing army pants and a baggy sweatshirt. Instantly he began speaking words of comfort and assurance to me. He assured me that I was now his "homie," put out the burning air bag, and leaned in to turn my car off for me. As I bawled he told me it was ok to cry and reminded me not to move. He assured me that the other car passengers were ok when I begged him to check on them, and he called my husband to tell him what had happened. While we waited for the police, fire truck and ambulance, he told me about his wife and two little girls to keep me calm. And once help arrived, he told them all he knew about me and silently stood on the sidewalk with his sweet family watching me as they took my vitals and checked my body. Despite all the disappointment and chaos right now in the world, I am grateful for him I never got his name.
Last, as the paramedics checked my body, they were shocked to find I was ok with minor bumps, bruises, and burns. They cautioned me to take it easy and that I would be sore. Some might say I am lucky, others might call it a coincidence, but I know there is a god who watches over me and protected me. He is aware of me.
As my husband and kids arrived on the scene, the first thing my little Katie said as she hugged me was, " mommy thank goodness Heavenly Father heard our prayers and u are ok." I'm grateful for the kind policemen who entertained them and gave them stickers to help them not be scared. And I am so thankful they were not in the car with me that night. It is bitter sweet of course, my husband held me as I repeatedly told him I was sorry about his car. He replied with, it's just a car, I didn't like it anyway. I am sad for him but grateful for his love, grateful for divine protection, and grateful for good people.

Dinner Party and Just Jan's Jam!

I was able to host a Vegan/Plant Based/Vegetarian dinner party last week and it was so fun! We did it potluck style and swapped recipes and tips, ideas. I got a bunch of new books/cookbooks to read, blogs to follow, recipes, and restaurants to try out. It was so motivating and uplifting.

As part of the dinner party, I was able to share Just Jan's Jams in multiple flavors with vegan home made bread! It was sent to me by Tryazon to share and try out. I loved the Mango and strawberry the best. Even my kids love it. The best part, it is Vegan-it contains all readable ingredients, there is only a few ingredients, and they are all natural! No processed sugar. Check it out online if you are interested.

Thanks to everyone that came! And I hope that we will be doing this again frequently in the coming months!

Provo City Temple: How I Love to See The Temple

Happy Sunday

Today we went to the temple dedication for the Provo Temple. We went to the open house with the kids a few weeks ago and were in amazement, as we walked the halls, at how beautiful it was. Everything was done in beautiful wood work and domed arches as you enter into each room. Originally a tabernacle, it caught fire and was mostly destroyed. Then, it was restored and reborn as a temple of God. 

Elder Holland referred to it as the Phoenix ( this image brought up the scene in Harry Potter where at the end of its life, the bird goes up in flames, and in the ashes turns into a baby bird-reborn-new life) 

We got to take Tavin with us to the dedication at our stake center-as all who are 8 years old and older could go. He asked questions through out and I was happy to know he was listening:) One talk in particular that touched my heart was about Temple recommends and being worthy at all times to have one. He told a number of short stories to make his point clear that Temple recommends are essential and of the greatest value:

A woman diagnosed with cancer and only given a few weeks to live-she could not leave her hospital bed-but pleaded with her LDS doctor to please bring the bishop of her ward to her bedside to renew her temple recommend as it had expired during her stay at the hospital and she did not want to be without one. The doctor, bishop, and woman all knew that she would never attend the temple again in this life but fulfilled her righteous desire to interview and give her one. She new how important the temple and being worthy was. 

Another story related the account of Elder Tom Perry as a young man-he and his family moved to a new area and he and his father were assigned to Home teach an inactive sister in their ward. They were told that she did not open the door for anyone she did not know or who she did not recognize their voice. They new it would probably be a challenge but they went anyway. After they knocked on the door, they heard her say, "who is it?" He promptly replied "Tom Perry and my father-we are new to your area and have been assigned as your new home teachers." She paused for a moment and then said, "slip your temple recommend under the door then so I know you are telling the truth." 

The speaker related this to our death and passing, standing outside the gates to heaven and knocking, the person on the other side of the door says "who is it?" We answer with out name and the angel states, "please slip your temple recommend under the door for me to see."  If we are unprepared and unworthy-not holding a recommend- we will not be able to enter the kingdom of Heaven. If we are unworthy here on earth to hold a temple recommend and enter the house of the Lord, what makes us think we can enter the house of the Lord in Heaven?

He mentioned that a temple recommend is real estate insurance or our Mansion in Heaven:) And he reminded us that we will be unable to take with us any earthly possession but that we will be able to take with us: knowledge that we obtain on this earth, our eternal families, and our worthiness to enter the Lords house-our temple recommend.

He closed by saying that we do not want to be caught unprepared for the final exam! Many of us have had that nightmare in our sleep of some test or other in our learning years. The fear of not studying as we should and not passing. We don't want to make that dream a reality in preparation for eternity. Death bed repentance is an attempt at cramming for the final exam. Look at a temple recommend as a A+ you earned on earth for being prepared and worthy for the kingdom of God or a diploma with high honors you work hard for. Do not wait- like the saying states "It is already too late to fatten the Hog on the day of the state fair."

Consider the well known CTR-choose the right- and also think of it in this way: Currently Worthy of a Temple Recommend.

I want to always be worthy to hold a place in Gods kingdom and his House-the Temple. I am drawn to it and yearn to be there. I feel his peace and love like I never have before. It once was something I was uncomfortable with and hesitant about, but now I find joy in the time I get to spend there and the service I render in others behalf. I have found answers there and know of the truths talked about. 

Oh Crazy Olivia and the things you do, What would we do without you!

This girl cracks me up! She is so good for my well being:) Today she informed me that if you brush your hair with your sisters toothbrush and some hand soap on it-it will become really soft and it grows really fast! (she did this for about 20 minutes evidently-Dan saw and thought it was an OK activity-hey it kept her busy right) Did you know this interesting trick? I certainly was clueless to this miracle treatment:) Time for a new tooth brush for Katie! She did NOT think this was funny!

She also decided that in a game of freeze tag, if no one is around to tag you, no worries, just tag yourself and you are back in the game!

DVD=FRISBEE
SNEEZE= A BLESS YOU

Ozobots and the Tryazon Party

We held an Ozobot party through Tryazon this weekend and had so much fun! Kids and adults can learn to code their own tracks for these Ozobots to follow! Ozobots work with and without smart phones and I pads. The kids really liked racing them, creating their own codes/tracks, and watching them dance! The process is super easy to understand and really fun and educational! They played with them for hours. I think my husband and his friends enjoyed it just as much as the kids:) We definitely recommend this product and this party site! Check out the Ozobot and Tryazon. We are so glad we decided to fill out an application to host this party!

                                                 Dan Explaining how the Ozobot works

                                  Demonstrating some of the many things the Ozobot can do

                                               Trying out a track we coded ourselves

                            Looking at the many codes you can use and how to make them

                                                 Watching the Ozobot dance on the I pad!

                                                    Drawing our own tracks to try out

                                                                      After party fun:)

                                         More drawing practice, testing, and learning

                                            Tavin showing off the end result of his code track!

The Spirit of Christmas-more than just one month out of the year

There are so many things I love about this time of Year....the traditions, and the magic of it all-the spirit that fills my whole being with happiness and a yearning for doing good. I love to watch my children as they witness these things in their own lives.

We wrote Santa and delivered it to his mailbox here in Daybreak as part of our traditions we do. Each child wrote and created a letter so unique to his/her personality. Tavin didn't even ask for anything specific....he just said-"I would like you to bring me whatever you thing I would like Santa." Katie have 2 or 3 requests but then made sure to include a detailed picture of Christmas for him, promised him cookies, and included a few pieces of candy in the envelope for him. Livy asked for pink snowballs:)

I love their joy, their innocence, their faith in all that is magical and true, their desire to do good-they are examples to me.

I am especially grateful for their knowledge of what the true meaning of Christmas is-the birth of our Savior and Redeemer...in Katie's words the other day: "It is about giving and about Jesus mom." I"m determined to make it a goal this year to have that same spirit/faith/knowledge and desire throughout this year-not just for a month out of the 12 months of the year.

Jesse the Cow Girl, R2D2, A Mermaid, and the CUTEST Snowman EVER!

This year for Halloween Katie was Jesse from Toy Story/a very pretty witch, Tavin was R2D2 (I made his costume with a little bit of Dan's Help) Darth Vader, Livy was a mermaid, and graham was the cutest snowman I have ever seen!! Daybreak is the ideal place for trick or treating and after 2 hours of walking houses, we have more than our share of candy for sure! 2 houses even gave out the big candy bars. Dan of course loves it, at night when the kids are in bed- he loots their bags. And they wonder where all the good stuff disappears to:) One day they will figure it out. 

My favorite part of Halloween is the family traditions- we always go trick or treating with cousins and we always have soup and chili. The kids always sort out their candy and trade with each other and we always have fake eye ball ping pong balls in our drinks:) That is what makes life good. 

This week I wanted to take some time and tell you about 3 instances where I see the spirit directing me and influencing me in my life. I do not believe in coincidences:

After trick or treating and visiting-everyone eventually started to gather their things and head home. Chrissy and her kids were the last to leave. They happened to be there during our scripture reading and for prayer, It was livy's turn to say prayer and I asked her who she would like to help her say it...mom or dad? She said she wanted Chrissy to help her (she calls Chrissy "kissy" and absolutely adores her) I haven't heard Chrissy say a prayer since she was little and expected her to push the responsibility back onto Dan or I. 

When that didn't come, I glanced over at her-I saw the delema of feeling uncomfortable saying it/but loving Livy so much that she was willing to say OK and help her. My heart filled as I saw her wrap her arms around Livy, bow her head and close her eyes. And I felt the spirit fill the room as she whispered a prayer in Livy's ear. She prayed about family, kindness, and love. She prayed a prayer of gratitude. I am grateful for those kinds of moments.

Another important and valuable lesson we learned this Halloween:

When Dan and I were out food shopping, Chrissy brought over the movie Hocus Pocus. I remember seeing it as a kid and being a little scared and weirded out by parts of it. I have always been sensitive to the spirit of things when it comes to movies or TV....Even when some are just meant to be humorous or entertaining, I feel the darkness in it. Anyway, it is definitely not one that I would let my kids watch- especially at this age. 

Well, after talking to Chrissy and explaining why I didn't feel it was a good choice (sucking souls out of people, raising bodies from the dead, sexual implications by the witches, etc.) she felt bad about it. The damage had already been done though-and we had a talk with the kids about watching things and taking part in things that uplift us and help us to feel good inside instead of watching things that make us confused, scared, or feel uncomfortable inside. We talked about the fact that sometimes Dad and Mom won't be around to tell them to shut it off or watch something else, and they need to be able to make the choice themselves by how they feel. 

As a consequence Katie learned the hard way about it-she had bad dreams and a hard time going to sleep at night because of the images she saw from the movie....she said to us "I know that witches aren't real but the pictures are stuck in my head and I feel bad inside." 

We would say prayers with her when she felt this way to help her feel at peace and be able to calm down-think of good things-so she could go to sleep. And we talked about singing church songs to help focus on feeling better. She would be able to fall asleep afterward as we showed her ways to invite the spirit and ask for help from Heavenly Father. We also made sure to point out in the morning that our prayer was answered/and that the feelings that replace the yucky ones were given by the Holy Ghost. I hope and pray that these types of experiences and lessons will help them in the future and am grateful for the simple yet grand miracle this was to a little girl.