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All of you, of course, are familiar with binoculars. When you put the lenses to your eyes and focus them, you magnify and in effect bring closer all within your field of vision. But if you turn them around and look through the other end, you diminish and make more distant that which you see.

So it is with our actions as holders of the priesthood. When we live up to our high and holy calling, when we show love for God through service to fellowmen, when we use our strength and talents to build faith and spread truth, we magnify our priesthood. When, on the other hand, we live lives of selfishness, when we indulge in sin, when we set our sights only on the things of the world rather than on the things of God, we diminish our priesthood.

To every officer, to every teacher in this Church who acts in a priesthood office, there comes the sacred responsibility of magnifying that priesthood calling. Each of us is responsible for the welfare and the growth and development of others. We do not live only unto ourselves. If we are to magnify our callings, we cannot live only unto ourselves. As we serve with diligence, as we teach with faith and testimony, as we lift and strengthen and build convictions of righteousness in those whose lives we touch, we magnify our priesthood. To live only unto ourselves, on the other hand, to serve grudgingly, to give less than our best effort to our duty, diminishes our priesthood just as looking through the wrong lenses of binoculars reduces the image and makes more distant the object.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

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Joy of Achievement

“Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.”

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Joy of Achievement

Our Children Can Do The Impossible

I can’t help but be amazed at my little family. They are full of (mostly wonderful) surprises.

David is growing up to be a very mature young man. He helps to fix breakfast, change diapers , clean up the house and do his studies. He has become an avid reader and a budding artist.

Donovan is hyper and full of energy, full of life. He is a goof but in a fun and uplifting way and we love him for it. He is very smart and always learning. He is showing talent as a piano player and he loves to play games.

Michael is our compassionate soul. He is often helping mommy fix meals and is always playing on the piano. His is interested in all sorts of crafts and is our most inquisitive boy, usually choosing books from the library that he can learn from.

Aleky is carefree and happy. He could play all day and night if we let him. He love games and lives in his imagination. He is always looking to have fun and can lighten the mood of any situation.

Quinten is trying to be a big boy and participate in the big boy games. He loves to be with mommy but he is usually quite content to play with his little brother Gidean. Those two will play for hours together and it is wonderful.

Gidean is a bucket of joy. He is trying so hard to keep up with his brothers but he certainly loves his mommy. He is developing a very strong opinion and is not afraid to let you know how he feels about something. He loves to be loved and loves to play with his brothers any chance he gets.

My boys are amazing and I know they have unlimited potential. And while there are times of frustration I know they are just boys and they won’t stay boys for very long. I am working hard to enjoy these times where they are children before they are all grown up and gone. And the time is short. But I am grateful that I can be here with them as they are growing, learning and developing into amazing young men.


Our Children Can Do The Impossible

Help Other Reach Their Full Potential

“With your guidance, those you lead will be able to see, want, and believe they can achieve their full potential for service in God’s kingdom.”

—Henry B. Eyring


Help Other Reach Their Full Potential

Meet in General Conference

“And so, my brothers and sisters, we are met together in this great conference to fortify and strengthen one another, to help and lift one another, to give encouragement and build faith, to reflect on the wonderful things the Lord has made available to us, and to strengthen our resolve to oppose evil in whatever form it may take.”

-Gordon B. Hinckley


Meet in General Conference

Gidean Plays in the Firepit

I don't normally clean out our firepit.  Most of the time we let the fire burn itself out and the remaining ash doesn't cause any harm.

I suppose they still haven't cause any harm but Gidean certainly discovered that they are very dirty.  With a little help from his big brother Quinten he was able to get his hair done too!

Needless to say, I felt a strong prompting to dispose of the ashes from our firepit to reduce the childish hair-styling instincts my boys have demonstrated.

Clay Creations

Michael check out a book from the library called "Simple Clay Projects" and has been asking and asking and asking me if we can make them. I finally had a few moments here and there so we started creating. Over the course of about 2 weeks we made the dough, formed the Creations, let the creations dry for a while, painted them, sprayed a finish coat on them, and put on Google eyes. I had lots of fun with my boys and I think the boys had fun too.

Not Quite Big Enough

Here we are at that end of a hectic day! We're scrambling to get dinner ready, to cook the goodies and get the Relief Society activity prepared. Our table was covered with supplies for the activity so we decide to go to my neighbor's house to eat dinner. Michael was attempting to carry the main dish to our neighbor's house. Apparently the dish was bigger than he was.  It came crashing down our front doorstep. Not sure what to do for dinner now!

I know we'll look back on this one day and laugh. After all, our neighbor could do it on the spot. But things don't look quite as funny when you're hungry.

A Little Miracle - Auto Help on Hand

As we were heading up to a Petersen family reunion we needed to take a potty break. Since we were already stopped we decided to take a lunch break before completing the final leg of our outward bound journey.

As we were finding a park/playground to stop at we noticed that distinct odor of engine trouble. We pulled into the nearest parking spot to examine the plumes of steam billowing from under the hood.  As we were penning the hood another cat pulled into the otherwise abandoned lot. The nice lady (Maddie) stops to inquire about our predicament.

(steam blowing from an unknown source)

(staring at the engine, clueless)

(hands of an angel)

(removing broken connector)

(the busted part...only $5)

Apparently her family is highly versed in auto mechanics (her brothers own a auto shop in town) and she starts pulling stuff apart to try and determine the cause of our distress.  Since the suburban was still streaming we thought we might figure it out quickly. It wasn't immediately obvious so she called her father who lived nearby.

Dewaine, the father, shows up. He adds some water to the radiator, has me turn it on, and knows the problem in 2 seconds. It was a busted "T" connector. He pulls the busted piece out and we run down to O'Reilies to get a new part (under $5). We come back and he pops it back in place in 2 minutes. Problem Solved!

This help was so timely that we know it was Heavenly Father looking out for us, a tiny family miracle. 

We finished lunch and were back on the road like nothing had happened, except our hearts were full of gratitude.  We were only delayed about an hour!

(putting the new connector in)

(Dewaine, the angel of mercy)

Tour of Redmond Dairy Farm - Salt Mine Tour (part 4/4)

After making some inquiries we discovered that, due to liability we would not be able to tour the actual mines.  That was disappointing because that sounded really awesome.

We did get to see a short video that talked about the mine and showed a few of the highlights and landmarks inside of the mine.  After the movie was over we took a quick look around the place and snapped a couple quick pictures.

At least we now know where our salt is coming from.  And it looks like there will be plenty where that came from.