Service ~ Week 13

One day Jesus’s disciples asked Him the following question: “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

Jesus, having summoned a little child, set him in the midst of them and said, “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

“Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:1, 2–4).

Elder Gérald Caussé of the Quorum of the Seventy said, “Little children have a marvelous disposition to learn. They have total trust in their teacher, a pure spirit, and great humility—in other words, the same qualities which open the door to the Holy Spirit. He is the channel through whom we gain knowledge of the things of the Spirit.”

Sarah: I know this quote isn’t about service, but it applies, trust me! I was just called to be the Nursery Leader in my ward. I went for the first time today and it was great. I think there are about 16 kids in there, including my adorable niece, Elise. I’ve been the Nursery Leader twice before, so I have no apprehension about this calling. It’s just plain fun and today only 5 kids cried and only one cut himself and got bloody. Where else can you play barefoot, sing, dance, do playdough, blow bubbles with a bubble gun and eat during church?

Damian: “Kristi Collins. Uncle Fred.” (Now that his bro. Justin is home from Law School for the summer, Damian isn’t going to Tiffany’s to babysit her kids at 5:30am so she can work out before they go to school. He is now going to our friend Kristi’s, while her husband is at The FBI Academy in Quantico, VA. He also goes at 5:30, but Kristi’s kids get up MUCH earlier than Tiff’s. He tells them his name is Uncle Fred, even though the oldest (6) knows him as Katrina’s daddy. He thinks that by passing himself off as a crazy, unheard of relative the kids won’t be freaked out by a strange man in the house. So far, so good.)

Emma: At Young Women’s this week we did rock pick up duty in Charlotte Johnson’s field. She has horses and trains them in the fields. So I helped her AND the horses.

Joshua: I helped Dad put the chickens in the chicken coop and I watered all mom’s plants that she hasn’t planted yet. I also helped Allison with her kids, but that wasn’t service because she invited me to spend the night.

Benjamin: I cleaned up my room. I had A LOT of games out and Daddy helped me. We also made my bed and cleaned pine cones off the driveway. And we put the chickens in the chicken coop because they are too big for the box in the garage now. They smell so bad, I think I will die if I smell them again.

Service~Week 12

How, then, may we as Latter-day women of God best help the Lord with His work? Prophets have repeatedly answered this question, as did the First Presidency six decades ago when they called motherhood “the highest, holiest service … assumed by mankind.” Sheri L. Dew

Sarah: This week Damian and I used our Mexico vacation money and his week off to improve our yard. Damian made raised garden beds, we re-barked our front yard and installed a drip system for our 130+ bushes/trees in the yard. We went to a few plant sales and bought veggies, flowers, trees, bushes, etc. to start landscaping more of our 2 acres. At this rate, we should be done with the yard in about 40 years! I decided to put some of my money towards sprucing up my mother-in-laws side, as a surprise for her for Mother’s Day. We bought tons of red geraniums (a flower she likes) and planted them up her walk way. I think she liked them and it was fun to do something nice for her, since she is always serving our kids (and us.)

Emma: I babysat with Hillary so two women from Northern California could go to the temple. These women have been neighbors for 12 years, but are both moving far away and this was the last time they could go to the temple together. The boy’s name that Katrina couldn’t remember was Ludwig. The women offered to pay us a lot, but Hillary and I said no. It felt really good to serve them, so they could serve the Lord in the temple.

Josh: All week I’ve been helping my mom in the yard, picking up weeds and pinecones, digging holes for bushes and spreading bark. I also went with Aaron and Daddy to buy a gift for Tanta Henri. She turned 60 and we bought her a new bathroom vanity.

Rachel: Today I helped my mom and dad make lunch for our Mother’s Day lunch. We cut the salad from our garden, we have 4 kinds of lettuce that we used. Ben tried a bowlful with ranch and croutons and thought it was really good. He even wanted seconds! We made cake, cheese cake and chocolate pudding, too.

Katrina: On Saturday morning, a lady brought her kids to our house so she could go to the temple. I played with a girl named Isa that was 6. She had a 4 year old brother, but I don’t know his name. She also had an 8 month old baby named Samuel that I played with. They were from Mexico, except Samuel, he’s from California because he has white skin and the other kids had black skin. Hillary came over to watch them and I helped her. In the afternoon, I went to Grandma’s and helped her with Elise and Marcus. I played with Elise and did stickers with Marcus. It was really fun and I hope I can do it again.

Benjamin: I was just helping Daddy make desserts for our Mother’s Day party. We made a cake or pie. I’m not too sure. (they made chocolate pudding, a cake and a cheesecake!) When Daddy was home all week working in the yard I was his helper. We drove in the truck to get bark and to the garden store to get sprinkler parts and tools and stuff like that. We were always driving somewhere together, even out to lunch a few times. For two days it was rainy and I got muddy, but I found some boots to use everyday in the yard.

Service ~ Week 11

During His ministry on the earth, Jesus Christ spent His time serving and helping others. True disciples of Jesus Christ do likewise. The Savior said, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 13:35).

We haven't done our Service Journal for 2 months. We've been doing service, but not writing about it. But lately, the kids have asked me to start it up again. So here we go!

Damian: Sarah and I have arranged to have the BYU Chamber Orchestra come to Medford. We've built a website, emailed ward bulletin contacts, put posters up in surrounding chapels and talked to our friends about it. If you want tickets please go to: http://www.byuorchestra.myevent.com/ All we have left to do is advertise in the community and arrange a dinner as well as housing for the performers!

Sarah: I've been going for the last 2 weeks to my friend Ginny's house to clean on Wed. One day I brought Emma to help. She's supposed to rest and let her twin girls GROW. Some days I come home in a cleaning mood and clean my own house. Oh wait, that was in my dream, not reality.

Emma: Two weeks ago I went to a sister in our ward's house before school. She's having twins and needed some help. I cleaned her bathroom and her kitchen. The week before that some friends and I babysat for the BYU Alumni Event. A Proffessor came to speak and there were 25 kids there. I started working on my personal progress book, since I'm in Young Women's now and counted that babysitting towards my goals. I also went to the temple and did temple work for some people that didn't have the chance in this life to be baptized.

Joshua: On Friday, I went to my Aunt Allison's house and babysat Noah and Mary for about 15 min. until Grandma came. I got to sleep over and the next morning, I played with the kids.

Rachel: We decided to change our old kitchen table into a coffee table for our living room. We'd been storing it outside in our covered porch area. A lot of birds fly around in there and they must think that table is a toilet. Anyway, I scrubbed the table and helped mom bring it inside. Mom and I switched all the table legs around with a wrench.

Katrina: On Saturday, I cleaned the bathroom with mommy. I also played with Noah at the City Wide Clean Up.

Benjamin: I went with my Daddy to the Clean Up Day. I pulled out weeds and helped my Dad. I also played with Noah and Mary while Uncle Aaron used the weedwacker. I also went grocery shopping with Aunt Tiffany and helped her.

Service ~ Week 10

Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles came to speak to our stake (made up of 9 congregations) this weekend. It was a special time. There are over 2,600 stakes in the world and it's not very often that an Apostle gets to visit. I went to church 2 hours early to save my family a bench . . . the very front bench was about all that was left, 2 hours early! We happened to all sit as close to Elder Perry as anyone could in the congregation. I was happy that the kids were all well behaved and listened so quietly.

I wanted to find a quote by Elder Perry about service for the entry this week. Instead I found some personal history about him that coincided with much of what was talked about at the meetings I attended. Elder Perry talked about his childhood and how he learned to work, as well as encouraging parents to teach their children to work. I'm going to really ponder and pray about how to do this better in our home. Here is the excerpt about Elder Perry's life that was inspirational to me:

Lowell Tom Perry was born 5 August 1922 in Logan, Utah, to Leslie Thomas Perry and Nora Sonne Perry. His father served as bishop for the first eighteen years of young Tom’s life, and then as stake president’s counselor and stake president for the next twenty. His mother was a counselor in the ward Relief Society presidency the whole time Tom lived at home. Through their actions, they taught their six children that it was a privilege and a blessing to serve. Their secret was to involve the children in their callings.

“Mother was a great one for compassionate service,” he says. “She went around all the time helping people who were having difficulty, and she liked to take us with her. She would put us to work washing windows, dusting furniture, cleaning rugs, doing things children could do without causing any difficulty.”

His father put the family to work in his calling, too. “The ward building was our second home—we were there so frequently. I mowed the church lawns, washed down the walls, and shoveled coal into the old furnace to heat the building.” And Tom and his mother helped with the ward financial reports, too."

Work at home was also a family project. Even though their father was an attorney and was at his office much of the day, they had a large yard, a cow, and a vegetable garden. Much of the responsibility went to Tom, the oldest boy, to help with the chores, in addition to his delivering newspapers in the neighborhood

It's funny because Damian (also an attorney) and I have been talking a lot about getting some animals for our two acres and we're planning a garden this year. We've even talked about started a family paper route to help the kids learn to work. I liked the idea of involving the kids in the parents church callings, too.

Damian: I cleaned the church and set up all the chairs for stake conference. (He also came home and did 5 loads of laundry, since I told him the night before that I QUIT doing laundry. Then the kids and I folded it all)

Sarah: I watched Marcus and Elise while their mom went and did a little service in the cannery. It was really fun and I’m grateful that I have such wonderful nieces/nephews. I just really love that little Elise. She is truly a joy. That afternoon I also taught Eliza, another niece, her piano lesson. She is almost done with the first set of piano books and works really hard at practicing and learning to play. She’s very fun to teach because she’s really willing to learn. I enjoy our time together. As soon as she finishes the books, I’m going to start Katrina in them. Probably next month.

Emma: I helped Aven Broesder babysit on Thurs. night and I got to spend the night, so that was fun. The next morning, was Friday (a Teacher Work Day). Chelsea (the mom) helped us make burn piles. We burned all the weeds in their yard. That was something I’ve never done before.

Joshua: Every time Benjamin wants to sleep in my room (which is ALMOST every night) I help him get a sleeping bag and sleep next to my bed. I try to be patient and kind to him. He pretty much always wants to be with me, so I try and include him when I do things and have friends over.

Rachel: This week I went to Aunt Christine’s house with Emma and Nina to baby sit Marcus and Elise. I had a fun time. We watched Curious George and I read a Tarzan book to Marcus. We also played “Go Fish.” I played with Elise and I read scriptures to everybody. Then Nina and I went with Marcus to his room. We laid in his room so he could go to sleep. We slept over. In the morning, I helped Marcus get dressed for church and sort of fed Elise. I hope I can baby sit for them again! And I got braces this week, too!

Katrina: This week I helped Emma and Rachel baby sit Marcus and Elise. I had a fun time there. And I played with Elise and her toy kitchen. And I had a fun time playing with Elise and Marcus. And I had fun watching Curious George. I like babysitting Marcus and Elise. And I hope I can baby sit them again when I am older.

Benjamin: I didn’t do any service!
Mom: What about when you helped Katrina make the beds?
Ben: I didn’t help her, SHE HELPED ME!!
Mom: What exactly did you do?
Ben: I just put all the blankets back on people’s beds.
Mom: What is that job is called, when you put blanket back on the bed?
Ben: That’s called . . . Ninja.
Mom: No, that’s called MAKING THE BEDS!
Ben: HU?? (Then he did some smooth Ninja moves with his PVP Marshmallow Shooter) I fought you said, NINJA and I don’t knee-member what else we did.

Service ~ Week 9

President Gordon B. Hinckley said that those who reach out to lift and serve others “will come to know a happiness . . . never known before . . . Heaven knows there are so very, very, very many people in this world who need help. Oh, so very . . . many. Let’s get the cankering, selfish attitude out of our lives, my brothers and sisters, and stand a little taller ad reach a little higher in the service of others.”

Damian: I love being Rachel’s basketball coach. She is beautiful, I love watching her run down the court, look for me and then smile. She is beautiful just like her mother. Coaching Rachel makes the time go by very quickly, I could not imagine a more enjoyable time than to be with my daughter and watch her develop her talents.

Sarah: The 4th grades put on a concert/play celebrating the Oregon Trail Migration and Oregon’s 150th year of statehood. I helped the choir teacher round up 15 Pioneer girl costumes and that many hats for the boys (mostly from my friends that went on the Pioneer Reenactment Trek we went on this summer!) I took pictures for the school yearbook. Everyone looked so cute and the girls really enjoyed their cute little costumes! It was nicely done and fun to be a part of.

Emma: I helped my friend Breanna make a backdrop for her newscast at school. I had to use my fingers, since they ran out of brushes! I had to paint all the little people and the sun. I did it before school and during my lunch hour. She was really grateful, since she got it finished in time!

Joshua: I made a double layered chocolate cake with Ben. We were having the missionaries over for dinner. Everyone really liked it, especially Daddy and the elders. Mom’s secret is grease the pans with Crisco and then flour them. You have to blend the cake with a hand mixer and don’t overbake! Benny really liked licking the beaters!

Rachel: I helped Nina with her homework this week. We did math and reading. She didn’t really need that much help because she’s so smart. I also played school with Nina, later on in the week. We both want to be kindergarten teachers when we grow up. Emma wants to be a teacher, too. It’s funny because our mom was a teacher. The boys both want to be lawyers like our Daddy!

Katrina: Me and Rachel worked on organizing our bathroom drawers. We used to have our own, but now we’ve decided to share them. We took out all our stuff, cleaned it, sorted it and organized it. It was really fun. Now we have a toothbrush drawer. We keep our floss, fluoride pills and toothpaste/brushes in there. Our next drawer is the taller one. We use that for all our make-up, lotions, nail polish, perfume and sprays. We’ve always shared our bottom drawer for our hair supplies, but we cleaned that out, too. Then, we cleaned the toilet together and mom cleaned the sink. Our bathroom is really nice and tidy now.

Benjamin: I helped Daddy. I gived him the 60 watt and 100 watt light bulbs and I taked the covers for the lights to Josh and Mommy to wash them. I throwed the paper light bulb covers away, too. And throwed away the old light bulbs. Carefully, so they wouldn’t break. And when Daddy dropped stuff, like the screws, I found them in the dark carpet. Because he says I have Eagle Eyes.

Service ~ Week 8

“Service to others deepens and sweetens this life while we are preparing to live in a better world. It is by serving that we learn how to serve. When we are engaged in the service of our fellowmen, not only do our deeds assist them, but we put our own problems in a fresher perspective. When we concern ourselves more with others, there is less time to be concerned with ourselves! In the midst of the miracle of serving, there is a promise of Jesus that by loosing ourselves, we find ourselves!” [See Matthew 10:39]

“Not only do we ‘find’ ourselves in terms of acknowledging divine guidance in our lives, but the more we serve our fellowmen in appropriate ways, the more substantive as we serve others – indeed, it is easier to ‘find’ ourselves because there is so much more of us to find!”
~President Spencer W. Kimball

Sarah: My Sis-in-law, Christine taught the Relief Society Lesson on Sunday and I got to take care of Elise. What a joy she is. I really love that girl. I’m so glad that I can “borrow” her for a sweet baby fix occasionally. Next week she’s coming over to play while her mom goes to the cannery and does a little assignment. I’m looking forward to it!

Emma: I just accepted an assignment to be on the “Humanitarian-Aid Committee” for Girls Camp, but I can’t start until I’m 12!! Bummer! We’ll be making baby blankets/quilts so I’m looking forward to that……. This is what my mom told me to write…. I was going to put “My service is to write in this journal!” but I decided against it! I went out to dinner with Aunt Allison and Uncle Aaron and helped them with Mary and Noah.

Josh: I played a piano duet in Sacrament today with Sophie Hull. It was “Love is Spoken Here.” My service was to bring beautiful music to my ward.

Benjamin: I didn’t really want to go to Mia’s birthday party. I don’t ever go to birthday parties, except for my cousins. My mom made me go and Josh came with me. It was a Build-a-Bear Party. I didn’t even want to make the Bear or Kitty, but then I decided to make one for Katrina. She would really love a White Kitty, I thought. So Josh helped me decorate a tee shirt for the Kitty. We did a pink crown and wrote “Princess Nina.” On the back we made a beautiful, colorful butterfly. When I gave Katrina her kitty she was really happy. It felt good to do something nice for her. Even though I still didn’t have too much fun at the party. But the cupcake was good. (Sorry Callie/Mia, I hope you can forgive my rude, poor social skills boy. Maybe next year he’ll be better at parties?)

Service - Week 7

“Love is the essence of the gospel and the greatest of all the commandments. The Savior taught that every other commandment and prophetic teaching hangs upon it. We are happiest when our lives are connected to others through unselfish love and service.” ~Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin

Sarah: I’ve never really blogged about the service I’ve been putting in at my kid’s school. I am the SMART (Start Making a Reader Today) Coordinator. I supervise 35 community volunteers that come and read with 60 different kids at the school for 15-30 min. each. The kids love the program . . . they eat up the one-on-one reading support and attention. I order all the books for the program (each child receives 1-2 books per month to take home), schedule all the classroom pull-outs, and set up my classroom each day (an afterschool group also uses the room, so I have to take down all my displays and move furniture around each day). I spend about 10-12 hours a week doing this . . . the best part is when I take time to read with kids. I enjoy that the most. I like getting to know all the nice retired folks that want to give their time in the elementary school helping children, too.

Emma: This week I helped Uncle Justin with all of the cousins at the park. After Eliza's Baptism Luncheon he and I took 10 little kids to play basketball and soccer. It was fun. I also helped my friend study on the big test that we had this week!!!

Joshua: Mom made up some chore charts for all the kids this week. I had to do things like, Make Dinner, Fold Laundry and Set the Table. Everyday I had to Practice Piano and Feed the Dog. I like Feeding Buddy the best because I love him. I did learn to make spaghetti this week, so that was cool.

Rachel: We learned a song for Eliza’s baptism called “Book of Mormon Stories.” I already knew the first verse, but I learned the last verse. We practiced a few times and then all the grandkids got up and sang it as the closing song at her baptism.

I also want to say that I had my first basketball game, even though it’s not service. Eliza and I tried to make baskets but they didn’t go in. Charlie made about 20! I had a really fun time and I can’t wait to play next week. I hope I make a basket!

Katrina: This week I helped with all the cousins at Grandma’s when Breanna was babysitting at our house and I played with Noah and Elise. (Unfortunately, I paid a babysitter and all my kids went to Grandma's to play instead! At least they were helpful?)

Benjamin: On Sunday, I went to Sunbeams because Mom put me in the wrong row at Primary. So I helped Marcus in his class. I sat by him. He is so smart in Sunbeams. He answered every question right. Our teacher, Chrystal asked us, “Who was Lemuel’s Brother?” I tried “Jesus” and “Joseph” and the answer was “Nephi” and Marcus got it right. I made Lucy happy during sacrament by making her laugh, too. (These are all cousins of Ben's)

Catch up

OK, nothing new to report, same old life, same old stuff.

I have had a few requests to publish my talk (sermon) on Marriage from Sunday (including all my jokes at Damian's expense) so I'll try and put that up on Friday.

Today, I'm back publishing all the service blog entries from this year. We've been recording acts of service to publish into books for the Grandparents at the end of the year. . . we're doing the service in their honor. If you're interested in that stuff, you can scroll down and read them.

Service ~ Week 6

Mosiah 2:17 ~ And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.

Damian: Sarah was asked to speak on Marriage in church this week, so I pulled a bunch of sources for her, to make her life easier. She did a great job, of course . . . using personal facts about me and our marriage to make the congregation laugh!

Sarah: I finally did my visiting teaching, with a home visit and a message to my 3 active sisters. I haven’t done that since my partner moved last spring!! I was assigned a new partner this month and she made all the appointments, so that’s been a blessing for me. I hated making appointments. We haven’t visited our less-active sister, but hope to do that soon.

Emma: I helped at Achievement Days this week. We frosted cookies for the local homeless shelter and all the younger girls needed help with that. I also babysat for Aunt Christine so she could go to the temple.

Joshua: I am the Assistant Basketball Coach for Eliza and Rachel’s team. I take half the little girls on one side of the court and dad takes the other half and we do warm-ups. I run other drills with the girls on the team, too. Uncle Justin is the real Assistant Coach, but he’s only here on the weekends, so I guess I’m filling in for him.

Rachel: Mom moved the trampoline to a NOT shady spot in the backyard. We brought out new library books and had a fruit platter. WE had a homework and reading party. Mom read us some books, but she got cold and went inside before us. Ben just tried to jump while we were working, so mom took him inside, too. I helped Katrina with her work and we had fun together.

Katrina: This week I made a new friend. Her name is MaKenna. She is really nice. And she is friends with My friend Emily. She is friends with My friend Grace, too.

Benjamin: I work the remote control for the fireplace. When I wake up, if the house is cold, I turn the remote on. I just push a button and it goes on. It’s easy. Sometimes Daddy wants me to turn it on and I can do it all by myself. I taught Grandma Suzanne how to work her remote. It's the same as ours.

Service ~ Week 5

"For, generally speaking, the most miserable people I know are those who are obsessed with themselves; the happiest people I know are those who lose themselves in the service of others."

"I recall visiting a college campus where I heard the usual, commonplace complaining of youth: complaints about the pressures of school—as if it were a burden rather than an opportunity to partake of the knowledge of the earth—complaints about housing and about food."

"I counseled those youth that if the pressures of school were too heavy, if they felt to complain about their housing and their food, then I could suggest a cure for their problems. I suggested that they lay their books aside for a few hours, leave their rooms, and go visit someone who is old and lonely, or someone sick and discouraged. By and large, I have come to see that if we complain about life, it is because we are thinking only of ourselves."

"For many years there was a sign on the wall of a shoe repair shop I patronized. It read “I complained because I had no shoes until I saw a man who had no feet.” The most effective medicine for the sickness of self-pity is to lose ourselves in the service of others."
~Gordon B. Hinckley

Damian: I did the BYU Alumni Chapter Annual Report. I woke up really early before my trip to get it done.

Sarah: I went to the temple on Saturday and enjoyed that. This weekend, all the Idiarts/Nadaulds went to a Vranes wedding in San Fran except Suzanne, Al and myself and I've tried to help Suzanne with the kids a little. . . we've had some over to sleep, play games, go to the movies, and I've helped with the carpool situations. . . it's been fun. I don't think I could do what she's done for my own children. She's got 7 kids for 3 days and 5 of them under 4 years old!! If all my kids want to go out of town together someday and they are as prolific, I'll have to enlist my own mother to come stay! This week I also got to READ with some SMART kids (usually I'm just the supervisor) That was really fun and made me really grateful to Damian that I've been able to stay home with our kids. I'm also grateful for my teacher training, so I know how to help kids learn to read and that I know the importance of reading. It's such a shame that so many kids that come from normal families struggle with reading. I think it's mostly due to 2 working parents, or parents that don't understand the importance of education. And a lot of video games/tv watching, for sure!!

Emma: I babysat on Saturday morning so my mom could go work out and then go to the temple. I pretty much helped her and grandma all weekend with all the grandkids, too.

Joshua: This week I played with Noah and Elise to help Grandma with all the kids. It felt good to help with everyone so that Grandma can consentrate on all the other cousins.

Rachel: This week I helped Grandma by: playing with Noah, Elise, Marcus, Annie and Mary. I helped Elise and Noah by feeding them. I helped Marcus, Annie and Mary by turning on a movie and helping them take a bath. When I did those things it made me feel good inside, it felt good to help Grandma with them. Today I still feel really good about it, it makes me feel happy. I also helped Grandma make dinner and blew up balloons.

Katrina: This week I helped Grandma with taking care of the Babies and playing with all the little kids and it was really, really, really, really fun and it made me feel good and I was playing balloons with all the little kids.

Benjamin: I didn't do any service except take Marcus to nursery when he got sad in Primary. My mom told me to go make everyone's beds for service. I made EVERY BODIES!! Mom's, Dad's, Josh's, Rachel's, Benny's, Nina's, Emma's and Not Amatchi's. It was easy and I liked making them, even the big ones! I think I'm a big boy now because I can help everybody.

Service ~ Week 3

"There is no greater blessing, no greater joy and happiness than comes to us from relieving the distress of others."~President J. Reuben Clark

Sarah: This week I had Marcus/Elise and my friend Kari Holley's 2 littlest children over while their moms went to a daytime session at the temple. I really hope to make that new Thursday morning session part of my life. . . either I'll go or I'll tend kids so the moms can go.

Emma: I made Nina's bed (put new sheets/blankets on) and folded a lot of laundry this week (while watching American Idol). I got up early this morning and typed Josh's primary talk for him, too! (Daddy hand wrote it for him the night before!)

Josh: Ben waited to eat lunch with me this week. He really likes "hanging out" with my friends and I. I took him out to recess with us and we had fun until the recess lady told me to take him back to my mom because we were playing soccer too rough and she thought Ben would get hurt. On Friday night, Ben and I went to a party for Adam Desimone (Joanna Souza's brother) and then Drake and Tony slept over at our house. Ben really liked hanging out with the big boys, playing video games and doing fun stuff. He's pretty cute and we like to have him around.

Rachel: I made Aunt Tiffany service coupons for Christmas. Yesterday she used two of them! Eliza and I cleaned the upstairs bathroom. The most fun part was mopping the floor. Eliza squeezed a sponge all over the floor and then there was so much, Uncle Justin said to go get the mop! We also made dinner and set the table. Then, my family came over and ate. The grown-ups ate salad. The salad recipe was green & purple lettuce, spinach, almonds, grapes and cheese that smelled like baby barf (feta cheese). The kids had watermellon and noodles with butter.

Katrina: Aunt Christine and Uncle Jared went to the movies and me, Rachel and Emma babysat Marcus and Elise. I played with Elise half of the time and Marcus half of the time. Then I had a sleep-over in Marcus's room. When I woke up my big sisters weren't there. Aunt Christine made me breakfast and I stayed and played with her kids until lunch time. She told my mom that I was a good helper and she got a lot done.

Ben: When it is really cold in my house I turn on the fireplace. First I push a chair over so I can reach the remote. Then I push the button and warm up the house. Then mom says, "It's too hot in here!" And I turn the button off.

Service ~ Week 2

"I want to commend those of our people who give so willingly of their time in attending to the sacred work within the temples of the Lord. In temple work is found the very essence of selfless service. In my judgement, one of the miracles of our day is the great consecration of time and effort on the part of hundreds of thousands of busy people in behalf of the dead. Those who are engaged in this service know that out of it all comes a sweet and satifying feeling. This sweet blessing of the Spirit becomes literally a medicine to cure many of the ailments of our lives. From such experiences we come to realize that only when we serve others do we truly serve the Lord." ~President Gordon B. Hinckley

Sarah: I was so fortunate to attend the temple with Daniel and my mom this week, in St. George. We missed the session by about 5 minutes, so we did sealings for awhile until the next session started. It was Daniel's first time doing sealings. What a beautiful sealing room, way up high in the temple, with a little round window. Another couple missed the session too and joined us. We had a great time and sealed about 75 children to their parents. The session was nice, also!

Emma: I gave my aunts some service coupons for Christmas. So far, only Aunt Tiffany has used them and she used 2 coupons for 4 hours of babysitting. Her kids are really easy and I like babysitting them. She was really grateful to me and that made me feel good.

Joshua: Dad is my basketball coach and he relies on me as his assistant. He'll call me to get things ready. We had a party for the team and I figured out name spellings by looking at my yearbook, for the trophies. I gathered paper products and other things we'd need for the party. I always get the balls ready and things like that. Maybe someday Dad and I can coach Ben's team together.

Benjamin: I helped my mom put all the chairs down for SMART reading. I do this all the time because I'm strong and Mom is too busy doing paperstuff. Next week I'm going to put stickers on all the new books for her. I like going to SMART because I'm Mom's helper.

Service ~ Week 1

Each Sunday our family is going to journal about acts of service we've performed during the previous week. It is our hope that at the end of the year we'll be kinder and more Christlike as a family. We'll do this in honor of both sets of Grandparents. At the end of the year, we'll publish these posts into little books for them as next years Christmas Gifts!

"God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is through another person that he meets our needs. Therefore it is vital that we serve each other." ~President Spencer W. Kimball

Damian: I am glad that Sarah has put together this service blog. It will be fun to review this at the end of the year. Yesterday I spent the day removing the Christmas decorations from the temple. I had such a good time thinking about baby Jesus, especially on the grounds of the temple. I have really enjoyed decorating the temple for the last several years. The decorations are simple but they remind me of how simple the gospel is. I especially liked this year that I was able to decorate and take down with the assistance of my family. It was so fun to see the kids carry the garlands to the empty boxes to be loaded up in our truck. I enjoy any type of work I can do with the kids.

Sarah: I invited Christine's kids over while she did errands one afternoon. I can't remember the last time we had Marcus over to play, since Ben is in Pre-School, and I don't think we've EVER watched Elise. They are so cute and it was a real pleasure. The best part was watching Rachel and Katrina act like little mothers. They are so good with Elise! Ben and Josh took good care of Marcus too. We all played board games and had lunch together. It was a fun time and I hope to do it again. . .

Emma: The Broesders invited me to to help Aven (their 11 yr. old daughter) babysit twice last week. On New Years Eve they stayed out until midnight, even!! We banged pots and pans with Renna and had a good celebration. I like helping with Aven's brother and sister. They are cute. Jason and Chelsea (the parents) always compliment me about what a good babysitter I am and it makes me feel good to help them and spend time at their house.
(It's true, the Broesders do love having Emma, they say she helps Aven act more grown up, if that's a good thing? We're really happy that Aven has moved into our ward and she and Emma have grown so close!)

Joshua: It was our last week of Christmas Break and my friends were busy. I spent most of the week playing with Ben. He'd sleep in my room every night and we'd wake up together, get breakfast, do chores (I'd help him with all of his) and then we'd just play all day. We played Star Wars, jumped on the tramp, played with the dog, watched movies, read books, played games and just had fun. I know it makes Ben feel good when I spend time with him and I like it too.
(Damian and I really were so proud of how Josh treated Ben all through vacation. Ben was in heaven with that much Best Friend/Big Brother attention!)

Rachel: My cousin Elise came over and I watched her almost the whole time. I carried her, played with her, put her bib on, fed her lunch and made her laugh a lot. She is so cute. I took care of her while everyone else was playing games so she didn't fall down the stairs or mess up the games. I hope I get to be her babysitter when I am 12, she is really easy to babysit.

Katrina: I always help my mom do laundry. This week Rachel, mom and I folded about 10 loads while we watched a movie together and that was fun.

Benjamin: My dad and me are setting up my mom's camera thingy (a new printer) for her. I'n in charge of ripping the plastic and taking all the little things out. I'n the garbage guy, too. I put all the garbage in this box. Hey Dad, the 'structions says to take this sticker off on the dot to dot lines. Where's the scissors? Josh, wanna help me cut this sticker thing on the dot to dot lines?