Welcoming 2012 In

I have always been a huge goal-setter. I love having goals to focus on. What I strive to do, is every year, I make a huge goal list. In order to obtain the goal, I strive (Strive is the key word - one of my goals this year to be better at my goal obtaining) to have a Goal Session every week in my journal (Sunday). I set goals for the week and make a weekly schedule that can help me obtain my goals. Anyways, love goals :) I thought I would record the family goals we set and my girls' goals this year. Because this is part of our family journal, I think it will be fun to read back on this in a few years. I was really proud of the goals Carolyn and Angela came up with all by themselves. For instance, Carolyn really wanted the goal to read personal scripture study every morning really early. When she first told me that she wanted me to wake her up super early, I made sure she really wanted to do this because she has a hard time as it is waking up for school. But she said she wanted to wake up really early with me every morning for personal prayer and scripture study. When Angela heard this goal, she was amazing and wanted to do it as well. It was been an amazing experience waking the girls up a little earlier for personal time with the Lord. I love this part of the day. Thank you Carolyn for starting this ;)

FAMILY GOALS:
-Memorize the monthly primary scripture together
-Go to the zoo lots (the girls set these goals and I thought this was a great one)
-Each girl - one date a month with Dad
-Daily Gospel Devotionals with mom and girls
-Once a week, plan a fun family activity
-Every week focus on a General Conference talk (and that's where we'll get our FHE topic)
-Continue daily family scripture study, song, testimony, and prayer
- Save money for van so no loan
- Each week focus on a scripture story

ANGELA GOALS:
-Go to the library two times a week (she was the most enthusiastic when she set this goal)
- Say personal prayers morning and night
- Learn the Articles of Faith
- Learn to read
- Preschool with Mom 5 times a week
- Learn all letter names, sounds, and be able to write them
- Personal scripture study early each day

CAROLYN GOALS:
- Mom give me "hard work" to do every day (Learning time with mom after school each day)
- Each time I get money, pay tithing
- Personal morning and night prayer
- Personal scripture study every day
- Wake up early and read personal scriptures
- Learn all the Articles of Faith
- Piano - lesson once a week/practice 5 times a week
- Have lots of friends over
- Personal "thank you" prayer after school every day (I love this one Carolyn came up with)

The next day after we had made these goals, we received a Christmas card from our sweet great grandparent Hansens. The girls each got a dollar with the card. When Angela opened her card and found the money, she could hardly contain herself. She kept yelling "I CAN PAY TITHING! I CAN PAY TITHING!" These girls are such examples to me. I wish that every time I received money I could just think of it as an opportunity to pay tithing.

Here is our "fancy" goal wall (I know - I don't ever claim to make things look cute). But, anyways, the girls like putting a sticker on their little chart in the middle (with the frog picture) each day they work towards meeting all their goals for the day.