We are in Utah now. Emily has been a little sick the past few days. Tonight it got bad. Coughing so much there was hardly a pause in her coughing. Carolyn counted that the longest she could go between her coughs is 20 seconds. We feel pretty confident it is coup - she sounds like a seal barking when she coughs.

Then, her grandpa (Ponka), Uncle Dave, Uncle Alex, and Andrew gathered around sweet Emily and gave her a blessing of healing. Right after the blessing, Emily ceased from coughing. It's been about 20 minutes and she hasn't coughed yet. The power of the Priesthood is the eternal power and authority of our loving Heavenly Father!

First, only a few people in the girls' elementary school got a special award a little bit ago. It was announced in the school and Angela was one of those few. For doing an excellent job completing her reading work. Definitely one of Angela's spiritual gifts is a desire to learn and a desire to work hard. So happy the school recognizes that! Good job, Ang-Ba-Nang!

 Preschool! I definitely decided that opening up a free preschool is my dream. Although when finished teaching for my first time this school year, I called up my sister and exclaimed, "I can't believe I majored in this!" because I didn't feel like I did a good job - I still LOVE it!!! It is where I thrive!! Teaching!!!! I took pictures of all of Emily's classmates and thought I'd put it up here. I did it for a craft for next week's Christmas party...

 Miles Castleton (I grew up with both his parents in Chicago - Jenny and Rich)

 Scarlet Westenskow

 Maddy Dahlstrom

 Dulcie Kovach

 Axel Johnson

 I love the power of music. I love using music to teach. My girls and I are ALWAYS singing. Mostly to feel close to our Heavenly Father and also to learn! We sung this fun song as a Preschool to learn about the letter "J."

 Man, I feel bad for the headache of putting up lights. It's insane and things always seem to go wrong. I am soooo grateful for a husband that does it for the kids (and let's be honest...he's married to me...I know he does it for me, too!) 

 I LOVE Family Home Evening! And I love how the girls just LOVE it, too. Honestly, one of the best parts of the entire week! I wanted to share what we did. I want to remember all these special moments where I felt the spirit so strong as we study and learn and discuss and grow in our faith in Jesus Christ and His true gospel! I loved Carolyn's lesson from this past week. Last week Carolyn and I started "Homeschool" together after school. I love it. Honestly, love it. Last week we studied the apostasy and restoration. Our learning together came a lot from the youth curriculum "Come Follow me." I am obsessed with that curriculum! It's amazing! Anyways, we used that to lead our discussions as well as "True to the Faith" - GREAT resource!!! On Monday, Carolyn gave a lesson that just touched my heart. It was wonderful and I love the game she came up with to help us further learn and grow our testimonies in the restoration of the gospel. She had four bags all labeled differently (i.e. " Apostasy," "The Great Apostasy," "Overcoming Apostasy," "The Restoration"). She then had multiple pieces of paper labeled with various wording on it - about the Priesthood being restored, the first vision, etc...we took turns taking the pieces of paper and putting it in the corresponding bag.

 I loved Carolyn's object lesson. May I remind you - SHE CAME UP WITH THIS ALL BY HERSELF!!!! Her and I did study the topic together and talk lots about it -but she came up with EVERYTHING to teach it!! I loved this...she compared the restoration to a broken leg that was fixed...

 ....and a broken toy that is fixed.

 I have a testimony of Joseph Smith and the restoration of the true gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that this is the true gospel of Jesus Christ and that Joseph Smith saw God and Christ in the Sacred Grove. I know this because I continually feel the spirit testify of its truthfulness. My dream mission to serve with Andrew is in New York. At the sacred grove. It is my favorite American Church sight. I remember being young and walking through the woods where Joseph Smith once walked, that - although young - will always be remembered in my heart. I know that he saw Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father in the Sacred Grove. I know that you don't have to walk through the grove to feel of its truth, it can be continually felt through the Holy Ghost.

 I loved Angela's part of Family Home Evening!! She did scripture. She read the scripture of Christ administering the bread as part of the sacrament. She then showed a picture she drew...it has two parts. One of the parts is a picture of Christ with bread - administering the sacrament.  On he other side of Angela taking the bread as part of the sacrament.

 

 For Family History Gathering of Family Home Evening, Emily talked about how in the Christmas Devotional from the night before, they spoke of the story of our Savior's birth as being one of the first Family History stories recorded. Emily shared that and then share the story of Christ's coming.

Andrew left for hunting with his brother and dad last night.

Andrew gone = Slumber party in Mom's bed!!!