Thank Goodness for the Drama Queen!

This week I have to say I'm super thankful for Tori.  She really saved my butt.

I was asked to take part in the Stake Youth Conference Return to Galilee program.  They asked me to create a photo booth so the kids could dress up in period clothing and have fun.

I'll be honest, I was stumped. Crabby. Negative. And all around not happy about the project.

Instead, she pulled me down to Goodwill where we went shopping for fabric.  Then she came home and created all the outfits (and of course, it was the night before.)

I admit, I was really worried how it would turn out.  But the simple, layered costumes were wonderful. They were quick for the kids to take on and off and a lot of them had so much fun they didn't want to take them off.

I am super grateful for my girl and all the help she gives me.  I know I couldn't have done this without her.  Thanks to Tori, my negativity was overwritten and everyone had a wonderful time!

Summer Update

I have been so bad at keeping this blog updated with family adventures.  I hope with the start of school and my "attempt" to get back into the swing of things and organized that I can do better.  Usually there just isn't much going on.  We are happy to just survive another week with the normal problems that we all have.  But since I know that family (hi MOMS!) wants to know more of the daily grind, I'm going to try to do better.

Family Overview:
Tori, Josh, Zach and I spent most of July in Texas helping Mom and Dad Bryson move their candy store to the other side of the mall.  Mandie, Mom, and Dad did the hard part of moving everything out of the old store in May before coming to see us in Colorado for Tori's graduation, but when the time finally came, we needed to move it all back in.  Wow.  That was a hard, crazy move.  I don't know how they managed to get all that out of the store since it was so hard to get it back in with even more of us.  My cap is off to Mandie for sure!

We got to spend a good three and a half weeks with family in Texas.  While most of it was work, we did enjoy just being together.  I'm glad things worked out that we could go.  Thanks Mom and Mandie for all the stress of getting us down there.

Hank:
While I took most of the kids to Texas, Hank and Henry stayed behind to work.  Hank got several pieces of work news while we were away.  It turns out that we won't be moving this summer or fall after all.  We were pretty sure that a move to Florida was in the works, but since Heavenly Father knows more than us, He has decided to keep us in Canon City for one more year.  We have faith that this will work out for the best, especially with Henry being a Senior this year and having so much going on with that.  But we were a little dissapointed as we felt it was time to go on many fronts.

Hank also learned that he was being moved over to the ADX.  This is the maximum security prison that houses the worst of the worst. Hank was able to join us in Texas for two weeks, and then started working at the ADX as soon as we got back.   He's already being nick named "The Inmate Whisperer" and "Dead Shot" thanks to some crazy incidents that happened out there in his first week.  Hopefully this move will be good for him, as the entire brass seems to think he'll be able to go anywhere he wants after being there for a year.  We'll see.

Hank is currently serving in the Elders Quorum presidency, although we don't expect that to last more than a week or two.  His president was called into the Bishopric, so we expect a realignment of his calling.  We'll see what happens there.

Kim:
This has been a pretty rough summer for me.  I feel like I've failed a bit with the store and in being a mom, so my esteem has taken a bit of a knock.  Then with other "life problems" that came along this summer, I came pretty close to a breaking point.  I'm so grateful to family that was there to pull me out of it and bend over backwards to help me.

I've been trying to find my place now that I'm back to being a stay home mom.  I'm still trying to keep pretty busy with my Kandy Kreations store and blog.  I shut a lot of the store down to help me catch my breath, so it's been slow, but I've been trying to transition over to making money on the blog while doing the things that I enjoy.  It's been slow, but I have hope.  I also started a second blog that I had originally planned to be a moving guide for prison families.  It hasn't gone the way I hoped, so I'm trying to realign my vision with reality and enjoy what I am doing.  This second blog has been a place where I can showcase the hidden gems of Canon City and take the kids to do some fun things.  It's been fun.

I am currently serving in the Young Women presidency.  It's the one area that I always felt I would least enjoy.  I'm working with the Beehives, which has been both fun and challenging.  They still have the excitement of being in Young Womens, but they are easily distracted in just about everything.  It's been an interesting calling and I'm trying to bring my Recreation degree and love of parties to interest and entertain the girls.  Sometimes I wonder if they think I'm just nuts, but they go along with my crazy ideas usually.

Tori:
Tori was a big help to us down in Texas both in setting up the store and working it.  She enjoyed her time down there while starting the Smallville series.  She also made a new "friend" that she met while working the store one night towards the end of our trip.  They went out on a "date" and had a good time, after I stalked his facebook page and made her promise to send status updates along the way.

While down in Texas, we came up with a "life plan" for her, at least one to get her going until she figures out where she's heading.  Her plan is to head back down to Texas about Thanksgiving time so she can help out at the candy store during the long holiday hours.  After the new year starts, we hope to enroll her in cosmetology school so she can get her licence and start doing hair.  This will give her time to figure out where Heavenly Father wants her to go and the skills to be able to afford to get there.

Tori is still technically in Young Womens.  They said she could stay until she leaves in the fall as long as she's finishing up her Personal Progress.  She is working on a clay replication of the Salt Lake temple as her last value project.  It's been a little more challenging than she thought, but we're hoping it won't take as long as the real temple did to build.  The Primary have pulled her into the nursery to be a helper for the summer while the regular teachers are away.  Once school starts, we aren't sure if she'll stay down there or not.  She loves working with the little ones, so we'll see if she gets any say in the matter.

Henry:
Henry has been one busy little bee this summer.  We have rarely seen him with work and football practice.  As a lifeguard at the pool, he's there almost from 9am to 9pm every day.  He's gained a little bit of a fan base with some of the little girls and his swimming lesson groups.  In the few spare moments that he's had, he started practices for the high school football team with a few friends.  He's enjoying being back on the field and hoping that Canon City has a better passing team than his last team did.  He's really needing his uncles to come visit and practice with him, since Hank has no free time and I can't throw a ball to save anyone's life.  (Anyone up for a road trip?)

He'll start his senior year in two weeks and will keep being busy then too.  He's taking a few honors classes while playing football, singing in Encore, and being a Peer Counselor.  I'm not sure how he's going to do it all, but he's a hard worker when he puts his mind to it.  I just imagine we won't see him much except at football games and encore shows when we're cheering him on.

Joshua:
Josh is one of a kind.  I can see moments of his maturity and growth and moments when he still enjoys the funny, shocking, stupid things of being a kid.  I guess thirteen does that still.  I am totally amazed at how he's slowly starting to be more help at home with the little things that he volunteers to do.  I have hope that some day we won't see him in jail or the hospital for following his Daredevil ways.  Although he did decide to fill up the little pool we have and go swimming when it was 40 degrees out last week in the rain.  I'm surprised he and Zach didn't get hypothermia.

Josh will start 8th grade this year.  He's determined he's really going to buckle down and get his work done this year, but we'll see if that really happens.  I don't know how anyone teaches this grade.  Trying to get him to do his work is like pulling teeth, so I have great hope that he'll finally see the light this year.  He is talking about doing both soccer and football this year, but I'm not sure it's going to happen.  The time and money may just be more than we can handle, so we're trying to figure out how to work that out.

Zachary:
Zach has loved Henry working at the pool this summer and has become an unofficial lifeguard.  He's down at the pool almost every day with Henry and has become a little fish.  He had a small birthday party at the pool when we got back from Texas since that's where all his friends are these days and it was fun to see him show off his pool skills.

He'll start fourth grade this year and will continue in the GATE program.  His math skills are pretty exceptional so we're glad he goes to a Math and Science school that has the resources to guide him.   He's really looking forward to going back to school.  (Gotta love when they are that young still.)  He had decided he wanted to play soccer for the city in the fall, but after hanging out with Henry, he's wanting to be like him and play football too.  We'll see where that leads.

We'll that's it for our family's summer activities.  With school starting in the next few weeks, we should be getting into a schedule and down on the crazy summer hours the kids are living by.  I hope to keep you all more updated on our life updates, so keep us in your thoughts and prayers always please!

Agency and Accountability Sacrament Talk

Tori had to give a talk today in church.  She was super nervous, but as always did a WONDERFUL job.  So many people commented to both of us how great of a job she did.  I don't think the notes that she based her talk on can tell you how down to earth and wonderful her talk was, but here they are anyway.

Strength of Youth 

Agency and Accountability

What is agency?

   Agency is “the ability to choose and to act for yourself” (True to the Faith, 12).

   Elder Robert D. Hales said: “We teach that agency is the ability and privilege God gives us to choose and ‘to act for [ourselves] and not to be acted upon’   

   (2 Nephi 2:26). Agency is to act with accountability and responsibility for our actions” 

2 Nephi 

     27 Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and call things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.

  ---Continues to say---

     28 And now, my sons, I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit;

     29 And not choose eternal death, according to the will of the flesh and the devil which is therein, which giveth the spirit of the devil power to captivate, to bring you down to hell, that he may reign over you in his own kingdom.

---FAVORITE PARAGRAPHS IN STRENGTH OF YOUTH

Heavenly Father has given you agency, the ability to choose right from wrong and to act for yourself. Next to the bestowal of life itself, the right to direct your life is one of God’s greatest gifts to you. While here on earth, you are being proven to see if you will use your agency to show your love for God by keeping His commandments. The Holy Ghost can guide you in using your agency righteously.

You are responsible for the choices you make. God is mindful of you and will help you make good choices, even if your family and friends use their agency in ways that are not right. Have the moral courage to stand firm in obeying God’s will, even if you have to stand alone. As you do this, you set an example for others to follow.

DEUTERONOMY 11 

    26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;

    27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day:

    28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day,

JOSHUA 24

    30 And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a cknowledge and he hath made you free.

    31 He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death; and ye can do good and be restored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you.

In several verses in the scriptures it talks about how we know good from evil and sometimes its gonna be hard to choose, weither its hard because we know the right disition but we want so bad to see what the other choice would be like, or its because we're really not sure. Thats when we need to pray to see weither its a sunrise or a sunset (EXPLAIN THAT) 

MORONI 7

 15 For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night.

QUESTION AND ANSWER

  @  How can I convince my friends that our standards are really about freedom and are not a burden?

    “The commandments are not a burden or a restriction. Every commandment of the Lord is given for our development, progress, and growth. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught: ‘God has designed our happiness. . . . He never will institute an ordinance or give a commandment to His people that is not calculated in its nature to promote that happiness which He has designed’ (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 256)”

   @  What are the consequences of how I use my agency?

   “Your use of [agency] determines your happiness or misery in this life and in the life to come. You are free to choose and act, but you are not free to choose the consequences of your actions. The consequences may not be immediate, but they will always follow.

 

  @  Besides choosing between right and wrong, how else does agency apply to my life?

   “You are . . . responsible for developing the talents and abilities Heavenly Father has given you. You are accountable to Him for what you do with your talents and how you spend your time. Choose to do many good things of your own free will” (For the Strength of Youth, 3).

  @  Why does Heavenly Father allow Satan to tempt us?

   “Satan’s increasing influence in the world is allowed to provide an atmosphere in which to prove ourselves."

Tori's Charity Talk

This winter we moved to a new ward and they asked us to speak in Sacrament meeting. None of us were very thrilled with it since we were still living in the hotel and didn't have any of our church books, not much space to work on it, and just plain being stubborn. But we did it and now I'm sharing these talks with you.

Here's Tori's...

(copied directly from her notes)

(In the beginning of Ether 12) Faith, hope, and charity are essential to salvation.  1 Corinthians 16:14 says "Let all your things be done with Charity."

Now what is charity exactly?  Like my brother Henry said, 'it is the highest, noblest, strongest kind of love, not merely affection but the pure love of Christ."  1 Corinthians 13:13 says "And now abideth faith, hop, and charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity."

If we don't have Charity we have nothing.  When we don't have charity, we can not have salvation and return to the kingdom of heaven.  When we have the pure love of Christ, we are closer to Him and have more spiritual moments because we also prove we know what our Father asks of us.

For some, it's hard to have un-challengeable love for Christ and our Heavenly Father, but why I don't understand.    Because of Christ's sacrifices for us and how Heavenly Father was able to sacrifice his only begotten son.  When you hear the story of how Christ bled for our sins and died on the cross, how could you not love him for all he did for us imperfect beings?

He didn't have to do anything, he volunteered and did it because he loves us.  So why could we not return that unconditional love?

Deuteronomy 6:5 says "And thou shalt love the Lord they God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all they might."  Do you have charity in all that you do?  Do you love the Lord with all your heart?  With all your soul?  Along with all your might?

In Ether 12:37 it says "And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me: If they have not charity, it mattereth not unto thee, thou has been faithful; wherefore, thy garments shall be made clean.  And because thous has seen they weakness thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father."

I want to end with that so you all shall know that if you have charity, you see your weaknesses.  And if you have complete and utter faith, along with keeping the commandments, we are all so many steps closer to our Heavenly Father and being with Him in his kingdom.