The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints View of Family

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has its own view of what a family is. This is described in a proclamation to the world that was issued by the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles in 1995. Here is what it said: We, THE FIRST PRESIDENCY of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children. IN THE PREMORTAL REALM, spirit … Continue reading

Family Friendly Earth Day Activities – 2014

How will your family be celebrating Earth Day? There will be many interesting events taking place. You should check local newspaper (or their website) to see what is going on near you. In addition to the local activities, here are several others that will be happening across the United States. Time and Google + want to see your best photo of Earth. This gives you the perfect excuse to bring your family outside to take some photos of our beautiful planet. Pick your best one, and post it on your Google + account with the hashtag #MyBeautifulEarth. Google + will … Continue reading

Don’t Let Baby Crowd Your Marriage

When a baby enters your family, the whole world seems to change. There is a lot of joy and happiness to go around. Each new day is beautiful and special, and as a mother, you look at life in a whole new way. It truly is miraculous. But, there is something else that comes along with babies that you have to be careful about. It is letting that baby control the world in which you and your husband now live. There is always an adjustment period that comes along with each new life you bring into your family. For a … Continue reading

FHE For Small Children-The Prexistence

This past Sunday, my 4 year old gave his very first talk in primary. I was so proud of him. I helped him prepare his talk by asking him a series of questions about what he knew about the earth since the theme was, “Heavenly Father created the Earth for His children”. He told me things like it is really big. It is in space. It has lots of different countries. It was really fun to find out what he knew about earth. I asked him what his favorite thing to do on earth was, and he replied, “Eat!” Very … Continue reading

Not Wasting Food Today

During the holidays, our food waste was a little high. We shopped a lot, cooked a lot and packed the refrigerator with all sorts of ingredients and good things to eat. The environment was just right for food waste, since we hardly knew what we had. Having another person in our home didn’t help, either, since we all tending to save things for each other to the point where some items went bad (a crying shame in the case of the over-the-top chocolate bread). Since one of my New Year Resolutions is to find an extra $5,000 toward my mortgage … Continue reading

The Treasures That Fill Your Home

You’re such a “Bah Humbug,” my daughter said to me with a chuckle.  Here it was the day after Christmas and she had woken up to a house put back together. That’s right.  The lights were taken down from the windows.  The Christmas tree was packed up and there was no sign that decorations had ever filled the rooms. I’m really not a Scrooge.  I love Christmas.  I treasure this time of year.  And I enjoy decorating my home. But I am so much more comfortable when everything is normal.  My normal means the many picture frames that decorate the … Continue reading

Bonding With the In-Laws: The Youngest Sibling

One of the weirdest things about marrying into a large family was that I’ve been around for almost the entire life of my littlest brother-in-law.  When Jon and I first started dating, and I met the family for the first time, his youngest brother was only a bit over a year old.  While he knows most of Jon’s other siblings very well, because they all lived at home with him for years (and some still do), Jon wasn’t around much when he was growing up.  So Jon, his own brother, isn’t really that much more of a presence in his … Continue reading

Love Makes a Family

Logan got a little spoiled with books this Christmas, thanks to Mommy’s thrift shop rummaging. I was tempted to be an indian giver when I fell in love with one of them, but luckily he is a good sharer. As we read the book I felt as if it was written just for us, so much so that it brought me to tears. It is about a single mother who is raising a little girl on her own. One day the little girl comes home from school and decides she wants a “real family,” and storms off next door. They … Continue reading

Family History – it’s not All About the Research

The holidays are a time when you may be able to see relatives whom you do not get to see frequently. Of course, that is a wonderful thing. As a genealogist, you may be tempted to try to get as much information as you can during the visits. You might even make an action plan of what you want to discuss and with whom. I have discovered that unless there is some pressing research that you absolutely must do, those research questions and plans can be saved for email or telephone exchanges, or even writing letters. Holiday visits are a … Continue reading

Family History in the Christmas Tree

For some families, decorating the Christmas tree is a trip down family history lane. While I do not yet have a tree for my home, and I am not sure whether my parents have theirs yet, I do have many memories of decorating Christmas trees with them. Some of the memories even involve the event of choosing a tree and bringing it home. When I was growing up, we did not have a specific plan regarding where we got our Christmas tree. Sometimes, my dad would come home with one on top of the car. Other times, we would go … Continue reading