Great Weekend!!

Yesterday I was in a stake woman's choir for our Stake Relief society conference. We sang some beautiful songs and had a great time. Sister Clegg, who used to be in the General Primary Presidency, was our keynote speaker. She has 5 children and has served a mission as a Mission Presidents wife in Brazil and Portugal. She had some wonderful stories to share with us and great lessons to teach from her experiences. Here are some thoughts from my notes:

1. Relief Society sisters, no matter what age or nationality, can serve and reach out to each other and answer each others prayers.
Examples of this are:
a. When she was in Brazil, an older sister there named Gina who spoke no English, came over 5 days week and taught her Portuguese. They became great friends and Sister Clegg still speaks the language fluently.
b. A neighbor of Sis. Cleggs lost her son in a tragic hiking accident. This mom was having a very hard time until two teenage girls from her neighborhood came over with a plate of cookies. They had lost their mom to cancer the year before and asked this grieving mom if she would be their mom when they needed to talk or get girl advise. This made all the difference to all of them.

2. The Light of Christ is in our life and it radiates from us when we serve and reach out to others. People can see it in us. We are women of covenant and as we serve, all are blessed in the process.

3. President Spencer W. Kimble said, "God does know us and He watches over us, but it is usually through another He meets our needs."

4. "Be not afraid... only Believe!!"
Pay attention everyday and you will see that
Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ
are in every aspect of our lives.

I did the large floral arrangement for the front of the chapel and I was pleased with the way it turned out. After the program we had a great lunch and sat and visited for a while. It was wonderful. Afterwards, I took the flowers over to Evelyn Ross to cheer her. She is doing well with her infusions but she gets tired easliy and doesn't come out to large groups because her imune system is low. She loved the flowers and the visit. She is a dear friend.
Last night, Chris and Emily came over for his birthday dinner of Steak, Potatoes Au Gratin, Ceasar Salad, Rolls, and sparkling cider. Then we all watched the latest episode of "Smallville". After that we opened presents, sang Happy Birthday and then had Chocolate cake with chocolate fudge icing and filling and Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream (all served on Superman plates) while we watched the movie, "Vantage Point". It was a delightful day full of love and warm fuzzies.
Today after church, Dad and I made some family phone calls to Beth, Gwen, George, and Fred Overdeik (his friend who introduced him to the church) All the conversations were great and only one surprise out of all of it...George is getting Married!!!! Yep, he asked Urasia to marry him and she said yes. He got her a ring and they got their marriage liscense on Friday. Their baby girl is due in 7 weeks and they will be married some time this week. They have moved into a large 5 bedroom, 3 bath 3000 sq. ft. home in Idaho Falls so there is room for everyone. Seneca and Emeric (who both have their learners permits now) love the house and are happy with the news. I didn't think it would ever happen again but it has and I am happy for them and anxious to meet his soon to be wife and her daughter Macy (or maybe spelled Macie, I forgot to ask) and our newest granddaughter when she is born in March. I can't believe how many girls have entered our family lately. It sure is changing the Mann family boy/girl ratio.

Birthday Shout!!!!

Happy Happy Birthday, Christopher Jacob Joseph Mann!!

(Chris is the one on the far left, in case you didn't know!)

We love you and are proud of who you are.
You are a "Super Hero" to your family as you love us
and give your all with your tender heart.
Thank you for blessing our lives these past 25 years.

Temple Promises

On Sunday afternoon, I turned on BYU-TV and there was a devotional from BYU-Idaho being shown. It was in the middle of the program so I don't know who the speaker was but I was interested in what he was saying. He was talking about the blessings "Promised" to those who attend the temple regularly. He summarized what the Prophet Joseph Smith told us in Section 109 of the Doctrine and Covenants and so I grabbed a notebook and let him finish his presentation and then went back in his talk (thanks to the ability to pause and rewind live TV) and paused his 12 points so that I could write them down. I felt they were worth sharing with my family and friends on our blog. So here they are...

1. They will feel God's power in their lives.

2. They will be taught words of wisdom.

3. They will grow up in Christ.

4. They will receive a fullness of the Holy Ghost, to be comforted and led to all truth.

5. They will be organized according to the laws of God.

6. They will be prepared to obtain every needful thing.

7. They will be armed with God's power.

8. They will have the name of Christ upon them.

9. They will have Angels to guide and protect them.

10. No weapon will be formed against them.

11. No combination of wickedness shall have power over them.

12. Those who fight them will dig a pit and fall into it themselves.

In this day and age with all the things going on in the world, I was very happy to gain a little more understanding of the blessings of the Temple besides the obvious ones. One of our goals is to attend the Temple more frequently than in the past and partake of the blessings promised to us. I know we desire those blessings promised as they are very appropriate for our current situation in the world today. I hope you have enjoyed the message as much as I have.

Have a great day!!

Christmas to New Years in Pictures

For the first time in our married life together
Richard and I spent Christmas morning alone.
We slept in til after 8:00, opened our stockings,
had our "Yulekaga" breakfast, took our traditional
Christmas morning picture of the tree and then opened
our presents to each other. Very strange in a quiet, peaceful
sort of way.

A little after lunch time, the peace gradually became the
traditional excitement and noise of Christmas as Chris and Emily
arrived and then our Philpott family of 7 from Sacramento.
Hurray for the explosion of love!!

After we opened the Christmas presents and then had a great
Christmas dinner that everyone shared in the making of,
we had some more fun family time together.
Jenna and Isaiah loved the rocking horse that was bought for their uncle Chris
when he was two.

Auntie Em played Christmas carols for us as Emma
and Isaiah listened and tried to help her out... like she
needed any help.

Finally, after many years, we have enough children to
act out the nativity story. Here is Papa Mann as the inn keeper
with Michael as Joseph, and Abigail as Mary, great with child.
Daddy John, reprized his role as the donkey.
Uncle Chris was a shepherd (note the mini lamb
from our Ecuador Nativity set)
who had been told by the Angel (Auntie Em)
about the birth of the Christ child.
Emma, Jenna, and Isaiah were the 3 wise men.
We missed having Dave, Brook and Carter here.
Carter could have been a perfect baby Jesus.
It was a wonderful Christmas!!

On the 27th of Dec. Susannah "Jones" had her wedding reception
and I did a cake for her and her husband as a gift.
They cut it for the traditional pictures and feeding.
She is a dear friend of the family and was the only girl
in Jeff's high school Posse of friends. They are still all very good friends.
Here they are together (minus one) for perhaps the last time.
Even though having a birthday so close to Christmas can be
hard, I've realized how lucky I am to be able to have my gifts
under a Christmas tree. Not many people have that privilege.
However I do request that my gifts are not wrapped in Christmas paper!

Chris and Emily, and Jeff and Rachelle were here for my birthday.
We had a great day together as it was a day off of work for me.
They all fixed my Birthday dinner (Taco Salad at my request)
then I showed my "daughters" how to decorate a cake.
We all enjoyed the evening and played games too.
Thank you Family for a great Birthday.