O Sing A Song of Bethlehem

I heard this song at the high school choir concert tonight. I don't know if I've heard it before, but the lyrics really hit home. This season is set aside to celebrate Christ's birth, but we must always remember His life and His sacrifice for us. I think this song reminds us of that.
(If you look on youtube, there are several instrumental versions of this song and a couple with vocals as well.)

O Sing A Song of Bethlehem

1. O sing a song of Bethlehem, 
 of shepherds watching there, 
 and of the news that came to them 
 from angels in the air.  
 The light that shone on Bethlehem 
 fills all the world today; 
 of Jesus' birth and peace on earth 
 the angels sing alway.

2. O sing a song of Nazareth, 
 of sunny days of joy; 
 O sing of fragrant flowers' breath, 
 and of the sinless Boy.  
 For now the flowers of Nazareth 
 in every heart may grow; 
 now spreads the fame of his dear name 
 on all the winds that blow.

3. O sing a song of Galilee, 
 of lake and woods and hill, 
 of him who walked upon the sea 
 and bade the waves be still. 
 For though like waves on Galilee, 
 dark seas of trouble roll, 
 when faith has heard the Master's work, 
 falls peace upon the soul.

4. O sing a song of Calvary, 
 its glory and dismay, 
 of him who hung upon the tree, 
 and took our sins away.  
 For he who died on Calvary 
 is risen from the grave, 
 and Christ, our Lord, by heaven adored, 
 is mighty now to save.

30 Days of Thankful--Day 30

Today I am thankful for this season that celebrate's the birth of Jesus Christ, our Savior.

Maren and I went to a live nativity tonight (click here for more info about the Alpine Live Nativity). Despite the rain, we had an enjoyable evening. My spirit was touched and my eyes filled with tears as we entered the barn where Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus sat. All was quiet, even the little children hushed, as we all took just a moment to think about that special night so long. The night that changed the world forever.

30 Days of Thankful--Day 29 (belated again)

Yep, late post again. Sometimes life gets crazy and you get tired before you remember to post what you're thankful for...

Today I am thankful for the temple.

30 Days of Thankful--Day 28

Today I am thankful for warm socks :)

30 Days of Thankful--Day 27

Today I am thankful for my camera.

30 Days of Thankful--Day 26

Today I am grateful for the generosity of others.

30 Days of Thankful--Day 25

Today I am thankful for my house.

30 Days of Thankful--Day 24 (belated)

Today (yesterday, actually) I am thankful for a brain that has abilities to organize, feet & legs that can walk, arms & hands that can hold, and a mouth that can smile.

30 Days of Thankful--Day 23

Today I am thankful for my dog.

I know Dexter loves me in that special way that dogs love their families. He can sense when things aren't going well with me and will try to be near me when that happens. He is pretty whiney sometimes, and can be a bit of a nuisance, but I can forgive that 'cuz I sure love him!

Addendum to Day 22

We can't believe it came so fast!

Getting ready to read it out loud...

As he's reading...

Super excited brothers!

Can you see the pure joy in his face?

Happy sister!  (note the lack of pictures with his mom--that's because I was the photographer--but I gave him the longest hug and listened to his heart racing because of the excitement)

Happy Happy Boy :)

Telling his grandparents (who served a mission in  South Africa) his exciting news

A few minutes later while he updates his facebook status and I text the bishop with the news

30 Days of Thankful--Day 22

Today I am thankful for Carson who is worthy and has chosen to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I wasn't really expecting his call yesterday. I figured there was about a 2% chance of it coming so quickly--he and I were prepared to wait a couple more weeks, but it turns out we didn't have to.

For those of you who haven't heard, Carson has been called to serve in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, speaking French. He reports to the Provo MTC on January 9. And if you count the weeks, it's 7, yes, 7 weeks until he leaves. Life just got a little busier for the two of us, but in a very good way  :)

30 Days of Thankful--Day 21

Today I am thankful for tender mercies.

30 Days of Thankful--Day 20

Today I am thankful for my Savior.

His teachings, His example, the Atonement--where would I be without it? So lost. And because I am not lost, I am thankful.

30 Days of Thankful--Day 19

Today I am thankful my sister-in-law's surgery went well.

30 Days of Thankful--Day 18

Today I am thankful for inspired ward and stake leaders who give of their time to benefit so many others' lives.

30 Days of Thankful--Day 17

Today I am thankful that all my kids are home safe in their respective apartments, bedrooms, etc. I am also thankful that the boys will be here next week for Thanksgiving break and we will all be under the same roof for 5 days!

30 Days of Thankful--Day 16

Today I am thankful that we all have different talents and that others are willing to share theirs with me.

30 Days of Thankful--Day 15

Today I am thankful for conveniences like my dishwasher, indoor plumbing, computers, and my car. 

These all make my life easier (except when they stop working, but that's another post for another day) and I don't really want to live without them. I know I could, but I still don't want to :)

30 Days of Thankful--Day 14

Today I am thankful for good friends. 

I have good friends who love me despite my weaknesses, who help me despite their busyness, and who inquire about how I am doing despite their own difficult circumstances. I love my friends. Right after my Savior and my family, they are the most important thing in my life.

30 Days of Thankful--Day 13

Today I am thankful that my family and I are in good health.

30 Days of Thankful--Day 12

Today I am thankful for our ward's Primary children and the way they shared their testimonies through word and song at yesterday's Primary Program in Sacrament Meeting.

I am always touched by the Primary children when they present the annual Sacrament Meeting Program. I feel the Spirit through them, even in the practices. I am so privileged to be able to work with these awesome children!

30 Days of Thankful--Day 11

Today I am grateful to all those who have served and continue to serve in the military to protect our country's freedoms.

30 Days of Thankful--Day 10

Today I am thankful that I get to see both my sisters pretty soon.

Susie and her family will be making a brief stop in Utah before Thanksgiving on their way to Disneyland, so I will see her then. I will be flying to Texas for my niece's wedding just before Christmas, so I'll get to spend a few days with Nanette.

I love my sisters and really wish we could see each other more often!

30 Days of Thankful--Day 9

Today I am thankful for a warm bed when I am cold and tired.

30 Days of Thankful--Day 8

Ever have one of those days where you're not feeling very thankful? Yeah, me too. Like today. But I tried to work through it by thinking of my blessings ("count your many blessings, name them one by one..."). Still wasn't happening for me--I think Satan must have gotten an extra hold on me today. So I took a short nap.

Today I am thankful for naps.

I am feeling better now. And much more grateful, because I do know that I am very blessed.

30 Days of Thankful--Day 7

Today I am thankful for people who went out of their way to check in on me when I was having an emotional day. And I'm also thankful that Carson found his wallet.

30 Days of Thankful--Day 6

Today I am thankful to live in the United States of America and to be able to participate in the process of voting for our state's and country's leaders.

I don't discuss politics with anyone, except my kids once in a while. I don't care for the animosity that has surrounded the current election. But I do firmly believe that we as citizens of this great country must exercise our right to vote. A couple of times I've even fallen into "Mom Lecture Mode" and told a couple of acquaintances my thoughts on why they should vote. Apparently, this trait must be genetic, as Carson told me he's done the same thing (except he didn't call it  a "Mom Lecture," but that's essentially what it was).

I have a neighbor who has received her American citizenship sometime in the last few years. Although this wasn't her first time to vote in an election, it was the first presidential election that she has been able to cast a vote. She shared with me that although she had to wait nearly 2 hours in an early voting line, she was happy to wait. In fact, she said she was "giddy"! We should all be that excited to participate in the democratic process, don't you think?

30 Days of Thankful--Day 5

Today I am thankful that I have a job to help support my family.

I love working at the library. I enjoy the people I work with. I like the interaction with the patrons. And I really like being around all those books :)

30 Days of Thankful--Day 4

Today I am thankful for the opportunity to spend some family time with my kids.

I have three awesome people in my family who just happen to be my children. I am blessed by them. I am happy when we all get to spend time together, since it doesn't happen as often as it used to. They bring me joy.

30 Days of Thankful--Day 3

Today I am thankful for a friend who included me in her Friday night plans.

I was afraid I would be a third wheel, and was a little uncomfortable for a few minutes here and there, but I heard some things I needed to hear. So I am glad I went and I'm glad I have good friends.

30 Days of Thankful--Day 2

Today I am thankful for good kids who are making good choices in their lives.

I am really blessed by my children. It makes me happy when we spend time together.

30 Days of Thankful--Day 1

Last year I opted out of November gratitude blog posts for various reasons. This year I have decided to remind myself of my many blessings by writing a daily thankful post. This exercise is really for me, but you are welcome to read along :)

Today I am thankful for the beautiful weather we've had here for the past few days.

Yesterday was the warmest Halloween Day ever in Salt Lake. This morning there was a gorgeous sunrise to watch while driving Maren & her friends to school. All of this is in stark contrast to the devastating storm on the East Coast. The news reports and pictures of the storm and its aftermath are so difficult to hear and view. My heart goes out to those so terribly affected by Hurricane Sandy.

Driving and Bricks

I've been driving a lot this week. Mostly back and forth to Provo. Mostly because Carson decided to put his mission papers in and wanted to do it with our home bishop. 8 trips to Provo and back in 8 days (Saturday-1, Sunday-1, Tuesday-2, Thursday-2, Saturday-1, Sunday-1) and only one of those was not Carson-related. But I am not writing this to complain, far from it. I'm just sharing, just so you know :)

When the announcement came 3 weeks ago about the age change for missionary service, Carson suddenly had more options. He had been planning for a long time to go to two semesters of school, then come home to work for the summer, then be available for missionary service in August (when he turns 19). He could stick with his original plan, or make various tweaks to that plan, he just had to decide what was the best plan for him. He and I had several discussions for two weeks. He and I were both praying for him to know what our Father wants Carson to do. He heard lots of others talk about "being hit with a ton of bricks" and knowing they were supposed to go. He kept waiting for that ton of bricks. I reminded him that our prayers are not usually answered that way, in fact, I don't know that I personally have ever had that kind of an answer to prayer. Carson and I have had lots of talks about answers to prayers. I have reminded him many times that most often, our prayers are answered not by an angel visiting, a burning bush, an audible voice, or even feeling like a ton of bricks just hit us, but rather by other people who are in tune enough to offer needed service, ask the right questions, or even just listen.

Carson was having a discussion with his uncle, my brother, when Chris asked him a simple question--and that was Carson's answer. When he called to talk to me about it, I pointed out that that question was the "ton of bricks" that he had been waiting for, and he agreed.

The wheels were put in motion and everything has been taken care of on the application, so now he just needs to meet with the stake president before the papers can be submitted. He has put his availability date as January 7. We'll see where and when he goes sometime within the next month or so. I'm so happy for him--so much so that I don't even mind all those drives to Provo :)

More Harvest Dinner

I wish I had taken a picture of some of this... Oh well, you'll have to use your imagination. Maren and I had roast, farm-fresh corn, and bruschetta for Sunday dinner. OK, I didn't grow the corn, but some farmer close by did, and oh, was it tasty. (I didn't raise the steer for the roast either.) But I did grow the tomatoes and basil for the bruschetta. And it was extra tasty!! So simple too. Just peel, seed, and dice several tomatoes. Drain off excess juice. Mix in freshly grated garlic, chopped basil, salt, pepper, and olive oil. You can also add a splash of balsamic vinegar if you like. Slice a baguette, spread a little olive oil on, then toast in broiler or on the grill. Top the bread slices with the tomato mixture. Yum-O (for all you Rachael Ray fans out there)!

p.s. a pet peeve of mine is when bruschetta is pronounced incorrectly--it doesn't have a "sh" sound in the middle, it's "sk". Like as in school. JSYK :)

(Meager) Harvest Dinner

The past few years haven't really been conducive to extensive gardening, so we've mostly just planted a couple of tomatoes and been good with that. I expanded the plantings to include potatoes this year, but due to watering issues, I thought the potatoes had pretty much all died off. When Maren was weeding the giant weed patch (aka the garden area) this past week, she found some actual potatoes that had grown to a size that we could actually eat them. I should have taken a picture, but I didn't, oh well. The largest was the size of a man's fist, the rest were all ping pong ball size or smaller. Because I failed to get to the store on Saturday, we didn't have any salad or fresh vegetables for Sunday dinner. I was really hoping that the tomato plants would have enough ripe to yield at least a few offerings for dinner. We were in luck! We had just enough potatoes to roast up with chicken (along with rosemary from our patio pots) and several small garden tomatoes to turn into caprese salad (along with basil from our patio pots). It may be our only harvest meal this season, but it was tasty :)

Day 9--Paris (long post with lots of pictures)

After getting up early to be at the airport for our flight from Berlin to Paris, we were a little cranky when the check-in process was less than efficient and rather frustrating. Eventually, all was worked out and we were on our way to Paris.

I knew the weather was going to be much warmer than we had been used to in Berlin, and that was a bit of a concern for me. It did cause my legs and feet to swell over the day as we walked all over the city, and the next day, the 11-hour plane ride didn't improve the situation, only made it worse. Luckily, the swelling went away within a couple of days of being home and I felt like myself again.

The end of our day in Paris was a bit rough, but we managed to finally make it back to our hotel for a few hours sleep before heading back to the airport and getting on the plane for our long ride home.

Now, I know it sounds like our Paris experience wasn't much fun, but that's not the case. I just wanted to get all the bad stuff out of the way before sharing all that we were able to see while we had one afternoon and evening in Paris.

First up was Notre Dame Cathedral. We joined the long queue to go inside, but the line moved quickly. Inside we saw beautiful stained glass, heard an amazing choir, and were able to enjoy viewing the other sights. Next we walked around the outside (being sure to gaze at the famous flying buttresses) and took a few pictures before walking along the Left Bank to our next destination.

The kids in front of Notre Dame

And to prove that I was there too

Joan of Arc

The ceiling

The choir that was performing while we were there. It added so much to our visit to have the beautiful choir music in the background

Gargoyles!

We walked along the Left Bank, eventually coming to the Pont des Arts, a bridge known for all the love locks placed on the fence.

Institut de France

Pont des Arts

Thumbs up from Mom!

We were headed to the Louvre, hoping to be able to see some highlights there in our allotted few hours. We chose the main things we wanted to see and then headed to them, looking at the other displays along the way. Some of the main exhibits we were interested in were Durer's Self-Portrait, Winged Victory, the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, the Code of Hammurabi, and the statue of Rameses II. We did see all of these, along with other wonderful paintings, sculptures, and antiquities. The kids took over a hundred pictures in just the two hours we were there. I won't include them all, but we do have them :)

Code of Hammurabi

Winged Victory

Mona Lisa

Cupid and Psyche

Venus de Milo

Rameses II

Next up--ride the Metro to the Arc de Triomphe. The metro station we went to had these old Art Deco signs that I had read about, so, of course, we had to take some pictures.

cue the song "The Metro" by Berlin

Once we got to the Arc de Triomphe, we realized that we needed food pretty soon. Our original plan was to have crepes by the Eiffel Tower, but that was still a couple of hours away. As we started to walk down the Champs-Elysees, we found a McDonalds. So yes, we ate there. Partly to fulfill Carson's goal, partly because it was (comparatively) inexpensive to everything else right there, and partly because hey, it's kind of ironic. Then we went over to the island with the arch on it (via the underground path, of course). The boys climbed to the top, while Maren and I stayed behind at the base.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

I don't know what I was doing with my hands

 

The underside of the top of the arch as seen from the base

View from the top

In the distance the Sacre-Coeur Basilica

The stairs up to the top of the arch

Once the boys came down, we realized we were running out of time. We headed over to the Eiffel Tower and hoped to be able to take a Seine cruise, but it was too late, we had missed out on that one. The Eiffel Tower only had one elevator working so the lines were extremely long. We knew this ahead of time and were prepared to just see it from the ground. Sure enough, the lines were hours long, so we did have to miss going up the Tower as well. We did, however, take lots of pictures, despite the sun going down and losing our light.

It was late and we needed to get back to our hotel, but first we had to eat crepes! We sat on the wall overlooking the Seine and ate our nutella-filled crepes. Yummy!

It was definitely an adventure getting back to the hotel, one that I wouldn't want to undertake again. But we had seen what we came to see in our brief layover in Paris and if we never make it back there again, at least we had our one day to see some of the most famous sights in the world.