Roy, Laura, Elisabeth, Rebekah, & Samuel

Roy, Laura, Elisabeth, Rebekah, & Samuel

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Here are some of our favorite scriptures about Jesus Christ...the reason for the season.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. (Luke 2:9-14)

"For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men, working mighty miracles, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, causing the lame to walk, the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and curing all manner of diseases. And he shall cast out devils, or the evil spirits which dwell in the hearts of the children of men. And lo, he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people. And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary. And lo, he cometh unto his own, that salvation might come unto the children of men even through faith on his name; and even after all this they shall consider him a man, and say that he hath a devil, and shall scourge him, and shall crucify him. And he shall rise the third day from the dead; and behold, he standeth to judge the world; and behold, all these things are done that a righteous judgment might come upon the children of men. (Mosiah 3:5-10)

For behold, the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and the Son of God cometh upon the face of the earth. And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God. And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities. Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance. (Alma 7:9-13)

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting ilife. (John 3:16)

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

It is one of the beautiful compensations of life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.

--- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Our Family Doctor


This is John Allen, the best Physicians Assistant there ever was! (I wish the picture were larger.) He passed away this morning after a short illness that was discovered after he slipped and hit his head while serving his neighbors shoveling walks on Saturday. He has been our family doctor since I (Laura ) was young, and he has been so good to me, my parents, and my siblings. We will miss him very much! Cherry Tree Family Practice in Orem will never be the same. John was so kind and considerate and really listened to and cared for his patients. We love you, John! We will continue to pray for your family!

Monday, December 22, 2008

Sunday, December 21, 2008

12 Days of Christmas

Elisabeth's Piano Recital

On December 10th Elisabeth had a Christmas piano recital. She did a great job! It was fun to hear her and her friends (Hannah, Aspen, & Jessica) play. Hannah's mom, Julie, is her teacher. She is the one in the red serving the cookies in the picture below.

Rebekah's 4th Birthday

Bekah turned 4 years old on December 9th. We celebrated with grandparents on the 7th so that Great Grandma McCluskey could be here. The cupcake cake.Jewelry box from Grandma and Grandpa Swensen. Tinker Bell from Great Grandma McCluskey.Remote Control Scootaloo from Grandma and Grandpa McCluskey.Bekah didn't like the ribbon on her head.My Little Pony Ponyville Sweet Sundae Amusement Park from Mom and Dad.Do you think she got enough gifts? (Laura shops early for birthdays and Christmas...starting in July...so sometimes she loses track of how much she has purchased.)
On her actual birthday, Rebekah got to have her first official birthday party with friends. It was a "Fancy Nancy" party. The dress-up shoes were too small and started falling apart, and the earrings didn't want to clip on correctly. But we hope the girls still had some fun getting fancy. What a bunch of cute little girls...Jennie, Mary, Amanda, Presley, Rebekah, Jenna, and Courtney...with lots of personality!!!

Elisabeth's Baptism

Elisabeth was baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on Saturday, December 6th. It was a gorgeous, sunny day! She looked so pretty in her white dress, and she was so excited about it. Roy baptized and confirmed her. We all felt the Spirit really strongly, and it was nice to think about Samuel probably being there with us. We all cried during the closing song, "A Child's Prayer", because we love it and the kids sang that at Samuel's funeral. It's Elisabeth's favorite Primary song. We gave her her own set of scriptures with her name embossed on them, and other people gave her some really nice things as well. Here are some pictures of her special day.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

If the Savior Stood Beside Me

This is a new book recently released by Greg Olsen called "If the Savior Stood Beside Me", and the little boy on the front cover looks so much like Samuel to me. It was really interesting how I felt when I saw that book for the first time. I can't really describe the feelings, but I know Samuel is doing well and is happy. I just had to buy the book last night, and I have looked at it a million times in the last 24 hours. It was like getting a postcard in the mail from Samuel while he is on his vacation with the Savior. :-) They had even chosen to sing the song "If the Savior Stood Beside Me" at Elisabeth's baptism today (I'll post about that later). I am thankful for all of the little messages I feel I get sent from Samuel.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Festival of Trees (part 2)


Tonight I took Elisabeth and Rebekah up to the Festival of Trees, and we met Roy's parents and grandma, and most of my family. It was fun to look more closely at some of the trees. We still didn't see everything. After doing this two nights in a row, my feet hurt. I wish Roy could have been here, but we might go up on Friday during the day so that he can see everything. Here are some picture collages of the evening. I ran out of memory in my camera because I never delete the pictures off the memory card, so I had to borrow my dad's camera. I wasn't very good with it (sorry...blurry pictures).

More of Sammy's tree display:
Some of the other trees we liked (I took the picture of the golf club tree especially for my brother-in-law Tony who is an excellent golfer):
Some of the gingerbread houses (pretty amazing):