Music

Recently music has had more meaning to me than it has in the past.
I get the privilege to be in the room every week when these songs are sung by children who are learning how true these words are.
If you know these songs, please read them and pay attention to the words.  If you don't know them, I know without a doubt that they are true.  I know that we have a Heavenly Father who knows each of us, everything about us and that he wants to help us and is there to help us when we ask for it.  We can pray to him and he WILL hear us.  He wants us to be happy and enjoy this live (And we can!) even though it is full of trials and hard things.

For example:.

A long time ago in a beautiful place,
Children were gathered ’round Jesus.
He blessed and taught as they felt of His love.
Each saw the tears on His face.
The love that He felt for His little ones
I know He feels for me.
I did not touch Him or sit on His knee,
Yet, Jesus is real to me.

I know He lives!
I will follow faithfully.
My heart I give to Him.
I know that my Savior loves me.

Now I am here in a beautiful place,
Learning the teachings of Jesus.
Parents and teachers will help guide the way,
Lighting my path ev’ry day.
Wrapped in the arms of my Savior’s love,
I feel His gentle touch.
Living each day, I will follow His way,
Home to my Father above.
I know He lives!
I will follow faithfully.
My heart I give to Him.
I know that my Savior loves me.

or

I'm trying to be like Jesus;
I'm following in his ways.
I'm trying to love as he did, in all that I do and say.
At times I am tempted to make a wrong choice,
But I try to listen as the still small voice whispers,

"Love one another as Jesus loves you.
Try to show kindness in all that you do.
Be gentle and loving in deed and in thought,
For these are the things Jesus taught."

I'm trying to love my neighbor;
I'm learning to serve my friends.
I watch for the day of gladness when Jesus will come again.
I try to remember the lessons he taught.
Then the Holy Spirit enters into my thoughts, saying:

"Love one another as Jesus loves you.
Try to show kindness in all that you do.
Be gentle and loving in deed and in thought,
For these are the things Jesus taught.

or:

If the Savior stood beside me, would I do the things I do?
Would I think of His commandments and try harder to be true?
Would I follow His example? Would I live more righteously,
If I could see the Savior standing nigh, watching over me?

If the Savior stood beside me, would I say the things I say?
Would my words be true and kind if He were never far away?
Would I try to share the gospel? Would I speak more reverently
If I could see the Savior standing nigh, watching over me?

If the Savior stood beside me, would my thoughts be clean and pure?
Would His presence give me strength and hope, and courage to endure?
Would His counsel guide my actions? Would I choose more worthily
If I could see the Savior standing nigh, watching over me?

He is always near me, though I do not see Him there
And because He loves me dearly, I am in His watchful care
So I'll be the kind of person that I know I'd like to be
If I could see the Savior standing nigh, watching over me.

The Maiden Voyage

(Joe wanted me to name this post that)
We bought a camper a few months ago!  We have wanted one for years but it was never the right price or right time and we didn't have a vehicle that we could pull the trailer with that would fit our family.  After we bought the Yukon last year we were hoping for a trailer this year and happened to come across one that was perfect for us.
It is old but in pretty good shape.  There were a few things that needed fixing and a few things that we wanted to fix.  A few of the wants were a new floor, recovering the cushions and making curtains.  The old cushions were REALLY ugly, dirty and well worn so I took on the task of recovering them.  When it was all done I was pretty proud of myself for accomplishing it but when we went camping with our friends we saw three trailers that had cushions recovered by professionals I was so happy that it looked about the same as mine did!
I was able to get the cushions before we picked up the trailer so I could recover them and I had already ripped off the 80's wallpaper to reveal the 70's wallpaper and took down the old curtains before I took pictures so I don't have very good before pictures.  Trust me, it was UGLY!

As you can see, there are a few things that need to be done still but we are loving it!
Over Easter break we were able to take it on our first trip.  It was so fun.  Not to mention it was so much easier.  I loved having a fridge and freezer and a place to put everything.  We have always enjoyed camping so we have collected lots of camping stuff over the years and kept it all in a few camping totes but now we have drawers and cupboards!

Our first dinner!

 This is the only picture that even remotely shows how dirty it was there.  I don't mind dirt or dirty kids, it is good to get dirty sometimes but I have never seen a place where the dirt is just everywhere.  On day 2 of our camping trip Braelynn was playing with a toddler who was there and said "Wow, that baby is dirty".  Everyone laughed and I took her into our camper to look in the mirror so she could see how dirty she was, which was so much more that the baby.