Recap of Shumway 2026 Family Reunion: Life at the Manor for Two Days and Three Nights

Posted on October 14, 2026 by treeoflifemama

Last month, my husband and I had the privilege of attending a multi-day family reunion for the descendants of his parents at the location shown above. My husband has 8 siblings, and all 9 children of his parents attended the reunion. 7 of the 9 children are married, and all 7 spouses were there. We gathered from across the USA at an Airbnb in Morgan UT. 2 of the siblings live on the East Coast, 2 live in Colorado, and then 5 live in Utah. The last time we all gathered was July of 2023. This reunion was planned with the first generation in mind, meaning my husband and his siblings, according to their schedules. My husband’s parents have both passed on, but I’m confident they were smiling from heaven. Some of the next generation attended, including 2 out of my 7 children, and 4 out of their 35+ cousins. The grandchildren/cousins were welcome to come, but most of them didn’t make it. It wasn’t planned for them. My sister-in-law rented this Airbnb to stay at in September because it was cheaper than renting it in the summer. September might seem like a strange time to have a family reunion, but my 17 year-old-son is the youngest grandchild and the only grandchild still high school age or younger. None of the other siblings have children going to school younger than college so no one complained about going in September and disrupting school schedules. We homeschool so we are a lot more flexible about school schedules.

Here’s a recap of the splendid time we had. First I’ll give you an overview of the logistics then I’ll give a you a daily breakdown of events. Breakfasts and dinners were provided and cooked by whoever was in the kitchen at the time. Then we were on our own for lunch. That was the plan, planned out by two of my sisters-in-law. I wondered if it would work. For previous reunions we have either have the meals catered or assigned meal prep and meal clean-up chores. Truthfully, I think my two afore-mentioned sisters-in-law did most of the cooking, at least the dinner. People fixed their own breakfasts using the food that those two sisters brought: eggs, bacon, sausauge and fruit. I noticed only one of the males helped with clean-up and all the females helped. I haven’t talked to my sisters-in-law yet to see if they were OK with how this all panned out.

Anyway, here’s the daily breakdown of what we did.

Credit for Most of the Photos: Morgan View Manor

Day 1: Thursday

After almost a year of planning, the big day arrived! We gathered in the late afternoon and evening at the Airbnb, the Morgan View Manor, which is the home shown in these photos. Kudos to my sister-in-law who found and reserved the place, and my two sisters-in-law who went to Costco in the morning on the way to pick up all they food they planned for the menus and drove it up. The Airbnb rental fee was paid for by the family reunion fund, which various family members have contributed to through the years. Our reunions used to be every every other year and now they are every other three years. We’ve had many reunions in Provo UT, one at Lake Powell UT and one in Colorado.

That morning, I had to teach a class in at my homeschool co-op for two hours. Then I buzzed home (a 5 minute drive, so different from our Arizona days when a trip to our weekly co-op/commonwealth classes was 90 minutes one way! (Another post of our AZ school is here)). I ate my lunch, then my husband and I packed our bags and embarked on the almost 2 hour drive to get to the Airbnb reunion home. My husband wanted to take the scenic drive through Provo Canyon, so we did. It was so lovely! We listened to Dolly Parton’s book, Songteller, which I had recently got with my Everand subscription. I’ve been on a Dolly Parton binge since her passing (RIP Dolly dear). It was fun to hear about her history including her big family. When we arrived we picked our bedroom from the choices of what was left and unpacked.

The nicer bedrooms were already picked, the ones with queen beds, so we got one of the bedrooms with just bunk beds, as shown below. Not ideal, but OK for three nights. No way was I climbing up and down a ladder in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, which inevitably happens with my middle-aged-mother-of-7 bladder. So my husband was a gentlemanly good sport and took the top bunk, even though he often has to make a nocturnal bathroom visit as well. I also didn’t want to sleep on the middle or bottom bunks and worry about hitting my head when I woke up by sitting up. I just wasn’t sure if I’d remember not to sit up abruptly. So we moved the bottom mattress onto the adjacent floor for me to sleep on. Dear husband slept on the top bunk and my teen son slept on the middle bunk for the one night he was there.

This is the gorgeous view from the front door.

It was fun to explore the place and see the amazing features: 9 bedrooms, a theater room with an adjoining kitchenette featuring a popcorn machine as shown below,

This is the kitchenette in the basement off the two game rooms and theater room.

a huge balcony giving a great view of the sunset, a game room, and so much more!

This balcony is just off the dining room. Such a pleasant place to dine and visit with family! You can even watch the little kiddos play at the playground.

Some of the sibs arrived after us. Then the whole family had dinner (meat, pasta, and sides), helped with dishes or avoided helping with dishes, and went to bed. It felt so weird to have awakened to regular homeschool duty that morning, and then that night, to go to bed in a different place, on a family vacation. My youngest child (the only one left in the nest) didn’t come with my husband and me because of band practice. He drove up late that night after the practice was over, and spent the night with us. His cousin/close friend was so surprised to see him! Cousin Matthew thought he was arriving the next day. My son could only spend that night and most of the next day at the reunion. He had to get back to another band commitment for Friday night and all day Saturday. Out of my 7 children, 2 came to the reunion. We saw the rest of them at our own descendants reunion last July, as recapped here.

The game room, in the basement, under the garage.

Day 2: Friday

First, I got to go shooting! I’ve mentioned before, over here, that I have a brother-in-law who loves to go shooting whenever he can with his leisure time, usually on some weekends or holidays. We were going to go shooting on Christmas Day 2024 but then got sick and/or rained out. Just like I like to go thrifting with my free time, he goes shooting, except I can’t/won’t go thrifting on Christmas. Almost two decades ago, we (meaning my husband and I and 7 children) were en route to a family reunion on my mom’s side, for the descendants of her parents, and stayed at the home of this same bro in law and his wife, my husband’s sister, the night before the reunion started.

They lived in St. George UT at the time, and the reunion was in Overton NV, where my mom grew up. It was the morning of Thanksgiving Day, and my brother in law offered an impromptu shooting session to my husband and older children, before we took off for the reunion later in the day, which was an hour’s drive away. I had to stay with the baby and young children, with my sis-in-law and her babies, and the rest of the clan, age 11 and up, went shooting. Then we were late to the reunion, which bugged me a bit. It was the first time my older children had ever gone shooting so quite exciting for them. So fast forward 17 years later and here I am again at reunion time, with no babies or young children in tow, so I finally got to go shooting. Yay!!!! I know it was 17 years ago because my 17-year-old son was just a few months old at the time.

All the holes on the white paper are from me, including the ones inside the inner black diamond.

I got to try my hand, literally, at four guns: two handguns, a rifle, and an automatic rifle. I enjoyed it and got within an inch of the bullseye. Anytime we shot the gun we got to shoot a whole round of ammo. Then we would cease fire for the whole range and change the paper targets to fresh ones and change guns or take a break so others could have a turn, then shoot again. We had a glorious whole two hours of the shooting range to ourselves with 7 out of the 9 siblings being there. My hubby had to work remotely on his laptop back at the manor and for some reason one of his brothers didn’t go.

The capacious office at the manor where my husband worked with his laptop.

Next, we went back “home” to the manor. I ate my late breakfast. I brought my favorite DIY Greek yogurt to use as breakfast or lunch or brunch each day, in case I didn’t want what was available for breakfast. Some of the group settled into watching Hunger Games in the theater. I read the book years ago for the parents’ book club of my afore-mentioned AZ commonwealth. The founder of the commonwealth, Olivia, saw tons of Christian symbolism in the book and convinced me to read it. I’ve been wanting to watch the movie ever since and discuss it. Then we got word that some of the group was going to Crown Burgers in Layton UT for lunch, so we all put a bookmark in the movie to go to lunch. This was to celebrate the birthday of one of my brothers-in-law. It was his birthday that very day.

After lunch we (most of the group) went to the Hill Air Force Base Museum, which I had been to once, back when I was a younger mom living in Layton. I didn’t get much out of the visit then, with four little children in tow, including the bossy oldest sibling in the group. He was around 11 at the time and kept telling his younger siblings what to do, usurping my role. So the trip was spoiled by that and me telling him to stop being the boss/mother. I didn’t get much out of the trip this time either. It was much more fun to trail behind the rest of the group, being led by a tour guide, so I could gab with my married daughter and sister-in-law who lives in North Carolina. We talked about all sorts of things, so much so that I didn’t completely read a single sign all the way through. I felt like I was in first grade, sitting next to a chatty best friend in circle time, only we didn’t get in trouble because we stayed far enough behind the main group so as to not disturb their tour. Such a delightful time!

My baby with my grandbaby at the Air Force museum.

That night we had dinner of taco salad. I played a few rounds of Bananagrams with my married daughter and one of my sisters-in-law and nephew.

Photo Credit: amazon.com

Then most of us all sat in a circle in the big gathering room and answered questions. My sis-in-law, the oldest sister of the family (she was born after three boys and had blond hair so she is “Goldilocks” and the three brothers are called the “Three Bears’) asked all the questions. Big Sis went around the circle and asked questions like the following, as she drew out slips of paper with the questions from a little bag.

“What is the accomplishment you are most proud of?”

“What is your favorite birthday memory?”

“Did you have a favorite pet?”

“Who was involved with your first kiss?”

This was lots of fun, especially to learn from the in-laws. At previous Shumway reunions (which do have programmed events, unlike reunions on my side that are mostly unprogrammed) we have only heard memories from the 9 siblings. My married daughter said it was nice to hear from her aunts and uncles who are spouses of the siblings. Most of the 9 siblings are loud, and they have each mostly married a quiet spouse. I’ve also noticed that after 3 decades of going to this particular family reunion (every 2-3 years), the same stories got repeated over and over and over. It was so refreshing to hear some new stories! My brother-in-law, who is the husband of Goldilocks/Big Sis, told the story of the time Kenny Loggins did a concert he attended at the BYU Marriott Center in 1983. He accidentally fell 7 feet off the darkened stage, breaking three ribs, so he had to spend the next three weeks at the hospital in Provo, where he charmed all the nurses. He did come back to Provo to finish the concert, and dedicated it to the nurses.

That’s the hot tub on the patio to the right of the garage door in the bottom left.

After the questions, some people sat around talking. Some went to soak in the hot tub. Some of us played more Bananagrams (including me, 🙂 ).

Day 3: Saturday

Some went hiking. Some went to the Lagoon amusement park. The rest of us enjoyed a relaxed morning and then headed to Crystal Hot Springs in Honeyville UT. I rode to the hot springs with my married daughter and two grandsons. The drive was almost an hour long so we had some great time to talk. I’ve heard about this place for years. I finally got to go! I went down the waterslide with my grandson in my lap and had loads of fun screaming the whole way down. I enjoyed relaxing in the pools heated by the hot springs, visiting with family members.

That night, we had grill night for dinner with burgers and dogs. Then I got to play the Moods board game with two sisters-in-law and a brother-in-law. This is such a fun game as long as people are good sports, willing to “put their pride in the bag,” and act out different moods. I love playing it with people who are good sports whenever I can. Among other moods, I got to act out the moods “flirtatious,” which I did by batting my eyelashes, and “indignant,” which I acted out with a hand on my hip and flip of my head. My acting of those two moods got 100% of the votes, whereas my acting of other moods didn’t garner the correct interpretations. I correctly identified “girlish” and “perky” when acted out by others. If I taught a drama class, I would be using this game at least monthly! It is so fun! One of my absolute favorite party games!

While I was playing Moods, a niece, her husband, and nephews in the 20s age range retreated downstairs to play Skull King. This is one of my grandson’s favorite card games so he joined them and ended up coming in 4th place out of 6 players. Pretty good for being 7 years old! It was nice that the manor had three tables/counters as surfaces for playing games, so three games, even four if two games are played on the kitchen island, could be going on at once.

This is the basement family room where the young adult cousins and my grandson retreated to to play Skull King.

Then I got to play Gardening Scrabble with one sister-in-law. my grandson, and my daughter. My daughter won. I didn’t play cutthroat like I usually do because my grandson was on my team. Sometimes we played short words that he created on his own :-). I love this version of Scrabble so much better than the regular version, because of the special powers of the seed packets and the bonus points you get if you use gardening words. Then it was time for bed. What a wonderful day!

Day 4: Sunday, Time to Say Good-bye

We had to check-out by 11 AM. After check-out, some of us spent an hour standing on the front lawn talking. Being with relatives means there’s always so much to talk about and having a hard time saying goodbye. Finally, after an hour we tore ourselves away. My husband and I drove home, taking the scenic route again. It was such a lovely fall Sabbath morning! We listened to our church sacrament meeting in YouTube. It was just amazing to hear faith-in-Jesus-promoting stories from members of our congregation as we zoomed along the freeway, seeing the rolling green hills and trees. On the screen, I could see my son on the stand behind the sacrament table. I’m grateful that he gets up and gets himself to 9 AM church while his parents are absent. We got home, had lunch, and unpacked. Then we took a nap! Then I settled into our normal Sabbath Day activity of Come Follow Christ scripture study, writing an email to my missionary and watching Relative Race.

I left the reunion with such a warm glow in my heart. I kept thinking of the words of the song below, from the Children’s Songbook of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“I Have a Family Tree” by Mary Ellen Rex Jolley

Verse 1:

“I have a fam’ly tree

With branches by the dozens.

I have grandpas. I have grandmas.

I have uncles, aunts, and cousins.”

Verse 2:

“When it’s reunion time,

No matter what the weather,

It is such a happy day

When the fam’ly gets together.”

Yes it was such a happy day when the family got together! I give the reunion 5 out of 5 stars and the Morgan View Manor 4/5 stars. It gets 4 stars just because we were told only 18 people could stay but there were beds for 27.

Families are such gifts. Family reunions are a foretaste of heaven. I’m so grateful I got to go. My heart grieves for families who have family members who don’t want to be part of their family. I have hope that through Jesus Christ, hearts will be mended and healed so that all families who want to be reunited, will be reunited. Just last Sunday at church, I heard the testimony from a good man who said that after 7 years of having a brother who stepped away from coming to any family gatherings, he finally came to one. It was the evening after this month’s General Conference, when his family gathered to discuss General Conference over cookies. So if you are in that situation of estranged family members, don’t give up hope!

The gospel of Jesus Christ is based on family life. No matter who you are, single or married, someone with lots of siblings or none, someone adopted or not, you have family in some form. You can do something to strengthen whatever family you are in. You can do something to prepare for a future family. I hope you have a happy time doing something to strengthen family bonds. I testify that Jesus Christ is real, and He makes these family bonds eternal, because of His atoning grace. I’m so grateful for that and for Him. I’m also grateful for President Dallin H. Oaks, who speaks for Jesus as a prophet to the whole world. This talk he gave below inspired my sister-in-law to plan our reunion.

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Savory S’mores and October 2026 General Conference Jeopardy

Posted on October 7, 2026 by treeoflifemama

I hope you enjoyed last weekend’s General Conference. I sure did! We watched 3/4 of the sessions at home, and 1/4 of the sessions with my girlfriend/sis in law Sally’s family.

Afterwards we had savory s’mores, melted in their backyard firepit. So yummy! After the Sunday PM session of GC, we had dinner inside the house with slices of roast beef, steamed broccoli, and roasted root veggies. Then we sent the two teen boys (one son of each family) to build the fire. Sally provided sliced pineapple and a pepperoni and cheese tray and I brought bacon I had cooked a few days before.

I thoroughly enjoyed it! Better than regular s’mores! (The only part of regular s’mores I like really is the chocolate.) I liked having two slices of pepperoni, with cheese in between, then wrapped with a piece of bacon, then held close to the coals until the cheese just slightly melted. So yum! After s’mores, we went inside and played General Conference-themed Just One, which provided some fun discussion time and review of the talks. I’ve shown how to use Just One to make a customized-to-your-family themed game here. You could make it General Conference-themed by having people make custom cards using words from Conference notes and talks.

Here’s another fun way to review Conference: play General Conference Jeopardy! I’m excited that the October 2026 General Conference Jeopardy, prepared by Montserrat Wadsworth of agospelcenteredhome.com, is ready to play! Go over here to get it. It’s great for family game night or FHE!

I’ve used this game from Montserrat, after each corresponding General Conference, many times through the years. I’ve played it with homeschool teen friends from my children’s seminary class, with a son’s BYU FHE group, and with my husband and children. When I’ve played with my family, we’ve included the out of town children by playing in Zoom. It’s a wonderful review of Conference! I hope you enjoy it!

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Ideas for Celebrating General Conference Weekend to Make it a Fall Festival

Posted on September 30, 2026 by treeoflifemama

General Conference is this coming weekend! I always enjoy this spiritual feast. I love that the fall Conference, on the first weekend of October, is always close to the anniversary, September 22, of Joseph Smith receiving the plates that he translated into the Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ. It was on that day, in 1827, when Joseph was allowed by the Angel Moroni to take the plates from the earth. They had been hiding in a stone box with other artifacts, for centuries.

The story is so amazing with many parallels, involving the artifacts and timeline, similar to Moses and the Israelites. This makes sense, since Joseph was called to be the prophet to usher in the gathering of Israel in the last days by translating the Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ. I won’t be getting into any more details, just watch below and read my blog post here.

I love what Brother Don Bradley says, in one of those videos above, that (not an exact quote) “Sacred history is happening today, just as in ancient times.” This is something to celebrate, right?! Let’s celebrate that sacred history happened in Bible times, and that it is happening now. Let’s celebrate that Jesus Christ our Lord, Savior and Redeemer, taught the most amazing teachings to cultivate joy. Let’s celebrate that Jesus is an awesome big brother/kindest guy/ultimate host and sport/GOAT superhero and father of our spiritual rebirth into the Kingdom of God.

“Walk With Me” by Greg Olsen, image credit: churchofjesuschrist.org

Let’s celebrate that He has atoned for our sins, allowing us to live again after we die as families, and that He is gathering Israel with the Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. Let’s celebrate that Jesus speaks today through the apostles and leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to help us each get prompted by the Holy Spirit to each write our sacred story. That’s what General Conference is all about! You can watch it online, this Saturday and Sunday, October 3-4, 2026. Go here to learn how.

Photo Credit: Jocelyn Christensen of beinglds.blogspot.com

I was talking to my girlfriend Melanie, just this past Monday, on our morning walk. She agrees with me that General Conference deserves to be treated like a holiday with its own decorations, food, and activities. I can see that that might sound overwhelming when you have a lot of little children at home like I used to, so I’m all about finding that sweet spot between simplifying for sustainability yet still having it be special.

I didn’t bring this up with her but I’m sure she would agree that October General Conference is reminiscent of the Hebrew Feast of the Tabernacles, when families gather in booths or tents. See the article here, about the Hebrew Holy Days/Festivals. The part about The Feast of Tabernacles is towards the bottom. We don’t gather in booths, just our homes, but some families do let the children erect tents in the living room in front of the TV to watch Conference. This is also a nod to the families in King Benjamin’s day of the Book of Mormon who gathered in tents to hear their prophet and king, King Benjamin, speak.

So here’s what Melanie does for her family General Conference traditions:

1. Special food: bacon, cinnamon rolls, and eggs for breakfast. She says they only ever have bacon and cinnamon rolls for General Conference weekend, both mornings. Her children know when they wake up to the smell of bacon, it means it is General Conference day.

2. Special timing of serving of food: in addition to making special food for Conference, Melanie has a special time for serving this food. She says that she and her husband work to have all the food ready to serve and give thanks/ask for a blessing in prayer, right before the morning session of Conference starts. Then they eat while watching Conference, so the children are a captive audience. The children are allowed to leave the room and not watch Conference, but if they want to eat the special food, they have to do it in the room where Conference is playing. Or course, this increases the likelihood that they will want to listen.

When I went keto I didn’t make the cinnamon rolls anymore and asked the children to take over. This is a batch my now missionary son made a few years ago.

3. Special activities: Melanie uses perler beads for a crafting activity. She says after all the years of getting her 7 children (currently ages 12-28) to be quiet and listen during Conference, perler beads top everything, even Conference bingo or other activity sheets. I had to laugh, as I remember hearing Sarah Mackenzie say in one of her podcasts that she hates perler beads as a quiet activity during read-aloud time. They are tiny and easily make a mess. Despite those issues, Melanie says this is her favorite activity for her children. She says they easily stay engaged and quiet for a long time while listening to Conference.

Image Credit: amazon.com

4. Another thing Melanie does is go to a store with bins of bulk food, before Conference. Everybody gets to pick their favorite candy or other treat. Then she puts all the treats in a basket that is served whenever the choir sings. So whoever is in the room when the choir sings gets to eat some treats. She doesn’t announce the treats are being served, that is call out to the children to ask them to come get treats. This motivates the children to stick around in the room so they know when the singing happens, which increases their likelihood of hearing the words of Conference. Well played, Melanie!

So that’s what girlfriend Melanie has done for Conference in terms of family traditions. Here’s what I’ve done:

  1. My special food: we’ve had cinnamon rolls and scrambled eggs or charcuterie board on Saturday and Sunday for brunch. Then for dinner we’ve sometimes had chili in the fall and nachos in the spring. Or just other fun savory stuff like quiche. Then ice cream and pie for dessert, or s’mores around a fire in the firepit while we discuss Conference. I’d love to get to the point where it’s always the same thing in the spring, with two days of special spring food and two days of special different fall food, but I haven’t figured that out. I’m almost an empty nester though so I think I’ll just turn it over to my married daughter and her foodie husband to take over the idea and turn it into a firm tradition. Another friend of mine just told me that her family makes caramel popcorn every conference, spring and fall. I like that idea! It’s much more doable than cinnamon rolls. Go here for my whole foods kettle corn recipe. I also love the idea of making something with apples like pie or crumble for the fall conference. This year we are doing savory s’mores after the Sunday afternoon session with my carnivore sis and bro in law and their son.

2. Special activities to do while listening: we used to do Conference packets. (Go here if you want some links to make your own. as well as here and here.) When my youngest child was a tween I phased out the packets and started setting a jigsaw puzzle out. It’s usually a Jesus-themed puzzle or my map of the world puzzle, to symbolize gathering Israel out of the world as the kingdom of God spreads over the whole earth. It’s especially fun to work on this during the Church’s World Report that many people watch in between sessions. I like to see if I can find the places mentioned in the report on the puzzle map. Personally, I always like taking notes of the talks with colorful pens in my journal but my children were never much into that. Probably because I didn’t do anything special to encourage it.

3. Then after General Conference, I have sometimes gathered my family in person and/or in zoom to do General Conference Jeopardy. One time we didn’t do it with any of the out of town family. Instead the children still in the nest, along with my husband and me, joined my BYU-attending son’s FHE group to play it. So fun!

Image Credit: agospelcenteredhome.com

Here’s what I wish I had done…

a. for a special decoration: make a banner like this one here, and have people write sticky notes of one thing they learned from each speaker or session or day and put it on the banner. I would do this while eating ice cream or apple pie, after dinner each Conference night, and discuss what we’ve learned. I love that that banner emphasizes that Jesus speaks today, through His anointed servants and His Holy Spirit. That is something to celebrate!

b. for an activity: I also wish I had encouraged my children more with taking notes by getting them fun and colorful note-taking supplies. Then I would have printed out activity sheets tailored to what they like: word searches, coloring pages, Conference bingo, etc. to keep in a binder to create a keepsake journal. What I did do was keep them in pocket folders and store them on a bookshelf, but I didn’t tailor them to each child. Keeping them in a dedicated binder for each child and customizing them would have made them more special. Then I wish I had given them a new set of colored pencils, crayons, or pens for the family to share.

Photo Credit and Directions for Making Banner at creativehomemakers.blogspot.com

So that’s what a friend of mine has done, what I’ve done, and what I wish had done for General Conference family traditions.

Recently I did a quick internet search to find even more ideas from people I don’t know. I love the idea of General Conference Baskets similar to Easter Baskets but honestly, I don’t think I would have been able to afford that unless I put a lot of intention into thrifting year round to gather the stuff twice a year, on top of Easter baskets. Yeah, I don’t think it would have happened! The General Conference Store (idea #7 here) looks so fun too but not sustainable for when I had a lot of little children and little money. I’m more into doing stuff that is sustainable regardless of the ups and downs of family income and time needed to prepare. This next idea fits in with that well. It’s what one mom has done, as put in the comment box on the redheadedhostess.com site over here:

My children range in age from 12 years down to 18 months and they look forward to General Conference almost as much as Christmas. They love waking up Saturday morning to see our family room transformed into a “Conference Room”. We move the couches and the coffee(“hot chocolate”) table to better point to the T.V. The entry to the room has a big sign that says, “Quiet Zone”. The table just beyond the Quiet Zone sign, outside of the “Conference Room” is ready for quiet crafts that I have planned knowing that they will be able to do the crafts quietly and without adult help. The wall behind the T.V. has a picture of each member of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve. Each child has a binder with their name on it. Inside they have a place to draw, take notes, color and a sticky notepad where they can write or draw a picture of what each of member of the First Presidency or Apostle talked about. After their talk, they go and post their sticky note on their respective picture. It’s fun to see the wall covered in colorful sticky notes by the end of conference.

Before conference begins we remind them of the conference “rules” and say a family prayer. The conference rules are easy…1. No talking in the quiet zone 2. If you need to take a break, go out for a little while(run around outside for a minute if you have to) and then come right back in. 3. Work on the craft or puzzle that is at the craft table for that session. I love to work on the puzzles sometimes too. It helps me if I ever feel like nodding off to stay awake and pay attention while keeping my hands quietly busy.

General Conference weekend is the only two weekends of the year that they have “sugar cereals”….a kids dream when they don’t ever get it. Between the two sessions on Saturday, we have a family picnic(pick up pizza at Little Caesars-easy, cut up fruits and veggies before hand to take) at a near by park.

When conference is over, we talk about what each child wrote on their sticky notes. Great review! It helps us all remember all the major points.

I really love that! (Except the sugar cereal part…that rubs my WAPF sense the wrong way. I would have done something more healthful, like sprouted granola or pumpkin oatmeal.)

As with all of these ideas, take what works for your family and leave the rest. (I used to be a La Leche League Leader. I said that at the beginning of every meeting that I led, as all Leaders usually did. It applies to so many situations when we are applying principles.)

Here are more ideas/resources:

  1. The Red Crystal has some printables for activities here, I love the matching game on that page to learn the apostles’ names and some Fun Facts about them.
  2. Etsy features many sellers with loads of printables, banners, activities, etc. over here. Proceed at your own caution, it’s definitely overwhelming!
  3. Make a General Conference basket to give away to someone who might need some cheering up full of fun things that go with being cozy while watching conference like: colored pens or pencils, socks, lip balm, the matching game and fun facts cards above, and a treat.
  4. This site over here shows how Elder Bednar studies General Conference talks. This method involves taking notes of three types of things: doctrines, invitations to act, and promised blessings. I found another site that mentioned something similar but now I’m not finding it. Darn. It added two other categories: scriptures and stories. This other site suggested games you play after Conference, based on those categories, like General Conference Pictionary, and hunting for objects that relate to your notes that you share with your family. I like these ideas because it helps you put principles shared in Conference into your heart and into action.

Photo Credit: boardgamegeek.com

5. Sometimes I host a game night after Conference where we play General Conference Wits and Wagers or General Conference Fun Facts.

Happy General Conference to you all! May it be a faith-filled fall festival time. It’s time to get cozy, gather in as a family, listen to apostles, prophets, and other anointed leaders of God, and see what God is wanting us to do to continue to write our own sacred stories.

One of my favorite speakers and leaders is Brother Brad Wilcox, shown above. It’s so cool that he was one of Melanie’s elementary school teachers! I’ve blogged about him here and here.

P.S. I just realized that the spring General Conference, the first weekend in April, often occurs during Passover, another Jewish festival. It is also close to the beginning of spring and the day that the Book of Mormon was published, the proposed date of the First Vision (both dates are March 26) and on the day of or close to the anniversary of the Church being organized, April 6, 1820, as well as Easter. God definitely works in patterns!

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Amazing Parallels Between Jewish Holy Days and Symbols and the Joseph Smith Story

Posted on September 22, 2026 by treeoflifemama
Image Credit: churchofjesuschrist.org

Hey it’s the first day of fall, y’all!

Besides that, today is such an important, albeit hidden anniversary! It was 203 years ago on Sept. 21-22, 1823 that Joseph Smith received instructions from an angel of God, Moroni, during the night, spanning those two days, Sept. 21-22. Moroni told Joseph about the golden plates buried in the Hill Cumorah, in upstate New York, close to Palmyra. From these plates, Joseph eventually translated the Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ. You can read his words about that whole process here in Joseph Smith History 1:27 to the end of the chapter.

God doesn’t do things randomly. Everything He does has a purpose, design, beauty, and order to it. We can see this in the date when the above event occurred. Did you know it happened to coincide with the Feast of the Trumpets, a feast from the ancient Hebrews? Why is this important? It’s because this annual feast is when the Jews celebrate the beginning of the gathering of Israel. We know from President Nelson, a former president and prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that the Book of Mormon is central to this work of the gathering of Israel, from this talk here. So how cool is that that the announcement of the plates to Joseph, and his eventual reception of the plates, was on the Feast of the Trumpets!

To learn more, read the article here about it by Lenet Hadley Read. You can also read her book above, from amazon.com or archive.org.

I also invite you to watch the videos above and below. The first one explains what the Feast of Trumpets is. The bottom one explains the connection of the Feast of Trumpets to the reception of the golden plates by Joseph Smith. You will learn how Sept. 21, 1823 fits in with the Hebrew feasts. Then you will learn how each yearly visit of Moroni to Joseph in September from 1824 to 1827, when he finally got to receive the golden plates, fits in with these feasts and God’s covenantal love. It’s a beautiful story of Christ’s kingdom of symbol, beauty, order and glory.

Last but not least, here is an amazing NEW video featuring Don Bradley, below. He explains so many parallels between Joseph Smith and Moses. For example, Moses went up to a mount to receive the stone tablets, the law. Joseph Smith went to a hill to receive the golden plates, a new “law” or testament or covenant. Moses had objects like manna and stone tablets. Joseph had objects like the Liahona and the golden plates. Watch below and prepare to be blown away by the similarities! It is just so lovely and awesome that God works in patterns, involving numbers, symbols, days and so much more.

Want more about the Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ? Go here. It is my favorite book! As Joseph Smith said, on the title page, here “A man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts more than any other book.”

Want more from Don Bradley? Go here where he tells his story, as well as more about Joseph Smith. It is amazing!

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9 Tips for Understanding Isaiah

Posted on September 20, 2026 by treeoflifemama
Image Credit: Latter-day Media Come Follow Christ YouTube Channel

It’s that time, when for my church’s study of the Old Testament this year, in the study guide Come Follow Me (Christ), we spend five weeks studying Isaiah.

As quoted above in the image, Christ has commanded us to “search these things diligently” meaning Isaiah’s words. Here are some tips to help you do that.

Image Credit: LDS Teaching Toolbox YouTube Channel
  1. Understand the 5 days Isaiah talks about. He can switch days in a chapter, verse to verse, and even in one verse. See the 5 days above.
  2. Know that he doesn’t teach in chronological order.
  3. Use BibleHub.com to look at modern language translations.
  4. Use chapter headings in the LDS edition of the KJV Old Testament. These will help you know which day or days Isaiah is talking about.

The four tips above come from the video below.

These next three tips come from the video above.

5. Ask God for the Holy Spirit to help you understand.

6. Know that the book of Isaiah is poetry, not prose. Isaiah purposes to show us the love of God in his writing so we will rejoice in this love. Any book on love deserves to be written in poetry, not prose. One method of poetry that Isaiah uses is parallelism. This is why His poetry can be translated into any language and still be poetry. He doesn’t use rhyming words, he uses rhyming or matching concepts. See the video by Jared Halverson above. Watch him explain Hebrew poetic forms at about the 23:35 mark.

Credit for Two Images Above and One Below: Unshaken YouTube Channel

7. Use Nephi’s tips from 2 Nephi 25, shown in the screenshot below. One big thing of the “things of the Jews” is Hebrew poetic forms, which I already mentioned. These include the following: synonymous parallelisms, antithetic parallelisms, and chiastic parallelisms. An example of synonymous parallelism is shown above.

As Brother Jared says, the spirit of prophecy = the testimony of Jesus.

Credit for images just above and below: Latter-day Media Come Follow Christ YouTube Channel

For further exploration of Isaiah’s literary structures, use the material from Rhonda and Farrell Pickering. See their handouts here and here. Rhonda’s Isaiah video classes are here.

Rhonda has 28 Isaiah classes at that link, and they are all free! You can also get her study guide here, with a workbook a friend wrote to go with Rhonda’s and Avraham’s interpretations here.

7. Use the website isaiahexplained.com. This is Avraham Gileadi’s site. Brother Gileadi is a renowned Hebrew scholar. Born in the Netherlands, he lived in Israel for a time where he attended rabbinical school and studied Hebrew analytical methods. He eventually got a PhD in Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies from Wycliffe College in Canada.

8. Understand the meaning of the word “Gentile” which Isaiah uses. In Isaiah’s usage, Gentiles are non-Jews, including Latter-day Saints Christians, even though we are of the house of Israel.

9. Know that Isaiah uses code names. They are also used throughout the rest of scriptures. One example is “the tyrant,” a code name for the anti-Christ in the Latter-days and another is “the servant.” See above and below.

May we all feast on the words of Isaiah, and hearken to them, so we can receive even greater blessings!

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August 2026 Thrift Haul #frugalfriday and Decorating With Seasonal Picture Books

Posted on September 18, 2026 by treeoflifemama

It’s Frugal Friday! I finally have the time to share my August 2026 Thrift Haul. I went thrifting once a week last month. I found some gems, as evidenced in these photos. I went specifically looking for some back-to-school and family themed books. Bear with me before I share the haul to talk about why I went looking for those books.

See, I have these ledges above my windows and doorways in my front room/school room/dining room that I love to use to display seasonal-themed books. See below. It gives me so much joy to decorate these!

I finally (ahem) took down my Independence Day books. For September, I wanted some books that reflect fall/harvest, back-to-school, classics, love of family and love of learning. I’m not ready to get out my full-on fall decorations in terms of Halloween/Thanksgiving. I will do that in October when it’s really fall. Technically, it’s still summer. Some call it hotumn. It’s definitely still hot, often in the 80s, and still feels like summer. I like to do decorations that go with the themes in my family devotionals ebook, which you can get over here for free.

August’s themes are family and family vacations so I had toyed with the idea of doing beach/ocean decorations, family and family vacation picture books in August but I just didn’t get to it. August was busy! Maybe next year. I lived that month book decoration-wise vicariously through my married daughter, Virtue. She does a similar thing in her home but uses outward-facing book shelves. For August she displayed books about water. See below. She has three little boys to enjoy these books with her.

So fun! I already found a lighthouse book to use next August and I’m confident I will find more books about oceans, beach, family vacations reunions by next August as well.

I’m combining the family theme I missed in August with September’s theme of love of learning and school and harvest. There’s Constitution Day in September too so I might put up one book about that.

OK, back to thrifting in August. I went looking for books as I just described, and here’s what I found. As usual, just read the stuff in bold if you don’t want all my commentary that includes chit chat and miscellany about my homeschool mom life.

The top photo shows my first week of thrifting, at the Provo UT Deseret Industries (DI). Here it is again.

-a BYU fan shirt for whoever in my family wants it.

–Steamboat School, $1.50, a picture book to go with the back-to-school theme. Yay, I found a school-themed book! It’s a fictional story based on the life of a real man, John Berry Meachum, who escaped enslavement. Because of the laws in Missouri, it was against the law to educate African-American children, so he moved his school from the basement of his church to a steamboat on the Mississippi River, which was outside the governance of Missiouri. So clever!

-Tomie de Paola’s Quilt Story, which talks about family. Hey, just a few days ago, this week, September 15, was Tomie’s birthday. Sadly, he passed away a few years ago, but his ebullient spirit lives on in his books.

–Bill Peet’s Autobiography! $1.50. I have wanted my own copy for years, having checked it out repeatedly from the public library. I’ve started reading it a few times out loud and never finished it so maybe now that I’m on my last child in my homeschooling nest I will finish it with him during morning basket time. He has another book called Cappy, about his family’s pet capybara. I’ve started that book a few times as well and want to finish that one this year too! Bill Peet was an animator for Walt Disney, working on the early classic Disney films like Snow White. He definitely shows a love of learning in his book.

–some Christmas chapter books which I wasn’t looking for but when I find good stories in great condition I get them and give some away to friends, like for minsteree sister gifts in thrifted gift baskets, or to family. I got A Stranger for Christmas by Carol Lynn Pearson, which I remember one of my LDS Church Young Women leaders reading aloud to our YW group at church on a Sunday decades ago, and then A Gathering of Christmas by Larry and Lisa Laycock. When I attended American Fork UT High School, Lisa Laycock was a teacher there. I’ve noticed she has become a prolific author.

-the Professor Noggins Farm card game, $1.50. This was such a fun surprise! As a trivia and quiz game geek, I absolutely, thoroughly enjoy these. I’ve found various ones of these through the years when thrifting. Now I have about 10, about half of which I’ve thrifted. I keep these by the dinner table in my pull-out baskets on shelves. Often during dinner, I get one out to quiz during dinner and stimulate table talk. My oldest grandchild is about to turn 8. I’ll probably introduce these games to him soon.

–Uncle John’s Certified Organic Bathroom Reader, $1.50. As a lover of trivia and random stories about real things, I have a collection of these now as well, all thrifted. After assembling this collection, I continue to see these when thrifting and always feel tempted to buy them but I usually tell myself no. I have stopped buying them because I have so many, but I couldn’t resist this one as a crunchy sometimes organic mom. It has interesting stories and factoids about people involved in the green movement, organic food, recycling, composting, Rachel Carson, the electric car, bottled water, and so much more.

–the Good and Beautiful book about rocks and minerals, $1, to go with the school/love of learning theme. It has gorgeous full color photography.

–100 Things to Know About History from Usborne, $1.50. It is so interesting! I’ve already learned so much from it. For example, did you know that when the settlers came to the New World, they had to change what axe they used to clear the land? The axes they brought from the Old World did not work on the trees in the New World. They eventually somehow made new axes that had longer, curved handles, instead of short and straight, and a short blade. With these new axes, by 1850, they were able to clear land three times faster, and clear land the size of Manhattan Island in 36 hours. So fascinating, right?!

–a World Almanac of the USA, $1.50. Another book for the trivia lover in me.

The photo above shows what I got the second week of August, at the Provo DI again.

-two new tops, $3 each. I just love the pineapple print. That one is Old Navy. I’ve noticed the cutest Old Navy clothes when thrifting lately. Then a floral print shift dress, also Old Navy. Perfect for late summer, early fall. It pairs well with my pink woven flats.

–DK book on Force and Motion, $2. I don’t get every DK Eyewitness book that I see when thrifting. I just love the color photographs and explanations of DK books. I’m teaching a match and science class at my homeschooling co-op this year so I might use this for that.

-Grandad’s Prayers of the Earth, $2. It’s done by one of my favorite illustrators, P.J. Lynch. The cover alone looks fallish. I got it more for the family theme.

–N.C. Wyeth’s Pilgrims, illustrated by N.C. Wyeth, for $1!. Another Thanksgiving picture book, to go with my Thanksgiving picture book collection. Shown enlarged below. I guess because I have a birthday close to Thanksgiving, and have Mayflower Pilgrim ancestry, I just love any books I can find on the true meaning of Thanksgiving. It’s about more than turkey, football, and pie. This will go well with my Thanksgiving picture book collection that I display on my window ledges, as seen here. I love the classical, realist style of N.C. Wyeth and his father, Andrew Wyeth.

For the third week of August, I got to go thrifting with one of my sisters, Emily, visiting from Maine, and my daughter, nicknamed Virtue for the blog. (You can see a recap of my trips to see Emily in Maine, in August 2024 here, at the end of that post, and October 2025 here.) We had so much fun! Emily brought 4 out of her 6 children with her. My youngest child, nicknamed Bugsy here on the blog, met up with her son, his cousin the same age, a boy. The boys had fun looking for their stuff, clothes and computer stuff. Cousin E. was thrilled to find a computer that he bought to stick in his suitcase for his trip home. Then the 3 daughters of my sister just looked at clothes, as far as I know. They found so many! Virtue, Emily, and I looked at books and clothes and Virtue looked at household goods too. My haul is above.

-The book with the boy reading on the cover shows Joseph Smith reading the Bible. Titled The Golden Gospel, it is a graphic novel retelling of the Joseph Smith story. What a gem of a find! It is currently $37 on amazon. I may resell it. Joseph Smith received the plates from the Angel Moroni in September, on a day that was being celebrated as the Feast of the Trumpets by the Jews, September 22, 1827. So for that it goes into my September book display, as well as for the love of learning theme. Joseph loved to learn. Many of the revelations he received were answers to questions he asked God in prayer, as shown in the Doctrine and Covenants book of scripture.

-two Christmas picture books, The Miracle Maker, which I’ve borrowed from my public library and enjoyed, and C is for Christmas. I have the companion book, E is for Easter, also found thrifting. I love the illustrations of both. So lovely!

–Stranger in the Woods is for my wintry hyggy picture book collection. I remember seeing it in the now defunct Chinaberry book catalog decades ago. (Chinaberry had the most darling books and gifts. It was wiped out by amazon sadly. It featured so many good things for cultivating hearth and home. Any day when the Chinaberry catalog arrived in my mailbox was such a dreamy day.) It’s a cute story about observing wildlife in the woods.

–Jesus Calling, an Easter picture book. I featured it in a list of Easter picture books over here, but didn’t have my own copy yet, and now I do. I love that it tells the story of Christmas and Easter together, by starting with the story of Christ’s birth, then continuing on through Easter.

-the dragon book is about grammar, for my homeschooling son

–another Reader’s Digest songbook! Here are some of the fun songs inside:

+”As Time Goes By”

+”Tennessee Waltz”

+”Misty”

+”Shenandoah”

Here’s my cart, above.

Here’s Emily’s cart. Her three daughters found so many clothes. They ended up leaving an hour after I did, so they could try them all on. Virtue and I left before to head to my mom’s because the baby was getting fussy and I was hungry. I found the striped dress above and showed it to Emily. I was hoping one of her girls would get it. It’s just so cute! It reminds me of her other daughter who wasn’t there because she is serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It seems like something she would have worn when she was 12 or 13.

Then here’s Virtue’s cart below. She got some books for her little boys, a super cute top with embroidered flowers (Old Navy popping up again with such cute design!), and a metal wastebasket.

Then here is my last haul of the month, this time from the Orem UT Savers.

–Some Little Golden Books to add to my collection, although I may give the Barbie book to Virtue for her birthday as a little add-on. Just because with three boys in her house she has a lot of testosterone and might appreciate a girly book.

Then there’s the snow bear book for my wintry hygge collection of picture books, a tiny book about love and romance to also go with my hygge winter/Valentine’s decorations and an Usborne lift the flap for when the grandchildren visit. The flaps are all intact but there’s ball point pen ink on the cover. A light rub with some rubbing alcohol should remove that. Then the Crayons Christmas book. I don’t love the art but the plot/storyline of the Crayon books are always so witty so I gave in and got it. All these books were $1-$2 each. After I came home I realized I already have the I am A Jedi Star wars book so I’ll give this new copy to my second son, nicknamed Honor here on the blog, since he loves Star Wars the most out of all my 7 children. He can read it to to his two little children.

That’s it! Feel free to share any fun finds you’ve thrifted lately in the comments below. I’d love to hear about them!

Want more thrifting fun? Watch the videos below and read my other thrifting posts here.

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10 Top Tips for Using a Yoto Player and its Technology

Posted on September 14, 2026 by treeoflifemama

You’ve probably heard all about the wondrous devices called Yoto Players. My two grandsons, ages 5 and 7 enjoy theirs. In case you don’t know what a Yoto Player is, here’s an explanation. A Yoto player is a rugged, kid-friendly portable box that can play audio files. I would have loved having one of these for each of my children! My youngest is 17 so we missed using these as they came out after all my kiddos grew up, but I’m glad my grandchildren can benefit from them. It would have been SOOOOO nice to have a device to hand to my children so they could listen to audiobooks without having to use my CD player, my mp3 player or phone. Watch below to learn all about them.

It’s a modern, smaller, wireless version of the Walkman, especially for the under-12 set. It provides screen-free, stress-free entertainment for children. They can listen to books, podcasts, music, sound effects, and more! All while the parent maintains control by filtering and curating the content.

Here are my top 10 tips for how to use the Yoto player and benefit from its technology beyond playing audio files.

  1. Get a tote/box/case for your Yoto Player. My grandsons have each had a mini Yoto player for years, but it wasn’t until my daughter, their mom, got these handy dandy cases for them that that they consistently started using them. These cases solved several problems: keeping the cards with the player, keeping the headphones with the player, and keeping the player charged. Each of these things left undone often made a few steps to get going with the Yoto player, which meant less frequent listening.

Then she found these storage/carrying cases or totes on etsy that keep the player, the Yoto cards, headphones, and the charging cords all together. The case even has a portal to allow the player to be charged while staying in the carrying case. Check etsy over here to find a variety of cases. You can even get them personalized with the child’s name! (That’s what’s under the yellow coloring in the photos above.) Just remember to get the right size tote for your player, the original or the mini.

How wonderful! This is the Maria Principle in action!

2. Use a Yoto player with your children to encourage quiet reading time. If I had little children at home, I would definitely be using these for a 1 hour quiet time after lunch. How wonderful to have an audio file playing device you can leave with very young children in their bedroom and not stress about them breaking it, like you would with a CD player. It just sounds so fun to be playing with Legos or Calico Critters or paper dolls or coloring while listening to a classic story. Then Mom gets a break to have quiet time on her own, to nurse the baby down for a nap and/or take a nap herself or do her own creative stuff.

See Sarah of readaloudrevival.com explain why it’s great to have quiet reading time every day for your child, below.

Then learn below how Hannah uses a Yoto player for her three year old for quiet time.

3. See if your public library has Yoto cards to check out like mine does. You don’t even need a Yoto player to use them, you can just use the Yoto app on your phone. So I encourage you to check out your library to see if they have these, and if they don’t, ask them to get some. You can explore different cards and what they sound like without buying a player yet. Just like with books, it is nice to borrow an item and check it out before you buy. Some things are worth having for life, and some, just temporarily, on loan. You can find such a variety of stories and songs by borrowing them, and then if you really love a particular one, go buy the card. My library has the Chronicle of Narnia stories, Muppet Stories, and so much more.

4. Did you know that you can make your own cards for your Yoto player? Yes you can! So that’s tip #4, make your own cards. See below.

5. Use this website, yotoeverything, to ask and answer questions, hear samples of all the cards in the playlists, see independent reviews of the players and accessories, and get more tips and tricks.

6. After you learn how to make your own Yoto cards you can also use this website: yoto.space to get even more content for your Yoto player.

7. Go outside the Yoto ecosystem and get stories from storynory.com or librivox.org. The video above talks about that. The dad in the video above says to use audiobookloader.com, a site he coded, to help with transferring the files.

8. Learn EVEN more tips and tricks about Yoto cards from these parents below. Which should you buy? the original or the mini? Watch below to answer that question and learn everything else you would ever want to know.

9. The generic name for a Yoto card is an NFC tag. The items use an NFC chip that communicates wirelessly (NFC stands for near field communication). You can use this technology for more than just a Yoto player. You can buy your own stickers with NFC chips to do so much more for your household and homeschooling efficiency. Consider using this technology for your rhythms and routines, including Morning Basket time. Watch below at about the 7:30 mark.

For example, Katie in the video above says you can digitize all your books and songs you use for homeschooling, put them in a Google drive, then let your children access the files with NFC tags by tapping a phone next to the tag. You can put an NFC tag on your washing machine (if there’s a plastic part) or next to the washing machine, if it’s all metal (she says below not to put the tag on metal). When you tap your phone on that, it automatically sets a timer on your phone to remind you when the cycle is done. Watch homeschool mom Katie below tell you all these ideas to make your life more efficient with NFC tags.

10. Here are some videos of favorite Yoto cards of some families.

11. Think a Yoto Player is out of reach of your budget? If you use funds from Open Ed or other charter schools, a Yoto Player is probably reimbursable. Or use birthday or Christmas money to get one.

12. Yoto is about to come out 4th generation versions, which have a new green button to allow the child to quickly get through a playlist. Watch above to learn if it’s worth getting the 4th gen. Yotos.

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The Power of His Name + Jesus Knows Us By Name

Posted on September 13, 2026 by treeoflifemama
Image Credit: biblestorieshub.com

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the power of a name, and the power of Christ’s name.

It started with a discussion of this talk, below, in my Relief Society meeting a few weeks ago. (Relief Society is the organization for women in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)

The discussion question for our meeting that morning, based on this talk, was “How has someone showed up for you in an unexpected way because he or she knew your name?”

One sister, Sister N., shared a story from her newlywed days. She and her husband were renovating a house. They hired a plumber. When they went to pay the plumber, the plumber noticed their last name, which starts with N. He said their name out loud, and then said, “Are you related to so-and-so (with the same last name) of Bear Lake?”

“Yes, he’s my uncle.”

“He saved my life when I was born— he was the only doctor in Bear Lake. When I was born my mom had a lot of trouble. He doctor saved my life. You don’t have to pay your bill. It’s all on me. I’m so grateful!” Such is the power of a name.

As I’ve blogged already, Christ has many names. They are all powerful: Redeemer, The Light, The Way, The Truth, the Life, The Good Shepherd, and so many more. I’m sharing photos of Christ’s beautiful creations in this post to show examples of one of His names, Creator.

Today was like a Part 2 for my thoughts on Jesus and names. All three speakers at our church service today (sacrament meeting) had the topic of names (our name and Christ’s name) for their talks.

A young man, Brother M., one of my son’s friends, gave a powerful sermon about names. He first talked about the Middle Ages. He said during that time, if you dropped the name of a powerful Lord, you could get whatever you wanted. Then he went back to the ancient Romans. Caesar’s name was associated with the most powerful empire at the time. Everyone knew his name, it was synonymous with the Roman Empire. Next He mentioned different stories from the scriptures. Jesus gave himself the name the Great I Am, which is synonymous to Yawveh or Jehovah, in Hebrew. (See more here.) Then when Jesus spoke to the Pharisees He called himself the Great I Am, or God. the Pharisees didn’t believe Him, and felt He was being heretical. Names hold power. God knows this.

So when God has spoken to His children on earth, He hasn’t said, “Hey, you, I have something to tell you.” No, instead He has called and does call the person by name.

Examples of this: Mary, Joseph, Saul who changed his name to Paul, and Joseph Smith.

The next speaker, Brother G., talked more about the topic that Jesus knows our names. Some of Brother G’s points:

-when he’s in a crowd of people talking, like at a party or meeting, his children know that they can catch his attention by calling out, “Dad, dad…” and then if he still hasn’t heard, they say his name. He immediately hears it and replies. He says we can all hear the sound of our name over the many voices of the crowd.

-“The fact that Jesus can call each of us by name means He knows us, He loves us, He atoned for us.”

-He knows our sins, our feelings, our temptations, our proclivities, our doubts, and our questions. We don’t have to ever feel ashamed. We can talk to Him about our doubts.

-Because He knows our feelings, you can try this experiment. Brother G said he has done this experiment while he was preparing this talk over the past week or so. Every time you feel a feeling, pause and ponder that Jesus knows your name. He knows your feeling. Tell yourself those things. Tell yourself that He knows where your feeling is coming from. He knows why your feeling is happening. If you do this, you will find that you have an advocate before God the Father in the form of His son Jesus Christ. You have an understanding advocate, not condemnation.

-When we accept His love, because we know He knows our name and is our advocate, we will want to know and follow His voice. Our name stands out to us. In the same way, His voice can stand out to us.

-When we recognize His voice, things happen. His voice helps us to:

+see a better way

+put away unkind feelings and thoughts

+let go of doubts and unbelief

+forgive

+overlook small things

+commit to get through big things

+begin to feel love for others and even love from others

-This love fills us up and makes up for the lack of love we feel and heals borken relationships.

-When we pray we increase our ability to hear His voice.

-He told the story of his family’s pet goat. This goat will not came when called, even when called by name. Brother G explained that’s typical of goats and that’s why Jesus likens His followers to sheep, not goats, because they follow when called by name.

-The word “goat” used to mean a bad thing. Nobody wanted to be called a goat. He said that up until a few decades ago, it was known to mean failure. Charlie Brown was the goat of his baseball team, because of his dropped flyball and bad pitches. Then in the 1990s, he said, Muhammad Ali popularized the acronym G.O.A.T. as meaning “the greatest of all time.” Ever since then, the name “goat” has been a great name people aspire to.

-He told a story from a shepherd about what it’s like to call sheep and that they follow the shepherd. This story comes from a BYU Speech/Devotional given by Elder D. Todd Christofferson in October 1999. It is from Elder Christofferson’s aunt, Adena Nell Gourley. Go here to read it.

Here are some excerpts from that letter of Elder D. Todd Christofferson’s Aunt Adena, in her words:

“I thought how some of us, who are all God’s sheep, are bound and unfree because of our sins in the world. Standing there on the back porch, I silently thanked my Heavenly Father that there are true under-shepherds and teachers who are patient and kind and willingly teach us of love and obedience and offer us security and freedom within the flock so that, though we may be far from the shelter, we’ll recognize the Master’s voice when He calls, ‘Come on. Now you’re free.”

As Elder Christofferson said in that speech, “Our choice in this life is not whether we will or will not be subject to any power. Our choice is to which authority we will yield obedience: God’s or Satan’s. As Lehi stated, it is a choice between liberty and captivity (see 2 Nephi 2:27). If it is not one, it is necessarily the other.”

Our yielding to God and His right to rule and reign over us brings other blessings. Among the foremost are the faith and confidence that permit us to live with peace.”

The Shepherd wants us to be free. When we follow him as sheep, and not act like goats who won’t follow, we can become free.

-Brother G. concluded by saying, “Jesus knows our names. He knows our hearts. He atoned for each of us. We know His voice. The result is peace.”

The third speaker, Brother E., cotinued with the theme of Jesus knowing our name. He talked about how whenever he hears this phrase from the theme for the Aaronic Priesthood: “I am a beloved son of God and He has a work for me to do,” that he feels the Holy Spirit so powerfully bear witness to that truth.

I felt the Holy Ghost too as he said that. I thought of the complementary statement for the Young Women, from over here:

“I am a beloved daughter of heavenly parents, with a divine nature and eternal destiny.” It’s safe to say that each statement can be used for everyone. Brother E. said that these statements are powerful testimonies that Jesus does know us by name.

Brother E went to to say that knowing evidence that Jesus knows our name is in the following:

-blessings, including blessings for healings and comfort and patriarchal blessings. He told a story that recently some friends of his family had a daughter who was in trouble. She reached out to her parents in Boston and asked for help. They reached out to him and asked him to go find her and gave him directions. So he and, I presume another priesthood bearer (he said “we”) went and found her and gave her a blessing of healing and comfort, using her name. He said he could immediately feel peace and guidance from that blessing.

-callings

Then he said that the most powerful way we are called by name is through the atonement of Jesus Christ.

The name of Jesus Christ is powerful. All wonderful things are either done in His name, by His name, because of His name, or through His name, even unconsciously. He knows our name because he atoned for us. Thus He is our Advocate, another name for Him. Because He is our Advocate, we are not doomed to death and sin. Praise Jesus for His mercy and atoning glory!

It was such a lovely sacrament meeting. I am so grateful to bask in the peace and love and truth of it forever more.

I’ll close with the words of the song “In His Name” from the Scripture Scouts New Testament Album by Roger and Melanie Hoffman.

“In His name, the blind can see the way.

In His name, the evil goes away.

In His name the sick are healed, In His name the water’s stilled,

There is strength, there is power, in His name.

In His name, I pray for one who’s hurt,

In His name, I help a wounded bird.

Yes a child can do His work, I can serve as Jesus served,

I can show I believe in His name.

He is strong, He is wise, I am just a little child,

But there is much I can do, there is much I can do in His name.”

Image Credit: davidpaape.blogspot.com

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Relative Race Season 17 Starts A Week From Today!

Posted on September 6, 2026 by treeoflifemama
Credit for Photos Above and Below: Relative Race Instagram Page

The G.O.A.T. TV show is premiering its Season 17 a week from today!

It’s Relative Race, on BYUTV. Go here to watch all previous episodes of all previous 16 seasons. Then on Sunday September 13, 2026, you can watch Season 17. It’s free and it’s fun! Binge watch alert!

Relative Race is the best show ever because it brings the spirit of Elijah into one’s heart. President Russell M. Nelson said that the Spirit of Elijah is “a manifestation of the Holy Ghost bearing witness of the divine nature of the family.” (Read the talk here, watch below.)

So what does the show feature that brings the Spirit of Elijah/Holy Ghost into one’s heart? It brings together family members who have never met before, ever. These are usually people who were adopted at birth or a young age and their biological parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins. That moment, especially if it’s a adult meeting his or her biological parent for the first time, is so electric. I tear up sometimes as I imagine how wonderful it must feel to finally meet your parent, after decades of wondering and searching. Or to suddenly find out you have a sister or a brother that you always longed for. It’s just so marvelous to think about this and witness the real life joy of such discoveries.

You can watch video clips over here on the YouTube channel of these magical unions. Have a box of tissues handy!

The show is full of laughs, heartwarming moments, fights, and tears. It’s reality and it’s raw, just like families are. I highly recommend for watching anytime, and especially on Sunday.

Then this page here has some behind-the-scenes stories and interviews with executive producer and RR show host, Dan Debenham. Dan is the Man! I hope you enjoy this show as much as I do! It’s so beautiful to watch! I’m so excited for another season!

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Get Outside More + Read Aloud More = Your Homeschool Year Will Rock!

Posted on September 5, 2026 by treeoflifemama
Credit for All Photos in this Post: Read Aloud Revival YouTube Channel

This video below provided the most laugh out loud moments I’ve had all week. Oh my! It was so funny! Only other mothers will laugh at it too, sorry dads and kids. It features Sarah Mackenzie of readaloudrevival.com fame and Ginny Yurich of the 1000 Hours Outside podcast.

Oh my goodness! As one YT commenter on the video said, “I want to go have coffee with these two ladies every week!” I do too, only for me as a Word of Wisdom observer and coffee abstainer I’d substitute a protein-based carob drink or herbal tea.

Click to watch above. If you must only listen and not watch because you are multitasking, such as shucking corn, LOL (watch the video to get that inside joke) go ahead and do so, but at the 38:43 mark, you have to pause your work and watch Sarah’s body language as she reacts to Ginny’s story. She tells of the neighbor across the street she had when she was growing up. Sarah’s reaction is so hilarious to see!

Anyway, the two nuggets of truth in this video are homeschooling gold! As a veteran homeschooling mom of 30+ years, I heartily agree!

Here they are:

  1. Read aloud to your children every chance you can get. For me it was: while the children did the breakfast, lunch and dinner dishes, during morning basket, during closet/Spark Station time, while riding in the car (use audiobook if you are driving, if someone else is driving, then read aloud to them yourself) and then at bedtime. I never thought to do it while we were outside, but now that I have listened to this podcast/video, I wish I had! For schooling, reading aloud is the number one thing to do, regardless of where your children attend school, because it’s cheap, it’s fun, it changes their brains, it makes happy memories, it teaches them many things, it develops empathy, and it strengthens the bonds between parent and child.

2. Let/send/make your children be outside more. You don’t have to program the outside time with yard toys and play structures. As Ginny’s homeschooling girlfriend Angela told her, “Bring food, water and a friend” when you go beyond your backyard. Aim to get 1000 hours each year. Ginny gives so many reasons/benefits as to why outside play is SOOO important for children. Getting that time in is easier than you think!

Watch Ginny with Emily of Really Very Crunchy Mom fame discuss what outdoor time is worthy.

Did you know that the average American child spends 4-7 minutes a day outside and 4-7 hours on screens! That’s awful! Let’s change that! I’m so pleased that My married daughter, Virtue, has done Forest School the past few years with her boys to get them outside. They meet all school-year long, rain, snow or shine.

My favorite quote from the video “Mother Nature is another mother to my children.” Ginny said that when she took her children outside, she could count on having uninterrupted time to read a book while they played, as opposed to when she was inside and her book reading was interrupted. That’s true! Except I always have had girlfriends when I’ve taken my children to the outside beyond our yard so I always talked with them. When my older kiddos were younger we did weekly city park play dates for the La Leche League Group I was a part of. My children had so much fun with their friends and I had so much fun chatting with my friends. As my brood got older, and I retired from being a LLL Leader, those park play dates got replaced with our homeschooling co-op weekly summer park days. I’ve heard it said that many cases of ADHD are really a nature-deficit disorder.

This podcast/video episode of RAR reminds me of a different podcast I listened to a ways back where the guest told this story of how a few times a year, she and her mom girlfriends would gather in one of their homes with the babies and toddlers. Then they’d tell the children to play like they were Boxcar Children, aka orphans for the day. They sent the children to play outside all day. They were allowed to come to the door “begging” for food for their lunch. Sounds so much fun! I can see how my children, and my nieces, who had an orphan-playing jag for months, would have loved doing this, with the right group of friends. It might be dangerous too. I’m thinking of one particular time when I would not have trusted one of my sons with a certain friend for a certain time, unsupervised, LOL.

Ginny says that at about the ages 11-13, your children will naturally start just visiting with friends in a circle instead of actively playing when you go outside with your friends. That’s perfectly normal.

After you watch the video above, I highly encourage you to get the books by Sarah and Ginny pictured here in this post. They will help you so much on your homeschooling journey. As I’ve written over here, the only things you really absolutely need to successfully homeschool are a math curriculum and a public library card, for reading aloud. A homeschooling co-op on top of that is nice.

Want more about reading aloud? Go here and here. Aside from teaching your child about God and Jesus Christ and how to pray, it’s the best thing you could ever do for your child. Getting them out in nature for long periods of time is the next best thing.

If you do those things, your homeschool year will rock! I promise!

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