The best thing I love about the upcoming cold weather of winter (besides wearing sweaters and drinking hot cocoa) is that it’s a great excuse to gather indoors to play board games with family and friends. I drove home today from Idaho for a weightlifting competition that one of my sons participated in, and it was a blizzard in Evanston WY!
The idyllic wintry view from the front door of my previous home in AZ. It makes me want to stay inside and play games!
When we got home it was a pleasant fall day which was perfect for me. I’m not quite ready for snow on the ground, but it did make me want to cozy up at home for board games. To help you find the right board games for your crowd, I recommend the following series. The Dice Tower YouTube Channel is currently showing a series called “The Twelve Games of Christmas” with a different theme for each video. Here’s the one about party games below! After the video I’ve listed some of the games they feature. If you are looking for Christmas gift ideas, consider giving board games. You can usually find a theme that fits the person and/or family.
This one is such a simple idea!!! I’m sooo excited to get it and play it. You could even make your own version! Just have a list of questions and then take turns being the one who doesn’t know what the question is while everyone else knows and answers the questions on paper. Then the guesser has to guess what the question is.
This one looks sooo much fun for people who love words and riddles!
I already have the one below and love it! It really is fun because it allows you to peek inside other people’s minds and guess what they are thinking. I talked about it in my top ten favorite hygge tabletop games over here.
I hope this helps you find at least one super fun game to play with your family this winter, not just during the holidays, but to brighten any ordinary day! Did you know you can use board games for homeschooling? Yes you can! It’s called gameschooling! Go here to learn more!
If you want even more Dice Tower-recommended party games, watch below!
Credit for all movie images in this post unless otherwise noted: amazon.com
Here are some fun things to watch this Thanksgiving season. It’s finally feeling colder here so it feels more natural to curl up inside in front of the electronic hearth for some entertainment.
First, I’m featuring family movies.
The one above is very loosely based on the short story of the same name by Louisa May Alcott, which has been made into a picture book. See below. Notice I wrote “very loosely” based. Actually, I think the only things similar are the title and that they both involve extended family in New Hampshire. The plots are totally different! I watched it years ago and that’s what I remember thinking. Watch here and read the words of the short story here. Then go get the picture book, with words from the short story, and read it again with illustrations. The picture book is always better! (I reviewed the movie here a few years ago.)
My review of the above movie is here. It’s delightful! Great for the whole family! It has Jason Gray from Studio C. It just exudes family Thanksgiving togetherness. I love that it shows the extended family serving in a soup kitchen and having different activities together over a few-days-worth-of-a-Thanksgiving vacation. It has lots of laugh-out-loud moments.
Thanksgiving Promise is a made for TV movie starring three generations of Bridges: Lloyd, Beau, and Jordan. It first appeared on the Magical World of Disney when I was a teen. It’s based on the book Chester I Love You by Utah writers Brenton and Blaine Yorgason. At least as of today, you can watch it in YouTube over here.
Image Credit: amazon.com
“A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” is not a full movie, it’s true, it’s a 25 minutes- made-for-TV special, from back in the days of my childhood when animation on a TV weeknight was truly “special.” It’s still worth watching though because it’s just pure fun. After you finish it, go watch the Peanuts gang act out the Thanksgiving story over here, called “This is America Charlie Brown.”
Kirk Cameron’s documentary Monumental isn’t a “movie” in the sense of being a super entertaining, fictional story. It is a documentary after all, but it is interesting enough, at least for me. It shows Kirk, a husband and father of six children, following the journey of the Pilgrims. I didn’t know about the monument to the Pilgrims in Plymouth, Massachusetts featured in this documentary until I watched it when it first came out over ten years ago. The monument is pictured below. You can watch Monumentalhere on YouTube. Then if you want you can buy a hard copy of the movie on amazon, or go the movie’s website here and get it cheaper, as well as a free study guide.
Jim Henson’s Turkey Hollow movie is quirky and fun. It involves some strange Muppet creatures that seem a bit frightful at first glance but are somewhat lovable. The acting isn’t the greatest but it’s fun and family-promoting with forgiveness and love in action. The hippie grandmother in this movie is so naturally crunchy, she reminds me of myself and my Veggie Gals girlfriends. She just makes me laugh! You can watch the movie in Amazon Prime Video here.
Now let’s talk about Thanksgiving-themed date night movies for adults. Get ready to cozy up with your sweetie for these!
Amazon calls this one above a family movie, which means it’s suitable for kids, but I disagree, as it mentions the three letter word for marital physical intimacy. In my book, that means it’s not for children. The characters don’t talk about it a lot but please know that it’s mentioned. At least it’s in the context of marriage, talked about on the night of the husband’s birthday party. The movie doesn’t show the act thankfully. So if you don’t want to have to explain the meaning of that word, you probably won’t want to watch it with little sets of ears. It’s a personal Thanksgiving tradition of mine to watch this movie every year. It just resonates so much with me. It is one of the few movies I’ve ever found that celebrates stay-at-home motherhood. The plot is implausible as it involves amnesia and a parallel universe but I still love it. It makes me laugh and just feel so good at the end. It just brings on all the Thanksgiving feels: fall-time, a school play about the Pilgrims, family, marriage, coziness, togetherness, food, and gratitude. I was thrilled to find my own copy at one of my public library’s used books/DVDs sales this past year.
This one above looks Christmas-y but it’s really about Thanksgiving, I promise! It’s Love at the Thanksgiving Day Parade, sometimes shortened to Love at the Parade. I review it here. It’s fun to see and learn about Chicago history and landmarks from this movie.
Then there’s The Thanksgiving House. It’s about a young female lawyer who finds out her home is on the land where the first Thanksgiving took place. A pleasant enough movie to bring in the spirit of Thanksgiving, family, community, and a little romance. Watch it here.
I hope you enjoy these movies! Happy Thanksgiving!
For suggestions of fun Thanksgiving picture books, traditions, and more, go here and scroll down to the November section. I also have Thanksgiving picture books shown here.
For short Thanksgiving stories based on the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, poetry, and songs, get my Celestial Family Devotionals ebook here and go to the November section.
What are we to think of the Ezra’s Eagle prophecy now that the 2024 U.S. election cycle is over?
I watched the election results at the victory party for Dr. Mike Kennedy, who was running to win the Congressional seat vacated by John Curtis. As we hoped for, he won! We left before his victory was announced when the balloons were dropped. So I’m sad I missed that but grateful I got to bed earlier than if I had stayed!
If you want a primer of what the Ezra’s Eagle prophecy is, go here. Also be sure to watch the video right below on this page (“Ezra’s Eagle Movie”) because it has a new “movie” that explains the whole thing.
This video below involves Michael Rush, the first to interpret the prophecy in our modern day. He introduces the rest of the video, a movie, done by his friend, Christian Sampson. It gives a visual explanation of Ezra’s Eagle. It’s beautifully done!
The video below is the most recent presentation I can find from Farrell and Rhonda Pickering, of propheticappointments.com, about Ezra’s Eagle.
Then this video below is a new one to me with a different interpretation.
All of these videos came out before the election. Most seem to be saying that Trump would not win. But we have seen Trump win, at least supposedly. So…what does that mean? I don’t know. It could be that the interpretations are wrong. It could be that Trump won’t take office, even though he won. I just don’t know. It could be that since the this prophecy is apocryphal, it isn’t true. Or that it’s all the “interpolations of men.” See the scripture copied and pasted below from Doctrine and Covenants 91. The video above seems to make the most sense by stating that Trump will stay in the picture. Surprisingly, the presenter puts RFK Jr. in the scenario. (In the video he says “JFK Jr.” but JFK Jr. is dead and the presenter has “RFK Jr.” in the graphics so I think he means to say “RFK Jr.”) In this same video, the guy does point out that sometimes prophecy doesn’t come true because the people involved repent, like Jonah did. Maybe that’s what is going on? I hope so!
As soon as a video about the Ezra’s Eagle prophecy, done after the election comes out, I’ll post it here. I’d love to hear your views so please comment below.
It’s so comforting to know that ultimately Christ will prevail, whatever happens between now and then. Despite all of the trials that will come, as President Nelson has said:
“…my dear brothers and sisters, so many wonderful things are ahead. In coming days, we will see the greatest manifestations of the Savior’s power that the world has ever seen. Between now and the time He returns ‘with power and great glory,’ (Joseph Smith—Matthew 1:36) He will bestow countless privileges, blessings, and miracles upon the faithful.” (See his General Conference talk here.)
Last but not least, as my friend Heather pointed out, it’s important to remember that this prophecy is based on words that are part of the apocryphal text. Here’s what the Lord Jesus Christ said about the apocrypha in a revelation to Joseph Smith, which is Section 91 of the Doctrine and Covenants:
1 Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you concerning the Apocrypha—There are many things contained therein that are true, and it is mostly translated correctly;
2 There are many things contained therein that are not true, which are interpolations by the hands of men.
3 Verily, I say unto you, that it is not needful that the Apocrypha should be translated.
4 Therefore, whoso readeth it, let him understand, for the Spirit manifesteth truth;
5 And whoso is enlightened by the Spirit shall obtain benefit therefrom;
6 And whoso receiveth not by the Spirit, cannot be benefited. Therefore it is not needful that it should be translated. Amen.
Here are Rhonda and Farrell Pickering with their thoughts post-election.
Let’s talk about Thanksgiving picture books! I love Thanksgiving and I love all of these books! As a child, I just kind of thought of Thanksgiving as an ugly stepsister to Christmas. It didn’t have all the flash and fun of Christmas. Now that I’m old it’s really grown on me. It has a beauty all of its own. Maybe that’s because I’m a responsible adult now in charge of it. I appreciate that it’s a lot less work than Christmas LOL. I love to honor Thanksgiving Day with the traditional feast with family and/or friends, and prelude the day with tons of picture books about it for the weeks leading up to it. So here’s to these glorious books that celebrate its history, grateful spirit, its food, its charm and its warmth!
An Outlaw Thanksgiving is loosely based on a story involving Butch Cassidy and a small town in the wilderness of eastern Utah. You might have to hunt this down through interlibrary loan. I love this one, and A Turkey for Thanksgiving, because of their surprise endings!
Give Thanks to the Lord is a beautifully illustrated book to celebrate Psalms 92.
I just love the crayon books like the one below. They always hit the spot for whimsy! There’s nothing in this one about historic Thanksgiving, but it does reflect the spirit of giving thanks.
The one above is a small, simple cute board book for younger children.
The two ones above are about Sarah Josepha Hale, the woman who got the U.S. federal government to create the U.S. national holiday of Thanksgiving. I love the illustrations of both. They each tell the story slightly differently!
Then there’s Cranberry Thanksgiving. This style of illustration takes me back to my 70s childhood. I just love, love this book because it’s about hospitality, friendship, and not judging by appearance. Plus it has a recipe for cranberry bread in the back. It’s part of a whole series of Cranberry books: Easter, Halloween, and Christmas.
Sharing the Bread tells of a clan’s Thanksgiving dinner in rhyming format. Delightful!
Thank You Omu! is not about the Thanksgiving holiday but it is about giving thanks, so it ties in just because of that. It’s such a sweet story about the power of sharing food, hospitality, community, and gratitude.
Thanksgiving in the Woods tells the true story of a family who hosts Thanksgiving dinner in the woods every year near their home in upstate New York, with candles, bonfires, lots of food and lots of people. Sounds so jolly and hygge! (If you don’t know what “hygge” means go here to learn all about it!) I absolutely love this book. Look for the companion Halloween, Christmas, and Easter books by the same author, Phyllis Alsdurf, as well.
I enjoy the work of Eric Metaxas. Squanto’s story fascinates me! I can definitely see the hand of God in his life. Telling this story is a great springboard into asking your family how they see the hand of God in their lives.
Speaking of the hand of God, it’s important to tie that in to the Pilgrims themselves besides just the Squanto part. God orchestrated so many details to help them get to America. The books above and below give some examples of that. The author and illustrator, Cheryl Harness, of Three Young Pilgrims has such a gift for making the most beautifully detailed maps in her books. I have my own copies of several of her books about history, including the one above. My goal is to collect them all, from thrift stores of course! I just love poring over the maps with all the little pictures and labels.
P.J. Lynch, author and illustrator of the book below, also has such an artistic eye. (He’s the illustrator of The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey.) This book is about John Howland, a real person who was on the Mayflower. He’s actually my many-greats-great-grandfather! His story illustrates the hand of God in someone’s life. What would have happened if he hadn’t been saved after falling overboard on the Mayflower? This book deserves to be read every year to be reminded of the role of Providence in the Pilgrims’ lives and all of our lives. I love the lovely illustrations in both these books!
Balloons Over Broadway tells the story of real live puppeteer Tony Sarg and his balloons that became part of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. So it’s another great picture book to bring children into American history. So many STEM and history lessons can be drawn from this!
How to Hide a Turkey is a silly book when you want to take a break from the more serious books on this list.
For the suspenseful feeling of a turkey hunt and dad-and-son togetherness, read the book above.
The one below isn’t really about thanksgiving, just about growing cranberries which many people feel is needed for a proper Thanksgiving dinner (not me, LOL). I love the theme of a family working together on their farm at harvest time.
The Memory Cupboard is a sweet story about forgiveness and the lesson that people are more important than things.
The above one is new to me. I’ve got it on hold at the library! It looks promising! It tells the story of the Pilgrims in rhyming format. The one below also tells the story of the Pilgrims, this time in non-rhyming format. The one above looks to be better suited for younger children, with fewer words and poetry, whereas the one below is better for older children because it has more words.
This next bunch of books shows the family aspect of Thanksgiving with relatives gathering.
The ones above and below show the traditional song about going to Grandma’s house for the holiday. Oher versions are out there too.
The one above is a cute, cute story by the author of Little Women, Louisa May Alcott. I love that it shows siblings rallying together to put on Thanksgiving dinner. It also has a recipe for apple slump at the end, if I recall correctly. (That’s so interesting since I learned on my recent trip to the Little Women house that Louisa May’s father called their home “Apple Slump.”) I always borrow a copy of this from the library and I don’t have one currently so I can’t check. Anyway, you can read it for free here, but the picture book is ALWAYS better.
Then we have some poetry books with fun rhymes and pictures.
Last but not least is probably my favorite! I love it because it shows how what appears to be a ruined Thanksgiving Dinner becomes one of the best days of the year for a lonely senior couple, all because of the kindness of strangers. So heartwarming! Thinking about it is even better for me this year because last August in Maine I saw a framed print of the book cover image, hanging on the wall, at the Skidompha Library in Damariscotta, Maine.
BONUS: This bottom one is not a strict picture book and it’s not strictly Thanksgiving themed. It’s called My Picture Book of Songs. It’s a children’s songbook of seasonal and holiday songs with beautiful illustrations, vintage 1950-60s ish. All the children are so plump, shiny and rosy cheeked, they rival any Campbell Soups Kid. It has two Thanksgiving songs for children that are absolutely adorable. One is religious, a Thanksgiving prayer, and the other is fun and bouncy, about anticipating the feast. I remember my kindergarten and first grade teachers using this book. It brings back so many fond memories of school and love of learning. I love it so much I asked for it for my Christmas gift from my parents about 15 years ago. I have used it for my morning singing time with my children and I’m going to bring it into my Grandma School this year. You can find it used on amazon and at online used book stores, and new at Deseret Book here. It is a gem!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! For more fall-themed lists of family traditions, books (including Thanksgiving-themed chapter books like the one below), conversation starter questions, and foods, go to my companion website here, and scroll down to November.
It’s time for another monthly recap of things that made me smile! The following things in this post aren’t ALL the things that made me smile for October 2024, but a fair sampling. In the spirit of one of my new favorite bloggers, Auntie Leila of likemotherlikedaughter.org, I’m sharing what has been pretty, happy, funny, and real in my life. Plus things that are smart and kind. That’s a thorough way to describe the things that make me smile.
First, early in the month, I saw these herbs being dried at my friend’s home. Harvest time! Preservation time! That makes me smile! It just feels so homemaking-ish. I love it!
I saw the drying herbs when my son and I went to this friend’s home for a simulation for a homeschool group. The fresh mountain air and views were so amazing! I feel so blessed to live in a place where I can see so much natural beauty.
My son and his friends participated in a blindfolded simulation and then debriefed it. This is what “back to school” looks like for homeschoolers! Being out in the mountains! So breathtakingly beautiful!!!
I saw these games on the same friend’s shelf in her schoolroom and had to get a picture. Slamwich is a favorite game amongst my younger children, and I love Professor Noggins quiz cards, which the bottom sets of cards are.
I loved General Conference! My recap is here of our true holiday/holy day weekend of it. I spent the down time between sessions getting out my fall decorations. My leaf garlands just make me so happy along with my “Thankful” banner.
I also found my pretty wreath that my BYU-attending son made for me last year on a date. Yeah, he has a creative side, especially for being a math major. We have moved since then and I couldn’t exactly remember where I put it, but I eventually found it. Since then I’ve added garlands on the pillars on either side of the door. I’m so happy to have a house with pillars that beg to be decorated!
A wild edibles hike with friends! I have more photos here.
I got back into the groove of playing a game at least 4 days a week in our homeschool.
I’ve figured out that it’s best to do short 10-15 minute games on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, and sometimes Fridays. So that means simple card games like Word Go Round, Fluxx or Timeline. Then on Wednesday, the only day we are home all day with no big commitments, that’s the day for us to do a longer game, beyond ten minutes. I got these new games below in October. I’m so excited to engage with them! (Images courtesy of amazon)
Here’s a game I played with my Sword of Freedom class (a class about the War Between the States for homeschoolers):
In this game you simulate being abolitionists in the Underground Railroad. You win the game if you get a certain number of slaves off their plantations to freedom in Canada, and a certain number of support tokens (I can’t remember the name of those). It is a great game that involves strategy, cooperation, and historical facts and geography. It involves a map as shown below plus cards with flavor text. Those are the abolitionist cards. Each card features a different abolitionist from real life history. Some cards tell a bit about them and then they have special powers to help you move more slaves or get more money for the cause. I can tell I loved it more than my scholar youth. I am excited to find some group of adults who love history and are super desirous to play it with me. Is that even possible? I hope so!
We went to a free event to see Mexican folkdancers. It was so cool, the men danced with swords and the women danced with bottles on their heads. They were so talented!
My daughter has started a seasonal Cousins’ Craft party, held at the home of her grandmother (my mother). She and I love cousins and crafts so this is perfect. To clarify, I love crafts but whenever I do them I feel guilty, like I should be doing something more scholarly. I have felt this way since my AP-class-attending days in high school, when I had loads of homework. Then it was college with loads of homework then marriage and motherhood with loads of housework. I have to remind myself it’s OK to take breaks and do crafts, just like it’s OK to play games! My daughter and mom provided the materials to make these wax paper lanterns. You just sandwich leaves inside wax paper with an iron, tape the sides, and then put a battery-operated tea light inside. So cute! My niece crocheted the little baskets and doilies.
These are some of the leaves in my parents’ backyard that I got to choose from to make my lanterns. I love that Utah has four distinct seasons. As much as I love our former home of southeastern AZ, which also has four distinct seasons, fall comes really late there. They just don’t have leaves that ever look like this.
One one of the October 2024 nights, the TV game show Jeopardy! had a category about authors who are members of my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Yay! (Thanks to Jeopardy! for these images.)
I got the top two answers and my teen daughter knew all three. The answer to the bottom clue is “What is The Mazerunner?” which she has read. (She said it was OK.) Fun fact: one of the BYU roommates of my sister Emily married James Dashner.
I attended a rally on the steps of Utah State Capitol to show support for Phil Lyman, running for Utah governor. I got to go with my sister-in-law/girlfriend Sally and girlfriend Joyce, which made it so much more fun. Wonderful speakers! I’m so grateful for people who stand for liberty, truth, and transparency.
At the rally I had a Gayle Ruzicka sighting, shown below. She doesn’t know me from Eve but I appreciate all her work for conservatives. Utah liberals don’t like her. She is a powerful woman who stands for principles.
I celebrated La Leche League’s birthday by blogging about it here and taking a photo of all my books from my LLL Leader days. They are old friends and have helped so much on my mothering journey.
I babysat my grandsons. Here is one of them playing in the back yard of the neighbors. I’m also doing “Grandma School” one morning a week.
A cute little boy in my neighborhood had his own farmer’s market by selling lavender bunches and tiny pumpkins that his family had grown, plus pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. I couldn’t resist going! I love things like this. I bought some of each. I did resist eating the cookies and stuck to being keto carnivore and gave the cookies to my kiddos. To protect his privacy I took the photo below when he was bending down to get some pumpkins for the neighbors.
I noticed lavender growing in the yard of the church building that houses the FamilySearch Center where I serve on a monthly shift. It was so amazing that I had a couple come in who, it turned out, have connections to my husband in two ways. The husband of the couple is my husband’s dad’s half-second cousin. The wife grew up in Scotland. She knew my husband’s mother from when my mother-in-law served a mission in Scotland. My mother-in-law taught a woman named Sally Brown the gospel, and Sally got baptized, along with her husband and children. Sally Brown’s son baptized this wife of the couple who came into the center. So we had a fun time talking about all this. It was like a family reunion even though we hadn’t ever met before.
I got to go to the FIRM Foundation Conference and see this cool replica of the Book of the Mormon plates at one of the vendor tables.
We attended BYU’s Chemistry Magic Show in honor of National Chemistry Week. So fun! It’s our fourth year in a row now.
It has become an October tradition for at least me and my youngest to attend this show. For the first time ever, my husband came this year. I love that I got some great photos of the explosions at just the right time this year!
BYU’s Chemistry Department is in the Benson Building, named after Ezra Taft Benson. Go figure. President Benson was not a chemist. I don’t understand why BYU’s life science building wasn’t named after him, as Pres. Benson was into agriculture, which falls under the umbrella of “life science.” He was even Secretary of Agriculture under Eisenhower. Anyway, the Benson Building has this amazing display case of memorabilia about President Benson. He was the 13th president/prophet of my church when I was an older teen. I have very fond memories of him and his promotion of the Book of Mormon. Seeing this display always makes me smile. I love that President Benson was about liberty and the proper role of government. He even wrote a little book about it, which is in the display case.
Getting my barely natural waves to appear from a hair wash day is a work in progress. It seems to take so many steps and products and watching curly girl YouTubers that I get exhausted. These waves along the neckline of my shirt made me smile. If only I could get them to uniformly appear all over my head so that the rest isn’t stringy looking. I’m getting there!
I saw these DVD movies at a library I don’t usually go to, when my husband and I attended a meeting at that library about Social Security and retirement. Yep we are getting to that age. So now I’m adding these movies to my watchlist.
Speaking of movies, the hubs and I had some really fun movie date nights this month. I lucked out in finding some great romantic movies that had great acting too. Here’s one we watched, with Melissa Gilbert. I loved that it was about marriage and motherhood. I also loved how it turned out. I must say, Rosanna Arquette has the most beautiful looking lips. She played the single mom in the movie.
We read and discussed Uncle Tom’s Cabin for my Sword of Freedom class. I’ve read it before when I mentored the class before. This year it was even more meaningful to me because last August, with my sister and daughter, I visited in person the room in the house in Maine where Harriet, the author, wrote the book. It’s not the greatest of literature, but I love the Christianity theme of the book, the selfless, Christlike example of Uncle Tom, and that Harriet wrote it as a busy SAHM of 7 with no modern day conveniences to save her time. The book became a bestseller, catapulted her to fame, and gave her financial independence for the rest of her life.
This house where Harriet wrote UTC is owned by Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. We just got to tour one room, where the book was written. It’s the room on the bottom floor to the left of the covered porch.
For my sisters’ book club we did the one below. I started it but didn’t finish. It was just too heavy of a book for me to read and I couldn’t find a decent audio version to listen to while I multitask that didn’t put me to sleep. Someday I will finish it. I can tell it’s hauntingly beautiful.
I smiled at the fact that we went all October without a freeze! Here are my tomato plants still standing strong on Nov. 1. I picked most of the tomatoes the night before thinking it might freeze but it didn’t.
We had our first snow on the Tuesday before Halloween, the day I heard Dallas Jenkins speak. I smiled because it stayed up in the mountains, just where I like it, and melted on the valley floor. You can watch the speech here in my recap.
On Halloween Day, in the morning, my Sword of Freedom class joined another Sword of Freedom class for a Gettysburg Simulation. My son and I had watched Gods and General and Gettysburg in the weeks prior. War doesn’t make me smile but having the freedom to homeschool, and to get out and breathe fresh air and see the expanse of God’s great beauty does.
That night I progressed in carrying out my purist ideals for a pure Halloween, if it’s possible. Instead of giving out candy I gave out glow stick bracelets taped to cards printed on yellow cardstock saying “Jesus is the light.” I printed out the flyers from Jennifer Flanders over here, using the image in the bottom right corner of the owl. On one side it says, “Who can defeat the powers of darkness? Whooo?” Then on the back it says, “Jesus is the Light of the World.”
I forgot to get a photo of the cards with the glow sticks attached. I’m definitely doing this next year! I left them in a bowl with a sign that said, “Please take one.” I let my two teen children leave the home to go hang out with friends. Then my husband and I went to a Veggie Gal party at girlfriend Shauna’s home. We had super yummy food and conversation. I aspire to someday afford to give a king-sized candy bar to every trick or treater with the card below that says “Jesus is the King!” like Jennifer says she has done some years. I don’t know if I trust leaving that bowl alone, however, whenever I do that!
Thrifting this month wasn’t as bountiful as last month but I still found some great treasures.
I was thrilled to find the Thanksgiving conversation starter cards above on the way home from the FIRM Foundation conference at the Saratoga Springs Deseret Industries. The cards are round with the image of a pumpkin pie (bird’s eye view) on one side of the card and a question on the other side. So I’ve been using them for dinner time conversation lately because we won’t be able to fit them all in for the big Thanksgiving dinner.
Then the photo below shows what else I found in October for thrifting. A hefty-weaved nubby white sweater which I’ve been wanting for a while. I already have a nubby cream sweater already and a smooth white sweater. I just have some tops that would look better with a nubby white sweater instead of smooth. It was $8 at Savers. Then an aqua cardigan that is the opposite of nubby, so smooth, from another thrift store, the Provo Deseret Industries. A few books, a hinged photo frame, and a Disney board game, to hopefully play when my daughter-in-law comes for Thanksgiving with my son. I’m of the opinion of girlfriend/sis-in-law Sally to avoid giving Disney even a penny of mine these days, but I’m ok with buying Disney things used, to enjoy with relatives who love Disney.
Other things that made me smile this month are:
-a beautiful funeral made me smile even though it was sad too of course. My friend and shirt-tail relative lost her 18 year old son to cancer. The funeral was like a family reunion because the young man who died has an aunt married to my husband’s cousin. Then his grandmother is dear friends with my deceased mother-in-law. As most funerals do, it involved wonderful stories of the deceased and testimonies of Christ and the reality of the resurrection. It was so wonderful!
-spending an afternoon with my husband and younger children doing yard work for my parents
-having Zoom time with my son, daughter-in-law and grandson who live in TX. My grandson baby is so cute!!!! I can’t wait to hold him at Thanksgiving time!
-finishing the inventory of my long-term food storage. That was a huge task!!!!! I’m smiling a smile of relief that it’s over! I rewarded myself by getting the games I showed in the middle of this post.
I know many of my readers have probably already voted. So, disregard this if you have. I prefer to vote “in person, the day of.” The less time the ballot is in the drop box/ballot box, the less risk for tampering. If you are still thinking about who to vote for, please read this.
I still haven’t decided who I’m voting for president. Definitely not Kamala. I don’t agree with her stance on abortion and illegal immigration, among other things. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a statement asking its members to vote for life and against measures that promote abortion. So that means not voting for Kamala, as she is blatantly for abortion. I wouldn’t vote for her anyway. She is not for limited government, based on everything she has said. So…am I voting for Trump, or writing someone’s name in? I don’t know yet. I have never voted according to party lines. I vote for people according to principles they stand for, not party affiliation. I haven’t voted for Trump yet in previous elections. I have written in Ron Paul’s name, in 2012, 2016, and maybe even in 2020, even though he wasn’t officially running. I might write in Joel Skousen, which most people probably consider a vote thrown away, like my previous write-ins. My lawyer husband argues that it matters to God who we vote for, not whether or not it affects the outcome.
If you are still undecided like me, here are some videos to watch to help you decide.
First a video involving Joel Skousen, running for the Constitution Party in some states. I know he’s not going to win but he’s an interesting, principled, moral person to learn about and from.
I appreciate Connor pointing out that some people who say we shouldn’t vote for Trump should apply the same reasons why not to vote for Trump to Harris as well. She fails all the same points that they say Trump fails.
I’m not telling you who to vote for, I encourage you to watch all these videos and prayerfully decide. Make your decision, take it to God, and vote for who God tells you who to vote for.
If you live in Utah, please watch the video below, a Utah 2024 Voter Election guide for conservatives. I agree with it all except for maybe voting for Ken Ivory as he’s been promoting a modern Con Con, which is not good. He doesn’t apply to where I live anyway. I encourage you to follow all these YouTube channels as well.
Speaking of Utah politics, here is another update video below for the corruption going on in the Utah governor race. This update came out yesterday. Michael Clara, the video producer, shares the news that Mike McKell, a Utah state senator, is Spencer Cox’s brother-in-law. Interesting!!!! Go here for more on the dirty politics going on in the Utah governor race. Write in Phil Lyman for Utah governor! Cox is a RINO who has been selling out Utah for globalism as the current UT governor.
My view of the jumbotron before the Fourm started. I’m sorry it’s wonky but it’s the best I could get from my seat that was not in the center of the Marriott Center. We got there 30 minutes early but apparently not early enough so we sat facing left of the stage.
I had the privilege of attending this BYU Forum this morning with Dallas Jenkins as the featured speaker. He is the producer of the The Chosen. If you don’t know about The Chosen, you are missing out! It’s basically a multi-season TV show about Jesus Christ. You can watch it here. The production is famous for portraying the emotional connection of the stories of Jesus.
Dallas is a delightfully fabulous speaker! He cracked jokes left and right.
“Well, well, well, here I am, the evangelical. You have been sending your guys, two by two, to my home for 40 years. It’s about time I showed up at your house!”
“I had my annual meeting with your Quorum of the Twelve Apostles yesterday where they could tell me what to put in the show. I just let them write the scripts. It’s just easier that way.”
He also called Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, “your Reverend Holland,”, “Jeffy” and “J-Dawg…because we’re close.” He said that they had been debating the new temple garments.
Dallas then said, “Since I have converted, I haven’t even missed coffee. It’s amazing!”
I took the photos above and below with my phone. Rather blurry, so that’s why I’m sharing screenshots from the YouTube video.
“The reason we shoot The Chosen in Texas, of course, is because Texans believe Jesus actually lived there.”
“Evangelical YouTube is flipping out. There’s going to be YouTube videos showing my face with Brigham Young looking over my shoulder. They are going to say, ‘We knew it, we knew it!’ “
All of these jokes elicited a ton of laughter. After most of the jokes, but before the last two, he said, “None of what I just said is true, I just wanted to break the internet.” More laughter.
He then acknowledged that he was talking to an audience mostly full of students. So, he addressed them, with a life lesson he’s learned to pass onto the students with their quest for success. He shared the story of how he majorly failed on his way to making The Chosen.
I just loved his story! I love that it involves failure. I love that it involves God’s hand in his life. I love that it involves his wife helping him, so there’s a little romance there as they work together as a married couple to pursue a dream. I love that it involves principles, namely, the “Five Loaves and Two Fishes” principle. Sarah Mackenzie refers to this in her book, Homeschooling From Rest. That’s the principle to do what you can and turn it over to God, just like the boy in the Bible story of the loaves and the fishes. Trust that He will make much more out of what you give than you can. Jesus multiplied five loaves and two fishes into a meal that fed 5,000! It’s such a beautiful, miraculous principle! I also love that his story involves phrases that God put in his mind, his wife’s mind, and the mind of an acquaintance. He concluded the speech by saying “I love you.” It was such a heartfelt, real, inspiring speech. We all loved it and gave him a standing ovation.
I left the speech feeling such a sense of wonder. Chief among my wonders was “I wonder how many times people feel a nudge (what I call a prompting of the Holy Spirit) to say something or text something to someone that turns into something big, even as big as The Chosen, or even a small, yet still amazing thing?” Watch the video above to get the whole story. It’s so heartwarming, even better than anything I’ve ever seen in a Hallmark movie.
As we went home, my husband, who is a BYU grad, as I am, shared, “Wow, for being a forum speech that was so spiritual. It was more spiritual than some of the devotional speeches I’ve heard.” For those who don’t know, BYU devotional speeches are religious-themed, aimed at members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and forum speeches are generally non-religious.
We walked on the bridge from the Marriott Center and saw the Carillon Tower.
I looked at the snow on the mountains that had fallen through the previous night and early morning, the random beauty of tiny, yet detailed oak and maple leaves fallen on the sidewalk under my feet, plastered there with the rain. Touched by all this beauty, I pondered all these things. I’m still pondering all of the magic of the whole experience. Truly, the world feels new again. I feel renewed to continue to pursue my middle-aged homeschooling SAHM dreams, despite all of my failures. Thank you, Dallas Jenkins, for such an inspiring speech! We love you!
The beauty of homeschooling is that I brought my fifteen-year-old with me in the middle of the day and we met up with my BYU-attending son. Here we are after the Forum walking through the tunnel to the bridge away from the Marriott Center. What a beautiful cozy fall day with beautiful truths imparted!
The Utah County Clerk, Aaron Davidson, recently released a statement declaring that the signatures gathered for Spencer Cox have not been verified correctly. Image Credit: Michael Clara YouTube Channel
I interrupt the regular Christian holistic family themes of this blog to talk about politics every once in a while. I’m doing so today. Don’t worry, this isn’t about Trump. I’ll save that for another time. 🙂
Politics is about power, about what power is, and who has the power. It affects all of us. I can’t blog idly by and not say something about the dirty politics that’s been happening in Utah. It’s important to wake up and stand for truth and vote for truth. Otherwise, we will eventually find ourselves in bondage.
The current gubernatorial race for Utah involves corruption. Spencer Cox, the incumbent governor, is running for reelection. He should not be allowed to be running! He did not win the UT Republican party nomination for governor. With political tactics, however, he has made himself the Republican party nominee so that he’s on the ballot for the general election on Tuesday November 5, 2024.
The Utah media has not and perhaps will not report on the overwhelming corruption that exists in our state. So, I’m reporting it! This video below shows Jason Preston of We Are the People Utah and Phil Lyman exposing it.
This corruption includes our current governor, Spencer Cox. Below is a video that shows a just a bit of the corruption that affects all of us. I IMPLORE you to take the time to watch it RIGHT AWAY. This is only a small example of the corruption. Continue to watch videos from the We Are the People Utah YouTube Channel to learn more.
I will be WRITING-IN Phil Lyman to be governor of Utah! He overwhelmingly beat Spencer Cox at the UT GOP State Convention with 68% of the delegate vote. Cox got less than 40%! Cox then gathered signatures to be put on the ballot, but he has not allowed his signatures to be audited to make sure he could even be on the ballot. He controls his own election, through his lieutenant governor, who is in charge of the election. This is so not right!
A smart courageous man, Michael Clara, has created many videos for his YouTube Channel that explains the corruption in detail! Kudos to him for taking the time out of his life to do this. Please watch them, posted above and below, to become fully informed. The video above is the latest update, #7, with the bombshell letter from Utah County clerk Aaron Davidson declaring that Cox’s signatures have not been verified correctly according to Utah statute. This letter just came out last week. To use football terms, Cox dropped the ball and did not complete a touchdown! The rest of the videos below show the story from the beginning, with the first video right below and then all the updates.
The great news is that Richard and Carol Lyman, who were bribed by Cox to run on the ballot to confuse voters with the last name of “Lyman,” have withdrawn. Phil Lyman is still running!
If you are a Utah voter, please do the following things:
1. Write in “Phil Lyman” for governor on the ballot on Election Day, Tuesday November 5th!
2. Share this post with your Utah voter friends! Urge them to do the same!
3. Contact your state legislator. See the site here to find yours. Tell the person by email or phone, “Spencer Cox did not get enough signatures to be on the ballot according to the Utah Constitution. What are you going to do about it?”
We are commanded to waste and wear out our lives, to bring hidden works of darkness to light! (Doctrine and Covenants 123:13-14) We are also warned to awaken to the awful situation of secret combinations in our midst so that they don’t overtake us. May we do so with God’s help! (Ether 8:24-25)
I just love Sarah’s story! She tells of how after she graduated from nursing school, she went on a long road trip. She toured the western United States for 50 days.
The beautiful views she saw inspired her to repeat a favorite Bible scripture from her childhood.
“The heavens are telling the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.” Psalm 19:1
She tells of finding a Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ in the drawer of a nightstand at a Marriott Hotel while on her trip. She eventually met up with missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and asked for her own copy of the Book of Mormon. They didn’t have one in their bag like they usually do, and eventually found her one from a friend. Guess what?
The cover was adorned with her favorite verse! I just love “coincidences” like this. They are really miracles!
Watch Sarah’s story below!
Want more stories involving the Book of Mormon? Go here to get my free family devotionals ebook and turn to the stories shared in the “March” section. I testify that reading the Book of Mormon will bring you closer to Jesus Christ than any other book.
Guess what? The presenter I linked at the end of that post, Andrea Woodmansee, has come out with another interview. This time it is all about women and veils in the temple. Watch and learn!
Tree of Life Mothering 