Church Prom Preview.

It was 10:30p.m. when we arrived home, and the heels of my feet were hurting. I don't think I sat down one time last night while helping the youth and other leaders decorate for our mormon prom which is being held tonight. I didn't even think about how tired I was until I was helping set some of the silverware. I was just so excited to be helping the youth in any way I can with the decorations. 

See...I didn't grow up with anything like this. No church, no youth activity, no clean & happy fun. In the 22 years of being a member for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints I have always served in Relief Society, and have never been a part of working with the young women of the church (except my own kids.) And so far I'm absolutely loving it! 

I began to gather every decoration that the kids needed before heading out to the church. Vintage books, gold coins, vintage compass, seashells, snowflake ornaments, and anything I had in the house that they can possibly use. The excitement was building up as I was putting these things in my bag, and I was ready to go. I kind of felt like a little kid except that my 'inner kid' at this moment was filled with light, and all kinds of happy! 

Jon, and my youngest daughter Chelsea tagged along with me, and they helped clean the kitchen. We washed at least 100 plates for the dinner tonight, and luckily I don't mind doing dishes otherwise I probably would have had Jon do it. After the kitchen was clean we all helped the youth with the decorations. 

We walked into the cultural hall, and the first thing that stood out was this...

A beautiful display of a mini D.C. Temple tht looks like a castle, and in many ways it is. 

I began to organize the stuff from my bag, and as I was looking out at all the tables with the various "disney themed" decorations brought back all kinds of memories. Memories of the time I introduced Sierra, and Lexie to Mulan, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Snow White, and Alice in Wonderland. Those are the nostalgic disney movies. Chelsea was happy to have seen the Frozen, Toy Story, and Tangled themes. It literally got me so pumped as to what we were doing, and I wanted to dive right in and help decorate, but I now that the youth is responsible to do the work on their own. Having a Disney theme is a sweet idea, and I am so glad they chose that.

Basically the entire purpose of why we do mormon proms is uplifting, and brings so much peace to my soul. The secure feeling knowing that our kids are in a safe environment without going to any after parties puts me at ease. I know that they'll have all kinds of fun because our mormon proms play clean music, there is no dirty dancing, or grinding train, and are alcohol, and drug free! Oh...and we have chaperones that are looking out for our youth making sure no one is pulling last minute shenanigans.

Being at the church last night to help serve in preparing for this wonderful event was euphoric, and I am excited for all the youth to attend! Especially Lexie who will be going for the first time. She is excited for this prom, but I honestly think she is more excited to be around her church peeps, and to finally wear the dress that I bought for her this past Valentine's Day. 

Yep...she's almost ready to go. She just needs to do her chores, and clean the bathroom. Kind of like Cinderella.

Keeping CHRISTmas Simple

The weather is beginning to feel more like Christmas and I have put the rest of our decorations out. The kiddos decorated our tree the day after Thanksgiving which is always a tradition, and I decided to bring up our tiny little Christmas tree. I had asked the girls about putting it up, and we decided to put it in the corner of our dining area. We put their cute Mary Engelbreit ornaments on their tree. Noah is barely two, and yet he is mesmerized by the lights on both trees. He constantly pulls down the ornaments only on the big tree. He only did this for the first week. Let's hope he's grown weary of it! 


My better half just received his cookie press by UPS yesterday and he was like a little kid opening up a Christmas gift. Not only does he love to cook, but he loves to bake as well. This Christmas we are going to bake cookies for our friends, and neighbors. This will be our first time to do this as a family, and we are excited! Especially the girls!


For some reason this Christmas seems as if it is going to be simply simple. The older the kids get, the simpler it gets. I don't know. Maybe it's because of  these words that President Thomas S. Monson said to us during the Christmas devotional broadcast. Maybe it's because I have a humble teenager who has a solid testimony of the Savior, a preteen who is always thinking of others first, and only wants us to focus on the little ones. Maybe it's because I myself am striving to live a simple life with four children and one income. Everything seems to be focused less on Christ, and more on the things of the world. We have taught our kids throughout the years that Christmas is not about the presents...it's about His presence. 


Of course Chelsea and Noah are still little, and I want to make Christmas magical for them. It's also understandable for them to want to ask Santa what they want for Christmas. I think the biggest Christmas tradition we started since moving up here is going to New York and seeing Santa at Macy's. Now...that may be called a thing of the world, but it sure puts a light on all of our faces when we go and spend the entire day there! 


Our kids are filled with the Christmas spirit, and have really understood the reason for the season. Like I wrote before...we enjoy the holidays no matter what. We always have fun during Christmas, and each year our love for Jesus Christ grows stronger and stronger. 

I am thankful for that spirit!