The Primary Program

Last week at church, we were switched back to our old class.  It was a bittersweet transition, but it will all work out.  Anyway, I just wanted to share a few highlights from our program.

1.  The little kid (maybe 5 years old) who memorized the entire story of Daniel and the lion's den.  He did such a good job!  He only needed a few key words to keep him on track.  

2.  The boy who told the story of Ammon and Lamoni.  He was so funny!  Best quotes:  "Smote means cut off, pretty gruesome huh?  But it's in the Book of Mormon, so.....  He gathered up all the limbs and put them in a bag or something..."  My favorite:  "We don't have many opportunities to watch people's flocks or cut people's arms off."

3.  This young lady who said that we not only needed to be kind to others, but also to ourselves.  I tell you, these kids are wise beyond their years.

4.  This one girl kept on confusing immortality and immorality, but she fixed it in time for the program.

I may only be telling funny parts, but this program really was inspiring.  Being in primary has really been a blessing for us.  I know that the bishop was inspired to put us there.  I can't wait to see what these kids come up with next.

Love,

Courtney

Lylah Time!

Just thought I would post some pictures of this adorable girl.

What is happening?

Aw.  That face :)

I'm a ladybug!

Pouty face.

Neck stretch!

Hi baby!  

Smiley girl.

Cute little rosy cheeks.  

RAWR!

Hi, I'm a cutie!

Lylah and Daddy

Warm and cozy.

This is a mischievous look

I love to smile!

Strong arms

So cute!

Also, I will be posting a thankful post at the end of November, so look forward to it!



Love you,



Courtney

Halloween Fun!

Happy fall everyone!  I have really been enjoying this harvest season.  There are so many beautiful sights to see and I love to crunch leaves under my feet.  A few days ago we went over to Wendy's house for dinner and games.  Here are some pictures:

We made some yummy Chex mix (with and without nuts).

Wendy instructing me on rolling the pumpkin roll.

Delicioso!

Seriously, these are so yummy!

We also played Beyond Balderdash, a classic Merrill favorite.  During this particular session, it became apparent that Dillon would be the leader in writing literary masterpieces.  One of the most hilarious was a movie category, in which he described a bored Dr.Frankenstein who started to grind up people in a "ginormous" blender.  This substance was then used as meat for a certain fast food company.  (Oh, the movie title was Mix a Person, by the way.)  I have to say, this story almost rivaled Jake's infamous Life is Cheap, but Toilet Paper is Expensive plot. 

A few days later we carved pumpkins!

All the "insides"

The hollowed out interior.

Cameron smoothing out the eye socket.

I seem to have an evil look in my eyes....

Spooky!

This was a very fun Halloween! Now to go and snap up all of the clearance items!

Love,

Courtney

The Job Search

I hate looking for jobs, yuck.  I feel like I am constantly doing "commercials" about myself.  I have had a lot of help from everyone, which I really appreciate.  I have an awesome family, let me just say.  They are always so supportive of whatever I choose to do.  I am so grateful for that.
Cameron and I have been watching some old Disney movies lately.  I had never seen Blackbeard's Ghost or 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and they were great!  Same guy!!!

Sometimes I feel like I should write a FAQ page for our life.  The problem is, the people who need it don't read this blog.  Maybe I should just have it printed on a t-shirt.  Yes, I will do that.
Our primary kids have been extremely hyper lately.  I think it is a pre-Halloween sugar rush.  Yay...  Their trains of thought are so hard to follow.  However, we do get on some pretty funny side conversations.  Also, our class does this really weird thing where they tell Cameron that he has _________ on his head.  For example, you have a spider on your head, you have an octopus on your head etc.  Unfortunately, this has spread to all of the other classes as well. It is so odd, I don't even remember how it started.

Anyways, that's pretty much all that's going on in our life.  We love reading your blog posts!



Courtney

General Conference

      Let me just say:  Best. Conference. Ever.  So inspiring and uplifting.  It never ceases to make me want to be better.  We had Cameron's sister, Heidi over for all sessions of Conference.  For the first time since we've been married we were able to watch it in our own home.  What a blessing!  We played games in-between sessions on Sunday and on Saturday we mostly napped.  We also had a delicious Sunday dinner of lasagna.  YUM!  The entire weekend was just wonderful.  I feel renewed.

      I also want to wish my sister-in-law, Jenni a happy birthday.

Love,

Courtney



PS:  The talks are up in written form now!

Two Days With Wendy

I received a phone call from my aunt Wendy asking if I wouldn't mind helping to serve food at a football game.  We were lucky enough to be assigned concessions duty on the biggest football game of the year.  This game is the equivalent to Battle of the Bell in Spokane, Fight for the Fish in CdA and pretty much any sporting event that involves the school's biggest rival.  Needless to say, there were A LOT (no, seriously, a ton) of people there to support their favorite team.  We were a couple of busy beavers for the entire game.  I was in charge of hot dogs and hamburgers, while Wendy manned the hot chocolate machine.  Sadly, the machine broke halfway through the evening, denying all of the frozen spectators its warm goodness.  Fortunately, someone was able to fix it and it worked for a short while longer, until the hot chocolate powder was no more.

This is a picture that shows how crazy-busy it was for about two hours.  It was hectic, but at the end of the day, it was fun.  

The next day, we went to the Relief Society Broadcast together.  This is an annual tradition for us, and I enjoy it.  We had a delicious dinner beforehand and met some really nice ladies.  The broadcast was awesome, and inspiring.  I really loved the story that Sister Reeves told about the Provo Tabernacle:  

"Almost three years ago a devastating fire gutted the interior of the beloved, historic tabernacle in Provo, Utah. Its loss was deemed a great tragedy by both the community and Church members. Many wondered, “Why did the Lord let this happen? Surely He could have prevented the fire or stopped its destruction.”

Ten months later, during the October 2011 general conference, there was an audible gasp when President Thomas S. Monson announced that the nearly destroyed tabernacle was to become a holy temple—a house of the Lord! Suddenly we could see what the Lord had always known! He didn’t cause the fire, but He allowed the fire to strip away the interior. He saw the tabernacle as a magnificent temple—a permanent home for making sacred, eternal covenants.  My dear sisters, the Lord allows us to be tried and tested, sometimes to our maximum capacity. We have seen the lives of loved ones—and maybe our own—figuratively burned to the ground and have wondered why a loving and caring Heavenly Father would allow such things to happen. But He does not leave us in the ashes; He stands with open arms, eagerly inviting us to come to Him. He is building our lives into magnificent temples where His Spirit can dwell eternally."

I love that story!  It really made me think about the trials in my own life.  The Lord always has a plan, even when it doesn't match up with ours.  It can be very difficult to remember, but He is always available to help us.  

Love,

Courtney

Time Warp, Blast From The Past, Etc.

I had so much fun finding older pictures of Cameron that I decided to do a post dedicated to "old" pictures.  Yay!

This is a picture of Cameron, his sister Tawnee and their Aunt Barbara at their Grandmother's house.

This is a picture of Shane, Cameron, Heidi and Tawnee somewhere in Salt Lake.

This is a picture of me and my friends (Kayla, Jade and Kristen) going to Senior Ball.

This is my family outside of Wendy's backyard.  This picture was taken when Ben left for his mission.  I think...

This is a picture of Cameron at his mission farewell.  

This is a picture of an honor band concert.  We had to learn all of the pieces the same day as the concert.

 This is a picture of Mama Lisa and I before my Senior Ball.

This is a picture of a few of the Smith cousins and I at Russel's homecoming.

A picture from my Single's Ward days.  This was taken at Brentwood park.

This is from Western day during Spirit week in my Senior year.  

I don't know where they were moving to, but this is Cameron's dad, Shane, and Landon.

\

Random pointing...  Same people as the last picture. 

This is a picture of my seminary class senior year.

Junior ball pictures!  My group consisted of Jade and Kayla.  Janelle decided to sneak in this picture.

This picture is from a Whiting Family Reunion.  Kierstin, Ben and I were the best of friends.

This is my friend Rachel.  In this picture we are making gingerbread houses. It was so much fun!  

This is me as a baby with my Grandma Whiting.

Cameron as a leader on a wilderness trek in Kooskia, Idaho.

My family at a Whiting Family reunion at this really cool place that I can't remember the name of.  I'm not quite sure what look Jeremy is going for here...

Cameron's whole family at his farewell.

I'm pretty sure this was a reunion, but I can't remember.  Gross, Gerald.

A good portion of the Whiting Family at the reunion.

Ah, a fond trip down memory lane.  I have been trying to track down pictures of me as a kid for quite a while.  Cameron's are even harder to find after his house burned down.  I need to be more vigilant about taking pictures of our present.  But anyways...  I hope this post was as fun for you as it was for me.

Love,

Courtney

PS:  If you have any pictures of me or my family that are digitally available, would you let me know?