Lemons to Lemonade. and other delicious food.

It starts as a simple trip to Costco.

(can trips to Costco be simple?)

And then because I want a lemon, 

I buy a huge bag of lemons,

 to save another trip to the store.

Then I have 101 lemons.

Lucky for me, I am currently obsessed with lemons.

Last fall it was tomatoes.

Now it is lemons.

We've had a LOT of fresh squeezed lemonade. It's a good one for kids to do.

The night before school started we had a lesson on 

"When life gives you lemons, make lemonade."

We've had a few setbacks in life for a couple kids, and I wanted to help put it into perspective. 

Gosh, I needed it for me, too.

I got five small paper cups and squeezed some lemon juice into each one.

I told everyone at the same time to drink it.

I asked them what they thought.

It's bitter, too strong, not sweet, not good, etc.

Then I gave them lemonade and told them to drink while I talked.

We talked about how we make lemonade.

Lemonade is lemons plus water and sugar.

Lemonade is lemons (trials) plus water (gospel of Christ) and Sugar (positive attitude).

John 4: 14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

The gospel of Jesus Christ through Christ's atonement will help us get through trials, setbacks, or disappointments, and prayer and a positive attitude will make them sweeter and more bearable.

We talked about when Alma and his people were in bondage to the Lamanites.

Mos. 24: 14 And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.

If Christ can turn water into wine

then He can make our trials SWEET.

And Not by removing the lemons.

Life is about getting lemons - make lemonade.

And these!...

Here's some other things we've been making with lemons (and I love lemon zest) that are SO good:

and this, Tortellini Spinach Bake in Creamy Lemon Sauce

(with chicken)

Yum!!

Be Still: a Lesson on Reverence

I am teaching sharing time in primary on Sunday and I'm pretty excited.

We are having a lesson on Reverence. 

(Cause we need it. Summer gets a little wild:)!)

To start I am going to tell a very simplified story of

Finding a Treasure:

I have always loved collecting sea shells. 

But the one I found on this particular day is special.

I found it on South Beach in Oregon half tucked in the sand like this one:

 I loved South Beach because you could walk 100 yards into the ocean and the water would barely cover your rain boots.

There were always pieces of sand dollars at this beach, and I really wanted one.

We came alone to the beach. And by alone I mean we were new and alone to Oregon and Ben was working.

He worked 355 days of the 365 days that year - and not 8 to 5 - sun up to after sun down.

Moms of young kids know the feeling of constant chaos and needs of little people and the irony of feeling so isolated when you're constantly surrounded.

And I felt it, even while I loved watching these cute kiddos run around:

To make it more poignant,

While we were there we saw these people on the beach:

Doesn't that look fun?

I wished I could do that.

But they don't let moms with 3 babies go.

Then, I turned around and saw this:

I could see Ben and I doing that. (Except I would look super unskilled.)

But he was working.

At that point, I had a hard time seeing when these circumstances would ever change.

This was heavy on my mind. I prayed for peace while I stood quietly and watched the waves.

After walking just a couple more steps in the water

I stopped and looked down to find my treasure:

Three days before we came here I wrote down my list of goals on my blog and I had listed: find a sand dollar.

I'll be explaining to the kids that this treasure has to be handled carefully and kept in a special place.

How do we treat treasures? How I take care of a treasure is respecting it. In a similar way, we can treat treasures that are Heavenly Father's with respect and care. In places such as the temple, church, or, the scriptures, our family, and even ourselves. This is showing reverence to Him. 

Psalms 46:10 says,

 "Be still, and know that I am God."

If I had been doing this:

I never would have found this:

Finding treasures of knowledge don't always come from fun adventures, they come from quiet moments of reverence and reflection.

And that can bring true happiness.

Wherever you are.

Really, our outside circumstances can be beautiful or holy in and of themselves, but it is what's inside us that determines reverence or holiness to us.

We have been counseled to stand in holy places. Here are some other "holy places" to me:

even though it looked more like this:

“Reverence is an attitude toward Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ... It is something we feel inside our hearts no matter what is going on around us.” L. Tom Perry

In church, keeping our bodies still 

literally helps prepare our hearts and minds to receive inspiration.

And let the spirit teach us about God.

"Be still, and know that I am God."

California does have a lot to do, but I am hoping to find more treasures by finding balance. 

We sure do miss South Beach!!

1. Rev'rence is more than just quietly sitting:
   It's thinking of Father above,
   A feeling I get when I think of his blessings.
   I'm rev'rent, for rev'rence is love.
   When I'm rev'rent, it shows in my words and my deeds.
   The pathway to follow is clear.
   And when I am rev'rent, I know in my heart
   Heav'nly Father and Jesus are near.
   
   Some of the basic ideas aren't mine, they're from a friend from another wards' sharing time, but I heard it was good and she let me use them!

Family Weekend

We were lucky to have lots of family come visit for Cody's big day. My mom and dad, Ben's parents, Jessi and Amy and her kids were able to come.

One day was spent at Newport just enjoying the beach and sunshine.

These guys love playing together!!

Random Sand Sculptures

All babies love chasing the birds more than anything else on the beach. I love it!

Blake and Cody did not care at all that the water was freezing!

It rained but we still made it over to a covered park Sunday morning.

Our cute house can only hold little people for so long!

Pavion Park is a new awesome park

 

As I drove away from the airport drop offs I kind of laughed at the irony...

the clouds were moving left

and to my left the sky was FULL of clouds and to my right the sky was crystal CLEAR as the storm finished passing through

which means you should all come back soon:)