2019 {General Conference} Apostle Cards

It's General Conference Weekend again and my kids are excited for breakfast and watching church in their pajamas! I'm thinking that this year I will serve up some cinnamon rolls and Puffy Eggs with Butter Syrup. What's on your weekend breakfast menu? Does your family have a special weekend breakfast? Special General Conference weekend traditions?

If you're like me and you've got young children that you need to keep engaged in meaningful activities so that you can enjoy watching General Conference, I've got something for you!

Prophets and Apostle Cards!!!

The Apostle Cards are 4x6 in size and you can use them for a variety of activities. Some uses I came up with:

Flashcards
Print one copy of each, laminate, stick on a ring and let the kids become familiar with the faces.

Memory
Print two copies of each, laminate, and make a Memory matching game the kids can play alone or together.

Go Prophet
Print 4 copies of each, laminate, and make play a GO Fish style game.

I hope you enjoy and can find use for them with your own kids. Enjoy General Conference and let me know if you have any other tips for keeping your young ones engaged during Conference.

Fine Print:
Please feel free to use this printable for your personal use. Please be kind and give credit where credit is due. Any questions or comments please do not hesitate to contact me.

The Best Ever LDS General Conference Packet | #LDSConf

I have a confession - I'm a LDS General Conference activity packet hoarder. When I find one I like or a coloring sheet that I think would be great for my kids to work on during LDS General Conference, I hoard it in a file on my computer. I have so many now - dating back to 2009 - that my kids could be doing scripture coloring pages until they're eighteen! Every time General Conference rolls around, I promise myself that I am going to go through all of them, pull out my favorites, add in a few of my own, and make the most awesome packet ever. And every time I am scrambling Saturday morning before the first session of conference to find the exact coloring page I remember from back in April of 2014. It's a hot mess!

Well, I'm so proud of myself! It is one day before the first session and I am ready to go. OK, so I didn't give myself a huge amount of time before, but hey, I'm ready! I thought that some of you out there might be like me and be frantically searching for ways to keep your kids engaged during Conference so that you can enjoy the speakers without becoming a referee, a tyrant or an angry mom! So, I have put them all together in one place and you can download them and use the ones you think are super cool - because I only pick the coolest stuff - and leave what won't work for your family.

There are a variety of coloring pages, activity pages with crosswords word searches, mazes and codes. There is even a super cool one from LDSLANE.NET that involves LEGOS. It is so cool! I know my kids are going to love it!

So, you can either scramble Saturday or Sunday morning trying to find something for your keeps so you don't pull your hair out or you can check my compilation of the BEST EVER GENERAL CONFERENCE PACKET ACTIVITIES and wow your kids with how put together you are. I know which one I'm going to be come Saturday morning!

You can find all of my favorite pages HERE in one place. You can also check out my cute GENERAL CONFERENCE SWEET WORDS JARS and my GENERAL CONFERENCE ALTERED NOTEBOOK if you're looking something a little different.

I have to give a shout out to all the great sites that I got the images, activities, and printables over the years. Go check them all out and see if there is something else you think would be awesome for your General Conference Weekend!

{MELONHEADZ}
{LDSLANE.NET}
{aYEARofFHE.net}
{scriptures4kids.com}
{Little LDS Ideas}
{Food Storage and Beyond}
{LDS.org}

Orange You Glad I'm 8: Isabella's Baptism

Over the holidays my little Isabella celebrated her 8th birthday and had her
baptism. She loves all things orange and so we used orange balloons in the
pictures she had taken by my good friend Syl Galloway. They matched the orange
ends of her hair very nicely. So, when we were deciding what to do for her
baptism, we thought it would be fun to use the theme "Orange You Glad I'm 8".

I made her invitations in Photoshop using the pictures that Syl took of her in
November. It was fun to use the accents of orange to match the balloons. It was
fun to see her spunky personality come out in the photos and on the invitation.

On her baptism day she wore the same white dress that my youngest sister wore

on her baptism day. It's a beautiful Hawaiian dress and I loved that she got

to share in the tradition of using the same dress just like my niece did. And I

love it so much more than the jumpsuits that are usually worn.

Her hair was my favorite! I wanted something that we could do before and it

would survive the dunk of the baptism. I didn't want her to look like a drowned
rat after, but I also didn't want to spend the time drying and styling it. When I
found this Rope Twisted Pinwheel Bun from Cute Girl Hairstyles, I knew it
would be perfect. It took me about 45 minutes to do. The CGH lady said like
15 minutes, but she's more adept with hair twisting than I am!

I love how the orange peaks out every once in a while and adds a little bit of her

orange-loving personality to her hairstyle. It weathered the baptism perfectly
and her hair looked quite lovely the entire rest of the day.

It's tradition for my parents to give a white baptism towel as a gift, but she was
so busy with the amazing quilt she was making, I ordered one on Etsy this time.
I was pleased to find HuckleberryStew! She had quick turn around time and I
could choose an orange CTR shield the towel in addition to her name and
baptism date.

I also made her a guest book for friends and family to write her a note so she
could have a record of all the wonderful people that came to celebrate with her. I
used the photos that Syl took and had the book printed by Shutterfly. It was a
good way to also let Isabella have her pictures from shoot with Sylvia all together
and be able to look at them whenever she wants to remember her special day.

We served light refreshments after the baptism - or course with an orange
theme! I made number eight sugar cookies and my sister and I frosted them
with orange buttercream frosting. I was going to frost them with royal frosting,
but Isabella informed me that it wasn't her favorite and so we changed plans.
We also had orange lollipops, orange Airheads, orange licorice, Cuties and
white powdered donuts. I made cute wraps for the water bottles that
said "Orange You Glad I'm 8!"

And do you see the quilt?! I asked my mom 3 years ago when JT got baptized if
she would make Isabella a baptism quilt. When she came to visit this summer
we worked together to make a rough sketch of what I was thinking and what
Isabella would like. It turned out even more beautiful that I could have imagined.
I will share more pictures of it later along with more pictures of her dress!

Journaling Book of Mormon Tips and Tricks

Ever since I saw my friend Jacque's Book of Mormon art journal last year, 

I have had scripture study envy.

I love to write and doodle in the margins of my scriptures, but I couldn't find a 

a purchasable version of the Book of Mormon that had the annotations, footnotes, and 

chapter summaries and had wide margins.

There were lots of options for buying a journaling Bibles and so many gorgeous

examples of how to do a journaling Bible, but this year we are studying the

Book of Mormon for Sunday School, I really wanted to do a journaling Book of Mormon.

I'm not as artistically talented as Jacque, so I didn't want to spend the time taking apart

the Book of Mormon and gluing it into sketch books, because I knew I wouldn't be using

any paint or watercolors. But I did want wide margins so that I could write quotes,

draw key words and illustrations and just have a little bit of fun with my scripture study.

So I did a little research last summer and came across these wide margin versions

of all the standards work that was put together by Brad Jackson.

However, I would have to print and bind them and at the time, because I

Primary President in my ward, I didn't have any more brain cells to devote to any other

projects, so I put it to the side and forgot about it.

Then, when I was looking for a way for more meaningful and in-depth study of the

Book of Mormon since we are studying it in Sunday School this year and the theme

for Primary this year is "I Know the Scriptures are True" AND I was released

as Primary President, I knew it was time to get serious about getting my wide margin

Book of Mormon printed, bound and ready for some journaling this year!

I did a little more research and found that Kari over at LDS Lane had used 

Brad Jackson's wide margin Book of Mormon to print journal pages on white

card stock and I knew I needed to dive in and do it. However, I wanted a

bound version, so I took the file to my local print shop and asked if they could print

it up for me on paper that was slightly heavier than regular copy paper.

They print all of our pages for Hero Camp, so they are used to my wild ideas and

big printing jobs. They had it printed for me in less than 24 hours.

So, now I am on my way to a full fledged journaling Book of Mormon and I am loving it.

When I first started at the beginning of the month I was using Papermate InkJoy pens

and the regular pack of 48 Crayola colored pencils. They worked just fine and were a great

starting point for a scripture journaling newbie. I knew I wasn't ready for 

paint or water colors, but I wanted to get just a little bit more sophisticated

 in my technique, so after some more research I have graduated

to Pigma Micron pens (the 005 is my favorite) and some lovely Prismacolor Scholar

colored pencils - they are so smooth! And the Pigma Micron pens don't bleed

through the page, so that is super awesome!

It has been so much to think about what I'm reading, really study it out and what it

means to me and then create something that makes those verses more meaningful.

When I was researching scripture and Bible journaling I remember reading that

you should read the verses, pray about what they meant to you, and ask Heavenly Father

what was important and how you should best express it through your art.

I thought that was great advice. I definitely don't fly through the pages like I did when

I was just reading for time or for pages. In fact, I may spend 3-4 days on a page.

It took me a little bit to be ok with the pace. However, I feel like I know the words

that I've read probably a 1,000 times so much better because of the time I'm devoting to them.

If you're a natural artist - which I am not - the pages will probably go a little more
quickly than I do. I am also trying to read with the kids each night, so that goes
slightly faster than my art journaling, but not much - ha!
I think the important thing is to make it meaningful to you and something
that makes your heart happy and brings you closer to Heavenly Father.
If you want a pre-printed wide margin version of the Book of Mormon, I found one
published by someone name Ben Crowder, but it doesn't have the footnotes or
chapter headings and I love both of those things!

If you decide to join in on the fun,
be sure to share your pages on Instagram and use Kari's
hashtag #bofmjournaling so we can be inspired by one another!

25 Days of Christ: Christmas Ornament Advent Giveaway

Disclosure: I received a kit for review purposes. All opinions are my own.

I love the holiday season.

I love the lights. I love the music. I love the magic.

But I admit that sometimes I get caught up in the hustle and bustle of December.

Between the parties, the events, JT and Isabella's birthdays and day to day life, 

I often forget to take time each day to remember Christ -

the entire reason for the Christmas season.

So, when I heard about The 25 Days of Christ from a friend last year,

I was so excited! But I was too late!

You see, this amazing Christ-centered ornament advent is hugely popular,

and there are only so many made each year and they sell out quickly.
So, this year I'm so excited to do the advent with my family and
to give an unfinished kit away to one of you!



The kit comes with everything you need to focus your Christmas season
on the Savior and take time each day to remember His birth and life.
The kit includes:

• Simple materials to assemble 25 ornaments that correspond with the daily readings.
• The 25 Days of Christ book
• A gift bag for your family to open as you present each ornament
• A sturdy box for storing everything 

The kit I received came unfinished and I'm excited to have the kids
help me paint and put together all the ornaments for our advent.
There are instructions on the 25 Days of Christ website to help you finish
and complete your set if you'd like directions and examples.

I also saw an idea to make a simple wooden tree to hang your ornaments on.
I think this is a fabulous idea!
However, if you're short on space, you can hang the ornaments on your
existing Christmas tree or simple baker's twine strung up.



GIVEAWAY!
I'm really excited to be able to give one 25 Days of Christ kit to on one of my readers!
Just use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter.
Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
 

General Conference Treat Jars: Sweet Words Printables

This upcoming weekend is the fall LDS General Conference and I love it

because it means church in my jammies, yummy breakfast, and hearing from

the leaders of the church without leaving home.

However, it can get a little frustrating to try and listen and keep the

kids entertained for the 4+ hours each day that Conference airs.

We've done packets, bingo, and other various activities to try and keep

them engaged during the talks, but nothing has worked as well as our

treat jars labeled with sweet words!

I had seen the idea for treat buckets and bowls and such labeled with words

that are frequently used during General Conference, but since I am

a classic procrastinator I never gathered the necessary matching buckets in time.

So I decided to use what I had on hand and what is cuter than mason

jars and rainbow washi tape?

So, I rounded up various mason jars I had in the garage that we had already

emptied of the delicious jams and jellies my mother-in-law makes.

Then I used clipart from Melonheadz to make the labels for my sweet words,

and then I attached the labels with rainbow washi tape.

Then I filled the jars with candy, sweet treats, and food from my stash.

If you didn't want to use candy, you could substitute little erasers,

bubbles, pencils, and other novelty items.

I used the words:

LOVE

FAMILY

SCRIPTURES

MISSIONARY

JESUS CHRIST

TEMPLE

BAPTISM

This year I think I will make a few more jars and then rotate jars

in and out so that it's different every couple of speakers.

I also think I'll use a few novelty items in some of the jars to mix it up

and make it so there isn't too much of a sugar overload.

I also have the rule that the kids can only collect on a word twice in the same talk.

So, if President Uchtdorf is talking about missionary work and says the

word "missionary" 25 times, they can only collect a maximum of 2 sweets for his talk.

I'm sharing my General Conference sweet words labels with you.
They are in PDF format and they are ready for you!

Since I am on the Mique laminating bandwagon, I think I will have

the kids color ours this year and then laminate them.

What do you do to keep your kids engaged during General Conference?

Fine Print:
Please feel free to use this tutorial/print for your personal use. 

Please be kind and give credit where credit is due. 

Any questions or comments please do not hesitate to contact me.

Great to be Eight: Newport Beach Temple Photography

One Thursday night back in November I was lying in bed and it came to me

that my JT Boy needed his pictures taken in front of the Newport Beach Temple

for an eight-year-old baptism photography session.

I had been Pinning photos here and there of other kids getting their pictures

taken in front of an LDS temple, but I hadn't done anything about it.

I thought maybe I would take him myself and do it, but I hadn't committed to a plan.

However, in my pregnant insomniac state that night, I knew I had to have them done,

and I knew that I had to involve my talented friend Syl Galloway.

Syl has taken my kids photos on several occasions and I always adore them.

She has such an eye for fantastic shots and I knew she would do an amazing job.

So, on Friday night I sent Syl an email titled "I had a vision . . ." and pitched her my idea

and begged her to come join me in my crazy last minute endeavor to capture

some memories of JT at the Newport Beach Temple before his big day.

And do you know what? Syl said yes.

So Syl and I agreed to meet at the temple grounds about 3:00 on Monday
because we both had a holiday from school and we'd have great light.
When Monday comes, I go and pick up the balloons for the shoot around 2:15
and then we head over to the temple to meet Syl on that beautiful afternoon.

We pull up to the temple and my heart drops.

The gates are closed.

And then it hits me - it's a Monday.

The Newport Beach Temple is closed on Mondays.

I am sick to my stomach. I want to throw up.

Not only am I disappointed that we can't take the pictures and I have 8 

helium balloons for nothing, I am sick that I have had Syl drive down from

Los Angeles on a holiday to help me in my last minute endeavor.

So, I do the only thing there is to do - cry.

Just kidding!!!!

I first tried calling the temple to see if a security guard or a after hours

person is there and wants to take pity on me and let me in.

No one answers the phone.

Next I run over to the gate call box and push the button hoping someone will pick up.

No one does.

I am just about to give up and treat Syl to dinner at Mastro's,

when I see an old Dodge truck starting to leave the temple grounds through the gate.

So, I do the only thing there is to do and I "run" across the parking lot waving

my arms and yelling like only a lunatic pregnant mom can.

I tell the man in the old Dodge truck my whole sad story about being pregnant,

and having my photographer friend drive down from LA,

and I have balloons and it's for my son's baptism pictures and sob, cry, sob.

The man in the Dodge truck takes pity on me and lets us into the temple grounds.

I wish I would have gotten his name so that I could track him down

and bring him a big plate of homemade cookies for saving the day.

I know it seems trivial, but at that moment I knew that my Heavenly Father

was mindful of me, knows my name, and answered my pleas.

Syl did an amazing job and I was thrilled with how the pictures turned out.

I'll be forever grateful to the man in the old Dodge truck that saved the day,

and to a childhood friend that went along with my pregnancy induced vision

and created beautiful images that will remind me of the days when my

baby boy was eight and chose to be baptized a member of the

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Sunday Message: Lifting Burdens

Today in Young Women's the sweet teacher - and my friend -

 asked us to define what exactly the Savior has done for us.

Oh, so many things.

Too many to number.

I shared with my darling 12 and 13 year old Beehives

that the Savior has lifted my burdens and calmed my heart

as I attended the funeral of my young friend this weekend.

She shared this video with us and I felt prompted to share it with you.