Happy Valentines Day!

I wish you all lived near my so I could share these yummy popcoron balls with you. Since I can't, click on my kitchen site and you can have the recipe. (Thanks Brittnee!) Growing up my mom had the annoying habit of making a billion (I'm not exaggerating) sugar cookies and it was my job to help frost them all and help deliver them to our friends and neighbors. As luck would have it, old habits die hard. I found myself wanting to do something domestic for some of our friends and neighobrs. After seeing this recipe on my cousin's blog and then again being made on TV show, I had to try it. They are sooo good! (I did my a raspberry flavor. Mmmm....) McKay came up and saw them. Instantly he started singing, "Popcorn Popping." I had to laugh. What a kid. Go make these and enjoy them with your loved ones. (Bonus-they're quick and easy!!!)

Happy Birthday, Lyndsi!!

I can't believe she is 6!! She has been so excited for this birthday. Friday we had her girl cousins over for a "late-over" (aka pretend sleepover). We popped balloons for prizes, did make overs, danced, ate pizza, did pedicures, made princess pillows and, of course, watched Hannah Montana. The girls were so cute and willing to do everything. There were giggles galore!! This morning, Sunday, the "birthday fairy" left Lyndsi a cute new top to wear to church. Her primary teachers gave her some play jewelry and colored pencils. (So sweet of them.) Afterwards, we had Grandma and Grandpa Ard and Greg for a birthday BBQ, presents, and cake and ice cream. This little girl made out pretty well. I'd say her 2 favorite things were the princess suitcase and her leapster. The last one had me a little worried, but she was excited from the get-go. It must have just looked cool because when I asked her if she knew what it was she said no. When I told her it was for playing games, she turned it on and hardly turned it off all night. It was very cute. I'd like to call her spoiled, but she doesn't act that way. All week long she was asking me what toys she could give away knowing that she would get more and doesn't need all of them. Anyway. It was a great day.

Snow Day

I have lived in this snowy valley for all of but 7 years of my life. I'm somewhat used to snowy days, and of course, the much anticipated snow days. I've had a few memorable ones in my life. My favorite was in high school. We were at an early morning devotional, listening to a blind man teach us something gospel oriented. All of a sudden the stake center we were meeting in went black. Power outage. The speaker just laughed and joked that we got to see things as he does now (which made for neat meeting). The power continued to stay off through a few periods of school and eventually we were sent home. This snow storm takes the cake. We had a snow day from church! Never had that before, but it was nice to enjoy the day at home with my family.

Here we are enjoying our 10 inches of snow (give or take-depending on the location of the drifts). Jeff decided we needed to build a snow fort and then we got tired. So, we started building a snow man. I decided it was time for my day of rest so I parked myself on the swing where I decided I could easily fall asleep. McKay kept offering me delicious treats of snow fish, snow pizza, and the like.

When I was a kid, I detested the snow. Sure, it was pretty to look at, especially when it was snowing outside and I was curled up inside, but play in it? No thanks! When we moved up here, my goal was to learn to enjoy being out in the snow-mainly so we didn't get cabin fever in the winter and it's a proven fact that the more my McKay is inside, the more artwork adorns the walls. (I told Jeff the other day that we should live in a cave. Then people would expect drawings on the walls!) I found the trick this year to keeping everyone happy outside in the snow. Snow clothes and boots and waterproof gloves! (The last one is crucial.) I know that sounds dumb, but it was so much more fun than I ever remember as a kid. Of course, the fact that is was 41 degrees instead of 27 didn't have anything to do with it.....

Media Misguidance

The media is famous for twisting facts, taking quotes out of context and various other ways to misrepresent fact to fit their agenda. Last night as I was perusing KUTV.com headlines, I came across this one "Mormon Women Look For Greater Role in the Church." Ok. You've got my attention. While reading it, my own little thermometer is seeing the mercury rising as I realize that the media is once again misinformed and have no clue what they are talking about. The piece said

"Last fall, the head of the Mormon church's Relief Society delivered a treatise on motherhood that equated nurturing with keeping a tidy house. Women in poor countries who dress their daughters in clean, ironed dresses, the speaker said, honor a sacred covenant.

Julie B. Beck's exhortation at the church's General Conference that Mormon women strive to be ``the best homemakers in the world'' "

And that was just the start. (http://www.kutv.com/content/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=93268cca-3211-46fa-8f03-3fbb7de34229 )

For any non-LDS (mormon) people that may come across this post or those who are LDS and struggling with what it means to be a woman in 2008-don't believe this article. Yes, the prophets have told us time and again that the woman needs to be in the home. Here is the difference of the "barefoot and pregnant-male dominance" mentality the article has to why we do stay at home. We stay at home so that our children can get us when they need us. We stay at home because women are natural nuturers and that is where we will have opportunity after opportunity to excell at what we do best. We stay at home because the world is ever decreasing its morals and somebody should be responsible for teaching children right from wrong. We stay at home because families are the basic building block of society and if our families fail, our society will come crashing down around us.

Men and women are just different. Point blank. There is no getting around that. We are built differently physically. Our minds our also built differently. That does not mean (as has been mistaken for centuries) that women are inferior creatures. We are equal, just different and that is okay.

I have never been made to feel inferior in my almost 20-year membership in this church. In fact, quite often I have felt the men of this church have reverence and deep and profound respect for women. If you want to read a great talk go read Richard G. Scott's (quorum of the 12) talk entitled, "The Sanctitiy of Womanhood." Here's a little taste: “Woman is God’s supreme creation. Only after the earth had been formed, after the day had been separated from the night, after the waters had been divided from the land, after vegetation and animal life had been created, and after man had been placed on the earth, was woman created; and only then was the work pronounced complete and good.
“Of all the creations of the Almighty, there is none more beautiful, none more inspiring than a lovely daughter of God who walks in virtue with an understanding of why she should do so, who honors and respects her body as a thing sacred and divine, who cultivates her mind and constantly enlarges the horizon of her understanding, who nurtures her spirit with everlasting truth.”

Let's talk about Sis. Beck's statement about being the best homemakers in the world. She does very clearly equate homemaking with keeping a tidy house. This is an area where I constantly struggle (small children will do that to you :) ). However, I do find that when my home is neat and tidy there is a better feeling there. We are kinder to each other, more willing to work together and to help each other out. If someone can find the faults of a clean home, feel free to share them. Also, reading her talk, you'll find that she points out more than just keeping a clean home is involved in being a woman and mother. We are teachers and we are leaders.

There is so much more I could say, but my kids are now destroying the house. :) Read Sis. Beck's talk for yourself. Make your own informed decision. I for one want to go on the record as defending both womanhood and motherhood. It is sacred and divine. It is the highest calling we can aspire to (and trust me, that is not an insult). It will bring us the greatest joy and give us the most opportunity for selfless service.

http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=dba62bce258f5110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1

Picture Post

These are my favorite posts to blog and to read. Okay-from bottom to top, here is what they are. For FHE we learned about how we got the Book of Mormon and that is a very special book that we need to take really good care of. For our activity we colored pictures of the BoM to hang on their doors. Sophie, of course, had to have one and sat and "colored" it all night. Next-Yesterday while I was cracking the usual morning whip to get kids to eat, I looked up and noticed McKay was busy "reading" the Friend while munching his muffin top cereal. Then-Lyndsi (especially) and McKay are always telling me they want a sleepover, so one Friday night we let them have one. We blew up the air mattress, brought up the little TV/VCR combo, and threw in some popcorn and all the left over Christmas treats. They had a ball and we got a free date night! (Jeff went and got Chinese and we watched a movie or something.) Next to last-Sophie loves reading books. I am sure it's because between the 4 other people in the house, someone is usually looking at a book. usually she will bring you a book and grunt at you until you put her on your lap until you read it. Finally-This is my binky baby. A week or two ago we thought we had lost the last of the binkies and decided it was as good a time as any to quit the habit. Think again. We were all miserable that day. Fortunately we found the dumb thing (and 2 more besides), but I have limited binky time to naps and bedtime. Now when I put her down for her nap, Sophie just giggles and giggles because she is so excited to have her binky for a little while. When she wakes up she'll hand it to me and point to the shelf where it goes. She is such a funny kid.

President Hinckley

Last night while playing games with family I was shocked and saddened to hear that President Hinckley had died. I knew it was coming, but the news literally hit me like a tons of bricks. I do feel so blessed to know where he is and what will happen to the Church now. That is one of the things I love about being a member of the LDS faith. I know that when we die we will go on to a better place and be with loved ones.

President Hinckley was sustained a prophet when I was in 9th grade and I remember feeling and immediate connection and excitement. I had already learned to love this man, probably because he already had a love for all people. For some reason he reminded me a lot of my Grandpa Marchant and that sealed my affection for him. Each conference I looked forward to hearing from him and got to multiple times. I loved his continuous reminders to "raise the bar" and "do a little better." Once as part of family home evening, we hung a picture of the Savior and one of Pres. Hinckley on our back door. Every time I walked in and out of the kitchen his loving smile was always there to remind me that either a) I was doing a good job and to keep it or b) Come on, Ang, you can do a little better.

He will be sadly missed, but I am grateful I had the opportunity to get to know him a little and learn a lot from him.

(Isn't that a cute picture?? I found it on MSN's news story of Pres. H. death.)

The Power of the Father

We all know the 13th Article of faith. "If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things." In a world with ever decreasing values, it's exciting to find something that fits the above, so when I so find something like that, I want to share it.

Jeff's been out of town resulting in lots of hours by myself. THe other day I decided to hit redbox to see if there was anything worth renting.

Movie #1: The Game Plan. I heard this movie was similar to "The Pacifier" with Vin Diesel. I didn't really care for that movie and I don't think VD can act. I also had only seen Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson in the Mummy movies where his physique was important but not a lot of acting involved there either. I wasn't too concerned about seeing this movie, but thought the kids might like it. I ended up watching it by myself and loved it. The Rock is much more talented than i gave him credit for and it was just a good story overall with good messages. I especially enjoyed the discussion between Joe (the Rock) and his daughter's ballet teacher. She tells him that fathers have a lot of influence over their daughters and they talk about it. It was nice to see such an important message in a mainstream movie. There's football and ballet, so it's a great fit for my kids. There is one awesome sequence where they show Peyton's ballet recital. It is amazing. BTW-the little girl, Peyton, is too cute.

Movie #2: Stardust. Ok-this definitely would fall into the "fantasy" genre, but if I had to compare it to another movie it would be along the lines of Princess Bride. I loved it. Adventure, romance (very clean), humor. It was all there. The main character-Tristan Thorn was played by a little known actor named Charlie Cox. He did an excellent job, especially since he was up against (or with) actors like Michelle Pfiefer, Clair Danes, Robert de Niro, Rupert Everette, etc. I don't think I'd let my kids watch it because it can get a little scary (at least for mine), but in a few more years, I really think they'll love it.