Utah Refugee Connection Fundraiser - Girls Project

In February, for our Social Studies/Utah History, the girls learned about how Utah was shaped by the immigrants that came here (of all backgrounds) and how complex that history can be. We continued the discussion by talking about how immigrants are still coming to Utah seeking a better life for themselves and their families and how some of those immigrants are actually refugees, people leaving their home country because it isn't safe for them there.

These sweet nine and ten year-old girls immediately asked if they could do a fundraiser to help these Utah Refugees. The next couple of weeks were busy and so we decided on March 19th for the fundraiser date. These girls took the initiative and planned what they wanted their fundraiser to look like and be like. They made posters and flyers and delivered them to 180+ houses in our surrounding neighborhood.

On Saturday they hosted a fundraiser and donation dropoff where they sold cookies, hot chocolate, bath bombs, and jewelry. They sold the Swig cookies for $1 more than the purchase price, but the bath bombs and jewelry were donated by people in the neighborhood who wanted to support their cause and the Crumbl cookies were donated by the Lehi location to support. 

I went into it hoping that we'd sell the 50 cookies that we bought and make $50 to donate. More than anything, I wanted this to be a good experience for them and I tried to facilitate that while letting them do the work. I was blown away by the community support they received. Partly we just live in a great neighborhood. Partly they put in the effort to deliver fliers and tell anyone and everyone to come to their fundraiser. 

I was blown away and they were thrilled when they counted up their money/donations and realized that how successful they had been. 

It was an incredible learning opportunity for them. Over the next week or so, they continued the project. She and her friends counted up the money that they made: $577 dollars. They subtracted out the cost of the cookies ($107) and then took their total amount to the bank to deposit. ($470). They deposited the money, then went to the store to buy supplies for All Purpose Kits to donate to the Utah Refugee Connection. 

They filled four giant shopping carts filled with laundry detergent, Clorox wipes, dish soap, and other supplies to bring home and assemble into kits. Not only did o  buy supplies they also had a donation box where people donated supplies. Wendy Rencher collected supplies in her neighborhood as well for a Relief Society Fundraiser and it was great to connect with her to make the fundraiser even more successful. They worked together to make 47 kits!

We loaded up all the kits into our van and delivered them to the Utah Refugee Connection Center. The girls got to see the center and talk to some of the people that work there about what they do and the good that they accomplish in the community. 

This was such a neat project and a great illustration of how homeschooling can be so impactful in the lives of these children. Okay, if I'm being completely honest - this is something that you could do whether or not you are homeschooling. In fact, this is the epitome of a successful "Children and Youth Goal" goal for the new church program. Child-led, parent supported. But homeschooling gave us the time and structure to make it happen and it was wonderful. 

Mother's Day 2018

Mother's Day.


I know that some people do not love Mother's Day. But... I love Mother's Day.

I love my mother and I am grateful for her influence on my life - both as a child and as an adult. I treasure and respect her opinion on so many things and talking to her is often just the thing I need to help clear my head. I always laugh when I think of the way most of our phone calls in college started. "Mom, hypothetically... if I were trying to __________, how would I do that?" She'd always laugh and talk me through exactly what I needed to do to accomplish whatever task I was trying to do - from making Cheesy Potato Soup to setting up my own dentist appointment. The feeling of my mom holding me and rocking me while stroking my hair is still a comfort to me. I have very clear memories of being too big for her to really hold me in a rocking chair, but her doing it anyway and holding me while I cried. And even as an adult there have been times where I've laid next to her on the couch and had her lovingly comfort me like I'm five years old again. I treasure her as a mother even more every single day of my own journey of motherhood, and frequently want to call her just to say thank you and that I love her. "Hi Mom, Lydia just told me I am the worst mom ever, and I am sure I said something equal to that when I was young, but I didn't mean it because you're the best mom ever and I love you." Or "Hey Mama, I just cleaned up a whole crib full of poop and I just want you to know that I'm grateful for every day that you did this for me." You know, things like that.

I also love, and am so grateful for my Mother in Law. Sue is so kind, loving, nurturing, giving, and good. She has welcomed me with open arms and has been more than I could have ever hoped to have as the mother of my husband. She is my friend and a wonderful example, full of love and good advice. I'm so grateful for the way she raised my David, and all the time, effort, and love she put in to making him who he is today. We share a love of sewing (or at least a skill of sewing and a love for serving other people) and we've made some amazing things together: baby blankets, minky quilts, baby bibs, and a baptism dress. Spending that time with her has been a blessing to me in so many ways.

Both of our moms are such loving grandmothers and our children are so lucky to have them in their lives. We've had such legacies of wonderful, amazing, courageous, loving women in our families and I treasure this day where I get to celebrate them and all they've done, and celebrate my place among them. 



David was a rock-star and he worked hard to make the day special for me. I wasn't particularly anxious about it and was just happy to be a mom and celebrate the little family that I have - but he let me sleep in, had the kids help bring me breakfast in bed, (which breakfast said kids also helped to eat), gave me some time to really study my scriptures, and then taught sharing time for me so I could go to Relief Society.

One of my favorite things that our ward does is that the EQ volunteers in the Primary so all of the sisters can attend RS together. There is just something powerful about having a whole Primary Room filled with men. It's a lot of work, a lot of work, to organize it all - but it's always worth it. This year the EQ presidency was pretty new, so I found people to replace the singing time leaders but was just going to teach sharing time myself - but David said that he would do it. We taught together during the 2nd hour and then he did it by himself during the 3rd hour. It was such a kind thing for him to do. RS was amazing and I'm so glad that I didn't miss it. I'm so grateful for a husband who is kind and good and shows me he loves me every day.



Another thought that I've had these last couple of weeks. I follow an organization on Facebook called the Utah Refugee Connections. At the beginning of school we helped put some back to school kits together, and for mothers day they were asking for more donations for some Mother's Day kits. They were asking for garbage cans/garbage bags and white towels. I posted on my neighborhood page asking if anyone would be interested in helping me put together kits and went to bed. When I woke up in the morning I had almost $100 in my Venmo account from people donating. It was amazing. Wendy got her neighborhood together, too, and in the end we were able to drop off 16 garbage cans and 8 towel kits!  You know, Mother's Day usually means chocolate and sleeping in, but this year I am grateful to be able to help these moms who need washcloths and garbage bags. I hope that I can always remember the blessings that I have and remember to reach out to those whose lives I can help bless, too. (Lydia was in school when we went to drop them off - but Austin was such a great helper.)



I wanted to write about this, too - and this seems like a good spot to do it. Last week the Stake Relief Society put on an activity with wonderful speakers and a service project. They were sewing kits for Days for Girls, an organization that makes feminine hygiene products for girls who otherwise wouldn't be able to attend school during their menstrual cycle. They showed a powerful video at the beginning that just tears at my heart even thinking about it. Because, do you know what you do when you don't have feminine hygiene products during your period? You sit over a cardboard box in your room until you're allowed to come out again, or worse. This. breaks. my. heart. I was only able to work in the service area for a little while, so at the end I came back and asked if I could bring any parts of the kits home to help finish sewing them. The Stake RS President was so grateful and sent me home with a giant stack of fabric to sew into bags. I wasn't expecting quite so much when I offered and she said that I could just do what I could do in one week and bring back the rest, but I quickly resolved that I would finish all of the bags. So, I spent hours and hours, here and there throughout the week working hard to sew together these bags. I was able to finish all of them, and ended up with 48 of them. It seems like SO many, but SO few at the same time.

I am grateful for my menstrual cycle and for the blessing of motherhood that it has brought to me. I am grateful for a mother who taught me well and raised me to view my body in a positive and faith-filled way. I'm grateful for the many times as a youth that I was able to stand and declare that I am a daughter of my Heavenly Father and that I have a divine nature. I hope I can teach all of my children this. And I'm grateful to have been able to serve in a small way - and hope to be able to be involved even more in the future.


And with that, a very happy Mother's Day to you.