Through Caleb's Eyes (+276 photos)

I started going through my pictures from January and noticed that one of the kids had taken a picture of the Pokemon bracelet they got at Jason's birthday party. As I kept scrolling the variety of angles and mass quantity of pictures was impressive, and I started laughing to myself.
 

 Then, not only was the bracelet the focus - but there were props! The photoshoot took a dramatic turn when suddenly the background scenery was being photographed - but not from a regular viewpoint, NO, clearly these photos were taken from the top of the table. 

Human subjects then entered the frame, but I still wasn't sure who the photographer was - although I was more and more convinced that he or she was an artist! (ha)

276 photos later and finally the big reveal - It was Caleb. Of course it was. That talented, curious, phone-thieving boy.

Primary

Each month I meet with my Primary Presidents to do a small training and let them bounce ideas off of each other. I decided to hold January's meeting in person and I thought that it turned out lovely. I'm grateful for this calling and what it allows me to do: connect, testify, and support. I have really enjoyed fulfilling this role and am grateful for the opportunities that I have had. Last year at the beginning of the year we were asked to submit a vision that we had for our Primaries. This is what we submitted and then trained on throughout all 2022. 

STAKE PRIMARY VISION:

Primary children feel welcomed and loved as they learn about Jesus Christ.  They understand their identity and power as beloved children of Heavenly Parents with divine potential, walk the covenant path as they make and keep baptismal covenants and look forward to the ordinances of the temple, recognize the influence of the Holy Ghost and act on promptings, and bring the light of Christ to their homes as they naturally share their faith with all those around them. 

 

PRIMARY CHILD STATEMENT

I am a child of Heavenly Parents. I am important to my family and my primary. I learn about Jesus Christ and follow his covenant path.  I listen and act on the promptings of the Holy Ghost as I share the light of Christ with those around me.

I love this vision and statement and feel that they reflect exactly what I hope the children in our stake experience as they come to primary.

Hello 2023! (+Goals)

(Pictures from January 1st - a huge snow day in Morgan. We played in the snow before driving home after spending the week with the Walker Family. The kids made snow men, a snow tunnel, and a sledding hill - all in the front yard! We love all this snow.) 


Well, 2023. Here you are. 

What will this year bring? I hope a lot of joy. 

I'm sure there will be some hard things, too. 

We've got a lot going on in a lot of areas: family, church, homeschool, work, social, extended family, and others. I am hopeful that as we start this new year, we can lean into those things that are most important to us and that we will have the inspiration to know where to rest. 

Here are a few other things we are thinking of right now-

Shantel: 

My only goal for this year is to learn how to make really good sourdough bread. It's a big task that I haven't really been willing to take on yet. (I mean, it's basically like a baby - you have to feed it regularly to keep it alive and it needs constant love or it just won't turn out well, ha.) But rather than make myself a whole list of goals - this is the only one. With it, I hope to practice: patience, attention to time, diligence, learning a new skill, setting a timer, and giving focused attention to my task. 

David also read a book about choosing one word for your year and how it will change your life. I read a portion of the book and decided to pick a word as well. My word is "foundation". (I almost picked "Kayak" but foundation was a slightly better fit, even though I liked the visual of living my life this year as if I was paddling through a river: effort, strength, direction, confidence.) Foundation means, to me, that I am putting in the effort to lay a good foundation (or strengthen that foundation) in all the areas of my life. I am laying a foundation of a good life for my children; laying their educational, spiritual and personal foundation. I am staying grounded upon my own foundation and not letting myself be tossed about in the turbulence. I am creating new foundational layers for myself as a mother and as a person, finding things that I care about and making time for them. A foundation is important and I am willing to put in the effort to make the foundations in my life strong.  

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David:

At New Year's Eve with the Walker's I made a goal to learn how to make birria tacos, so that will be my goal to try something new. I love birria tacos and I think it will be fun. With my job I got the book Shantel mentioned above called One Word. The book is ultra simple and I'm not sure how I feel about the book, but I really like the idea of dedicating a year to a specific word. My word is intentional. I want to be more intentional about every thing that I do. More intentional about spiritual growth, more intentional with my time etc. I'm excited about my word. My spiritual specific goal is to "Seek first the kingdom of God." It can be easy to stress about things of the world, especially financial things. I've found that recently I've been more stressed about how things are going financially and want to make sure that rather than focus first on that, that first I focus on my spiritual foundation and the things that matter most. 

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I do love the start of a new year. I love the fresh perspective, the hygge-slowness, the cold days spent snuggled up at home, and the year stretching ahead with endless possibilities. I'm rooting for 2023 to be a great year for our family! Even as I type this, I cringe a tiny bit remembering my first post of 2020 where I gush about how great 2020 is going to be: "I'm excited for 2020. It just SOUNDS good." that didn't pan out exactly as planned - but here we are 3 years later and everything is pretty much back to normal (as normal as the craziness of politics, finance, and social media crusaders can be).  So, welcome 2023, bring us the best you can.