Learn from the past, prepare for the future,
and live in the present.
A journey of 1000 miles begins with one step, so watch your step.
-Thomas S. Monson
Taco Salad with corn tortillas
Tuesdays have been Taco Salad Tuesdays, but everyone (except for me!) is getting tired of it, so we'll have a tortilla option tonight. We're also going meatless tonight, just beans, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, corn, and toppings.
Wednesday
Tortilla Chicken Chili in the Crock Pot
This will use up the partially eaten and now neglected tortilla chip bags in the cupboard. Plus, Bubs has a swim meet in the afternoon and Cub Scouts at night, so dinner will be done and waiting when we need it.
Thursday
Pasta
Just good old pasta and salad for dinner tonight. Meetings and practices.
Friday
Russian Beans-one of my mom's recipes, passed down from her mom:
1/2 lb. hamburger
1 onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 large can diced tomatoes including juice(or whole and chopped up)
1/2 cup raw rice
1 can kidney beans, undrained
1 Tbls. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Brown the hamburger, onion and green pepper and drain. Add the tomatoes and juice, rice, beans and spices. Heat and stir, then bake in a 325 oven for 1 1/2 hours.
I'm going to try this in the crock-pot and hope it works out. I think it might need additional liquid.
The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally.
Front view of the Nauvoo, IL, Temple.
Nauvoo, IL, Temple
These pictures were taken by Natalia at age 12 when she was in Nauvoo for my cousin's wedding. She went there with her Grammy, aunts and cousins.
I have a special place in my heart for the Nauvoo temple; my Great-Great-Great-Great Grandparents lived adjacent to the temple. That Grandmother Nancy Naomi Alexander Tracy was present when the cornerstone was laid, and later had to leave behind the temple and her children who had died while they were living in Nauvoo when they were forced to leave and move West. I know she took great solace in knowing they had an eternal family and that she would see those children again someday.
My sister Monie and her husband Kyle live in Nauvoo and she and my other sister Tara were both married there. My sister Emily and her family were recently sealed to their adopted son in the Nauvoo temple.
This is the St. Louis temple. Our family was sealed here in 2010. It was a wonderful and amazing experience that I thought might never happen. But it did.
Here are Joe's (the birthday boy!) thoughts about that day:
My brothers and sister and I went to the childrens rooms and played with some toys. We changed into our white temple clothes We had a snack and watched a movie about temples. I explored the hallway, and then we went to the sealing room and met our parents. There were a lot of people from church and my grammy and grandpa were there, too. We were sealed as a forever family. It was very special.
We went back to the childrens rooms to change into our church clothes. We met a family with 24 kids. One of the sisters was getting married that day. They had so many people in their family that they drove a bus instead of a car. I'm happy that my family can be forever.
There are no words to describe what a special day it was, and I am grateful to my Heavenly Father to have my family gathered close around me for time and all eternity.
Several years ago we decided to write a family mission statement. I have to admit that at the time I brought this up to my family we were really struggling with finances, jobs, and life in general, and I thought that this would be a morale booster. It would be a guide to get us through our days and something to draw us closer together. (Maybe I should have written a personal mission statement. I'll put that on my to-do list. :) )
I was introduced to the idea of a Family Mission Statement probably 10 years ago by a friend in a Family Home Evening preparation group. She had read Stephen Covey's book, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families" and made up a FHE on how to create a Highly Effective Family which included how to write a family mission statement.
In the book, Stephen Covey suggests that each of us begin with the end in mind and create a clear, compelling vision of what you and your family are all about. He says,
"A family mission statement is a combined, unified expression from all family members of what your family is all about---what it is you really want to do and be---and the principles you choose to govern your family life."
So we wrote our mission statement:
Our Family works together as a loving family and strives to do our best in all that we do. We treat others with respect and speak lovingly to each other. We value each others opinions, and we are patient and tolerant of each other. We won't demean or be critical of anyone's efforts.
The members of Our Family are Honest, Courteous and Helpful. We work together until all work is done. We can be kind by sharing and we don't throw toys. We are safe by driving safely and going to school safely.
Our Family has family prayers and eats dinner together every night. We clean up our own messes. Each member of our family has personal prayers before bed and expresses their thanks to Heavenly Father for their blessings.
We will live to be worthy to go to the temple and to serve missions.
We eat healthy things to keep our bodies strong.
We Choose The Right! (CTR)
Looking back at it I can tell what the dynamics of our daily life and relationships were. And I distinctly remember there being a toy-throwing incident that day.
We typed our mission statement out, I mounted it on scrapbook paper and hung it on the bulletin board where it stayed gathering dust for a couple of years. Then we packed the house up to move and the family mission statement was tucked into a scrapbook until I dug it out yesterday for this post. Not really keeping it a priority.
After reading Anne's post on Chocolate on my Cranium I've realized that our Family Mission Statement needs to be prominently displayed and used in our home. I love her idea of reciting it every day, maybe before family prayers. I have noticed that our family has been really critical of each other, and I'm hoping that utilizing Our Family Mission Statement will remind us what it's all about!
"Where there is great love there are always miracles." Willa Cather
I'm so excited, because I obviously need some help in keeping the family #1. I always get bogged down in the everyday stuff--like making sure everyone has clean underwear and showers on a regular basis--and not enough time on what will strengthen the family ties.
I was thinking about families, or more specifically, our family, while delivering stacks of laundry to the kids' rooms, and I saw the poster that Joe has hanging in the boys' room with his name broken down like this: Joyful, Outstanding, Smart, Enthusiastic, Polite, Heroic. And believe me, he is all of those things.
But that also got me wondering what words I would use to describe FAMILY. I'm going with Friendship, Attitude, Marriage, Integrity, Love, You. So many different words can be used, but I have specific reasons why I chose these for my "acronym".
First is Friendship. Our family has to be friends with each other, or have a mutual respect for one another, if our family is going to have the strength to hold off Satan and the ways of the world that come creeping into our lives. You know what they say about the weakest link, and I don't want our family to have friendship be that weak link.
Here are a few quotes to help me in my journey. I love me some quotes.
Could anyone be more deserving of respect than a literal child of God? Each of us—husband and wife, parent and child—has that marvelous heritage and potential. Sometimes we lose sight of each others true worth. But as we give respect, our love deepens, potential blossoms, and eternal relationships grow stronger.
Our family-centered perspective should make Latter-day Saints strive to be the best parents in the world. It should give us enormous respect for our children, who truly are our spiritual siblings, and it should cause us to devote whatever time is necessary to strengthen our families. Indeed, nothing is more critically connected to happiness—both our own and that of our children—than how well we love and support one another within the family.”
What Matters Most Is What Lasts Longest M. Russell Ballard
