This and That on a Sunday morning . . .

I had been going to go into town with Todd yesterday and treat ourselves to a fish and chip lunch at Blackstocks but when I got the e-mail from the licencing company I realised I have a lot of work to do and so I stayed home to get started on it.  I did get one picture done, but haven't scanned it yet.  We are working at honing my portfolio.  This is what they had to say about my work.
  
"We see a ton of potential and are excited to watch your portfolio refine and grow."

So, needless to say I am a very happy camper about that at the moment.   Hoping it will lead to bigger and better things.



Guess who turns FOUR today!  Jacob does.  He is our Doug's youngest and here he is, showing us some of the Pirate's gold from the birthday card we sent him.  That's Josh helping him in the background, and I think I see Jon's toes.   We had a nice facetime together yesterday.  Doug was getting ready for his Birthday party that they were having for him.  I think they were expecting lots of kiddles.  It was really nice to spend that time with them via the world wide web.   I am so grateful for the blessings of modern technology!



Speaking of children, today is our annual Primary Presentation at church.   Once a year, normally towards the end of the year the Primary (children's Sunday school) do a presentation where they show us all that they have learned this year.  I always really enjoy it.  I know a lot of work goes into these presentations and it's so much fun to watch the children and see what they have learned, listen to some of their talks and hear them sing their songs.  This year's theme was Families are Forever.  We have a HUGE primary here, which is just delightful.   We must have about 25 children or more in the older group and a growing nursery group as well.  I love that.  We have a Ward which is filled with lots of people of many ages, and each one is appreciated and valued.    I love the Primary Presentation.



Guess who I caught on Saturday's Kitchen Live yesterday morning on the BBC.  I normally don't watch that show but when I caught Donnie Osmond on it, I just had to keep it on.   When I was a teenager I was a big fan of the Osmonds, not really Donnie in particular . . .  Jay was my hearththrob . . .  but I did love the Osmonds all together.   I loved their music and I loved the values which they presented to the world.   Here was a pop band that was a family and they weren't out there being promiscuous and doing drugs like the rest of them.   They had something I yearned to know about.  I adored their "Mormon-ness."   I didn't know what that was then, but only that they had something different about them that was goodness personified.  Oh, for sure, they have had their struggles and problems through the years . . .  the rain falls on both the righteous and the unrighteous . . .  but they haven't let their struggles defeat them.   Anyways . . .  I learned that he had a new album coming out, his 60th and I was excited about that.



It's entitled Soundtrack for my Life and a lot of the songs on it are also the soundtrack for my life!  I had to order it from Amazon.  The great thing about that is I could listen to it right away on my amazon cloud and it kept me company while I was working yesterday afternoon.  It's a fabulous album.  His voice is still just beautiful.   I am loving this album.  It is probably my favourite one yet.  He takes songs which were hits for other singers during the years, songs which have particular meaning to him, and he makes them his own.  And in many cases I think he sings them better than the originals.  It's a beautiful album and has a wonderful mix of all sorts.  I highly recommend!  Also he was utterly charming and affable on Saturday Kitchen yesterday.  I cannot imagine anyone not warming to this man.  He's genuine and real . . . .  and, dare I say it . . . . NICE!



I've been reading all of the lastest Conference Talks in bed before I go to sleep each night.  Last night I read the one which President Dieter F Uchtdorf gave to the women of the church at the close of the Women's General Conference at the end of September, entitled . . . Living the Gospel Joyful.  I always love President Uchtdorf's talks.   They resonate with truth and meaning for me.  I love all of the talks, but his are extra special to me for some reason.  This is what he says about his wife in that talk:

I am eternally grateful to my wife, Harriet, who enchanted me as a teen, bore the heaviest burdens of our young family as a mother, stands with me as a wife, and loves and cherishes our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She has been the strength in our home during both good times and bad. She brings sunshine into the lives of all who know her.  

I can't help feeling that if more men felt like that about their wives, there would be a lot less divorce in the world.  I would have loved it if the father of my children had felt that same way about me.  I'm not sure what that says about him . . .  or what it says about me!

My favourite part of the talk is what he has to say about God's love for us . . .

He is not waiting to love you until you have overcome your weaknesses and bad habits. He loves you today with a full understanding of your struggles. He is aware that you reach up to Him in heartfelt and hopeful prayer. He knows of the times you have held onto the fading light and believed—even in the midst of growing darkness. He knows of your sufferings. He knows of your remorse for the times you have fallen short or failed. And still He loves you. 

This is a man who took the time in his very busy schedule to write me a letter of thanks a couple of years back for  a piece of art which I had sent to him . . .  an Apostle of the Lord  . . .  who never fails to remind us of the love with our Heavenly Father has for each of us,  each time he speaks to us.  If you would like to read that wonderful talk, you can find it here in it's entirety.



This is a Book of Mormon Wordle.   I found it online.   A Wordle takes the 100 most prevalent words of any cannon of writing and  turns them into a wordl.  What jumps out at me from this is the words Lord and God.  The Lord and God are central to my life and my faith and I thought it was very special to see that they are also central to the Book of Mormon.   A lot of people are afraid to read the Book of Mormon.  I don't know why.  Reading the Book of Mormon won't turn you into a Mormon any more than reading Dragonfly in Amber will turn you into a time traveller.  What it can do, however . . .  is to help to draw you closer to God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.  I know this to be true because I have done it.  But don't take my word for it.   Try it out for yourself.  You have nothing to lose really.

Well, everyone is stirring in the house now, so I best wind this up . . .

A thought to carry with you through today  . . .

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Remember, in this world, 
everyone must walk by faith
so . . .  be kind.
~Jeffrey R Holland
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 Baking in The English Kitchen today  . . . . A French Vanilla Yogurt Loaf.  Delish!


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I hope you have a wonderfully restful and blessed Sunday!