Fun Times!!

On Friday night Conner had his first piano recital. He did a great job.


With daddy playing Jingle Bells.



With his teacher sister Larson and her students.



With sister Larson.

With daddy, they did a great job.

Today we went to Disney World, it was cold when we woke up this morning. But the day turned out just perfect, it was about 65 degrees all day. My visiting teacher had 4 tickets that needed to be used by December 20th and she gave them to us. She is so nice!!!!

Kindergarten party

The kindergarten classes did a reindeer rotation. They went from classroom to classroom doing different activities and getting a little treat from each classroom. I was able to go and help out.

More Christmas stuff and Geography Bee

Making a gingerbread house.

With our Hawaiian Santa at our Ward Christmas Party.

With the gingerbread house he made at school.

Here is a video of Brent and Conner practicing for the recital. Daddy gets to play Jingle bells with Conner at the recital. The video turned out blurry.

Yesterday at Parker's school they had the final questions for the Geography Bee. Parker got 3rd place for the whole school. The entire school took a test and Parker's score was one of the top 30. Those top 30 got to participate yesterday and he got 3rd place. Our neighbor from accross the street and Parker's best friend got 1st place. They were very excited. CONGRATULATIONS TO PARKER.

Quote for today

I have always had a terrible memory. It seems to be worse now that I am older. I have read the Book of Mormon many times and I have a hard time remembering many of the stories in it. Brent's memory is amazing to me, how he can remember so much I don't know. I am not dumb, I did great in school, because I studied hard. It wasn't easy for me but I worked hard. Because I was feeling discouraged I decided to write down a sumary of what I was reading about that day from the Scriptures and my feelings about it and it is helping me remember a little better. It is taking me a long time to get through the Book of Mormon this way but that is fine with me. I read this quote from Wilford Woodruff and it made me feel better, because it isn't required of me to know everything at once.

"Do not be discouraged because you cannot learn all at once, learn one thing at a time, learn it well, and treasure it up, then learn another truth and treasure that up, and in a few years you will have a great store of useful knowledge which will not only be a great blessing to yourselves and your children, but to your fellow men". Wilford Woodruff.

10 Ways to take control of your health

I have always enjoyed reading articles about how to stay healthy. In the newspaper today there was an article on 10 ways to take control of your health. Besides washing your hands for 20 seconds, avoiding certain behaviors like smoking, drinking and eating too much these ten things can dramatically improve your health. They are easy and inexpensive.

1. Take a walk. Walking triggers all of our bodily systems: digestion, stress relief, thinking and preparation for sleep.

2. Keep a food journal. Writing down everything you eat can double your weight loss.

3. Stop drinking soda. Soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages have contributed to skyrocketing rates of obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

4. Strengthen your muscles. It keeps them from weakening as we age.

5. Chill out. Stressed-out people are more vulnerable to colds and other viruses.

6. Eat out less. It is one of the main reasons for the dramatic global rise in chronic diseases such as obesity, Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

7. Be a social butterfly. Joining a club, sports team, belonging to a church group or keeping contact with friends can help reduce your risk of having a stroke, dementia and even the common cold.

8. Get your zzzzzz. Sleeping well is critical to good health, especially during the flu season.

9. Eat whole foods. Fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, eggs and whole grains have low glycemic index. Which means they won't raise blood sugar and insulin levels as quickly as processed foods.

10.Find your passion. Do things that bring meaning to your days.

Christmas things

Conner with Santa in Puerto Rico.

My visiting teaching companion gave me this "yummy" Christmas gift. I think it is really cute, the card reads, your' getting "muffin" for Christmas.



I heard a sister in our Ward say that she was "not a professional mormon". She did not say it in a bad way, she just meant that because she wasn't born in Utah she did not do the stuff that Utah ladies do. For example in my case it would be quilting and canning. I don't do those things because we don't do them in Puerto Rico, why would you need a quilt when it is 90 degrees all year long, and as I noticed when I went back a week ago, 2 lbs. of strawberries are $12.00 (I pay about $6) no wonder they don't eat them very often. The first time I remember eating a strawberry I was almost 10 years old, and it was on our trip to the Washington D.C. temple, to get sealed. The family that we stayed with had strawberries growing in their yard and I thought that was the neatest thing ever. I have loved strawberries ever since. I thought it would be fun to learn how to make strawberry preserves. It wasn't too bad, I think it turned out really good. I don't own a canner so I still have yet to learn how to do the canning thing. Remember I am not a professional mormon.

We had The Festival of the Nativity this past weekend at our Stake. They had activities for the kids to do. They made ornaments and got to dress up. Conner did not like the idea of dressing up but Parker got to dress up as a shepherd.

Conner playing the piano

Conner has been taking piano since September. This is a video of him practicing for his recital this month.