Happy Spring!

I made this cookie bouquet of flowers (except the pot I can't take credit for - my SIL made that for my baby shower) yesterday/today as a centerpiece/handout for my lesson for the 12-13 year old girls (Beehives) about Extended Family Relationships.
Attached to it was this: "Extended Family Relationships can blossom into many blessings".

I've enjoyed being the Beehive advisor. Here are some of the other handouts I've made.


The picture of Jesus went with a lesson called "Coming to Know the Savior". It talked a lot about having the Savior as our friend. On the back of the picture, I wrote this scripture: D&C 88:63 "Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask and ye shall receive; knock and it shall be opened unto you." I told the girls I loved this picture of the Savior and that they can always look at His eyes in this pic and know that He loves them.

The Valentine handout was given out the day before Valentine's Day. That lesson was about a woman's responsibility to teach. Inside it says:

Characteristics of Christ’s Teachings
1. Jesus loved the people He taught.
2. He used stories and examples that were familiar to the people so they would understand and be able to apply His teachings. (He related it to them)
3. He taught the people when they needed to be taught. He didn’t tell them to wait until it was convenient for Him. (He took advantage of teaching moments)
4. He knew the scriptures well and had prepared himself spiritually to teach.
5. He prayed for help to teach and to bless the people He taught.

One of my favorite handouts was the crown. It was from a lesson called "Our Purpose In Life".
On the back I listed 5 ways that we can find out our own special purposes in life (Personal Prayers, Study and Meditation, Gift of the Holy Ghost, Priesthood Blessings, and Patriarchal Blessings) and this quote by H. Burke Peterson; "Do you think for a moment that Heavenly Father would have sent one of His children to this earth by accident, without the possibility of a signigicant work to perform?... My dear friends, you are a royal generation. You were preserved to come to the earth in this time for a special purpose. Not just a few of you, but all of you. There are things for each of you to do that no one else can do as well as you . . . . If you will let Him, I testify that our Father in Heaven will walk with you through the journey of life and inspire you to know your special purpose here". I am hoping the girls took their crowns home and put a little picture of themselves in the center and then decorated the rest of it with jewels or by coloring it.

And the one from last week was about family unity and building family relationships through family activities. I gave the girls a little paper sack with the tag "Family Unity Begins With Me" and I gave them rainbow paper to write down family activities and then cut them up and place into the bag. I also had them label the bags "Family Fun Sack" and write on the back of the green tag one way in which they could strengthen their families. The yarn is significant too. The lesson talked about how it is difficult to break a piece of yarn, but when you pull it apart by individual strands, it is much easier to break. This was a metaphor for families. When we all work together we are strong. And when we don't, we aren't as strong and easier to break. The green and yellow and the rainbow were all reminiscent of St. Patrick's Day too. : )

Anyway, I know you all probably don't care, but for some reason I just wanted to record all that.

Here are some fun Mary happenings too:

A week or so ago, Mary and I went to see Peter Rabbit at PBK. She squealed with delight and wasn't scared in the least!


Mary enjoys dipping her graham crackers in milk. So cute and grown up eh?

Mary enjoys sitting in the computer chair whilst I spin her.


Last week, Mary fell asleep like this. Hilarious!


When we say the blessing, Mary bows her head and folds her arms like this. She doesn't close her eyes yet or stop eating, but often reminds me that we need to pray. She kept wanting to pray tonight over and over. Sweet Mary Pie.