Have you seen this yet?

Too, too funny!

Scripture of the Day: Moses 1:39

Remembering Joseph Smith

The very first prophet of the latter days was Joseph Smith. Born December 23, 1805 to Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith, Joseph was an outgoing and athletic boy. He worked hard on his father’s farm growing up, but always enjoyed having fun. As a young man Joseph Smith was called as a prophet and directed to restore the true gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth. He did so, establishing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 6, 1830. In addition to restoring the Church, Joseph’s greatest accomplishments include the restoration of the priesthood authority and power to the earth, translation and publication of scripture (the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and the Bible), and the restitution of temple covenants. During his lifetime Joseph saw the Church grow from a small handful to over 26,000 members. Today is the sad anniversary of the death of Joseph Smith. He died at the hands of a mob in Carthage Jail in 1844. 

Here are a few ways you can remember Joseph Smith in your FHE this evening:

1. Sing or listen to "Praise to the Man" (Hymns #27).

2. Read D&C 135, which recounts Joseph Smith's deaths and major accomplishments.

3. Review the Study Topic about Joseph Smith on lds.org.

4. Look at some of the historic photographs from Joseph Smith's life on JosephSmith.net.

5. Take a virtual tour of the Carthage Jail room where Joseph Smith died (also on JosephSmith.net).

Scripture of the Day: Hebrews 12:9

We Have a Winner!

Congratulations to Raelena of Through The Haze book reviews blog! She is the winner of the $10 Amazon.com gift card, which I will be e-mailing shortly.

Thanks for all those who participated in the Midsummer's Eve Giveaway Hop this past week. I enjoyed reading all of your comments. Have a great weekend!

Scripture of the Day: 3 Nephi 25:6

The Midsummer's Eve Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the Midsummer's Eve Giveaway Hop! A big thank you to Kathy @ I Am a Reader, Not a Writer for hosting this hop!

The winner of the giveaway on my site will receive a $10 gift card to Amazon! Use it to buy one of my two books (Adventures with the Word of God or Family Home Evening Adventures), or anything else you like.

To enter:

1. Follow this blog
2. Like my author page on Facebook (here)
3. And leave me a comment about one of the chapter topics in either of my books that interests you most:

Adventures with the Word of God 

or  

Family Home Evening Adventures

Good luck!

Scripture of the Day: D&C 68:25-28

Book Signing

Come and see me this Friday at the grand re-opening celebration of Latter Day Cottage in Tucson, AZ (7012 E. Broadway). All week long there has been an extravaganza of authors at signing events there to help celebrate. With me there on Friday will be Margaret Turley (Save the Child), Anna Arnett (Lolly's Yarn & Baby Boomerang), David Arnett (The Baltimore Principles), and Roger Stark (The Waterfall Concept). See you there!

Scripture of the Day: Proverbs 10:1

Our Trip to Yellowstone

Some bison we saw on our way into the park. The kids were so excited to see babies.

It was pretty wet and cold while we were there. 

Us AZ people find anything lower than 70 cold!

Kitty and a beautiful blue geyser. 

Old Faithful area from up on a scenic viewpoint. 

Not long after this we were caught in a rainstorm.

We finally caught Old Faithful going off after being there a day and a half.

A female elk we saw on the way out of the park.

One animal we did not see in Yellowstone was a bear. However, in Wyoming outside of the park we saw this mama bear with her 2 cubs. This was the best zoom job I could do with my camera, so it's not a great picture. Still, we were excited to see them.

Where I am headed today

The last time I was here I had 18 stitches in my foot and had to wear duct tape wrapped around my sock as a make-shift shoe. It stunk. So I am hoping to have a better experience this go around... Especially because I am so excited to show it to my kids. I have wanted to do this trip for three years.

More later...

Yes, I am still alive

Okay, so I know it seems I have fallen off the planet. But really I am still here. Somehow I always think life will slow down and I will be able to take a breath. But for the past year or so it has been extra crazy. Here is what I have been doing in the past week or so:

- Wrote a research report - this took 24 hours to write. Yikes.
- Started teaching summer school.
- Running the kids here and there. (Now that they are out of school I am a taxi driver.)
- Housework.
- Finished my Shutterfly 2010 family photo book.
- Prepping for a vacation.

To be honest I am really in need of that vacation. I am worn out from working too much and don't feel like spending time on the things I want to do as a result. For example, I only have one chapter left of my manuscript, but I am having a hard time feeling like writing it. So close, and yet so far away?

Scripture of the Day: Genesis 49:2