News Flash!

So, I almost forgot to mention (because there aren't really any pictures to go with it) that I was called to be the Primary President back in Janaury! :o

It's been quite the whirlwind, but I do love being involved with the Primary kiddos. I think they're the cutest and the bestest. :)

I give it it's own mini-post because I'm sure it's going to come up in future posts. Especially as I do my best to post more often. I always say that though, so we'll see if I can keep up this time or not.

Busy Life

I know I say it quite often, but life is really busy in the Ambrose household. Between every day work, ballet teaching, church callings, the Army Reserves, and having fun family adventures our days are quite packed!

There's a lot in life right now, but one of the biggest things is the fact that Daelynn (my baby sister!) is getting married in June. I'm planning her wedding and it is different than the other two weddings I have planned by far. It's been very frustrating at times but also fun. I love putting together the visions in my head and I'm hoping that everything will turn out how I envision it. :)

We're also dealing with many other things that I won't go into detail on here, but our families are struggling. Life is really hard sometimes and we seem to have found a rough patch. Overall we're doing really well, but there are some days that life is just really hard and I wish that people could be more considerate, more understanding, or just have more common sense then they exhibit.

Beyond that, life is really good. We went to Disneyland in February (I promise I'll post about it soon!) and I'm brainstorming some fun things for us to do this summer. I also really want to go to Virginia sometime soon so I can see my family on their turf and say goodbye to my Grandpa McCue. He's not doing well and we really don't know when he'll go, but he's in so much pain and so unhappy that we really hope that his time won't be long. I want to be able to see him one more time, but if it doesn't happen it will be okay because he'll be reunited with my grandma AND he won't be suffering any longer.

Anyways, that's all for now. I really want to update you more and I will try to get this blog updated with our adventures. I start to get to close to being updated and then life happens and I get all behind again. :P  But never fear, someday I will be caught up! Maybe!

Until next time my friends! :D

The rest of August

August seems like so long ago and yet it also feels like yesterday. Funny how that works.

Anywho, August was a fun month. After getting back from Yellowstone we did some fun, random things and basically enjoyed life. :)

 We had Lindy for a random weekend and went up to visit Allan's mom. She show Lindy this fun stuff that she could play with and blow into bubbles, etc. She had a blast with it.

  

Pictures from our garden. I was not the best gardener this year. We got on little cucumber and a few tomatoes before the plants died....mostly because Daelynn was the one watering them and she moved to go to BYU-I in September....so yeah. :D I'm really not the best porch gardener as much as I've tried.

We had a pool party as a going away party for some of our friend in the ward. I love all these people. This is Allan doing an eagle jump off the diving board. :)

We got to help out in the Church's peach orchard by picking peaches. These peaches were HUGE! And they smelled SO GOOD. It was fun to get to help out and spend a few hours in the morning picking peaches for people in need.

 

Lindy's visa didn't come through and she ended up not leaving at the beginning of August like we thought she would. This was great for us because it meant we got to spend more time with her doing fun things. One thing we did was take her dancing with us. She was convinced we were "going to a ball," and she just HAD to wear her "ball gown." Of course she chose to wear her Cinderella dress. She was so cute and everyone loved getting to see her. It was fun. :)

That's pretty much the month of August in a nutshell for us. It felt like a really busy month - and yet it was a lot of fun too. :)

HUZZAH!!

We got a really exciting letter in the mail last week....it was our clearance letter from the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. :)

We can now get sealed in the temple! I am so excited and so happy. :) We're going to do it on June 19th in the Logan Utah Temple. I'm really excited for that day. :D I've put together a little countdown timer (as evidenced on the right ----> ).

Here we go! :D

The Christmas Spirit

Today I taught in Relief Society. Being a member of the presidency I get to pick my topic when I teach and since it is December and all I went with a Christmas theme.

There is so much to Christmas and so much that can be covered that at first I was overwhelmed. BUT as I read story after story I couldn't help but think that knowing WHAT the Christmas Spirit is and HOW we can have the Christmas spirit would make this Christmas so much better. :o)

So, two things. FIRST I want to share part of my lesson with you. There is a story that President Thomas S. Monson has shared on a few occasions that really struck home for me, it goes like this:

Many years ago I read of an experience at Christmastime which took place when thousands of weary travelers were stranded in the congested Atlanta, Georgia, airport. An ice storm had seriously delayed air travel as these people were trying to get wherever they most wanted to be for Christmas—most likely home.

It happened in December of 1970. As the midnight hour tolled, unhappy passengers clustered around the ticket counters conferring anxiously with agents whose cheerfulness had long since evaporated.  They too wanted to be home. A few people managed to doze in uncomfortable seats. Others gathered at the newsstands to thumb silently through paperback books. If there was a common bond among this diverse throng it was loneliness: pervasive, inescapable, suffocating loneliness.

The fact of the matter was that there were more passengers than there were available seats on any of the planes. When an occasional plane managed to break out, more passengers stayed behind than made it aboard.

Gate 67 in Atlanta was a microcosm of the whole cavernous airport. Scarcely more than a glassed-in cubicle, it was jammed with travelers hoping to fly to New Orleans, Dallas, and points west. Except for the fortunate few traveling in pairs, there was little conversation at gate 67. A salesman stared absently into space as if resigned. A young mother cradled an infant in her arms, gently rocking in a vain effort to soothe the soft whimpering.

Then there was a man in a finely-tailored gray flannel suit, who somehow seemed impervious to the collective suffering. There was a certain indifference about his manner. He was absorbed in paperwork: figuring the year-end corporate profits perhaps. A nerve-frayed traveler sitting nearby observing this busy man might have identified him as an Ebenezer Scrooge.

Suddenly the relative silence was broken by a commotion. A young man in military uniform, no more than 19 years old, was in animated conversation with the desk agent. The boy held a low-priority ticket. He pleaded with the agent to help him get to New Orleans so that he could take the bus to the obscure Louisiana village he called home.

The agent wearily told him that prospects were poor for the next 24 hours, maybe longer. The boy grew frantic. Immediately after Christmas, his unit was to be sent to Vietnam—where at that time war was raging—and if he didn’t make this flight, he might never again spend Christmas at home. Even the businessman looked up from his cryptic computations to show a guarded interest. The agent clearly was moved, even a bit embarrassed. But he could only offer sympathy, not hope. The boy stood at the departure desk casting anxious looks around the crowded room, as if seeking just one friendly face.

Finally the agent announced that the flight was ready for boarding. The travelers who had been waiting long hours heaved themselves up, gathered their belongings, and shuffled down the small corridor to the waiting aircraft: 20, 30, 100, until there were no more seats. The agent turned to the frantic young soldier and shrugged.

Inexplicably, the businessman had lingered behind. Now he stepped forward. “I have a confirmed ticket,” he quietly told the agent. “I’d like to give my seat to this young man.” The agent stared incredulously; then he motioned to the soldier. Unable to speak, tears streaming down his face, the boy in olive drab shook hands with the man in the gray flannel suit, who simply murmured, “Good luck. Have a fine Christmas. Good luck.”

As the plane door closed and the engines began their rising whine, the businessman turned away, clutching his briefcase and trudged toward the all-night restaurant.

No more than a few among the thousands stranded there at the Atlanta airport witnessed the drama at gate 67. But for those who did, the sullenness, the frustration, the hostility all dissolved into a glow. That act of love and kindness between strangers had brought the spirit of Christmas into their hearts.

This story so perfectly shows what I feel should be the focal point of the Christmas spirit - Christ-like love. It is so hard to develop this, but when we do have the opportunity to share that love and to develop it in our hearts we will be blessed.

And SECOND I want to share with you the printable that I'm printing out for my sisters to help remind them of Christmas this year. Enjoy! :o)

CLICK HERE to download a pdf of this printable - for personal use only.