I Know My Savior Lives! 2015 Primary Program

Whew, first Primary program under my belt as Primary President...kind of a relief!  It was so beautiful!  I was a little worried the few weeks before, but it all worked out so well!  My counselor put over the program is amazing, I love that Bryndi!  And the new music leader, Brother Moore is doing an amazing job, too.  The kids love him!  Many doubted as he was first called, but the kids love him. Lots of prayers were offered up for the program and hearts were touched.

We had a practice and every kid showed up but two...a serious miracle!  And afterward a we had a pizza party!  Dave got tons of pizzas, we got a some veggies, which were almost all there when we were finished, and the kids helped me make some dessert pizzas.  We had fruit pizza, s'more pizza, cookie dough pizza, cookies and cream pizza, and candy bar pizza.  The kids were so excited about that!

The theme was "I Know My Savior Loves Me".  I started out the program with a few comments.  I introduced them and said: "Behold your little ones" and explained how I had been studying in 3rd Nephi lately about when Christ came to the Americas.  After some glorious teachings, he asked them to behold their little ones.  Of all the things he could've taught, he asked them to see their children and gave them a commandment to be like them.  The more I get to be along side these little ones (including my own three favorites), the more I understand the Savior's mandate to be as a little child, "for such is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 19:14).  For them, Jesus Christ is real!  He's not just a wise man i pictures that lived long ago.  He helps them, He comforts them, sends the Spirit to assist them, they turn to our Father for guidance in prayer, and look to the Savior's example in all they do.  As they sing "I did not touch him or sit on his knee, yet Jesus is real to me", they know this with all their hearts.They have an innate desire to find and receive truth, are quick to learn, and rejoice in the simple truths of the Gospel.  They don't nee to know everything, they trust in God and His purposes.  These children don't follow blindly, they know they can pray with real intent and learn to know the truth of all things.  What great examples they are to me!  I love them all and our Savior Jesus Christ!

There is a song that we started out with, with the same name as our theme.  Each time I hear thing song, at home or Primary, no matter how many times I've heard it, it makes me cry tears of joy!

I Know That My Savior Loves Me

1. A long time ago in a beautiful place,

Children were gathered ’round Jesus.

He blessed and taught as they felt of His love.

Each saw the tears on His face.

The love that He felt for His little ones

I know He feels for me.

I did not touch Him or sit on His knee,

Yet, Jesus is real to me

Chorus

I know He lives!  I will follow faithfully.

My heart I give to Him.

I know that my Savior loves me.

2. Now I am here in a beautiful place,

Learning the teachings of Jesus

Parents and teachers will help guide the way,

Lighting my path ev’ry day.

Wrapped in the arms of my Savior’s love,

I feel His gentle touch.

Living each day, I will follow His way,

Home to my Father above.

Chorus

(Text:  Tami Jeppson Creamer & Derena Bell, Music:  Tami Jeppson Creamer)

My other favorite song to hear them sing was "He Sent His Son".  We had the Bishop sing the questions to the kids and the children sing the answers.  It was so powerful and sweet and I saw many in the congregation with tears streaming down their face (including my own).

These kids said their parts so well.  We gave them prompts but they came up with their own answers which were inspiring.  They were confident.  And they sang their little hearts out!  I was so proud!

Even the programs were cool and we asked the kids to draw a picture of Jesus - their favorite story from his life, a miracle, how he helps them, etc.  We got some great pictures, from the Sunbeams up to the oldest kids ready to move on to Young Men and Womens.  Bryndi scanned them in and Kim made copies to put in each of the programs.  It was such a nice touch!

We had some Primary comment cards we put in the programs as well for people to give positive feedback to these guys, since usually they hear from their parents, but that's just about it.  Many said it was beautiful, and they felt the love of the Savior, we made them cry, strengthened their faith in the Savior.  We did have a few that said they haven't come to church in a while for various reasons, but were glad they chose the day to come on the Primary program.  They said they realized while listening what they had missed out on and now knew they needed to come back.  I promised them at our practice that they could be missionaries and help others by doing their part and doing their best.  I told them of a time when I encouraged a friend in high school to attend church again after a long time of not going.  Luckily, he chose the day the Primary children did their program.  It touched his heart and he was moved to come back and ended up serving a faithful mission.  The Primary program really is the best Sacrament meeting of the year!  :)

We also had this treasure map I made where the kids got clues for each song they passed off.  They got the last clue and the treasure from the Bishop during singing time that day.  They loved it!  It was a hit, and so fun that Brother Moore put on his eye patch, got his peg leg on, and used an awesome pirate accent to read the clues.  They got a kick out of the whole thing.  They got glow sticks and Starburst candy from the treasure box because they shared the light they had with all and sang like stars I told them.

That night, we had a Primary teacher who is a single sister over for dinner with her cute kids.  They are so fun and we talked about the program.  It was just what we all needed!  I'm so grateful for my calling to serve in Primary and be with these sweet little ones and learn of and become more like the Savior with them.  It is a great blessing indeed!

Happy Halloween! Hmmmm...who dunnit?

This year for Halloween, we dressed up as...here's your Clue.  That was it!  We were the Clue crew, from our favorite Sunday game, Clue.  I think Emma and Grandpa Dan and Emma thought of it back in September, since there were six of them and six of us.  We came up with a few other ideas and then Emma took a poll and this one came out the winner!  Our kids love that game (Dave remains unbeaten and wins every time!) so it was perfect.  We also watched the movie, and they quite liked it and have watched it a few times since then.  So...who was it?  Professor Plum with the lead pipe in the conservatory?  Mrs. White in the kitchen with the knife?  Miss Peacock in the library with the rope? Miss Scarlet in the lounge with the candlestick?  Colonel Mustard in the ballroom with the wrench?  Or Mr. Green in the billiard room with the revolver?

We began the thrifting, shopping, finding and gathering, cutting, sewing, glueing, spraying at the beginning of October.  It's so much fun for us!  We love this family tradition.  Our costumes separately didn't really make sense, so when we were together, everyone loved our costumes, but when we split up, Cov was a "business man", Lucy was a "princess", Cal was a "Donald Trump" and Emma a "flapper".  Ha!  It is fun seeing people "get it".

Cov was Professor Plum.  When people would ask him what he'd be for Halloween, he's reply with "Professur Plum" and they'd look at me with a blank stare.  Then I'd explain and they'd get excited.  He also sometimes said "I'm Professor My-Plum".  Ha ha, cute boy!  We slicked his hair and made a little curl in the front.  His glasses were dollar store gag glasses.  I sewed the plum colored blazer, which actually wasn't that hard.  And I glued together his bow tie with scrap fabric.  Then just church pants, button up shirt, purple socks and dress shoes, which we already had.  He loved the lead pipe weapon the best (and swinging it around - ahh!  It got taken away pretty fast).  And most of all, he loved all of the candy.  Before he could finish one piece of candy, he'd be trying to open another one.  At Grandma Di's, we hid all of the candy, but he still found a piece.  I asked him, "Cov...where did you find that candy?"  He looked over, showed me the candy behind his back and gave us a guilty smile but didn't say anything.

Lucy was the beautiful Miss Scarlet.  We picked out the sparkly red material together and I sewed it and she was so excited to try it on for the first time!  "My dress is so pretty, Mommy!"  We also jazzed up her outfit with a red feather boa, some necklaces, bracelets, and earrings, white gloves from the dress-up box, and I spray painted some $2 shoes gold.  She insisted on having the candlestick with her and loved posing like Miss Scarlet ("she does this, mom!").  More than trick-or-treating, Lucy loved passing out candy and got a kick out of that!

Cal was Mr. Green.  "I'm rich!  I've got the money!"  He thought his thrifted suitcase was pretty cool and we stuffed it with fake money.  I made nothing for him, we just found it at the thrift store, too, except for his green tie and pocket squares I sewed.  Cal had the best time trick-or-treating, and loved everyone's decorations!  That was probably his favorite part.

Emma was Miss Peacock.  She helped me sew most of her dress and did a great job!  She also helped make her fascinator hat and peacock earrings.  It really didn't take that long to do hers.  It's fun to have a little helper!  We got her scarf from the dress-up box as well.  She loved being Miss Peacock, though some kids in her class weren't sure who she was and had never played Clue!  Crazy!  Emma was die hard trick-or-treater as she went with cousin Amber to Amber's neighborhood and made out like bandits.  They went for quite a while and had a great time together!

I was Mrs. White, the maid.  My dress was one I already had and got some laced tights at the store.  I made the apron, choker, and bonnet by repurposing a skirt that had a broken zipper on it.  We picked up the feather duster and voila - my costume was a cinch.

Dave was Colonel Mustard (he is him every time we play the game as well).  We found the shirt and pants at a thrift store.  Ordered the hat and patches on Amazon (what can't you order on Amazon?!).  We used some of his belts to put around him.  Made the shoulder pads out of scraps and stuff around the house.  Then, he grew out the beard all during that month and we sprayed it with white and grey temporary color hair spray.

The week of Halloween, we were able to celebrate at some school parties.

Lucy and her little preschool friends and siblings were adorable!  Really, I don't think there's much cuter than these little guys in their costumes.  These kiddos had fun playing games and eating snacks and the moms enjoyed each others company.

We went to help at Cal's class, and I'm glad I did because I was the only mom who helped.  We made some yummy fruit kabobs for the party, and other parents sent treats, but Cov, Lucy and I were the only guests.  We enjoyed the costume parade also for the younger kids at his school.  Too fun!  Cal is right in the middle in this picture.  When he saw me, he smiled big and turned around to shake his booty at me.  Silly kid!

Then we rushed over to Emma's school to put together some eyeball punch (ginger ale with lime sherbet with plastic eyeballs mixed in a cauldron).  They had tons of parents there in Emma's class to help.  There was a boy in Em's class that was dressed up like a dog and he and Cov were chasing each other.  It was so funny!  Emma and her friends had a fun party and watched a movie instead of games.  Em's friends were all gushing over Cov and Lucy.  Sweet Em and her cute "dead mermaid" friend Erika.

After the fun times at school and the early out, we went down to Utah.  The kids were so happy to spend Halloween with family because it's been over 4 years since that's happened!  We had a "Spooky Party" with the Ryerse cousins.  We had Papa Murphy's pizza and veggies for dinner.  Then we played a bunch of fun games. They popped balloons with candy in it.  Played relay races.   Had a game of pumpkin curling. Wrapped each other up like mummies.  Did the donuts on the string thing.  They had a blast!  It is so fun to watch them all grow up together.  And I love Halloween.

The next day was pretty normal, we went and ran some errands in the morning.  Then, we went to Grandma Di's for lunch.  The kids read Halloween books and helped decorate the Spider cupcakes.  Then, we had a frightening feast, the usual chili, broom bread sticks, veggies, chips and dip, and mummy dogs.  We played a few games, like Halloween twister and the kids made up spooky songs on the organ.  After that, we got our costumes on and all ready to go!

First, we headed to the Main Street trick-or-treat.  It was fun.  I love the cute business owners and we saw a few old friends too.  It was a beautiful day - perfect weather for Halloween!  Then, we went to another shopping district trick-or-treat for a few minutes.  Then Covey got cranky and Lucy crashed, so we took them and Cal back to Grandma Sues, while Emma went with Amber to do some more trick-or-treating.

We had hot dogs and all the fixings for dinner and donuts.  We rested and played around and passed out candy.  Grandma Sue is such a huge Halloween fan!  She cracks me up.  She wore these devil horns in her hair and wore all red when we went to Costco earlier that day.  She keeps a skeleton in her passenger seat during the month of October, ha ha!  So funny!  The kids love all her decorations, super fun!  We also went to a few of the Ryerse's good neighbors trick-or-treating and loved all of the fun decorations.  We stayed up late and watched the Washington State game as well that night, it was a good game but the Cougs barely fell short.

Then, we went back to Grandma Di and Grandpa Scott's for games.  We played a fun one that had Halloween challenges on it and you had to get all of the types of characters for completing each challenge.  Things like "Screetch like a bat" and "Come out and scare everyone with your best boo!". It was a hoot and everyone liked it!

Such a happy haunting!  Only 394 days now to decide what we will be next year...