Favorite December Moments~

Rexburg Temple

A highlight of our Christmas month was to witness the sealing of our newest grandchild Layton, age 19 months to our son Travis and daughter in law Amanda. All of their other six children were able to be in attendance. This was a sacred and joyous time for us all. Our son James and his wife Amber were able to be there also. It was a day of celebration.

Back Row - Justice, Layton and Travis, Amanda and Austin
Front Row - Ethan, Ryley, Karli, and Kason

Back Row - Grandpa, Layton and Travis, Amanda, Amber, and James

Middle Row - Grandma, Justice, Ethan Ryley, Karli and Austin

Front Row - Kason

Grandpa and Layton

Our Sweet Averi

Back to front - Taylor Jo, Karli, Christian, Ethan and Austin

Justice and Kason

Taylor Jo and Layton

This has been such a delightful Christmas Holiday for my husband and I . We are enjoying fun moments with our daughter Tiffani, her husband Dave and their children, Michael, Sarah, Kaitlyn and William. On Christmas Eve we always have a Nativity Program.

This was a sweet one.

Christmas Nativity Program

Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus

The Startled Shepherd

Our Precious Angel William

The Nativity Cast -
 Back row -William and Kaitlyn
Front Row - Sarah and Michael with Buddy
A Fun Santa story before going to bed with dreams of
Sugar Plums Dancing In Their Heads

 Christmas Morning

The Choo Choo up the stairs - A family tradition

Santa Surprises

A Golf Set for William

Roller Skates for Kaitlyn

A Sewing machine for Sarah

A Golf Set for Michael

Dave helping the children

Mom Tiffani received Money for after Christmas shopping

Grandpa receive a pair of much needed dress shoes

A Santa surprise for me was the gift of  a ticket for flying to my Granddaughter Kaitlyn's baptism. Both of us were so happy.

The Card said:" No Grandma should miss their Granddaughter's baptism."

This one brought some tears!

 Sacrament Meeting & Christmas Program
 Christmas Again~

Back Row - Tiffani and Dave
Middle Row - Sarah and Michael
Front Row - William and Kaitlyn

Grandpa and Grandma with their sweet grandchildren

The Christmas Dinner~

Grandpa's favorite moment with Kaitlyn. They were busy shredding the chicken and she said: "Grandpa, I  better stop talking so much because I am spitting in the Chicken."

My Two Favorite Gifts

On Christmas Eve we all opened a gift. My gift was the movie musical rendition of "Scrooge" with Albert Finney. I was so excited. I hadn't watched this movie for years. Thirty Six years ago I had a wonderful gift given to me straight from Heaven. I had my first little girl named Christina. She was born just after midnight on December 23rd. The evening before her birth we started to watch Scrooge. I began having labor pains and soon my contractions were harder and coming quicker. My husband wanted to take me to the hospital. I told him I wasn't leaving until the movie was over. We left around 11 pm and I had her after midnight.

Through the years I have sung the song from this movie; "Thank You Very Much", to all of my children and grand children. I just loved that movie and I smiled all the way through it.

 1999 we had our entire family home for Christmas. At that time there was a total of 18.

While opening presents on Christmas morning two of my sons left the room and came back and placed a few Harry Hanuka presents under the tree. Harry Hanuka gifts are similar to White Elephant gifts. As I was opening my present I discovered my hair brush. Everyone burst out laughing because this brush had been in my possession for over 30 years. Every once in a while when my children were still at home this brush would come up missing. I would call out for an emergency; yelling for everyone to start looking for the brush. I could not do my hair without it.

As I got up Christmas Morning this year I was looking for this brush. Low and behold I received a Harry Hanuka gift of this beloved  brush. Every one had a good laugh again.

Our little Sammy enjoying the festivities

The End of A Perfect Day~

More Christmas fun at our Family Christmas Party~ Dec. 26th

My darling Great Grand baby Jadyn

Having our snacks

Playing with the Wii

Playing Card Games

Great Grandma with baby Lilly

Kaitlyn and Jeffery

Joseph and Sarah

Gillian and baby Lilly snuggling

Jeffery, Williams and Jadyn

Sammy hanging out with us all

Our Granddaughter Kaitlyn's 8th Birthday Celebration on December 29th ~

Waiting for the Birthday Song!

Kaitlyn opening her presents

Fun with all the family

Celebration of our Grandson's marriage to Dana on December 30th 2011 ~

 Jed and Jacob

Jessica with baby Lilly, Jed and Jacob

Great Grandpa with Jadyn

Great Grandma with Baby Lilly

Dana and Jacob

Dana and Jacob

The End of a wonderful Christmas Season of being with Friends and Family.

There were many memorable and joy filled moments~

We wish all of our Friends and Family a Very Happy New Year ~



Merry Christmas To You All~ Christmas Thoughts from Roger and LeAnn

WISHING EACH FAMILY MEMBER AND FRIEND: A CHRISTMAS FILLED WITH THE LIGHT OF THE SAVIOR’S LOVE; MOMENTS OF REFLECTION ON HIS MIRACULOUS BIRTH AND MISSION; TIMES FOR SWEET SERVICE TO THOSE IN NEED OF HIS MERCY AND MANY MEMORABLE HOURS WITH FAMILY AND LOVED ONES.

This year brought a multitude of blessings and life experiences. In April we were called to serve a part-time mission to the Inner City Project. We are assigned to work in a sweet humble Ward. We have been overwhelmed at the temporal needs of individuals and families in this Ward. Lack of good shelter, food, clothing, and other needs are ever present. Roger and I continue to enjoy serving as ordinance workers in the Jordan River Temple on Saturday Mornings. This is the peaceful moment in our lives where we refill our cup of Living Water. Roger continues his full time work. He often works at home. He is such a good loving man and I enjoy our moments together. I love blogging and have a missionary blog. Entitled Living Waters @ http://lgwilliams.blogspot.com I enjoy Family History work. Presently, I am completing a history of my 98 year old Aunt Della. Thirty one grandchildren and two great granddaughters and have kept us busy with special events. Our grandson Jacob married a lovely girl this year named Dana - adding 3 more great grandchildren. We visited family in Utah, Idaho, Washington and Missouri to attended five baptisms and five Aaronic Priesthood ordinations. In addition, Travis and Amanda adopted a sweet little boy, Layton James, on December 15th. Two days later we were blessed to attend his Sealing to Travis and Amanda in the Rexburg Temple. These are the highlights of our year. 
Love to you all! Roger and LeAnn

Our Family - 2011

Sean and Mary's Williams Family
Back Row - Jacob & Jed
Middle Row - Gillian Jackson, Mary & Joshua, Sean, Jessica, Joseph
Front row - Jeffery and Jonathan

Jacob and Dana Williams

Jed and Jessica Williams Family
Jessica and Baby Lilly - Jed and Jadyn

Travis and Amanda Williams Family 
Back row - Austin, Travis & Kason, Amanda & Layton, Justice & Ryley
Front Row - Ethan & Karli

James and Amber Williams Family
Back Row - Taylor Jo, Amber, James , Christian
Front Row - Averi

Brandon and Christina Workman Family
Back Row - April & Sariah
Front Row - Abbey, Levi, Christina & Faith

Michael and Jenni Thomas Family
Emma, Jenni-Marie, Alyssa, Benjamin and Michael

Dave and Tiffani Adamson Family
Back Row - Dave & Tiffani
Middle Row- Sarah and Michael
Front Row - Kaitlyn & William

Here is my favorite Nativity story  by children ~

 

The Gift Of My Eternal Companion ~

 I thank my Heavenly Father everyday in prayer for my dear husband, Roger. He is a wonderful man, a loving husband, a devoted father, a doting grandfather and a very dear great grandfather. Through the years he has worked very hard to provide for our family. We have had a good life together. We have had many struggles through the years such as lost jobs, illnesses, financial burdens, family and children concerns. We have worked hard to have a good marriage. We have been married for 44 wonderful moments of time. He has always treated me with respect, love and kindness. He has a forgiving and loving heart.

We met in Driver's training class the summer after 9th grade. I noticed him and thought he was very cute; but at the time I was dating another boy.
I saw him in our sophmore year of High School a few times and according to my diary; he actually asked me out once and I turned him down. What was I thinking???
  We had our first date on November 17th of our Junior year. Although we still dated others a few time, we began a sweet friendship through the rest of high school.
We talked about getting married after High School but we both wanted him to serve a mission. We attended the University of Utah for one year and he then left on a two year mission for our church in Northern California. We were very much in love and being away from each other for two years was difficult. I transferred into the nursing program at BYU and received my nursing degree a short time after he returned home. I will forever remember the day that he arrived home from his mission.  I didn't go to the airport to meet him but in the evening he came over and when I saw him all the feeling came rushing back for both of us. Within 2 weeks we were engaged and married 2 months later. We were blessed to have 6 outstanding children. They are all married and have loving companions which are just like 6 more beloved children. We have been deeply blessed with 31 grandchildren. Our Grandson Jed and Jessica added one more Great grand daughter making 2 for them.  Plus, our grandson Jacob married his sweetheart Dana this year so we have gained 3 more great grandchildren making a total of 5.
We both can say that we love each other with a more powerful love and intense feelings than when we were first married. My husband is my greatest earthly blessing and I want to be with him for eternity.
With his permission I am sharing a poem he wrote two years ago for our anniversary.

One Eternal Round

I've pondered oft, but can't recall when first I felt your love

You often jest that it began in meadows up above.

Where once you chased me through the flowers before the world we know

Perhaps that's true - and if it is I'm sure I ran quite slow.

Did you catch me - or was I caught with knowledge from the start

That in this world we'd meet again and you would steal my heart.

You came first, I followed soon and the roles were turned around

At age fifteen a feeling came that soon you would be found.

I passed it off for just a while, when I took a certain seat

And looked behind another row - and someone I did meet.

Short brown hair, a smiling face and a sparkle in your eye,

And though I learned you liked another, I knew that I must try.

And as I did, the angels helped and soon you came to me

And since that day, no other soul has stirred my heart like thee.

Two year were given to the Lord, the greatest of all calls

And then two lives became as one within the Temple walls.

A prophet of the living God did seal our lives as one

Together, bound by covenants, we sought to serve his Son

The promised joy of children soon filled our home with love

"No empty chair" is now our goal - forever and above

Our favorite hymns are of the Lord whose name we softly speak

We ponder on His sacrifice and think of Him each week.

Our lives have oft been richly blessed because of blessings given

What can we do, how can we serve to earn these gifts of heaven.

Perhaps within the Lord's own House we should seek to be

That we might bless our kindred dead and our posterity.

"There is a Green Hill Far Away without a city wall

where our Dear Lord was crucified who died to save us all".

There is a meadow still somewhere where spirits used to play

And someday if we're good enougt - He'll take us there to stay.

Now and Forever ~

Take a moment to visit Eliza and Callahan's World. at Mormon Women.

Callahan and Nikki are our Nephew and Niece. They have two very sweet daughters Eliza and Caroline. Their story is one of faith and courage.

The Blessing of our Lilly Leann and I Believe~

The Blessing Of Our Lilly Leann

Grandma's Moment with Lilly

As I held my sweet  Lilly Leann on her blessing day; I felt such joy in my heart. Here was a precious little one sent from Heaven, a treasure, a gift from a loving Heavenly Father. Listening to the words of the sweet blessing given by my oldest son, her Grandfather; my heart was brimming over with great feelings of pure joy. These are the moments when Heaven feels so close. I choose to believe that there were ministering angels present; perhaps her ancestors and our parents witnessed this special event. 

Lilly Leann

Lilly Leann with her parents Jessica, Jed and sister Jaydn

The Blessing of a Baby~

“Every member of the church of Christ having children is to bring them unto the elders before the church, who are to lay their hands upon them in the name of Jesus Christ, and bless them in his name” (D&C 20:70). In conformity with this revelation, only worthy men who hold the Melchizedek Priesthood may participate in naming and blessing children. The ordinance of naming and blessing children requires authorization from the presiding authority.

When blessing a baby, men who hold the Melchizedek Priesthood gather in a circle and hold the baby in their hands.

I have many sweet friends of other faiths. I want them to know that I love learning about their faith. I respect their religious beliefs. I hope they will also learn about my faith ~ I believe that we are children of a loving Heavenly Father and are deeply loved by our Savior, Jesus Christ. We are all spiritual brothers and sisters. Love to you all!

We Believe ~

The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Articles of Faith

9 We believe all that God has ^arevealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet ^breveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.

Heavenly Father Reveals His Gospel in Every Dispensation

One important way that God shows His love for us is by calling prophets, who are given the priesthood-the power and authority given to man to act in God's name for the salvation of His children. Prophets learn the gospel of Jesus Christ by revelation. They in turn teach the gospel to others and testify of Jesus Christ as the Savior and Redeemer. The teachings of prophets are found in sacred books called scriptures.

Our Father's plan for us to be successful in this life and to return to live with Him is called the gospel of Jesus Christ, with Jesus' Atonement at the center of that plan. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can receive eternal life if we exercise faith in Jesus Christ, repent, are baptized by immersion for the remission of sins, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end....

Biblical history has recorded many instances of God speaking to prophets, and it also tells of many instances of apostasy. To end each period of general apostasy, God has shown His love for His children by calling another prophet and giving him priesthood authority to restore and teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ a new....Such periods of time headed by prophetic responsibility are called dispensations.

God revealed the gospel of Jesus Christ to Adam and gave him priesthood authority. Adam was the first prophet on the earth..... Adam was followed by other prophets, but over time the posterity of Adam rejected the gospel and fell into apostasy, choosing to be unrighteous.

Thus began the pattern of prophetic dispensations that makes up much of the recorded history of the Old Testament. Heavenly Father revealed His gospel through direct communication to prophets such as Noah, Abraham, and Moses. Each prophet was called by God to begin a new dispensation of the gospel. To each of these prophets God granted priesthood authority and revealed eternal truths. Unfortunately, in each dispensation people eventually used their agency to choose to reject the gospel and then fell into Apostasy....
After the death of Jesus Christ, wicked people persecuted the Apostles and Church members and killed many of them. With the death of the Apostles, priesthood keys and the presiding priesthood authority were taken from the earth....Without the Apostles, over time the doctrines were corrupted, and unauthorized changes were made in Church organization and priesthood ordinances, such as baptism and conferring the gift of the Holy Ghost. ....
After centuries of spiritual darkness, truth -seeking men and women protested against current religious practices....Then came the Reformation which resulted in an increased emphasis on religious freedom, which opened the way for the final Restoration.

When the circumstances were right, Heavenly Father once again reached out to His children in love. He called a young man named Joseph Smith as a prophet. Through him the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored to the earth.

(excerpts taken from Preach My Gospel - Pg.31-37)

 

Texting Through Time by Christy Monson - Book Review - Plus More

Some time ago I was asked to read the book entitled; "Texting Through Time A Trek With Brigham Young" by Christy Monson and write a book review.

I thought the title was catchy and has a modern twist to it. Since I don't text and haven't wanted to learn how; I came to realize the value of texting  in our day. 

As I began reading this delightful book; I first looked to see if the book drew me into the story. I can say that it did. I couldn't stop reading it. I recognized that the book was a wonderful story for pre-teen and teenagers but I enjoyed reading it so much that I think it is a great adult read too. It would be an awesome book to read to your grandchildren. 

The plot was fun and had a great deal of adventure in it. I identified with the main characters Micah and Alicia. As a brother and sister close in age; I felt like they were typical of teenagers of yesterday and today. As a Grandmother I could just picture some of my grandchildren of this age group being just like them. There was just enough bantering between the two and yet there was a sweet bond there also.  As the story progressed they were placed into different situations back in the time of Brigham Young. In each of these moments of time they were placed in a scene that helped them learn some very important lessons in life. At the end of each adventure they would text back to their phones the journal moments of that day.

I found the end to be endearing and even brought me to tears. I enjoyed their experiences with Brigham Young an others important characters of the restoration. I smiled at their reactions to meeting the Prophet Joseph Smith and sweet beautiful Emma. While reading it, I longed to live in their era just for the privilege of shaking the hands of the Prophets and to live in their presence and understand their experiences.

At the end there were some very edifying moments with lessons learned about the temple. Children reading this book will feel the spirit and learn good lessons of life.

I plan to purchase this book for my grandchildren in hopes that they too will learn from this fun book. In fact, I think it would make a great Children's Movie.

"Do You Have Room" by Shawna Edwards~

Please enjoy this awesome Christmas Song by Shawna Edwards. It is a lovely song and is a favorite Christmas one for this year.

If you like this music you can take the challenge to share this song via FB and also go to her FB page( http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shawna-Edwards-Music/ 16820344661-508) and like the page.

You can get a free MP3 or copy of the sheet music (link here: http// shawnaedwards.com/how-to-get-a-free-copy-of-the-music/

If you would like to write a blog post or FB this video by Shawna Edwards just share this video with your favorite Christmas memory or share how you are making room for the Savior. You can also share your thoughts on her FB page.

Favorite Christmas Memory

One of my favorite Christmas Memories are the family Nativity programs that we have held each year with our children. The programs were centered around the Savior. I loved the moments when my three girls would sing the Christmas songs as solo's or trio's and the boys would play instruments. The Nativity story would be acted out with costumes. One year my husband played the part of the Donkey with long ears and he caried Mary on his back, played by my oldest daughter. We all started to laugh so hard we almost couldn't finish the play.

We have continued this tradition through the years and now my grandchildren are playing the parts.

Look forward to having another moment to listen to this wonderful song; "Do You Have Room" by Shawna Edwards.

The ChristmasTree Mishap~

Last Year's Upstairs Tree -

First a little background on my husband and I. I grew up in a very casual environment and didn't really develop a sense of design or creativity. My husband on the other hand is really creative. He writes well and could write a novel. He is an artist. He enjoys arranging our home decor and he is great at hanging pictures.
When it comes to Christmas trees; he is really good at decorating them. This comes from his boyhood. He had a brother in law that decorated trees at the ZCMI store and my husband would often help him.  My family on the other hand  would bring the tree home and throw the decorations on.  At first I used to be frustrated when I would arrange something in our home and my husband would re-arrange it. However it always did look better his way. Over the years I have been doing more of the decorating and have learned a lot from him. He has encouraged me in this endeavor. When it comes to Christmas my husband usually doesn't have time to really help me with the tree; but if he did I can assure you it would be extra beautiful. This year we decided that we needed a new tree for our downstairs family room. Some of the old tree's lights were out. We put this tree up before we left for Missouri for Thanksgiving.
One thing about me is that I have a stubborn streak.  I want my Christmas Tree up and the house decorated before December 1st; not the day after.  Regretfully, as soon as we arrived home from Missouri my husband packed his bags and was off to Dallas, Texas for two days of meetings. Due to the fact that I have had a back problem; I wanted him to get the Christmas decorations out and the upstairs Christmas Tree up before he left. He didn't have time. 
I thought to myself. I will surprise him by getting the decorating completed while he is gone. I asked a young man in our church to come over and help me get the decorations out and the tree up. We got the tree up and as he left; I kept looking at the tree and thinking, it just doesn't look like the same tree. Yup; you guessed it; it wasn't; It was the old tree.

Old Tree

I was so perplexed. So my surprise won't be completed. I just don't have the energy to try and take the old tree out and get the other tree put up. Besides, I know I shouldn't attempt it anyway due to being in Physical Therapy for my back pain. However, I did manage to finish the downstairs tree. Our downstairs family room tree is decorated with stuffed animals so it is child proof and easy to do.


Downstairs Stuffed Animal Tree ~

Now I want you to know that when he comes home he will be upset with me for trying to do it all. Since I don't take counsel easily; he will think I dragged the decorations and Christmas Tree up from the basement storage which I usually do.  Since I won't be sharing how I did it right away; it should be interesting. With the rest of the decorating that I have done I will note subtle changes over the next few weeks. It's OK; his way really looks the best and I love him for it.

Our Cabbage Patch Dolls

My husband and I have a tradition that every year we try to get a Santa gift that is unusual. One year we gave each other a cabbage patch doll. It was so fun because we didn't know that we both were doing the same thing. Here is a picture of our Cabbage Patch Dolls at the base of our stuffed animal tree. I bought them new outfits this year. We also collected Garfield's for a number of years; so I have several of them on this tree. 

Blog Awards

I recently received a blog award from Our Life's Adventures Blog. This is one of my favorite blogs to follow. Anna-Marie home schools and has such fun adventures with her children. Check her blog out. Thanks for the award Anna-Marie.

The Rules

.Thank the person(s) who nominated you and link back up to them

.Tell Readers 7 things about yourself

.Pass this award onto your favorite newly discovered bloggers and let them know.

1. I love chocolate

2. I am not a morning person

3. I love to read romantic novels written by a PG authors

4. I enjoy going to movies with my husband

5. I enjoy writing family histories

6. I love to journal

7. I love country music; especially Faith Hill

I am passing this award onto the following new blogs that I have been following. Please stop by all the blogs listed and maybe you will find a new favorite.

The Quest For Happiness

The Things That I Love

A Moment With God

Some May Call It Destiny

Hello Dolly

The Mount of Laundry News

The Book Guardian