Agency

Agency

“Our degree of gratitude is a measure of our love for Him.” Elder Russell M. Nelson, General Conference, April 1, 2012

“We don’t stop to ask a man who is drowning if he needs help, we just jump in. Such in life saying ‘Let me know if I can help,’ isn’t really doing any good. … Be enlisted and encouraged.” Ronald A. Rashband, General Conference, April 1, 2012

“Whenever we choose to come unto Christ, take His name upon us, and follow His servants, we progress along the path to eternal life.” Elder Robert D. Hales, Ensign, November 2010, pg 24-27

“Help our children make their own connection with Heaven. … Help them learn to exercise their agency with the guide of Heaven.” Larry Y. Wilson of the Seventy, General Conference, April 1, 2012

“Because the eternal principle of agency gives us the freedom to choose and think for ourselves, we should become increasingly able to solve problems. We may make the occasional mistake, but as long as we are following gospel principles and guidelines, we can learn from those mistakes and become more understanding of others and more effective in serving them.” Elder M. Russell Ballard, Ensign, Nov. 2006, pg 18–20

“Given that there must be opposition in all things (see 2 Ne. 2:11), with agency comes the need to choose good from evil. Moreover, agency also opens the possibility for sin; that, in turn, creates the need for repentance.” Elder L. Tom Perry, Ensign, November 1999, LDS.org

“When we use the term moral agency, we are appropriately emphasizing the accountability that is an essential part of the divine gift of agency. We are moral beings and agents unto ourselves, free to choose but also responsible for our choices.” Elder D. Todd Christofferson, Ensign, June 2009, LDS.org

“You and I were among those who used their agency to accept Heavenly Father’s plan to come to earth, to have a mortal life, to progress. …Now we are here on earth, where opportunities to use our agency abound…” Elder Robert D. Hales, Ensign, May 2006, LDS.org

“Free agency means the freedom and power to choose and act. Next to life itself, it is man’s most precious inheritance.” President Marion G. Romney, Ensign, May 1976, LDS.org

“Belief in the goodness and power of God is greatly facilitated by understanding His plan of salvation with its crucial allowance for mankind’s moral agency, real moral agency—with real mistakes and with real consequences! His plan includes real tests, real dilemmas, real anguish, and real joy.” Elder Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, November 1987, LDS.org

Position:

We have been given agency for our good. However, if we choose to exercise our agency in a way that allows Satan to have power over us he will try to destroy us. Our Heavenly Father has blessed us with agency to help us grow and learn for ourselves. What we do with our agency can ultimately determine how happy we are. I know that as long as I use my agency to try and follow Heavenly Father’s teachings I know that I will be happy and eventually be able to return to Him.

I forgot to mention our wonderful trip in March! We flew down to Las Vegas to be there for Joseph's mission fair well. It was great to be there. Scott, Emma, and the kids; Loren, DaNiel and Andrew; Anthony and Hailie and us were all able to go. It was so nice to have so much of the family together. It would have been great to have everyone, but that is a lot of schedules to accommodate. However, maybe one day that will happen. Anyway, we had a great time in Vegas. We saw two shows, Extreme Magic and V the ultimate variety show. Here we are at the aquarium in the Mandalay Bay hotel. As you can see Aubs was wiped out. This was in the middle of the day, so you can imagine what she was like at bed time! There's Don enjoying the audio recordings about each display. We had such a great time and can't wait to go back. Hopefully next time we will get to spend more time at the Johnson's! (and not have a 6 hour delay at the airport!)

I hate nasty surprises!

Yea, so as most of you have heard, I had my appendix out on June 11, 2009. Happy birthday to my Mom! Sorry to ruin your birthday evening with this unexpected adventure. Actually, I felt a million times better after the surgery. Now, I am fine. Thanks to all of the family and our friends that helped with the kids and meals. I REALLY appreciated it.
Well, the other fun we have been having this summer has been watching Donivan play t-ball. He is so cute! He gets bored when he is in out field and starts pretending all sorts of things. I think it is funny, Spencer gets frustrated since Donivan isn't paying attention to the game. Oh well, it is all for fun!
Aubrey is being a girl. DRAMA, drama! She sure is a cutie. Unfortunately she knows it. She also knows she has Dad wrapped around her little finger!
Well, this spring we had more work done on the basement. That was interesting. First we had Travis Kauer install a fireplace and the line set for an AC unit. Then my Dad and brother, Daniel, came and ran wire for the phone lines and cable for internet/tv. Then Spencer and I worked late a few nights and ridiculously late one night to get speaker wire ran, vapor barrier back up, and insulation installed. Spencer worked till 2 am and then I finished up a few things and made a quick trip to my parent's house at 3 am to get electrical tape. Then I got in bed at 4 am to get up at 7:30 to be ready for the sheet rock guys at 8 am. Of course they didn't show up till 9 or 10 am, oh well! They hung almost all of the sheetrock in one day! I was amazed. Needless to say the basement is now ready for primer and paint. We'll see how long that takes, (especially now that we have all these medical bills :-) It is nice to be that much closer to having the basement finished. I really just want to get the storage room finished so we can move all our junk back in out of the garage. (Spencer so kindly gave up his parking spot in the garage for the stuff out of the basement! Thanks babe! I have enjoyed being able to still park in the garage, especially with all the late snow and nonstop rain we've had so far this year.)
Why are weeds so frustrating??? Why do they grow so easily and everything else is a challenge? Actually I know why, but come on. Give me a break. I could pull weeds for 24 hours straight and our yard still wouldn't be free of them (that's if you include the back part of the yard). Our poor neighbors probably hate that we just let the back part of our yard go. One day, they will be under control. I hope.

Wow time flies!

Yes, here it is February again and I only blogged once since last February. Anyway, we are all doing well. Our Durango isn't quite as lucky. I think I already wrote about Aubrey drawing on it with a rock this summer, and having to have it completely repainted. Well, Wednesday it had another paint issue. I was at a car wash and as I was exiting the door came down on the car. It took a chunk of paint out of the hood and left some scratches. So, needless to say the poor car is having a ruff year already. As for the PEOPLE in the family, we really are doing well. It has just been a lot of the same old stuff. Donivan is LOVING preschool. Aubrey can't wait to go to preschool. Spencer is working away, and so am I. We all have fun playing together, but I can't wait till it is warm and dry out side so I can send them out to play!

Time Goes TOO Fast!

I can't believe that I have not blogged since February! Time flies. Well, Donivan started Preschool this summer. He went to BYU-I's preschool for the summer semester. He thought that was great. His class name was The Little Pines. It was great. They learned about bees, trees, fishing, and many other things in nature. He really enjoyed it and was sad when it ended.
Both Donivan and Aubrey really enjoy art. They love to paint and draw pictures. Unfortunatley, Aubrey decided to try a new medium, rock and car paint. Yep, she was outside for about 5 minutes without Mom. Then later that day I saw her artwork. When I asked who did it, because Don had been outside as well, she smiled proudly and said it was hers. She was proud till I said that Dad was going to be furious. Then I think she realized that I was not happy about it. When I told her to tell Dad what she did she said she didn't do anything. However, before that she did tell me she was sorry for scratching the car, without me telling her to say sorry. She scratched her drawing into the paint ALL the way around the car. She didn't miss a panel. The Durango is in getting completely repainted! The only part of the car she didn't get was the roof. Thank goodness for insurance. Yeah, Dad was NOT impressed, but for her luck she is Daddy's little girl.
Spencer and I are just doing the same old things. He works and I am trying to keep up with the yard and house and kids. It seems like every time we start a project it gets half done and then left for a while. So, we have a few outside projects to try and get completed before winter. We did get our basement wired. Yeah!!!! We are soo.... excited about that. Thanks to Daniel, Spencer and my Dad it got done! It seems like inches at a time, but eventually we will get the basement finished.
Aubrey is just a cute as ever. She has Dad wrapped around her little finger. Right now we are battling with her to stay in bed. We put her to bed and within minutes she comes out with an idea or wanting another drink of water. However, it is really cute how she responds to the "what do you want?" I wish I could describe it, but it one of those have to see things. Maybe I'll try to get a picture.
Oh! Spencer is really excited right now because he just got his new company car. It has On Star and XM Radio free for a while so he is enjoying the all day sports radio channels!
Yesterday Donivan started preschool again. He is a peer in the preschool program for the School District. He said it was fun. He was really excited because they have a toy outside that looks like a spiderweb and he can climb on it like Spiderman.

Two Long Weeks!

Hello again! Well, this has been the two weeks that Spencer was in California. Boy he was lucky, I guess. Well, things got started with Aubrey getting sick. Then two days later I woke up sick. Luckly that morning I already had an appointment scheduled for Aubrey. Our doctor is wonderful. He just wrote all three of us a prescription. Aubrey and I filled ours right away and got on the road to feeling better. Well, Saturday morning Don wakes up and has a fever and cough. So, thinking I was on top of things, I fill his perscription and have him start taking it. Well, after he took it he started getting worse. Then Sunday he really felt awful. Then to my shock he wakes me up Monday morning, as usual, but his face is completly swollen. He said he could breath fine and felt okay, but he sure didn't seem to be fine. Anyway, a little freaked out, I took him up to his doctor and sure enough he was having a major reaction. We don't know for sure what caused the reaction, but the medicine seems to have been the cause. So, anyway we have been keeping things interesting around here. It actually hasn't been too bad being sick because it has forced the kids and I to just stay home and relax. So it has been good in a way, we have had lots of time to talk and play games together. We are so excited for Dad to be getting back on Sat.! Don especially is excited. He already has plans of what him and Dad are going to do Sat.