It's random, lovely, full of misspelled words and terrible punctuation. It's about me, Erin, my family and friends, in real life. There's sugar but no sugar coating.
"Come what may, and love it!......Yet in spite of discouragement and adversity, those who are happiest seem to have a way of learning from difficult times, becoming stronger, wiser, and happier as a result." ~ Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin
Mark 10:13 Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was greatly displeased and said to them, "let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God." Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it." and He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them.
I found this post on not spanking and really loved it. Wanted to share. For every parent I think.
I posted earlier about Mormon meaning "more good" (I got the info out of the Book of Mormon study Manual, pg. 130) well, here's more info on that. I don't actually know what is the true truth so if anyone really knows and can give references it would be nice but I am putting this to rest after this post. Just knowing that the book is true is good enough for me and I do know it. A quote by Gordon B. Hinckley is in redthat says that the "more good" translation is incorrect. If you are wondering about this please read this entire post.
Meaning of the word
The May 15, 1843 issue of the official Mormon periodical Times and Seasons contains an article, purportedly written by Joseph Smith, Jr., deriving the etymology of the name "Mormon" from English "more" + Egyptian mon, "good", and extolling the meaning as follows:
It has been stated that this word [mormon] was derived from the Greek word mormo. This is not the case. There was no Greek or Latin upon the plates from which I, through the grace of God, translated the Book of Mormon. Let the language of that book speak for itself. On the 523d page, of the fourth edition, it reads: And now behold we have written this record according to our knowledge in the characters which are called among us the Reformed Egyptian ... none other people knoweth our language; therefore [God] hath prepared means for the interpretation thereof." ... [The] Bible in its widest sense, means good; for the Savior says according to the gospel of John, "I am the good shepherd;" and it will not be beyond the common use of terms, to say that good is among the most important in use, and though known by various names in different languages, still its meaning is the same, and is ever in opposition to bad. We say from the Saxon, good; the Dane, god; the Goth, goda; the German, gut; the Dutch, goed; the Latin, bonus; the Greek, kalos; the Hebrew, tob; and the Egyptian, mon. Hence, with the addition of more, or the contraction, mor, we have the word MOR-MON; which means, literally, more good.[13]
Whether Smith was the actual author of this passage is uncertain. Official LDS Church historianB. H. Roberts removed the quote from his History of the Church compilation, saying he found evidence that W. W. Phelps wrote that paragraph and that it was "based on inaccurate premises and was offensively pedantic."[14] LDS Church apostleGordon B. Hinckley noted that the "more good" translation is incorrect but added that "Mormon means 'more good'" is a positive motto for members of the LDS Church.[9]
Meaning in the Book of Mormon
According to the Book of Mormon, a man named Mormon compiled nearly 1000 years of writings as well as chronicled events during his lifetime. Most of the text of the Book of Mormon consists of this compilation and his own writings, which may account for its title.[15] However, the name "Mormon" is also used in the Book of Mormon as a place name (e.g. Waters of Mormon), which Ancient America Foundation scholar David Lamb uses to offer an alternate explanation for the title:
[The prophet] Mormon was not named after his father; he was named after the land of Mormon. He had been taught about his heritage by his parents and understood the sacred significance associated with the name Mormon. No doubt his father also bore the name Mormon for the same reason. In 3 Nephi 5:12 he gives us a clear indication that the name Mormon is symbolically synonymous with the restoration of the covenant which took place in the land of Mormon by Alma and his people.
A study of the Introduction of the Book of Mormon tells us its main purpose is to restore a knowledge of the covenants to the house of Israel. This adds weight to the understanding that the name Mormon was always associated with the place of the restoration of the covenant to the Nephites. In fact, the name Mormon became synonymous with the concept of restoring the covenants.
In light of this understanding, the Book of Mormon is not named for a man. It is named for the place where the covenant was restored. Symbolically, the Book of Mormon bears the name "Book of the Restoration of the Covenant."[16]
this information was taken from Wikipeida. Click on the numbers for the references.
"...there is no valid reason why Latter-Day Saints should speak of themselves as 'Mormons' or of the church as the 'Mormon Church'. Missionaries should not be engaged in 'selling Mormonism' but in the mission of persuading people to believe in Christ, the Son of God, and of becoming members of his Church - The Church of Jesus Christ. The term Latter-day Saints is added to the name merely to distinguish us from the former-day saints... "While there can be no disgrace nor condemnation in being called 'Mormons', and the Church, the 'Mormon Church', the fact remains, and this we should all emphasize, that we belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The name the Lord has given by which we are to be known and called" (Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 4:174-75)
You might be wondering now why the Book of Mormon is called the Book of Mormon. Well, from what I have found - "The word Mormon, means literally, more good." (in History of the Church, 5:399-400)
So the Book of "more good". It's more good because it complements the Bible which is good. They complement each other.
If you have never watched a video from my blog and never plan to, I don't care AS LONG AS YOU WATCH THIS ONE! This is part of the talk I mention in an earlier post.
This is the truth. I know it and love it!
If you would like a free King James version of the Bible, a Book of Mormon, information on Christ, or information of families and being happy go HERE , type in free media under search, click on "free media" and "request a copy". or just leave me a comment. :) (Even if your just a tiny bit curious.)
And I guess the reality of what Asher is going through and might have to go through has set in.
It just seems like a different world to me after the last few visits to the doctor.
He's so cute and sweet.
He is eating pretty well.
The doctor (well, really the dietitian) suggested that we try to switch to sippy cups and decrease the milk consumption and replace it with solid food.
We have been attempting this but today was the best day yet.
Honey nut "o"s (of the organic variety), part of a blueberry muffin, and whole milk (also organic) for breakfast
for a snack he had strawberry yogurt melts.
for lunch he ate some pasta with little pieces of meat and some kind of sauce (our bishop made it last night for a relief society meeting and we all got left overs) and some cake.
he had a snack of cheese and crackers. um...he also ate a small kit kat (what? I'm tryin' to help him gain weight)
For dinner fruit smoothie and garlic mashed potatoes. (tried to give him a little chicken, he wasn't into it)
He had 3 bottles in between all that.
Anyway, I call that a successful day.
Things have been good lately.
We have gotten to spend more time with Heath and the weather is nice enough to play outside.
It almost feels like we are a real family whose dad gets to come home in the evenings ;)
We play ball with a plastic bat and wiffle balls. Heath tries to strike me out but he can't.
what a good dad!
The "show me your muscles" pose
The truth is that I would like to find a sugar maple tree and learn how to tap it next year (there is a season for it that has already passed) and make my own maple syrup. Some more truth is that we ran out of milk today and I decided to try out some powdered milk. I love milk and thought it wasn't half bad. I heard you can add a little vanilla and sugar to to enhance the flavor. It was pretty good both ways. Also, did you know that if your powdered milk gets bad (turns yellow and smells funny) you can use it to make cheese and yogurt (and that's the emergency preparedness tip of the day.)
My kids are so stinkin' cute!!! I can't help but take pictures of them :) I don't give Asher much jarred food because the formula is more caloric and he NEEDS those calories but I figured I would give him some every now and then so he wouldn't be on a bottle for the rest of his life. He makes the cutest faces. I think he likes carrots.
Noah is so funny. He was going outside the other day and I asked him where he was going. He said, "Trocodile lake" (crocodile). It was so funny. I didn't even know he could say "trocodile". I guess it's off of the Dora cartoon. Now anytime he sees water he says "trocodile lake". The sunbean (sunbeam) song is coming along. Now he sings a few more words then just sunbean.
We picked apples Saturday morning at some friends house from church. They have a bunch of apple trees and said that anyone could come and pick them. Heidi and I are back to it. We will be making and canning apple sauce.
Well, it's true that my husband has bowed legs and that I think they're cute. Also true that I had a dream that I kissed Jim Halpert off The Office. (It was the night I fell asleep at 8:30 woke up at 11:30 to Heath watching an episode of the office and went back to sleep). What can you do?!?
I don't want it to seem like I'm complaining. I'm just writing about life so I can look back someday and call these thegood ol' days. We just finished moving AGAIN. We are living in an old house that some friends own. It is humble, and little but we are calling it home. Heath and Deric painted all the walls which turned out really nice. They had to scrape off about 7 layers of wall paper in the kitchen (talk about an all day job). I just want to say that my husband is a hard worker. He is NEVER lazy, never. There are two bedrooms in our home. One of them is smaller then some bathrooms I've seen but it fits both boys. In the other room our king size bed sits on boxes of food storage. There is one closet in our home in the bigger bedroom. It holds my seasonal decor, all the extras (TP, diapers, wipes, etc), towels and stuff, 72 hour kits and the rest of the food storage not able to fit under the bed. Oh, and Heath worked his magic so we can hang a few articles of clothing in there as well. There is no carpet in our home. Our home will be heated by a pellet stove which is suppose to cost around $250 to heat for the entire winter. Until today the water pressure has been horrible. 30-45 mins to fill the bath, flush the toilet and you had to wait to wash your hands. Today Heath changed some kind of filter and bingo, water pressure. I'm pretty excited about the water pressure mostly because that means I can use the portable dishwasher. The only door inside our home opens up to the bathroom. Our water comes from a well. This made me a little nervous but a water filtration system has eased that. Our home does not have blinds but a few curtains with homemade curtains to come. We are in the country and our home in not close to stores, however, we are close to friends who live across the street. They have chickens, horses, a cow, dogs, cats, and huge blueberry bushes. They are good people that are genuine. There is no air conditioner in our home but there is love. We are so blessed. It's true that my glasses are held together with super glue and that I have to wash the chicken poop off my eggs before I crack them. We are happy and growing and learning.
The cucumbers after their bath with all sealed lids. So far so good. We'll taste them tonight.
Well, our friends from Southern Utah finally made it to PA. Heath and Deric both did their undergrad work at Southern Utah University and now they're doing their grad work here at Edinboro Univ. of PA. We're excited they're here. Well, it's summer in this small college town, PA and it's quiet in the mornings. Most of the kids are home for the summer. When I go running early it's me, the birds, and the rabbits (and sometimes Noah). Although it is summer some of the leaves are already beginning to change. I can't believe it. It's still July. I have only had to turn on our AC a few times.OK, time for truth: Most people that live in PA always say PA and never Pennsylvania. I have learned to identify a catalpa tree, maple tree, and oak tree thanks to Heath. My electric bill for last month was $26 and my gas bill $23.60 (It's NEVER EVER been that low)...it's true. Asher is in the 75th %tile for his height and the 3rd %tile for weight (he's on the chart now, yippee!)
Well, we payed a visit to our garden today. There were a few cucumbers and some green beans ready for picking. The zucchini is from Sister Householders side of the garden and they are huge. Zucchini bread here we come. Asher ate 26 ounces yesterday. This is by far the most he has ever eaten. Before that it was 21 ounces. Hopefully he'll start putting on the pounds and not just the ounces :) More truth...I'm almost 30 and still a picky eater, I have skittles in my food storage, My husband thinks I have too many decorations, I like watching The Office (and so does my almost 3 year old), I think Will Farrell is funny when he's clean (I mean really funny...same with Steve Carrell), and sometimes I have the urge to blow a bubble which explains my secret stash of bubble gum. Anyway, we are off to pick blueberries.
He's a Grad student. He makes pots. He likes hunting and hanging out with his boys. You can visit his blog at www.checkoutmyblogatmyblog.blogspot.com (or click the picture).
"We artist are indestructible, even in a prison cell or a concentration camp I would be almighty in my own world of art. Even if I had to paint my pictures with my wet tongue on the dusty floor of my cell." - Pablo Picasso
Asher helps me develop faith. He has a nerve injury on his right arm. He also has trouble gaining weight. He sees an occupational therapist 2 times a week. He is sweet and shy but has a funny personality.
this is our story.
i called him. he said yes. he kissed me. i said, "i love you." he said, "i like you twelve." (that equals i love you.) he said "will you?" i said, "yes". we got married. he started school. we had noah. i became a mom. he became an artist. we moved to pa. he became a grad student. then came asher and i became the mom of 2. we moved back to utah. he became a teacher. me? the mom of three. we are happy. we are blessed.
Children are made readers on the laps of their parents. - Emily Buchwald
Tuesday we went to a friend's house in our ward and picked 
