2013-2014

2013 has been a good year.  I'd do a "top posts" of the year post, except I am way behind!  I think I left off in July or August, sometime this summer before school started again, before I got pregnant again, and before I got sick.  In 2014 I hope to get all caught up again and to make and share our new family memories.  I really can't wait until May when our new arrival will be here and our family will be complete.  There's been lots of things I've wanted to do for our family (home décor, mother's jewelry, sentimental journals, etc.), but I've been waiting for all of our family to get here.  I am so excited that soon we will be!  After I had Hiram I knew I wasn't done having babies and I really hoped that I would feel that closure eventually.  I am happy/sad to say that I feel that this time.  I am happy to have another baby, and happy to have our family complete, but I am also sad that this will be our last baby. Babies are fun!  But I'm getting old and you have to stop some time.  We have to get a new 8-seater vehicle, and we're hoping next summer to break it in with a cross-country road trip to visit all of our extended families and to do a church history trip too.  I'm really looking forward to that!  The last time we saw everyone was May of 2012, so we are long overdue!  And as always, if anyone wants to check out the capital city of Canada, you are always welcome to come and stay with us!!  Happy New Year All!

Lucky 2013 Highlights and Merry Christmas!!

Lucky Leonard got to visit Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, & France.

Lucky Jennifer gained 20 pounds.

Lucky Kaleb taught himself how to read and write hieroglyphs.

Lucky Noé is continuing in lyrical dance and is taking ballet again.

Lucky Gavin is playing basketball with his Daddy and brothers.

Lucky Teague started Junior Kindergarten.

Lucky Hiram has Mommy all to himself during the day.

Actually, we're not lucky, but blessed. We're so grateful for our Savior, Jesus Christ, and love celebrating His birth at Christmas each year.

We wish you and your loved ones a lucky holiday season

and a blessed new year!

Love,

Leonard, Jennifer, Kaleb, Noé,

Gavin, Teague, Hiram (& Baby #6) Reil

 

*to learn more of our beliefs of Jesus Christ visit:

www.mormon.org

10 Ways to Change the Atmosphere of your Home

1.  Light a candle.
2.  Turn on soft or upbeat music.
3.  Declutter for 15 minutes.
4.  Bake brownies.
5.  Put flowers in the kitchen.
6.  Smile at your family.
7.  Say an encouraging word.
8.  Give a back rub, tickle, or hug.
9.  Play a game together.
10. Pray.

*My aunt posted this on facebook from the book "Women Living Well" by Courtney Joseph.  I had to share!

Kindness begins with me

(I normally keep track of the books I read on my Creative Pursuits blog, but I'm behind on that blog as well and felt this story was worth mentioning on here.)

After reading glowing reviews of this book on two different blogs, I decided I wanted to read it.  There was a huge waiting list at my library, but I got in line.  I'll admit I was a little sad at first when I got the notice that it was ready.  In December I like to read Christmas books after all.  However, I picked it up and read it in one afternoon.  It's juvenile fiction, but very well written.  I loved it and think it should be required reading for all middle-school students.  I'm going to have my two middle-schoolers read it!  Anyway, one of the teachers in the story shares a precept with his class each month of the school year and then he asks his students to share their own precepts with him via a postcard during the summer.  I wanted to remember his precepts, so I'm recording them here and I hope you'll find them uplifting as well:

 

"When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind." -Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

 

"Your deeds are your monuments." -Egyptian tomb inscription

 

"Have no friends not equal to yourself." -Confucius

 

"Audentes fortuna iuvat/Fortune favors the bold." -Virgil

 

"No man is an island, entire of itself." -John Donne

 

"It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers." -James Thurber

 

"Kind words do not cost much.  Yet they accomplish much."  -Blaise Pascal

 

"What is beautiful is good, and who is good will soon be beautiful." -Sappho

 

"Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can." -John Wesley's Rule

 

"Just follow the day and reach for the sun!" -The Polyphonic Spree, "Light and Day"

 

I also want to share a couple of quotes the principal shared with the students:

 

"Shall we make a new rule of life...always to try to be a little kinder than is necessary?" -The Little White Bird, JM Barrie

 

"It was at moments such as these that Joseph recognized the face of God in human form.  It glimmered in their kindness to him, it glowed in their keenness, it hinted in their caring, indeed it caressed in their gaze."  -Under the Eye of the Clock, Christopher Nolan

 

And last, but not least I want to share the main character's personal precept:

 

"Everyone in the world should get a standing ovation at least once in their life because we all overcometh the world."  -August Pullman, Wonder, RJ Palacio

 

By the way, I think this is a great read for December.  What was Christ's message?  Be kind to others.  Yep, this book goes well with that message.

Why I love Christmas

There would be no Christmas if there had not been an Easter. The babe Jesus of Bethlehem would be but another baby.  But He was not, He is my Savior and yours. He has redeemed us and that is why we celebrate His birth. That is where we find joy and peace.
(President Thomas S. Monson and
Sister Mary E. Martin)

A lovely little thought

What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make. 
~Jane Goodall~

Christmas is in the air!

We've got snow outside and our house is covered with ornaments both inside and out!  I love Christmas time!

(This photo is not of our house, but I can dream!)