He Lives - Free Printable Easter Banner

Looking for a Free Printable Easter Banner? This beautiful ‘He Lives’ banner in soft pastel colors is the perfect way to celebrate Easter at home, church, or a festive gathering. Simply download, print, and hang for an easy DIY decoration!

If you're searching for more printable Easter decorations, I recently shared a free scripture verse printable that makes a lovely framed reminder of Easter’s meaning. Today, I’m excited to share this adorable free printable Easter banner designed by Bettijo from Paging Supermom.  I love the colours she chose, and I can’t wait to pick up some mini clothespins from the dollar store to recreate the look!


Click Here to download a copy to print for yourself! :)

Free Printable Nesting Easter Envelopes & Cards

As I continue to share a collection of beautiful Easter printables with you this month, I'm excited about these beautiful Nesting Doll-style Easter Envelopes. They're a creative way to give someone a little gift that focuses on the real meaning of Easter. These were created by Heidi Swapp.  Each envelope has a scripture reference inside. When you put them together, you'll be able to keep opening them and revealing a new message on each that helps to tell the story and miracle of Easter.


There are 5 envelopes that get progressively smaller, tucked inside each other. Opening them this way will allow the reader time to look up the scripture references and think about each one as the story unfolds.

These are the little messages inside of the envelopes:

Easter Scripture Scavenger Hunt & French Toast Bake

My kids are pretty excited to bake together, but add a scavenger hunt to search for the ingredients list? Well, they're going to love this! :) Colette from My Computer is my Canvas created this adorable printable Easter scavenger hunt to go with her Easter French Toast Bake recipe (free printable recipe card coming up!).




This cute printable scavenger hunt will send your kids into the scriptures to uncover the list of ingredients for the recipe (which you will have a cute recipe card for, with complete instructions and list of ingredients- just don't tell your kids before they complete their hunt! ;).

8 Day Easter Week Advent & Printables

I love to find fun ways to teach my kids about the real meaning behind our holidays and today's Easter Week Advent printables do that! Mandy from Sugarbee Crafts has come up with this Easter Advent with daily activities for your family from the Sunday before Easter until Easter Sunday.  She also created some free printables to go with it (which you can find below).


Here are the supplies you'll need:

Free Printable #Hallelujah Easter Table Settings

Are you hosting or helping out with an Easter meal this month? You're going to love the printables I have for you today!  It's a whole set of Easter table setting printables by Bettijo from Paging Supermom who created the matching printable He Lives Easter Banner!

Click Here to download a copy to print for yourself! :)
Here's what the download includes:

Love One Another Wall

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, I came up with a project for our family to do that would help us to focus on showing love to others. Originally published in February of 2013, this is great if you're looking for Valentine Family Home Evening Ideas.


I made a "Love One Another" wall and then introduced it to them during a Family Night. 

Katrina's Baptism

Katrina's 8th birthday was several months ago, but I want to get her baptism day documented, so this post is late but I needed to get it published. You might remember that I shared photos from Katrina's Baptism Photo Session and in that post, I said that a post about the baptism day was coming. Well, here it finally is!  I also mentioned in that post that I explained a little about what baptism in our church is like, in a post about Talia's Baptism Pictures (so if you're wondering why our kids are getting baptized at age 8, or have any other questions, you can check that post out).

Here's a photo of Katrina in the bathroom, all ready for her special day. She wore the same dress that Talia wore when she was baptized. Talia's shoes from her baptism weren't the right size for Katrina though, so she ended up wearing silver shoes instead- we didn't have time to go out and find white ones!

Ken and I were each baptized by our fathers when we were 8 years old, so this photo of Katrina with her dad, all dressed in white, is a special way to remember this day.

Katrina's Baptism Photos

Katrina turned 8 years old a few months ago which meant that a very special milestone was approaching for her: she would be baptized! I've written in more detail about baptism in our church (why we wait until age 8, baptism by immersion, etc.) in a past post about Talia's baptism. If you aren't familiar with our beliefs, you might like to check it out. In today's post I want to share some photos of Katrina in her baptism dress.

Just like we did with Talia, we took photos earlier in the year (because our girls have cold weather birthdays) so she wouldn't be miserable getting some outdoor photos! I love this portrait of her, shown below, (it reminds me how important it is to get out and get some good quality portraits of my kids at LEAST once a year, so that I can look back on these years this way).

General Conference Topic Summary Wall

Twice a year, our church holds a general conference meeting. We listen to talks given by church leaders that give guidance and inspiration. Like many inspirational events, it's easy to come away from Conference weekend feeling motivated and inspired (but to have that motivation fade with time). I want to teach my children (by both example and experience) that we listen to conference because we want to learn and that once we learn, it is important to apply what we have learned.

I came up with an idea this time that I'm excited about because I think it's working really well for us:

I had the idea to make a General Conference Wall before last conference but it required a bit of preparation; the photos didn't arrive in time and I wasn't as prepared so it didn't come together. I'm so happy with the way it has worked this time that I wanted to share it here in case it inspires someone else to find a way to help their family.

Easter Treat Box (Real Meaning of Easter)

I have another Easter printable for you today!  At first glance, it looks like a cute little treat box, but the little designs on it actually symbolize the true meaning of Easter. I love that Melissa Esplin put such thought into the design of this little box!  When you click the download link (below) you will also be able to see the explanation for what each of the designs on the box stands for.

Click Here to download a copy to print for yourself! :)

Find more Easter Printables Here:

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Free Printable Easter Scripture (Real Meaning of Easter)

As Easter is coming up this month, I wanted to share this beautiful 5x7 printable that can be framed and used in your decor leading up to Easter.  It's a simple scripture, and it's a beautiful reminder about the real reason to celebrate Easter.  It was created by Melissa Esplin, and it's not the last printable I'll be sharing with you this month, as we get closer to Easter, so keep coming back to see what else I'll have in store! :) 

Click Here to download a copy to print for yourself or to give to a friend! :)

Find more Easter Printables Here:

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Girls Who Choose God

Today I want to share a religious children's book with you that is kind of like a sequel to one that I shared last year. Deseret Book has published a new book called Girls Who Choose God: Stories of Strong Women from the Book of Mormon (similar to the Girls Who Choose God: Stories of Courageous Women From the Bible that I posted about last year).

This book is very much like the one that was published last year- it is also written by Krishna McArthur and Bethany Brady Spalding with artwork by Kathleen Peterson.  If you're a member The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you will appreciate that there is now both a Bible version and Book of Mormon version.

Practicing for Heaven; The Parable of the Piano

If you like reading my book reviews (which tend to be religious books more often than not), then you may remember when I posted about Brad Wilcox's The Continuous Conversion which was a second book to go with his book, The Continuous Atonement.  I like listening to Brad Wilcox (he was a motivational speaker for youth back when I was going to youth conferences, so I get excited when he comes out with books)!  Anyway, he has come out with a new book called The Continuous Atonement for teens as well as a children's book called Practicing for Heaven; The Parable of the Piano Lessons.

I jump at the chance to review children's books that are published by Deseret Book because they are always beautiful.  The artwork in this one (by Brian Call) is gorgeous, the story about practising the piano is totally relatable (especially for my girls who are taking piano lessons), and it teaches a very important lesson about life and the atonement and how we don't need to be perfect; we just have to keep trying!

Amazed by Grace

Ken and I recently read Sheri L. Dew's new book, Amazed by Grace. It's based on a talk that she gave at BYU's Women's Conference in May, 2014.

Amazed by Grace

The book includes some more stories and thoughts that were not included in the original address and is presented beautifully in a small 5.5x7.5" hardcover book, 80 pages long,  As seems to be common with Deseret Book's recently published inspirational books like this one, the pages are arranged nicely with a border and with meaningful quotes emphasized with occasional pages with quotes over photographs (as shown below).

As we read the book, Ken and I had a discussion about Grace and what it is exactly, referring to Sheri's book, a recent General Conference talk by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, entitled, "The Gift of Grace", as well as Elder Bednar's talks on the subject and referencing the Bible Dictionary.

I love it when something gets us thinking and studying together like this.  We talked about whether grace is actually a power itself, or whether it is an attribute which leads to the use of power.  I will spare you all of our thoughts and conclusions because I suspect you would have a more enlightening experience if you were to read the book (or talks) yourself.

The book, like her original talk, considers four questions:

What is grace?
What difference can grace make in our lives?
How does the Savior make His power available to us?
What must we do to gain access to the Savior's power?

It's great food for thought and I probably never would have heard of Sheri's original talk, had I not come across her book.  This is another book that I think would make a lovely gift.


Disclosure: I was provided a copy of this book for review purposes. All opinions shared are my own.

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Taking Time to Reflect

In the midst of this busy life, with so much to do: fun things, boring things, needful things, exciting things, and more... it is good to take a moment and reflect on what is most important to us and on what we believe.

As for me, I believe in God and I believe in Christ. This weekend is one for reflection.

Whatever you believe and whatever you're doing this weekend, I hope you all have a lovely long weekend with friends and family!

If you're interested, this is a lovely short video about Easter, and what it means to us.



Easter weekend also happens to be General Conference weekend for our church. A conference is held twice a year where we listen to the Prophet, Apostles, and other church leaders. I love conference time. I love the time together as a family, I love having two days to focus in so much on what is important. Especially, I love to listen to the inspiring messages that are shared. Whether you're a member of my church or not, if you're interested, you are welcome to watch or listen to General Conference. You can do so online here. (There's a little countdown on that page, that lets you know when the next session will be).

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Thursday Thoughts: Working at Happiness

I was recently asked to share my favourite scripture.  I don't think I really have one specific scripture that I would choose, but on that occasion, the one that came to mind is from the Book of Mormon and the reference is 2 Nephi 2:25 which says, "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy."  It's a short verse that I memorized in high school for Seminary (an early morning gospel study class that I would attend every morning before school).  We memorized quite a few scripture references, but that one really stuck (because it was short and easy to remember ;).

It also stuck because of the message. This life is full of challenges and difficult situations. I think it has to be that way. We learn and grow through those experiences and so much of who we are becoming is because of how we deal with the difficult things in our lives and what we manage to learn from them. So I find it comforting that although we are meant to go through "trials" in this life, we are also meant to have joy.

I've written about happiness on the blog before- in terms of being happy "now" and not waiting for good things to happen in the future to make us happy.  The same goes for waiting for material items to make us happy.



I have been reading a new book by Jeffrey R. Holland called To My Friends; Messages of Counsel and Comfort (published by Deseret Book).  Chapter 18 is called: "To my friends who seek happiness".  He quotes Aristotle as having said, "Happiness is the meaning and purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence."  Then he focuses the rest of the chapter on how we can "pursue" happiness.

Daily Routines & A Giveaway

We made a goal at the beginning of the school year, to pray and read scriptures together as a family every morning.  We've been doing pretty well and I'm happy with how well we've been sticking with it.  One of the things I have liked about it is that Katrina has become more and more comfortable with reading from the scriptures.  

I think it's great for children to have the opportunity to read from the scriptures even when they're young and don't understand all of the vocabulary.  It's a great opportunity for us, as parents, to stop and explain what things mean (teaching them about words and about the contents of the scriptures).  It also helps them to become familiar with the language used in the scriptures so that as they grow older, it will not feel foreign to them.

I had the opportunity recently to review Nicole Carpenter's new book, 52 Weeks to Fortify Your Family.  This is a book full of weekly themes that includes an entire year of quick and powerful daily devotionals using scripture from the Bible and the Book of Mormon.

New Primary Calling

I have a bunch of things I want to share on the blog. Pictures of activities and recipes and crafts that we've done and stories of experiences from 2014, but I just felt like I needed to take today for a quick catch-up post, and to say that I've been busy!  But great things are coming :)

One big thing that happened in December was that I received a new calling at church. If you're a member of my church or if you're familiar with it, you'll know exactly what that means, but I'll try to explain this in a way that will make sense even if you're not familiar with our church.

What's a Calling?

We don't have a paid clergy. We all have different callings (or jobs) that we serve in at different times. We attend church for 3 hours on Sundays. During the first hour, we sit together in families. During the 2nd hour, we split up into different age groups for Sunday School classes. During the 3rd, the men meet together and the women meet together.

What's Primary?

The children and teenagers also have meetings with their own age groups during the 2nd and 3rd hours. The children's organization is called Primary. I had been serving as a Primary teacher (Ken & I were teaching the 5 & 6 year olds) on Sundays.

Perfect Love by Del Parson

The whole primary meets together for one of the hours and teachers teach individual age-group classes for the other.  My new calling is to be the Primary President, so I will be in charge of our local Primary.

This is a big time commitment and I have been rather busy in the past several weeks! I think things will settle down a little as I get used to it and as we get things organized.  Somehow, even though I've been spending hours on this, there just seems to be enough time for it.

Our Primary theme for 2015 is I Know My Saviour Lives.  I am excited to turn my focus to helping the children in our ward (congregation) to know that.  I know I will learn a lot through this experience and I think it's going to be pretty awesome. :)

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