Raising Memories: Making & Documenting Family Memories
From raising kids to empty-nest living, join me in exploring ideas for memory-making and intentional living to create a life you love, through every season of motherhood.
I've already written about where we stayed, and some of the places we visited while we were in Ottawa and Montreal last month (and shared a video blog about it), but here's the whole reason for our stay! The Montreal Quebec Temple of our church was having an open house. Temples are very important to us because of our belief that when a couple is married in a temple, they are sealed to be together forever (even after death) and their family can be together forever.
In order to enter a temple, you need to be 12 years old so our girls have never been inside of the temple (even though we don't live too far from the Toronto temple, where we were married). We decided that this was an opportunity for them that we didn't want to pass up, so we made the plan to go!
The weather was cold and windy so we were happy about the warm tent outside of the temple with a large poster of the temple that you could have your photo taken in front of! We're all warm and cozy and dressed up in the photo above, but we also wanted a photo of the real thing, so after we changed into our warmer casual clothes, we grabbed this shot as well:
Well, we're less than 2 weeks away from Christmas- has the time flown for you as it has for me? As the number on our Christmas Countdown shrinks, I am well aware that there is no way that I can do all of the things I would like to do, to celebrate Christmas. So it's time to take a step back and look at all of the options while thinking about my main goal, and decide which things are most important to do.
As a mother of small children, and as a Christian, it is important to me that my children feel the importance and actual meaning of Christmas during this time of year. I love the excitement of Santa Claus and gifts under the Christmas tree and fun or silly songs, and those things come pretty easily. It takes a little more effort to keep Christ in Christmas and to help my children to experience the deep meaning behind it.
If you've visited my blog this month, you might have noticed the widget in my sidebar that invites you to watch a video called "A Savior Is Born". All of the 12 Days of Christmas Advent Activities that I have posted over the last couple of weeks have focused on the same topic. If you haven't had a chance to watch this little video, I've included it below so that you can:
There are a lot of other videos about Christmas on the website as well. I've shared some of the music videos this week on my facebook page.
As we approach Christmas this year, I hope that each of you reading this is feeling the love that others have for you. I do believe that God is our Heavenly Father and that He knows each one of us and loves us. Perhaps to some of you that will seem strange, but it is something I feel is true. So, I hope that you can feel that you are loved, and that you will take some time to show love to others.
Wishing you all a wonderful week!
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I know how much social media, smart phones, and other devices can distract us from things going on around us. I think most people have experienced this to some degree and many of us are familiar with the feelings that come with realizing that things have become unbalanced, and sensing the need to scale back on our use of technology. Day 12 focuses on limiting distractions. I love the idea of having a special "Silent Night" as a family, handing over all distractions, and focusing on what Christmas is all about!
This post is part of a series of 12 advent activities. You can find more details here.
Includes:
- A Scripture
- A Discussion Topic
- An Activity: a printable tag to attach to a basket or bin that encourages family members to have a "Silent Night". There are so many great things you can do with your silent night! We have a bunch of Christmas picture books that I think would be a great use of time and togetherness on a night like that!
If you'd like to see the other days, I have linked to them from this post!
I've teamed up with sugardoodleshop.com to provide this free advent for you. #ASaviorIsBorn
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I've always thought it was an interesting analogy to think about how you can have a totally dark room that is pitch black, and with one lit match, a lot of that darkness is dispelled. Although the world is filled with a lot of darkness, it can be dispelled with a little bit of light- light is strong! Day 11 focuses on how Jesus is the light of the world. We recently made little candle votives at a museum. Today's activity is very similar. Check out the link below for details!
This post is part of a series of 12 advent activities. You can find more details here.
Includes:
- A Scripture
- A Discussion Topic
- An Activity: Instructions and activity ideas for making your own candle votives and discussing ways that we can be more like Jesus, and bring light into this world.
If you'd like to see the other days, I will link to them from this post as they go up!
Have you got a pan in your house that is covered in blackness that won't wash off? I have a cookie sheet that looks like that. I keep thinking I should throw it out, but then I keep it for when I think the thing I'm cooking is likely to do damage to the pan. These days, I cover it in tinfoil so that I can see that the food is on something clean- I'm telling you, I do clean the cookie sheet, but you can't even tell by the way it looks!
Cooking spray residue can be a true annoyance so I was happy to take on the challenge to compare PAM's cooking spray to another brand and see if it holds up to the claim that it leaves much less residue than other sprays. I found a couple of interesting differences during my experiment so let's get to it!
Jesus is, of course, the real gift of Christmas. He is the reason we celebrate Christmas; His birth, His life and teachings, and the gift that He gave to all of us through His atonement. I love the idea of focusing on the Savior by thinking about what kind of gift we can give Him!
This post is part of a series of 12 advent activities. You can find more details here.
Includes:
- A Scripture
- A Discussion Topic
- An Activity: a printable gift box that you can make and little slips of paper to write a gift that you will give Jesus (more details & ideas in the PDF linked above!)
If you'd like to see the other days, I will link to them from this post as they go up!
