No ordinary miracle!

Jeanne and her young women councilors organized a miracle. They had the Young Women and Relief Society sisters read the book "100 Dresses by " and made a goal to collect 100 dresses. They far exceeded their goal with all the participation of the sisters in the ward. They collected over 200 dresses which will be donated! Isn't that amazing? They had a wonderful celebration the other evening with a beautiful black, white and hot pink theme and a breathtaking display of all the dresses collected. They had a potato bar dinner with the most beautiful decorated cupcakes that tasted as good as they looked. A few primary girls sang the song "Be a Friend" and we heard from a senior couple from the ward that are serving as missionaries in the Hispanic Initiative Program, which shared uplifting messages and reminded us that it is not matter how a gift is wrapped, but it is what is inside that counts.

Jeanne made delicious carmels and attached the lyrics to the song "Ordinary Miracles" as thank you's. They are such sweet lyrics that I want to include them in this post. However, despite the lyrics I would have to say that his activity was no ordinary miracle!

Ordinary Miracles

Change can come on tiptoe. Love is where is starts.

It resides, often hides, deep within our hearts.

And just as pebbles make a mountain, raindrops make a sea,

One day at a time, change begins with you and me.

Ordinary miracles happen all around.

Just by giving and receiving comes belonging and believing.

Every sun that rises never rose before.

Each new day leads the way through a different door.

And we can all be quiet heroes living quiet days.

Walking through the world, changing in quiet ways.

Ordinary miracles like candles in the dark.

Each and every one of us lights a spark.

And the walls can tumble and the mountains can move.

The winds and the tides can turn.

Yes, ordinary miracles, one for every star.

No lightning bolt or clap of thunder, only joy and quiet wonder.

Endless possibilities right before our eyes.

Oh, see the way a miracle multiplies.

Now hope can spring eternally. Just plant it and it grows.

Love is all that's necessary, loving it's extraordinary.

It makes ordinary miracles every blessed day.

The beautiful women behind organizing this miracle!

Stephanie Nielson

Today is the Sunday that Taylor works, so I have been finding anything I can to keep myself busy. I made some yummy zucchini bread that I can't wait for Taylor to get home and taste! Anyways, I was looking at the usual blogs I follow and was reminded that I failed to mention a couple weeks ago that Taylor and I attended "Recapturing Beauty" where Stephanie Nielson was the guest of honor. It is something that we want to remember, so it is better to post it late than never. Stephanie and her husband, Christian, survived a plane crash which left Christian with 35% of his body burned and Stephanie survived with over 83% of her body burned and having been in a 3 month coma. It is remarkable story and their testimonies are remarkable. We first heard their story on lds.org where Stephanie had made a mormon message movie about her new life and her testimony of prayer, miracles and of our Savior. It was crazy how many people were there to support her. As you can see there were not many men there, as it was a program put on by the Women's Services and Resources. Taylor was one of the few and we were both touched and inspired.

We are BYU!

Yesterday Taylor and I went to the BYU verses San Diego State game. Tony had bought tickets to bring Dylan and Emmett but then was given tickets on the 50 yard line, so he was nice enough to give us the tickets he bought. We were at the very very top, but it was awesome! We could see everything. Cougars have not been having a good season and Papa made a joke saying that we are going to need "heaps" of luck! (Jake Heaps is a the starting quarterback as a freshman.) Well, we got our "heaps" of luck and have "heaps" of hope! BYU won 24-21. It was a fun game.

General Conference Weekend

General Conference weekend was wonderful! Our good friends Donna and Donny Sand came into town Thursday evening and stayed with us for the weekend. Donna is from my home town and we served together in Spain. Friday evening we went to the Malt Shop and got dinner and yummy malts. My favorite is peanut butter and marshmallow cream with mini marshmallows. Afterwards we went to our mission reunion, which is always fun to see everyone- especially the Farnsworths. Taylor and I both just love them. Saturday morning we slept in a little and then made a quick run to the store and the four of us made a yummy breakfast together as we listened to the first session of conference. It really is remarkable and breathtaking to see the Conference Center full of people there to see and hear the words of the prophet and our leaders and to know there are millions of people around the world listening and watching as well. Afterwards we got ready and went up to Salt Lake where we watched the afternoon session at the Conference Center. We then went to dinner at Crown Burger. So good! Taylor met his dad and brother and watched the Priesthood Session with them. Donna and I walked around downtown and waited for Donny, who went to the Conference Center for Priesthood. Saturday evening we watched the movie Fireproof, which is one of Taylor and my favorites. We thought it would be appropriate for Donny who is going to school to be a fireman. Sunday our guests left early in the morning (we were sad to see them leave and wish they lived closer) so Taylor and I watched Conference in bed for the morning session and then went up to Salt Lake and watched the afternoon with his parents and played some games. Our friend Alicia was also in town with a truck, so she was nice enough to help us pick up our new couch which Taylor got from his work. I will post pictures of our new arrangement later. Taylor did a good job of moving everything by himself while I was at work. It was a nice surprise to come home to on my lunch break today. Anyways, it was a fun and uplifting weekend! We love our friends. We love our family. We love the Church. We love our Savior.