"And thus we see..." gone wrong

Dinner at the White house (not too be confused with the White House) is always interesting. There are certain conversations my mother-in-law would probably kill me if I repeated...but I think she'd be alright with last night's. Justin and I were lying in bed at 11:30 still laughing at it. In fact, the title of my post comes from Justin, not me. :)

So we were joking about Bonnie (Justin's mom) being pregnant (she's NOT) and she says "it would be a medical miracle, that's for sure". Phil (18) then says, "you know, if you have enough faith, even if you're reeeally old, you can still get pregnant. Just look in the Bible! " We then began to glean lessons or "principles" we could learn from stories in the scriptures. Here are some of the highlights:

"And thus we see..."

-Abraham and Sarah: ...that even if you are really old and past menopause, but have enough faith, you can still get pregnant.
-Tamar: ...if your father-in-law won't let you carry on his seed with any of his sons, it's okay to pretend you're a harlot and sleep with him.
-Esther: ...it's okay to sleep with the king as long as you can be the queen and save a lot of people.
-Nephi (my favorite of the evening): ...if you need a book really bad, and you try to ask for it and barter for it and still can't get it, it's okay to kill someone to get it."

Okay okay, so maybe these are taken a little out of context. We forget the whole "and the Lord said..." phrase. But still, it gives you a little taste of our exciting dinner conversations. And hopefully a smile.

On a more spiritual note, I thought I would leave one of my favorite quotes of President Hinckley's in honor of him today. This was the theme from EFY 5 or 6 years ago when I was a counselor.
"Like the polar star in the heavens, there stands the Redeemer of the world, certain and sure as the anchor of our immortal lives. He is the rock of our salvation, our comfort, our strength, the very focus of our faith. In sunshine and in shadow, we look to Him, and he is there to assure and smile upon us."
President Hinckley believed that. You could see it by his actions. He was always so hopeful. I want to be "a little better" today for him.

Holidays

Yep, more family pictures. This is my side of the family. It was the first time we have all been together in 5 years for Christmas. So mom decided family picture time! The young boys didn't put up too much of a fight (until their parents put them down) but they definitely didn't smile. It was Joshua's nap time, as you can see! That's why he looks so dazed below...



Of course, part of the holidays includes GOALS! I love a new year, because it makes me feel like I can do anything. By December, when I feel like I am not doing anything I mean to be doing, I can just say, "January is coming, I can start over". I know it's all a mental thing, but still...it is good for me! 2 things I am working on:
1. Exercise: I was doing really good with the whole running thing, and then...the snow came. Well, snow and cold. It's really hard for me to get motivated to go out. So my goal is simply to exercise 5 days a week. I have some new videos I can do at home, and there's also a mommies aerobic class at our stake center, so...I think I should make it!
2. Books: I want to finish at least 20 books this year. Personal reading type books. I have finished one already--"Riptide" by Catherine Coulter. If you are in the mood for a quick suspense thriller, it's a fun one!