Light the World

November 29, 2017 in Craft Room

This sweet Christmas Countdown is the perfect way to remember to #LighttheWorld for 25 days in December

Fall is my favorite season, but December is my absolute favorite time of year. I love the feeling of goodwill that seems to abound no matter where you turn. Everywhere I go, people seem to be a little kinder, a little more loving, a little more giving.

I believe that’s the light of Christ in action that touches people’s hearts even more at this time of year. As we act on those feelings of kindness and love, we spread the light of Christ.

I am so completely in love with the #LighttheWorld initiative from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at mormon.org that reminds us to take time every day to share that light.

Sometimes we think service has to be a big, huge ordeal, and sometimes it is, but the truth is we can touch someone’s life every day in small, simple ways that make a big difference.

I wanted to find a way to encourage my family to be a little kinder, do a little more, and look for ways to serve others every day. In a house full of girls, chocolate is an incredible motivator, so I put together this little chocolate Christmas countdown – a simple reminder to do something every day to shine a little light on someone’s day.

After I made the cute Christmas tree, it only took me a few minutes to put together a countdown for everyone in the family. We all need our own, after all. I printed out this Christmas tree on regular paper, put it in a dollar store document frame, and stuck a chocolate candy to each circle with Scotch tape. Super simple and I love how it turned out.

This one is last year’s with a variety of Hershey kisses on the tree and Rolos for the tree trunk. This year, my nieces put on the chocolate when they were here for Thanksgiving, and we added more Rolos and some mini peanut butter cups. They’re a little bigger but totally worth the smooshed look for some peanut buttery yumminess.

Every day as each of us does an act of service, doing our part to Light the World, we celebrate the sweetness of service with a piece of chocolate. Having the visual reminder helps us keep service in our minds, always looking for ways to help others. The countdown helps us keep track of the days, knowing we’ve helped to Light the World that day.

We can all touch the lives of others – in our own ways, in our own spheres – and when enough of us light another’s life, we can Light the World.

Today I’m doing my part to Light the World by sharing this countdown with you. Click –> HERE <– or on the picture below to print it and Light the World this Christmas season.

Christmas Countdown chocolate #LighttheWorld

LDS General Conference Giveaway

March 25, 2015 in Mailbox

Spring General Conference Giveaway - $400+ in Prizes

It’s spring time which means General Conference will be here before we know it. Seventeen LDS Bloggers are joining me to share a few of our favorite things. We are so excited to be giving away over $400 in prizes. It’s been a treat to work with so many talented women to spoil our readers with products that strengthen the family and make our lives a little easier, too.

We as bloggers are so thankful for you – our readers! Thank you for your encouragement, comments, and time that you take out of your busy day to check in with us. We appreciate how you #sharethegood with us and hopefully we can share some with you as well!

Meet the bloggers who are taking part in this giveaway:

LDS Bloggers

Now for the giveaway! If you are anything like me, your wish list for Deseret Book is a mile long! We are excited to send two of you some fun money to spend there. We hope you love the recipes from the Six Sisters as much as we do and that Nicole Carpenter’s 5-minute messages will make family devotional more manageable! From bulking up your food storage with Thrive to the cutest projects by Fizzy Pops – there are so many wonderful prizes. Check them out and ENTER TO WIN below! There are TWO rafflecopters so be sure to enter each one!

Spring General Conference Giveaway - Over $400 in Prizes!

Prize Package #1

$85 Gift Card to Deseret Book

$50 Gift Card to Sweet Salt Clothing

Fizzy Pops Young Women Zipper Pull Kit ($50 value) with

YW Value Bottle Cap Printables from My Computer is My Canvas

Six Sisters Stuff Cookbook

52 Weeks to Fortify Your Family from MOMentity.com

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Spring General Conference Giveaway - Over $400 in Prizes!

Prize Package #2

$85 Gift Card to Deseret Book

$75 value Food Storage Package from Thrive

Six Sisters Stuff Cookbook

$50 Gift Card to Sego Lily Soap

Doodle Journal for General Conference by A Lively Hope

Pink Star CTR Necklace and I am a Child of God Pin from Ringmasters

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The winner will be announced and e-mailed April 2.

We’ve compiled a few of our favorite General Conference Activities, Recipes, and Ideas. Comment with your favorite traditions or add a link below!

LDS General Conference Activities and Ideas


52 Weeks to Fortify Your Family

January 22, 2015 in Family Room, Mailbox

I have never been one of those moms who cries at every milestone, sad to see my babies grow up. I love my babies, but I love to see how they will conquer the next stage of life. It’s exciting to see them get older and grow in wisdom and beauty and see their personalities blossom.

There has been one HUGE exception to this general rule, however.

Junior High. Ugh.

There is just something about sending my sweet, innocent babies to junior high that knocks the wind out of me and leaves me gasping for air.

Kindergarten? Bring it on! High school? No problem! But junior high still gives me nightmares and makes me wish I could keep my family in a force field, a bubble of safety where my babies can stay young and innocent.

incredibles forcefield 1

But because school teaches much more than just reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic, and Steve and I believe it is important for our kids to learn those valuable lessons, we send our little girls off to junior high, cringing and holding our breath and hoping we have prepared them well enough for those difficult years.

Since I don’t have a force field, I have to find other ways to strengthen my family, to fortify them against the dangers of the world. The most important way I know to do this is to teach them who they are, to instill in them an understanding of where they come from and what makes them great.

Ultimately, I want my daughters to know that they have another parent who loves them and knows them even better than Steve and me, a Heavenly Father from whom they have inherited divine attributes that make them great. I want them to understand that their relationship to God is the most important relationship they will ever have and that it needs to be constantly nourished. I want them to know how to talk to Him and how to hear His voice. I know that their relationship with Heavenly Father will be the greatest source of strength in their lives and can be their “force field” to keep them safe no matter what they encounter.

Instilling this knowledge in our children takes time and consistent effort, but life is so busy! Between youth activities, church meetings, orchestra concerts, play rehearsals, and team practices, not to mention homework, playing with friends, chores, and a million other demands on our time, we are lucky to spend time together on any given day. I have gone a full 24 hours without seeing Beth at all — and we live in the same house!! That’s crazy!

website header amazon bestseller2

I was so excited when I heard about this new book from Nicole Carpenter: 52 Weeks to Fortify Your Family: 5-Minute Messages. The idea behind this book is so simple but so powerful: daily 5-minute devotionals for your family. Nicole has put together 52 weeks of daily devotionals, arranged by topic so you can find exactly what your family needs in any given week.

I love that each daily message is short, but even more than that I love the extras that really turn your devotional into something meaningful. Each daily scripture discussion is right on topic, and the weekly questions start real discussions with opportunities to learn and bear testimony. I love that Nicole has included a reference to a conference address each week for more insight into that week’s theme. This could easily become your Family Home Evening lesson for the week.

52 Weeks to Fortify Your Family book cover Armor Your Children

I love that the book is small. That may sound strange, but it’s just not intimidating. At first glance it looks like something we can manage and enjoy. I have been thinking for months that I want to print a weekly quote and and display it in a frame where we will pass by it often and read it. Nicole is right there with a weekly quote, too! I can’t wait to get it printed so it is right in front of us and on our minds all week long.

I believe one of the best tools for strengthening our family is to make the gospel a part of our everyday lives. We live it, of course, but it’s also needs to be a normal topic of conversation. We talk about scriptures we have read, lessons we have learned, times that we have seen the hand of God in our lives and received answers to prayers.

“And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins”  (2 Nephi 25:26).

How will our children know the importance of the gospel in our lives if if’s only something they see on Sunday? We need to make sure we’re bringing the gospel into focus every day. I love that 52 Weeks to Fortify Your Family: 5-Minute Messages brings the gospel into focus for a few minutes each day. I am so excited to make it through all 52 weeks.

52-Weeks-to-Fortify-blog-tour1

I am even more excited for the chance I have today as part of this blog tour to give away a copy of Nicole’s book! You can enter using the Rafflecopter below. Or you can order your own copy of 52 Weeks to Fortify Your Family: 5-Minute Messages today and get to work building that force field around your family!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Does junior high scare you, too? What do you do to fortify your family?

I Know

October 10, 2014 in Family Room

I am so excited to be part of this amazing group of bloggers celebrating our faith today!

Pinable Image

We belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints otherwise known as “The Mormons”. We are proud of this part of who we are!

We are excited to team up with over 65+ of us strong… to extend an invitation to see a film. A film entitled “Meet The Mormons”. This film is not meant to be an “in your face” – you must join our church film. It is simply designed and produced to uplift and inspire you through six stories of those of our faith who have followed promptings to follow Christ more fully in their lives. We hope you take the opportunity to enjoy this film.

We hope your hearts are made light as you feel the goodness that comes from following our Christ and Savior. All proceeds from the film will be donated to The American Red Cross. So not only will you be uplifted and inspired, your money will be going to an amazing charity!!

We also would like to take a moment and share our personal testimonies, stories of our own personal conversions, and our own stories of how following our Savior, Jesus Christ has changed our lives.

The light of the gospel of Jesus Christ offers a joy and hope that only following him can provide. We hope as you click through and read our stories and testimonies of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, you will feel uplifted and encouraged. We are by you! We love connecting with our readers, that is why many of us do what we do!

Please be kind and considerate in your comments. It takes great bravery for us to open our hearts and our mouths to share with you such a tender and personal part of who we are. We share because we feel strongly the need to share the peace and the hope that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I'm A Mormon #1

Adrienne | Free Time Frolics , Camille | Chicken Scratch n’ Sniff , Natalie & Rebekah | House of Sprinkles , Kathleen| Fearlessly Creative Moms

Emily | The Benson Street , Staci | The Potter’s Place, Alyssa | Alyssa.Marie , Kristen | Capturing Joy , Aly | Entirely Eventful Day

Katie | Clarks Condensed, Larissa | Just Another Day In Paradise , Camille | My Mommy Style , Candice | She’s Crafty

Anita | Live Like You Are Rich, Landee | Landee Lu , Tara & Devin | Salt & Pepper Moms , Mallory & Savannah | Classy Clutter Kelli & Kristi| Lolly Jane

McKenzie | Girl Loves Glam , Pam & Lisa | Over The Big Moon , Melanie | Forty Eighteen , Sky | Capital B Adell | Baked in Arizona

I'm a Mormon #2

Andie | Maybe I Will , Shatzi | Love and Laundry , Robyn | Create it Go , Rachel | R & R Workshop

Tiffany | Feel Great In 8 , Katelyn | What Up Fagens? , Brittany | BrittanyBullen , Ginger | Ginger Snap Crafts , Stephanie | Crafting In The Rain

Chelsey | Cee Me Be , Amber | Crazy Little Projects , Kallie | Smitten By, Elyse, Kristen, Lauren, Steph, Kendra & Camille | Six Sisters Stuff Annette | Tips From A Typical Mom

Amberly | Life With Amberly & Joe , Taralyn | Keep Moving Forward With Me , Jessica | What Does The Cox Say? , Lisa | Mabey She Made It , Kiki | Kiki & Company

Kierste | Simply Kierste , Tayler | The Morrell Tale, Jennifer | My Daylights , Cambria | Live To Be Inspired, Danielle | Today’s The Best Day

I'm a Mormon #3

Amber | Dessert Now Dinner Later, Natalie | The Creative Mom, Bobbie | A Vision To Remember , Becky | Babes In Hairland

Lisa | Pebbles & Pigtails , Mandy | Sugar Bee Crafts , Krista | Reclaim, Renew, Remodel , Wendy | Musings, Miracles, and Mayhem

Nat & Holly | My Sister’s Suitcase, Britni| Play.Party.Pin , Montserrat | Cranial Hiccups , Heidi | A Lively Hope , Ashley & Meegan | Flats to Flip Flops

Alexis | We Like to Learn As We Go, Amy | The English Geek , Mariel | Or So She Says Carrian | Oh Sweet Basil

Kirtley | The Gist of Fit | Aubrey | Dreaming of Someday, Natalie| The Messanos, Angela | Handmade In The Heartland

I am so happy to be a part of this ‘testimony train’ and to take this chance to share what means the most to me.

As a young girl, I lived the gospel because my parents taught me that was right. I believed because they believed.

As a teenager, that wasn’t enough for me. I’m not good at doing things just because someone said I should. It has to be my idea. I have to choose for myself.

One Sunday afternoon, a young man was speaking in church. He was someone I looked up to and admired, so I really listened to what he said. He sounded a lot like me – he wasn’t content just to believe what everyone else believed. He had to know for himself. He wanted to know if God was real, if He was really listening, and if He really knew this boy individually and loved him.

I wanted to know all of those things, too, so I really listened up now. And then, my “ah-ha moment” happened.

Do you know what he did? He asked.

So simple. So profound. He wanted an answer from God, so he prayed and asked God.

I realized that day in my teenage girl heart that I had never just asked.

I didn’t run right home and drop to my knees that day, but a little while later when I had spent the day studying and pondering, I did just that.

I was at BYU Campus Education Week with my family and had spent the day listening to youth speakers who taught the gospel in ways that I could relate to. I was amazed with the way they could have us cracking up one second and completely filled with the spirit the next. I had been taught all about who I am as a child of God and that He knows and loves me, and I wanted to know – for myself – if that was true.

I knelt down next to my bed in the student apartment we were renting for the week, and poured out my young girl heart in prayer. I asked my Heavenly Father if He was really there, if knew me, if he loved me, and if he really listened to me and answered my prayers.

I hadn’t even finished saying the words when I could feel arms wrapped around me. I was filled with an overwhelming feeling of love and peace, and I knew that my prayers had been answered. I knew that in fact God really is there. He is my Heavenly Father. He knows me. He loves me. And he hears and answers my prayers.

That was a life-changing moment for me. It didn’t change how I was living, but it changed why I lived the way I did. It didn’t change who I was, but it changed the way I felt about who I was. It didn’t change how God saw me, but it changed how I saw God. I knew who I was. I knew I was His. And I knew I would always be.

That moment was the first of many experiences I have had with my own personal revelation that have become my unshakable testimony of the gospel taught by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I know it is true. I know living the gospel brings happiness and peace. I know it is worth every sacrifice and effort we make to live it. I know the Book of Mormon is truly the word of God. I know Joseph Smith was a prophet and that he really saw what he said he saw. I know Jesus Christ is my Savior.

I’m a Mormon. I know it. I live it. I love it.

Thanks, brittanybullen.com for the great images!

You can join the testimony train by linking up your blog post, Mormon.org profile, favorite conference talk, or any other way you want to share your testimony.


If you want to know what all the fuss is about, I would be happy to help you get a free copy of the Book of Mormon. Just leave me a comment and make sure I have a way to contact you.

I know it’s true.

August 2014 Visiting Teaching Printable

August 11, 2014 in Family Room

Why is it that summer visiting teaching always seems to be so tricky? Instead of loads of free time and open schedules, it is harder than ever to coordinate calendars and get those visits in.

I admit I was a pretty horrible visiting teacher this summer, but now that school is starting I’m ready to be awesome, so I got it done early this month. :)

I love that the visiting teaching messages this year are all about Jesus Christ. This month‘s focus is all about His role as Messiah.

"Jesus Christ will ever be at our side. He will fight our battles. He is our hope." I love this quote from the August visiting teaching message.



I love this quote: “[Jesus Christ] will ever be at our side. He will fight our battles. He is our hope; He is our salvation; He is the way.” -Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Life is full of hard times and challenges we have to endure, but we are never alone – no matter what! Jesus Christ is always at our side. Nothing brings me more hope than knowing my Savior is fighting my battles with me.

I delivered these notes with a little plate of cookies to my sisters this month. If you would like this note, you can download the full-size file to print out a 4×6 card by clicking the photo above or 4 quarter-sheet cards by clicking on the photo below.

"Jesus Christ will ever be at our side. He will fight our battles. He is our hope." I love this quote from the August visiting teaching message.Or you can find them on the Printables page. Happy visiting!

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