The Greatest Book

I had a very vivid dream last night.  I dreamed that the Queen was coming to our local library and we were all issued some one-on-one time with her.  But in order to have that honoured time we needed to scour the library to find the greatest book written and read her some of our favourite excerpts then she would declare her favourite of all the books we brought her.  What book would you choose?  My friends that were with me searched and stressed as they looked every where for the perfect book to share.  And as dreams are, we literally had to climb walls to find the right book.  I knew exactly which book I would share.  I love to read and I've read a lot of great books; Touching books, thought-provoking, funny, romantic books.  But it was clear what I would share; The Book of Mormon.  Last Sunday at church, Jared Taylor shared a talk about being consistent in our efforts to gain and maintain and grow our testimony and one of the things that really stood out to me was, "I need to read the Book of Mormon every day.  No missing!"  I used to pride myself in the fact that I had read the scriptures everyday since I started seminary at fourteen.  I have read every day for over twenty years.  Even past the charts where you got to earn treats for your daily reading.  I just continued to read.  It became habit.  In fact, years ago I recall hearing my sister-in-law who had a bunch of little ones once say, "I just can't find time to read my scriptures!"  And in my newly-wed-pre-kids mind I thought, "Really?  Why is it so hard?"  Now after having kids, I understand how one thing can throw you off and then another and another (five things, actually.  Their names are Jackson, Noah, Ellie, Zoe and Jane).  And then one day, it just doesn't become an important part of your day anymore.  I read the scriptures most days, but probably not EVERY day.  And if I am not consistent in my labours, how can I expect my Heavenly Father to be consistent in answering my prayers?  If I only read my scriptures or pray in the hard times, why should I expect that I know Him well enough to hear Him when he speaks to me?  If I am travelling further and further away from Him and then decide I need an answer to something, how can I even know what the Spirit feels like when I've walked so far away from it?  I think Heavenly Father does provide many tender mercies and gives us lots of opportunities to come back to Him, but I also think there is something to be said of consistency.  If I continue to read the scriptures and pray every day, then I am planting that seed of faith and allowing it to grow.  The day before I had my dream I was reading in Alma 32 about faith and planting a seed.  This has been my favourite chapter since I was a teenager in Young Womens.  And this was the chapter that I was going to share with the Queen in my dream.  I love it because it is so simple and so true.  Faith is the first of the four main principles of the gospel.  Even if you can try planting the tiniest of seeds---maybe you are floating along and it's been a while since you've felt any connection with your Heavenly Father, but you haven't given up.  That's the tiny seed I'm talking about, and you NOURISH it, it WILL begin to grow.  And the kind of fruit you will receive from experimenting upon the word is going to show you what kind of tree it is.  Is it a good tree or a bad tree?  Well.  You will know it from its fruits.  How simple is that?  I like simple.  I like it because life is generally NOT simple, so if I can add a little simplicity to my life, that's kind of a nice thing.  And the simple truth is, if I live the gospel and put my faith out there by planting this seed of faith no matter how tiny, I will see the fruits of the gospel in my life.  And you know what?  I can say honestly, they have been good.  I never did get to share my special book with the Queen because, disappointingly, my alarm went off.  But the feelings I woke up with were a drive to share that book, The Book of Mormon, with others.  And that drive comes from planting that seed and seeing the fruits not only as I read but in the blessings I see in my life.  I know that book is true.  Sometimes as I read I wonder, "how can it NOT be true?  You would have to be a genius to make this up!"  And as we know, Joseph Smith was not a genius.  He was a young farm boy with no education.  And why would so many people follow him as a prophet?  If the Book of Mormon is true, then he must have been a prophet.  So much stems from that Book.  I remember wondering, "why is the Book of Mormon the most important book I should be reading every day?"  It's because if I can gain a testimony of its truthfulness, then all else in our church falls into place.  It is the keystone of our religion.  If you do not read the Book of Mormon or don't know of it's truthfulness, I encourage you to read it today.  And tomorrow.  And keep reading it.  And then start again.

I wish I could have shared that book with the Queen in my dream.  I would have liked to have known what she thought.  For now, I can start with my neighbours.

Fairmont

I thought I would simply post highlights of our trip to Fairmont with Joe's fam, but it feels like I am posting each and every picture!  This time around we had almost every single soul!  I think the only person missing was Celeste's husband Rob (which void was especially felt by my boys who love their Uncle Rob).  On one of the days we were there, the girls all wanted to have make-overs which was kind of cute, but also kind of creepy!  Haha!  Full-on make up on a five year old is a little... interesting looking, but it was so fun for the girls and for the Moms.  We did a little photoshoot afterwards and they were super into it.  It was cute!

Madilyn (9)

Kwyncee (5)

Annie (5)

Eliza (8)

Eleanor (8)

Charlie (8)

Zoe (5)

 

Granny brought down some fancy dresses and the girls had a blast feeling all fancy-like.

And then the Mamas had a turn!  Haha!  Suddenly I see out of the corner of my eye whilest snapping pictures of the girls, Tarilyn and Bethany in dresses sauntering over and striking poses.  So yes.  It had to be done.  Although Celeste is missing here (she did all the make-up!)

Attempting a few family shots.  The grands.  ALL 18 OF THEM!

Let's rewind a little bit.  This is a picture of Jane trying to sleep on the way to Fairmont.  Which she did for about the final 30 minutes of the drive.  Hmm.  ALL of her siblings went in Grandpa's car so they could leave earlier and get some swimming in.  So. So. Very.  Nice.

My highlights?  Playing games with the boys late at night.

...Which made for very tired boys.

Park.  Every day.  You have to understand that this is Spring for us, and thus Jane's first few times out of the house when it's finally been mildly warm.  So.  She was in heaven.

Christie, Mitchell and Kwyncee just got back from Australia, so I'm not sure what my kids are going to pray for each family prayer now, but some very happy cousins have been reunited.

 

Da life. 

Even without the make-up Ellie looks old here!  Stop it right now.  This is us on a little one-on-one time walk.  She love these moments together and so do I.

I am all for breaking things up with a craft.

Since the boys are the oldest cousins on the Burnham's side (and since they are surrounded by a million girl cousins), they kind of just have each other on these trips.   Which honestly is kind of nice.  I feel like it's time for them to bond and really have fun together.  Because they have no other choice.  Haha!

I was so proud of Zoe this week.  We went swimming every day, and on day one she wanted to learn to swim without a life jacket.  Probably because Kwyncee didn't need one (she is a fish because she just spent the last two years in Australia where they had access to a pool every day).  It was a little stressful sometimes because Jane is SO busy, even with Joe and I both there, but it got done.  Zoe is already a pretty good swimmer, but I haven't given her lots of opportunities to practice in the deep end, so this was the week!  She was great!

"Jane!  Jane!  Look at me.  Say cheese!  Jane.  Jane!"

Hot dogs by the river.

It's not Fairmont without golf.  I was in a cart with Christie and ran over a sprinkler because I was trying to be fun and crazy.  Whoops.  

This was my favourite part of the trip.  I so badly wanted to go to the natural hot springs and we had talked it up so much, so we had a line of cars following us to the spot.  AND THE ROAD WAS CLOSED!  What?!  So, we started to head back to the villas and go to the river we always go to every year because it's predictable.  And I was like, NO!  Let's find another place.  Let's go on an adventure and find something new!  It was a bit of pressure because we had a bunch of people following and who knows what we would find.  But Joe accepted my challenge and find something new we did!  There was this beautiful beach tucked away and honestly I'm not sure if we could even find it again next year.  It was super remote and we even found bear tracks, which made for frightening pee trips by myself in the trees.  Most of us dunked ourselves in the icy river water, even Grandpa!  But we made a fire so we could at least get warm again pretty quick.

Jane.  This girl.  She crawled right off the back of a couch and on to the tile floor in the kitchen.  Right on her face.  I was glad that I was out for this and that Joe was there to handle it, because I would have been freaking out.  She not only got a fat lip, but also chipped her front tooth.  WHYYYYYY!  Thankfully she is okay.  I know it sounds silly, but I am still mourning the loss of her perfect smile.  Joe thinks it suits her and we have been calling her Chip lately, to which she responds, "I not Chip!  I Jane!"  It does suit her.

Good bye Fairmont.  Until next year!