Happy BYU-Idaho Graduation, Rachel!

Congratulations to my daughter, Rachel Nelson, for getting her Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from Brigham Young University in Idaho!  We are so proud of her especially since she got married, and had a new baby, Hadley, all while her husband started a new business!!!  Way to GO!  You stuck to your guns and stayed the course!  We are so proud of you!  Remember, the most expensive education is NO education!

The Best Things in Life Are Free!

With the holidays descending upon us we tend to look just at the gifts that we share but if you really think about it, the best things in life are FREE!   Money can't buy everything!  Here is another list of things that money can NOT buy:
1.  Happiness
2.  Love
3.  Family
4.  Friends
5.  Repentance
6.  Forgiveness
7.  Unity
8.  Loyalty
9.  Kindness
10. Gentleness
11. Character
12. Personality
13. Honesty/Integrity
14. Sweetness
15. Tenderness
16. Determination
17. Morality
18. Righteousness
19. Discipline
20. Service
21. A Pure Heart
22. Chastity
23. Spirituality
24. Joy
25. Responsibility
26. Self Worth
27. Charity
29. Empathy
30. Sympathy
31. Creativity

Add Subtle Layers To Your Hair

Now is the time to add subtle layers to your hair.  We have all had the cookie-cutter kinds of layers-the kind that are long in the back and angle down from the jaw line in the front.  Some stunning celebrities have their hair cut that sets them apart:  They never have those kinds of layers.  Theirs are subtle layers that add curves.  To get the Disney-princess hair, blow dry the hair with a big, round brush.  Wrap the ends with a round brush and blow heat onto it.  Trim your ends every six weeks.  Have your stylist cut layers either from your cheek bones (to flatter heart shaped faces and oval shaped faces) or at the jaw line ( for square jaws).  If you have length in your hair, get a few layers cut only a few inches from the bottom.

Happy 30th Birthday Christine! plus Cookie Recipe

I can't believe Christine is 30 already!  Where has the time gone?  She is a wonderful daughter.  She, as well as all of my five daughters, is smart, spiritual, stylish, stunning, so splendid in many ways.  They are all musical and great cooks and decorators.  Now for the good part,  an award winning recipe for birthdays or holidays:

CHOCOLATE CHERRY CORDIALS COOKIES
1/2 cup soft butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp almond extract
1 and 1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
30 maraschino cherries (drained and patted dry)
2 tbsp. sugar (for coating)
 Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 tsp maraschino juice
1 tbsp butter

Preheat oven 350.  Cream butter and sugar.  Add the egg and extract.  Add the rest of the dry ingredients.  Beat well.  Flatten and then mold dough around the cherry.  Bake 8 minutes.  Cool.  Drizzle with glaze.

MUST READ PICTURE BOOK

"The Mansion" by Henry Van Dyke is a must read this Christmas season.  The illustrations are beautiful and the story line is meaningful especially around this holiday.  It teaches all of us the importance of caring for the poor particularly those within our own sphere.  It will stick to your heart if you let it.

Christmas Movies To Watch

I just love Christmas!  I love to pull out all of our holiday favorites and get excited about the season.  Here is a list of some of the best:
1.  The Christmas Carol
2. The Nativity
3.  Miracle on 34th Street
4.  White Christmas
5.  It's A Wonderful Life
6.  Elf
7.  A Christmas Story
8.  Muppet's Christmas Carol
9.  The Bishop's Wife
10. King of Kings
11. The Shop Around the Corner
12. The Greatest Story Ever Told
13. Prancer
14. The Man Who Came To Dinner
15.Christmas in Connecticut
16. Jesus of Nazareth
17. O.Henry's Full House
18. Holiday Affair
19. Holiday Inn
20. Silent Night
21. The Grinch Who Stole Christmas
22. Polar Express

The Difficulty of the Dive

I have always believed that when we die we will be judged according to our works whether they be good or evil.  Every good act will be rewarded and every bad deed will be judged.  I also believe in repentance.  The Lord will hold us accountable.  We will be judged, I believe according to the DIFFICULTY of the DIVE.  Some people have so many challenges and trials.  I know that God sees all and will judge us according to how rough we had it.  Like in the Olympic event of the high dive, the judges judge according to the challenge and difficulty of the dive.  If the athlete does a complicated, difficult dive then he is rewarded accordingly.  Same with in this life.  I know a woman whose husband left her and then her daughter committed suicide and now she was recently diagnosed with cancer.  Is life fair?  I think NOT, but in the world to come the Lord will make EVERYTHING fair and right.  In the Bible, the man Job was tested and tried to the point of loosing everything and yet he kept the faith.  The Lord then blessing him double.  I believe the Lord will  compensate for all that we had to suffer and go through in this life, no matter how difficult.  The more challenging and hard, the greater the reward!

Give Your Heart This Christmas

My Favorite Things (At Christmas)

Here is a list of my favorite things at Christmas:
1.  Being with my son and 5 daughters and husband.
2.  Being with my 9 grandchildren.
3.  Making gingerbread houses.
4.  Christmas Carols.
5.  Decorating Christmas trees.
6.  Whipped Shortbread.
7.  Cheese Balls with Ritz crackers.
8.  Peppermint Ice cream with hot fudge.
9.  First Presidency Broadcast.
10.  Tabernacle Choir Christmas with David Foster.
11.  Dad's Cookie Fudge
12.  Poinsettas.
13.  Handel's Messiah.
14.  "Carols to our King" concert
15.  Shopping.
16.  Midway Swiss Creche Exhibit.
17.  Nativities.
18.  Christmas Lights at Temple Square.
19.  Swimming in a hot pool.
20.  Getting and Sending Christmas Cards.
21.  Snow and tons of it!
22.  A White Christmas.
23.  Children's Christmas Books.
24.  Little Smokies with Sweet Baby Ray's Barbeque  Sauce.
25.  Red Dresses.

26.  Snow Globes.

Christmas Glamour Look

Want To Look Younger? Quit Smoking!

The fastest way to look younger and live longer is to quit smoking!  It is so bad for your health.  A federal judge just ordered tobacco companies to publish corrective statements that say they lied about the dangers of smoking and that they must disclose the health effects of smoking including the death on average of 1,200 people per day!  Among the required statements is:  "Smoking kills, on average, 1,200 Americans.  Every day.  Smoking kills more people than murder, suicide, drugs, AIDS, car crashes, and alcohol combined, and second-hand smoke kills over 3,000 Americans a year."  All cigarettes cause cancer, lung disease, heart attacks, and premature death.