Thankful.

Tonight we had a pretty decent family night.  We have not had a chance to start any of our normal Thanksgiving activities so we crammed in a bunch of stuff tonight.  Let's break it down, shall we...

Talent:  Normally we do this at the end, but John really really wanted to start out with this.  He lit the pilot light on the fireplace and flipped the switch.  Man makes fire.  Amazing.

Music:  Jack decided we should sing Come Follow Me, verses 1 and 6. 

Lesson:  I helped Katie Anne teach the lesson tonight.  First we read about Moroni in the Book of Mormon (If you want one of these books let me know!  I'll send it to you for free!).  Moroni was so awesome that the abridger of his story said this about him:

 Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men. (Alma 48:17)

Wow.  What a guy.  A few verses earlier we find out some of his characteristics:

       And Moroni was a strong and a mighty man; he was a man of a perfect understanding; yea, a man that did not delight in bloodshed; a man whose soul did joy in the liberty and the freedom of his country, and his brethren from bondage and slavery;

       Yea, a man whose heart did swell with thanksgiving to his God, for the many privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people; a man who did labor exceedingly for the welfare and safety of his people.

       Yea, and he was a man who was firm in the faith of Christ, and he had sworn with an oath to defend his people, his rights, and his country, and his religion, even to the loss of his blood.

The key part of this for us tonight was that he was "...a man whose heart did swell with thanksgiving to his God, for the many privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people..."

We talked about times when we have been so happy we couldn't contain it, trying to define what that swelling would feel like.  We then talked about Moses and how the people wouldn't look at the brass serpent, and that if they would have just looked they could have been healed.  Then we decided that it is so easy to look for blessings and that the more we look the more our hearts will swell. 

Our phrase for the week is: Blessings are all around us, we just have to LOOK!

Everyone got a googly eye to keep in their pocket for the week to remember them to look.  We also started our thankful tree, finally.  We are using little circles to hang on the branches. 

Scripture:  My real turn.  Since I had taught the lesson based on my scripture reading that was a done deal!

Testimony: Jane shared a sweet testimony.  This is a great part of our family nights!  It's just a nice feeling to hear them say, "I know Jesus loves me." 

Treat: Jeffrey picked brownies and ice cream and I can tell you my heart (and waistline) swelled with joy!

During treat we played a game, boys vs. girls.  Boys won.

So there you have it.  We try to follow this basic agenda when we can.  Last week I took Jack, Jeffrey, and Jane to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the highschool.  I have to say I loved it!  Especially when the band came marching down the aisle, playing one of the songs.  So fun!