Where We Are April: FHE Bedlam Style

In our recent church General Conference, Elder Holland (who is one of my personal favorite speakers) offered up one of my favorite quotes. He was speaking about how the speakers choose subjects for their addresses: "We know not everyone is violating the Sabbath or bearing false witness or abusing a spouse. We know that most in our audience are not guilty of such things, but we are under a solemn charge to issue warning calls to those who are—wherever they may be in the world. So if you are trying to do the best you can—if, for example, you keep trying to hold family home evening in spite of the bedlam that sometimes reigns in a houseful of little bedlamites—then give yourself high marks and, when we come to that subject, listen for another which addresses a topic where you may be lacking. If we teach by the Spirit and you listen by the Spirit, some one of us will touch on your circumstance, sending a personal prophetic epistle just to you."

I added the bolded emphasis because this is what inspired my pictures this month. This is us during our weekly FHE trying to teach our own little bedlamite something about Jesus and the gospel. Our FHE's are short and sweet--about 10 minutes, and we tend to use materials from the church nursey manual in order to appeal. We may not necessarily feel the most successful because Asher would much rather run around and be crazy than sit still and listen, but we persist and try to make it fun for all.

Tonight when we broke out the camera, fun ensued. Suddenly Asher is posing for the camera rather than reaching for it. That's new. He also insisted on being in every picture so you will not get Enoch and me alone. What a ham!

Enoch is busy with work as always and loving playing with his electronic gadgets. He also loves playing with his little boy when he gets home from work.

This shot is both for Asher's hamminess and for my belly shot. I know I am wearing a big shirt, but it should be apparent that the little girl is growing. She's fairly active too.

Asher has now arrived at the ripe old age of 20 months, and he loves to run, climb, and press every button he can find. He has also become a cleaner eater for the most part which I love. His willingness to try new things to eat is also nice. We've got to keep his hungry belly filled! We've also noticed that he seems to be more interested in his body--like realizing that his eyeballs are a different texture than the bones around it so he appears to be poking himself in the eyes (gently) more in recent days. I will be glad when he outgrows this funky stage.

And then there's me. I'm grading research papers this week, hosting two book clubs, and trying to be better about setting play dates up for Asher so he gets more kid socialization. I'm feeling good as the pregnancy progresses and looking forward to a little Portland escape for our family in a few weeks. I like a change of pace now and then. :)