Smith Family Ice Cream Scoop: Oh Boy... it's More Family Joy!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Oh Boy... it's More Family Joy!

I finished editing the pictures from our little family photo shoot (the one you might remember didn't go over so well...)

Aubrey took me swimming this morning and taught me some stuff. I'm not a good swimmer, but she's a good teacher... she taught me more than I've been taught about swimming ever in my life. I think I swallowed about half the pool though...

Look! Sometimes my kids look like they're getting along! Thank goodness I captured this to cherish forever! (Notice that Tyler isn't in the picture...)

Tyler's usually my best poser for pictures, but he just wasn't feeling it that day. He finally decided he could quit pouting, and got out of the car and let me take a few.

He even smiled for a few of them! See Tyler, life isn't so bad after all. ;)

This boy is the king of the scowl. He wasn't even mad at me... I think his face must've got stuck this way. Let this be a lesson to you all...

He spent half of the photo shoot with the straw hanging out of his mouth. This boy needs a farm. This boy's dad needs a farm.

I found another decent shot of me! I had to dig through a lot of scary ones, and there were a few times I thought I might cry, but finally, finally, I found one!

And this guy?

I'll love him 'til the cows come home. (We don't even have cows, so that's gonna be a long long long long long time!)

p.s. I resized all of these before posting, because I was having problems uploading to blogger, and now they look all yucky quality... do they look bad to you guys? They look okay when I click on them to make them bigger, but for some reason they look weird on my screen.

6 comments:

Shannon said...: Waait - did you do Joyschool?! Your title leads me to believe you did, which just made you 10x more awesome in my book. (But if you have no idea what I'm talking about then I'd still think you are cool). Beautiful pictures Mindy.; 8:13 AM
Mindy said...: Shannon, I haven't done Joy School exactly... but have read the materials and incorporated it in the little preschool I did with my daughter a loooong time ago. :); 8:26 AM
Janice {Run Far} said...: Girl... great pics again. Love that picture of you.; 10:09 AM
Anonymous said...: Such darling pictures of your darling family INCLUDING you! I think it is just the lot of us women to have a difficult time finding good pictures of ourselves. I can't tell you how many times I've sifted through a string of pictures to find only one of me that would "do". Somehow I have a hard time imagining that you would have that same difficutly!; 3:42 PM
Lindy Lue said...: i love the cow shot! super fantastic!; 10:10 PM
Tracy said...: Beautiful family!!!; 11:52 AM

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To Do Today

* Embrace this day with an enthusiastic welcome, no matter how it looks. The covenant with God to which you are true enables you to become enlightened by him, and nothing is impossible for you.
* When you are physically sick, tired, or in despair, steer your thoughts away from yourself and direct them, in gratitude and love, toward God.
* In your life there have to be challenges. They will either bring you closer to God and therefore make you stronger, or they can destroy you. But you make the decision of which road you take.
* First and foremost, you are a spirit child of God. If you neglect to feed your spirit, you will reap unhappiness. Don't permit anything to detract you from this awareness.
* You cannot communicate with God unless you have first sacrificed your self-oriented natural man and have brought yourself into the lower levels of meekness, to become acceptable for the Light of Christ.
* Put all frustrations, hurt feelings, and grumblings into the perspective of your eternal hope. Light will flow into your soul.
* Pause to ponder the suffering Christ felt in the Garden of Gethsemane. In the awareness of the depth of gratitude for him, you appreciate every opportunity to show your love for him by diligently serving in his Church.
* God knows that you are not perfect. As you suffer about your imperfections, he will give you comfort and suggestions of where to improve.
* God knows better than you what you need. He always attempts to speak to you. Listen, and follow the uncomfortable suggestions that he makes to us--everything will fall into its place.
* Avoid any fear like your worst enemy, but magnify your fear about the consequences of sin.
* When you cannot love someone, look into that person's eyes long enough to find the hidden rudiments of the child of God in him.
* Never judge anyone. When you accept this, you will be freed. In the case of your own children or subordinates, where you have the responsibility to judge, help them to become their own judges.
* If someone hurts you so much that your feelings seem to choke you, forgive and you will be free again.
* Avoid at all cost any pessimistic, negative, or criticizing thoughts. If you cannot cut them out, they will do you harm. On the road toward salvation, let questions arise but never doubts. If something is wrong, God will give you clarity but never doubts.
* Avoid rush and haste and uncontrolled words. Divine light develops in places of peace and quiet. Be aware of that as you enter places of worship.
* Be not so much concerned about what you do, but do what you do with all your heart, might, and strength. In thoroughness is satisfaction.
* You want to be good and to do good. That is commendable. But the greatest achievement that can be reached in our lives is to be under the complete influence of the Holy Ghost. Then he will teach us what is really good and necessary to do.
* The pain of sacrifice lasts only one moment. It is the fear of the pain of sacrifice that makes you hesitate to do it.
* Be grateful for every opportunity to serve. It helps you more than those you serve.
* And finally, when you are compelled to give up something or when things that are dear to you are withdrawn from you, know that this is your lesson to be learned right now. But know also that, as you are learning this lesson, God wants to give you something better.

from "Unleashing the Dormant Spirit by F. Enzio Busche