New YEAR

Good bye 2016 and Hello 2017

I actually love January!  I love the newness that this month brings; a new year, new goals and a clean slate.  Goal setting is something I am a big believer in.  Just dreaming about things doesn't make them happen.  Write them down, make a plan and then work to achieve.  Saying that as I look at my goals as an adult there have been some things I write down every year because they are still things I am working to be better at.  I guess progress is the thing to measure not necessarily mastery.  I found some great printables for the little women and we had a New Years Party with some fancy hats, blow horns and fun plates - you know I like to party!  Want to help them learn this life principle but definitely need to make it fun!!!!  We actually had an Oilers game so had a sitter come just before bedtime so we did our family partying over dinner.  Graham and I actually rang in the official new year post game at the McDonalds Drive Thru window, so classy but all of the restaurants were crazy with young people downtown doing adult type partying.

There is so much to be learned when we have things we are striving for, working towards. Hard things in the path only add to the refining process of achieving our goal.   I've been thinking alot about my personal goals and how I want to grow as a person, what things are my struggles and what dreams I have....journal worthy stuff.  This I know - write it down and don't give up!

"In our time—when so much of what we desire is so easily within our reach—it is tempting to turn aside or give up whenever the road ahead seems a little bumpy or the slope tends to rise steeply before us. In those moments, it might inspire us to reflect on those men, women, and children who did not allow sickness, hardship, pain, and even death to deter them from their chosen path.

The pioneers learned that doing hard things deepened and strengthened body, mind, and spirit; magnified their understanding of their divine nature; and heightened their compassion for others. This habit firmed their souls and became a blessing to them long after their trek across the plains and mountains had ended.

The pioneers, who sacrificed so much, went without and hungered for even the most basic of necessities to survive. They understood that happiness doesn’t come as a result of luck or accident. It most certainly doesn’t come from having all of our wishes come true. Happiness doesn’t come from external circumstances. It comes from the inside—regardless of what is happening around us.

The pioneers knew that, and with that spirit they found happiness in every circumstance and in every trial—even in those trials that reached down and troubled the deep waters of their very souls."  President Deiter F. Uchtdorf

Some years we have had a scripture or quote but this year as Graham and I discusses our 2017 family theme we each had different ideas come to mind and it evolved into the the Four P's for the Four P's.  We sat down together for our first Family Home Evening of the year and made a up a list of four P's that we want to strive for as a family.  

We have some exciting travel adventure plans for 2017....Disneyland in California, General Conference in Utah and a year with NO planned shutdowns for our dad - wohoo!!!!!!  Lots of togetherness and I LOVE IT!

~ Momma P