FHE 1/31/10

Paul and I really do love FHE, but we've kinda been slacking lately.  Between the madness of the holidays, the fact that neither of us really grew up with FHE so it's not "routine" in our minds yet (even after YEARS in YSA FHE callings and attending meetings), and the fact that we both kinda assume the other person will remind us, or plan it, or...whatever...yeah, we just sort of let the ball drop.  So we basically do it when we remember.  Well, one of our main goals as a family this year is to be better about that.  So, thanks to our chart that keeps it at the forefront of our minds and helps us know exactly what each of us must do:

Isn't it cute, all laminated and velcro-ed?  :)

Song: "If I Listen With my Heart" (a primary song we are trying to learn!)
Prayer: Paul
Lesson: Chapter 8 in Choosing Glory.  For FHE as a married couple, we've mostly been reading books together, one chapter at a time, and then discussing thoughts that come up.  These are usually church-related books, but they wouldn't necessarily have to be.  Once we FINALLY finish this book, we're thinking about taking turns presenting Conference talks in any way we want.  We're kinda excited about it, because it would involve real study and planning.

Can I just put in a plug here?  Sister Lili Anderson was my strengthening marriage and family teacher at BYU, and I LOVED her class.  As not only a PhD/Marriage and Family counselor but also mother of 8 kids, she has SOOOOOO much insight about the gospel and how it relates (in concrete ways) to marriage and parenting.  Of course, you get as much out of it as you put into it, but talking about the principles she reviews in her books has really already helped Paul and me.  Personally, it's been a healing thing for me to understand the feelings I've had about different trials in my own life and what those feelings mean in context of the gospel.  I TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY recommend her books to anyone.  The first one, Family Foundations, is pretty much our curriculum for her course (besides a really big coffee-table-style book breaking down the proclamation on the family), and it merits reading.  In it, she introduces what she calls the Three Realm Model, and this second book is all about that.  We really love it.  It makes certain parts of the gospel make a lot more sense.  Check out her website and order her books at lilianderson.com!

The awesome book.  Okay, moving on...

Activity: Yahtzee.  I beat Paul in our first game by 4 points.  He beat me the second time by over 70 points.  But I came back in our "tiebreaker" round to win by almost as much, thanks to an actual Yahtzee.  It was way fun.  And I got a massage out of it.  :)

Treats: Peanut Butter Fingers!  My roommate used to make these once in a while, and I loved them lots.  I'd wanted to make them over the holidays but, y'know, I didn't want Emilie to DIE, so...I made them now.  Let me know if you want the recipe!  I'm too lazy to type it all up right now.

So, that was it!  It was a fun evening.  We always enjoy the spirit of unity we feel when we actually settle down and DO FHE.  Hopefully now that we're starting to get more organized we'll have more fun stories and experiences to share!

Yummy PB Fingers...High Five for FHE!  :)