Something I did for Primary that you could use for FHE...

It has been my blessing to be in Primary for the last few years. I love teaching the kids from the scriptures and watching them learn.

At the end of every year I do some sort of review game, and since I teach the 11-12 year-olds I decided to make a Jeopardy-style game from the lessons about the Book of Mormon.

Each question comes from scriptures and points made in the lessons from the last year. Since I put so much time into it, I thought I'd share it with all y'all.

There is only one round (Primary is not that long) and there are 5 categories with 5 questions each. I have included the scripture references for further learning and enlightenment.

The five categories are:

• He's Not Heavy... (each question deals with brothers)
• Non-Prophet (each questions is about a great person who was not a prophet)
• Big Bad Wolves (each question deals with a wicked person)
• Called To Serve (each questions deals with a missionary)
• The Writing on the... (each questions deals with a record/item/history)
  

Here is a high resolution image that you can print out and use:

Enjoy!

From the mouths of babes...

Just a few minutes ago* we were saying family prayers, and Aimee said something that caught me slightly off guard:

Thank you for all the things that you have done for everybody in the whole wide world... even those who do not believe in you.

I just smile inside everytime one of my kids surprises me with what they think about.


* I love their early bedtime.

Ladykiller!

When we were at Costco the other day they had this Calvin Kline outfit that Min and I both liked. Alex needed new clothes for church and these will do just fine.

Ain't he smooth.

Merry Christmas! (2008)

Hello everyone and Merry Christmas!

Our day started at about 6:30 AM when Min and I woke up and I decided that rather than try to get back to sleep we'd wake the girls up (the boys were already up) and just open presents.

We had a smaller Christmas (compared to the scale of Christmas' past), but we concentrated on gifts that would be used and appreciated (rather than just filler).

So here's the tree...

Aaron was excited to get an iPod shuffle, a few iTunes gift cards, and some books.
Aimee also got an iPod Shuffle, some iTunes giftcards, and a some drawing stuff.
All Alex wanted was a DS... so he got one (we gave him mine since I don't play it much anymore). He couldn't care less. He's been glued to it all day. (Maybe he'll leave his siblings' DSs alone now.)
Andee got a doll, pajamas, and a toy or two. But she was really excited to get a "Strawberry Shortcake" movie.
So that's about it... oh yeah, our family gift was Guitar Hero III and two guitars for the Wii but we haven't played yet. I'm sure it'll be fun once we get it out.

More later...

"Twilight Pixie Glide" Game

Click HERE to PLAY!

Merry Christmas!

My loving, sweet, sexy, macho... well, Mike customized our blog to reflect the Christmas card he designed.

Ain't he talented!

The 12 Days of Christmas... with a few detours! (ENJOY!)

Help!

I need addresses. If you want a Christmas card (which I am sending out for the first time in 3 years) I might need your address. We have lots, so if you want one, let me know!

If you have sent us a Christmas card in the past, I should have your address, unless you have moved.

You can email it to me: reggieroyal95 at hotmail dot com

What's the first thing to come to mind...

... when you see this image?


Yeah... that's what we thought too when I got this email from BabyCenter.com.

After years of talking about it... I finally did it.

I finally designed the Christmas card for this year.

They were sent to the printers this morning.

Watch for it in your mailboxes in the coming weeks.


... and yes Grandma Mary, it does have the words "Merry Christmas" on it. ;)

Something in the water...

L-R Jodi (due April) Christy (due April) Bridget (due March) Me (due March) Debbie (due Feb) Maren (due Jan)

We are having quite the baby boom in our ward. Between now and the middle of April we have 6 women who are pregnant. The last four of us are due within a month of each other. The first four of us are having boys, and the last two are having girls. Another fun part is that we all have primary callings. Now the primary presidency is trying to figure out what to do about all of us.


There is also a small baby boom on my side of the family. My sister Jill is pregnant with her first and due at the end of Feb. Our cousin Jami is also pregnant with her first and due the day after her. I am due 3 weeks later, and then our cousin Becky is due a little later in June with her third. Unfortunately we are all spread out, so seeing each other is difficult. Thank goodness for blogs!

Recipe #6 - Chicken Nugget Parmesan

Back by popular demand!

A Thanksgiving To Remember... literally...

Okay, so we're having dinner: turkey, potatoes, gravy, rolls, stuffing, green beans, banana-apple salad.

Alex starts playing with his food and his hands are covered in potatoes and gravy.

In the middle of dinner Min says, "Alex needs a napkin, paper towel, or to be cleaned with the hose."

So I got up, escorted him outside and proceeded to spray him with the hose.

Min wasn't happy.

I was just doing what she said.




>:)

Bolt (Thanksgiving 2008 Movie)

It has been a tradition for a long time... and it continues.

Most Thanksgivings we go and see a movie on Thanksgiving Day... and more oft than not, it's a Disney film.

Last year it was Enchanted.

This year it was Bolt.



The kids really liked and so did I. It has stuff for both. Lots of laughs for kids and some wonderful "wow" moments for adults.

Good story. Great characters. Good effects.

We liked it.

Oprah's Holiday Hits 2008 (8 downloads for free)

For the next 48 hours you can download the following 8 mp3s from Oprah's website:

• Faith Hill, "Joy to the World" from the album Joy to the World
• Tony Bennett, "I'll be Home for Christmas" from the album A Swingin' Christmas
• Il Divo, "O Holy Night" from the album The Christmas Collection
• Josh Groban, "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" from the album Noel
• Brian McKnight, "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" from the album I'll Be Home for Christmas
• Amy Grant, "O Come All Ye Faithful" from the album The Christmas Collection
• Harry Connick Jr., "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" from the album What a Night! A Christmas Album
• Aretha Franklin, "Silent Night" from the album This Christmas

Click HERE to DOWNLOAD them.

Get a jump on the holidays with these great tracks.

There's a new sheriff in town Brother...

... yup. I did it again!*

Min hates it!

But I'm leaving it for a week.



* The last time I shaved like this was for Jill's reception.

I found this...

and thought it was kinda funny. Twilight photos with made up dialogue. Something to get us all by until next weekend.

Star Wars in 4 Parts!

Classic!

The "American Girl" Movie Collection

I had seen these three movies before at Costco for a really good price ($15 for the set)... but they were there for a short time.

We found them there again yesterday, and so we got them. My Mom and Mindy have been trying to get Aimee to stop sucking her thumb, so they have made a deal with Aimee, which I won't go into too many details about, but it involves her to quit sucking her thumb and something about an American Girl doll.

Last night Aimee watched the one of the movies - Samantha: An American Girl Holiday.

I'll let her review it for you (there are some spoilers if you haven't seen the movie):

I think it is a good movie because there was a happy ending and some tragic parts to the story. Samantha lived with her Granmary in a small town. Then Samantha went to live with her Uncle Garth and his new wife in New York City.

I liked Samantha because she helped her friends Nellie, Bridgett, and Jenny. They were all sisters who lost their parents because they died. She helped her friends by helping them escape from the adopting place and live in her attic.

And Bridgett got sick and she had to tell her Aunt and Uncle that she took them from the adopting place because the mean lady was going to split the sisters up and send Nellie, the oldest sister who was Samantha's age, on the train to the country to work.

And when it was Christmas they made wishes and once it was Christmas Samantha's Aunt and Uncle said they were going to adopted Samantha and that she needed three sisters. They were happy. Jenny said her first words.

My favorite part was when Samantha and Nellie got to be sisters.

And Samantha's school they had a contest where you had to give the best speech about America and Progress. And Samantha wanted to talk about factories. But Samantha was disqualified because she had entered a different speech but then she told the lady who said she was disqualified that she actually saw what happened when she went to find Nellie at the factory. There was a boy who got hurt and the manager (or something) didn't care about the boy. They just put another child in his seat and made them work.

I really liked the movie because it had a happy ending.

- Aimee

She is watching Molly: An American Girl on the Home Front right now.

If you haven't already...

Min and I participated in the early voting here in Texas. The lines weren't that long for us, but I can't imagine how long they'll be today.

140 days down... 140 days to go!

... well, not really.

The doctor will let Min schedule the C-section up to 10 days early... so it should be 130 days to go!

Halloween '08

Tonight we had the ward "Trunk or Treat"... and 5 of the 6 of us dressed up for it. *

Aaron was Martin the Warrior from the Redwall books and Aimee was a witch (as usual). We didn't get pics of them, but I will see if anyone else did and post them later.

Alex wanted to be a Ghost...


I was Wario... and I won the "Being On Fire" costume award and received a box of Hot Tamales.


... and Andee took over the Giraffe costume. We had been running around all day and she didn't get a decent nap. So when we came home, there was no keeping her awake. Min removed her make-up, got her changed and ready for bed and she never even stirred. She was dead tired.


... anyways, that was our Halloween.

* Oh yeah, I do think Min dressed up. She was a baby factory... and today she is half way through this last shift. ;)

All that needs to be said about our ultrasound...

Our little "Snaggle-Toothed Kid" is now just a "Toothless Kid"

Over 2 years ago, Alex cracked his tooth somehow.

We've been watching it sit in his mouth since then and have found our little snaggle-tooth to be quite endearing.

In January of 2007, his chin got swollen. Betsy thought it might be the tooth, but the swelling went down and we left it alone.

Over the years it's been his "cute" thing that sets him apart from everyone else.

Over the past summer, it's been getting more and more brown. Recently we've really considered having it extracted, but it started to become loose.

Well today it was wiggling so much, I grabbed a wash cloth and yanked the thing out. It came out in one long sliver. Root and all.

The funny thing about it is that it didn't bleed. I figured that it probably had time to heal around the tooth. So we're going to treat the whole in his mouth as we would a wisdom tooth and keep it clean.

Anyways, here's a video we took of a conversation Alex and I had afterwords.

Now I can blog from anywhere!!!!

A few weeks ago I got an iPod Touch and I've been goofing around with it lately.

There's a free program from the App Store that allows me to post to the blog with it.

So this is the test!

Guess who? (Revisited)

I posted this last night originally, but my dear mother asked me to take it down.

I'm putting it back with a warning.

So be warned!

If you want to see the bum picture, it's right here.

Blast from the past...

Andee and I are sitting here at the computer going back through the blog and we came across this video from almost two and a half years ago:



Time flies.

My Mom loves a good game of Tic Tac Toe...

Time to vote!

I have my ultrasound scheduled for the 28th, and yes we will be finding out what we are having. I'm not patient enough to wait. We did that once and I decided that I like to find out early. It's a good way to celebrate being half way there!

Since we have 2 of each already, we are indifferent as to what we are having. As I tell everyone that asks... "it depends on which kid is acting up that day."

So, what do you think it is...
Boy (Austin) or Girl (Ashlee)

A Friendly Halloween Game of Tic Tac Toe

How about a friendly game of Halloween Tic Tac Toe.

New Twilight trailer

For those of you who are interested... check out the new trailer on my sidebar. I can't wait until Nov. 21!

EDIT: I removed it from the sidebar because it wasn't showing up correctly on Mike's computer, so I wasn't sure about anyone else, but you can still see it here:
http://www.myspace.com/trailerpark

I've found our Halloween Costumes for this year!

Temptation is also...

One of these...


... yum!

Temptation is...

One of these on your kitchen counter...



Oh sweet temptation.

Note to self: Add to Christmas list.

Here it is...

Just for Mike I put it on.

Ok, not really, it's an easy way to keep track of how far along I am.

Fall!

Fall is the one season that I miss since moving to TX 7 years ago. The crisp cool mornings, the football weather, changing leaves. AHHH!

What a nice change to wake up this morning and have the temps in the upper 50's. And the high today is supposed to be in the low 80's. After a record tying 100 on Sat, it's going to be heaven. And even better, it's supposed to stay in the 80's all week, although the humidity will be coming back later in the week, so mornings won't be quite as fall-like.

We're heading to the park!

Juke Box Hero... sung by a 3-year-old (Not my kid)

Click here for a funny video of a toddler doing car karaoke of "Jukebox Hero!"

FOREIGNER ROCKS!!!!!



(Changed to a link... just for you Keli!)

CNN's coverage of Hurricane Ike...

This made me laugh! (The headline... not the bullet points.)

I so want this car...

... do you think Min would let me have it?

Ike's going to wave as he passes by...

Ike moved 80 miles north last night.

We're now on the far western side of the area of the projected paths.

We'll get rain and winds... but nothing nearly as bad as we were hoping.

But we are still prepared for anything.

Ike is coming...

... and it's not going to be pretty.

Right now they are predicting that Ike will hit the Texas coast as a Category 4 hurricane with winds in the 131-155 mph range. They say that it will make landfall sometime Friday.

Hurricanes lose their power as they cross over land, Ike might enter San Antonio as a Category 2 hurricane with winds in the 96-110 mph.

So today we made some preparations. We have enough food, water, and fuel to get us through the week. We even have our Emergency Kits handy (thanks Mom and Dad).

I'm cleaning out the garage on Friday and will try to put both cars in there. We wouldn't want anything to happen to them in the storm.

I hope that this storm isn't as bad as I think its going to be... but if it is, we'll be ready.

Who knows, maybe I'll end up having the next week off from school.

Fat chance.

Oh yeah... and we do have a hot weather lady on WOAI.

Watching Ike...

... last time it was Gustav.

Now it's Ike that we are watching.

They say that on Saturday it will hit us and we'll have 40-55 MPH winds. We're going to make some preparations but we have most of what we need to survive if the power goes out for a bit.

We should get some good rain (that is badly needed).

... but dangit, I was going to mow the lawn this weekend.

Oh well.

A 4-way with family...

Most of us* have new Macs with the capability of video chatting and we can do a 4-way chat with each other. Here's a chat we did today with Mom and Dad (in Utah), Kirsten and Bryan (in Brazil), Sean (in Illinois), and Andee and I (in Texas).

* My folks and all of the boys have Macs. Poor Michelle.

Our 12th Anniversary: Mamma Mia! Here we go again...

Meryl Streep as Donna and Pierce Brosnan as Sam in Mamma Mia!

... My my, how can I resist you?

Min and I celebrated our 12th Anniversary this weekend by doing whatever she wanted.

So she wanted to do dinner and a movie with some of our friends.

The dinner: The Macaroni Grill

The movie: Mamma Mia! Sing-A-Long Edition

The friends: Bryan and Susan Christiansen

We saw Mamma Mia! with her mother and sister a few weeks back, but she really wanted to see the new Sing-A-Long edition. Since we know that the Christiansen were such big fans of the show and music, they'd be a blast to go with... and they were.

Bryan kept asking down the row if I was singing... and I'm sorry to say that I just sat there and listened to everyone else sing.

It wasn't as Rocky Horror Picture Show-ish as I thought it would be, but there were quite a few people singing along.

We did that yesterday since our anniversary is today (Sunday).

Tonight we are celebrating with a dinner consisting of Chicken Cordon Bleu, Baked Potatoes, Breadsticks, and something for dessert.

Oh, and for an anniersary gift, Min got a dishwasher. But it's not here yet. That's for another post.

Anyways... here's to the last dozen years and to many dozens more!

Love ya Min.

P.S. I'm thinking that I'll rent a boat, take her out to the island and . . . (dot, dot, dot)

The Price of Gasoline

Gas has steadily been falling for awhile now down here in Texas.

Last week a gallon of gas got down to $3.46.

When I filled up my car yesterday, it was still that price, but when I filled the van later in the day it had already risen to $3.49.

With the price of oil going up after such a long time falling, we're glad that gas is not as much as it is in the rest of the country... but with Gustov heading our way (or at least threatening the Texas coast) I get a feeling that the price is going to go back up for awhile.

But we are glad our tanks are full.

How much is a gallon in your neck of the woods?

Watching Gustov...

Here in San Antonio, we are watching Gustov very closely. He's a week away from us (maybe) but preparations are already being made for residents of Louisiana.

The New Orleans Saints called last week to see if they could possibly practice here... but it looks like they are headed to Indianapolis instead.

The 10-day forecast shows rain in our future next weekend, leaving Labor Day looking nice and in the mid-90s.

I am glad that we live so far inland. All we can expect is rain (which we need) and an influx of refugees (which we don't need).

But in the meantime, we will continue to watch.

The kids are off at school...

and I just realized I forgot to take pictures.

I have been looking forward to school, except for one thing... early mornings. UGH! I am not a morning person, and with the extra exhaustion due to pregnancy I have been dreading getting up before 8:30 (or later.) At least Mike is usually good help in the mornings, and he is the one that actually takes the kids to school.

Rewind to last night just before going to bed. Mike has been helping to set up new classrooms and labs that were just remodeled for their department. He has been spending A LOT of extra time getting things set up and ready for the first class this morning at 7:30.

So, Mike checks his email one last time before going to bed and finds out there is a problem in the classroom that is needed for the 7:30 class. He is off to school by 6:15 which leaves me getting the kids ready for school, making lunches, fixing breakfast by myself... while still half asleep. The kids were actually helpful, and got ready without the usual nagging and yelling it usually takes. Thank goodness.

I get the kids out the door by 7am (school starts at 7:30) so that we can beat the traffic jam that is the first day of school. No problems, get the little kids back home and in the door... and that's when I remember... no pictures were taken of the first day. I guess I'll have to try to remember to take them later today.

Now, I'm looking forward to a few less fights now that Aimee and Alex will be in different places and maybe a routine of some sort. Maybe at some point I'll even get some sleep, but I'm not holding my breathe on that one. Alex is still at home. ;)

School starts tomorrow...

I hate Mondays.

#5 is on his/her way

For those not in the know... We are expecting our 5th (and final) child in March.

It took a while this time (and some meds) in order to get pregnant. Strange to be talking to my doctor about infertility problems after having no problem getting pregnant before.

So, for those who are curious... there is only one baby (thank goodness!) After a brief scare during the ultrasound when my doctor thought he saw 2, he spent some time looking (and looking some more) to make sure there was only one.

In other exciting news. My little sister and her husband are expecting their first baby three weeks before us. They are super excited and it has been fun to be pregnant together so far. My kids will finally have a cousin on the other side of the family.

Aimee's Baptism

On Saturday, August 16, 2008, I baptized and confirmed Aimee.

We were very happy that both mine and Mindy's parents could be here for the wonderful event.

Aunt Jill came with her parents and my cousin Betsy came down with her kids from Pflugerville.

It was a wonderful day!...

... I say that with a smile, since it quickly turned into a frown: The lice are back.
But I think we got rid of them this time.
More later.

Full Circle

My father served his mission in South Africa.

One day while he and his companion were tracting in the city of Cluff, they came upon the home of a man busy working in the garden while his two bullmastiffs guarded the front gate.

"If we come in will they kill us?" My dad asked from the gate.

He let them in an began to tell them a story.

He had recently had an argument with the minister from the Parrish down the way that had him quite upset. Because his children had not been baptized as infants, it would not be possible (or appropriate) for them to be buried there.

So Hugh posed this question to my father: "What does your church believe on the subject of infant baptism?"

My father immediately took out the Book of Mormon and showed him Moroni Chapter 8:

5 For, if I have learned the truth, there have been disputations among you concerning the baptism of your little children.

6 And now, my son, I desire that ye should labor diligently, that this gross error should be removed from among you; for, for this intent I have written this epistle.

The answer was one that he could accept and likewise began to take the lessons from my father and his companion.

To make a long story short, he did not join the church before my father was transferred. In fact after five sets of missionaries, they asked the missionaries not to come around and that it would be up to him to let them know when he was ready.

About 20 months later he realized that he had not really acted on the words of Moroni and decided to pray about the LDS church. From his prayer he knew what he had to do. The next week he and his family went to church and requested baptism.

Fast forward to a few months ago...

The Kjaer family moved into our ward about a year ago. Sister (Sarah) Kjaer was from South Africa. We learned that her parents were coming to America and were going to be living with them.

Brother Hugh MacMillan and his wife Edith became instantly famous in the ward due to their accent. He is a great man with a great spirit about him.

He is one of those members that bares his testimony every Fast Sunday (but you just don't care because they are so insightful and inspiring).

One Sunday he spoke about he and he family joined the church nearly 38 years ago... and it clicked "I wonder if he knows my dad?"

So after a few weeks I got up the nerve ask him.

"Hi," I said, "my father served his mission in South Africa from 1968 to 1971. I wonder if you know him. His name was Elder Charlie Clayton. I'm Michael, his oldest son."

Brother MacMillan didn't answer. He just stumbled back and grabbed the vestibule.

"Your father is Elder Clayton?" he asked.

"Yes, he is."

"Let me tell you a story about how your father introduced me to the Gospel of Jesus Christ..."

Later that night, I called my father and told him what had happened at church. He told me a slightly different version of the story Brother MacMillan told me, but it was same in gist.

That night my father called Brother MacMillan and they spoke to each other for the first time in nearly three and a half decades.

Fast forward to last Wednesday...

My father and mother came into town for Aimee's baptism.

We invited the MacMillans to come to our home for dessert and a chat.

It was great to listen to my dad and Brother MacMillan reminisce about the church and the members in South Africa.

There are too many things that I learned about my father and his friend that I can't write them all here (funny, I think something like this is the scriptures).

Before they left, I asked if I could take a picture of them... and here it is:

Brother MacMillan and his wife work in the San Antonio Temple, and he was even one of the officiators in the session that my parents and I attended on Friday.

I guess that what I bring away from this whole experience is that you never really know what becomes of the people that you talk to on your mission that don't accept the gospel right off hand. But it is nice to know that the seeds that we plant in the mission field can some day begin to sprout and bear good fruit.

Update: I'm the Kjaers' home teacher and Brother MacMillan joined us when we made out visit tonight. He pulled me aside and thanked me for letting him know that my dad was in town and how much he enjoyed the visit and seeing us at the temple. He told me that he felt that he had come full circle and had closure now knowing that my father knew he had joined the church and how much it has affected his life and the life of his family. He has been thinking about it ever since that night and expressed to me the great joy that he felt meeting him again and also knowing how he was doing and how blessed our family has been. The Gospel is indeed a wonderful thing.

Aimee's 8th B-Day

On August 5th, Aimee turned 8 years old.

She really wanted breakfast in bed, so I made her eggs and toast with a half of a grapefruit on the side. She really likes grapefruit.

Since life was hectic, Aimee's birthday cake came a few days later. She wanted Mindy to make her a Cinnabon® cake.

So she made it.

Here it is:

For her birthday she got a Princess Peach Nintendo DS Starter Kit:

Note: Aaron got the Super Mario Bros version for his b-day earlier in the summer.

Happy Birthday Aimee!

Bedroom Make-Over Part 1: That's Entertainment

So we decided to change up our room and do a few things.

Tonight, we installed the stuff for the little "Home Theater."

Here's the finished product. It consists of the following IKEA furniture: an EXPEDIT for the entertainment center and two BERTBYs for storage:


I've been starting to collect Blu-Rays and HD-DVDs this summer and I wanted a way to display them and keep them safe. Originally, I had thought about some simple shelves, but on our latest trip to IKEA, I fell in love with the BERTBYs and had to have a couple.

This is the same cabinet, just opened...



... and closed.


I added some LED lights in the tops of them so that the spines can be illuminated and you can see the titles. We decided to put the Wii, Gamecube, and DS games in one of the BERTBYs.


I don't have a huge TV yet (note the yet part), but our Samsung SlimFit HD-TV suits us just fine... but I have designed this in a way that a wall mounted LCD could be hung above the shelves in the middle.


... anyways, that's done.

Oh, we also installed blinds in the bay window today, but we'll post pics after we take out the extra slats and put the bed back in the room.

One more thing, a big THANK YOU to my lovely wife who did the entire paint job on the room by herself. I have learned to stay out of her way and let her have her way with the roller. I just seem to get in the way and make her mad.

Thanks honey!

;)

Min has asked not to be disturbed for the next few days...

She got "Breaking Dawn" in the mail a few hours ago.

Those of you who know what it is know why.

She's already up to page 200, so it shouldn't be too long until I get my wife back.

Our Not-So-Sabbath-Day...

Quantum of Solace (Trailer)

I've been waiting a long time for this trailer:

View in Quicktime!
1080p | 720p | 480p

The Decade that is Aaron!

Yup, he's 10 now.

I've got a kid with an age in double digits.

I'm depressed.

.....
....
...
..
.

Oh well, enough about me, here's pics from his B-day:

Aaron's had a thing lately for calzones... and since Pizza Hut has permanently brought back the P'zone, Min ordered a few for dinner.

Due to a busy day of two-a-days for Aaron's swimming, Min didn't make a cake today (but she is tomorrow). These cup cakes were brought over last night by Aaron's primary teachers (The Jorgansons).

Aaron's two loves are reading and his DS. So he got the first three "Books of Ember" and a DS accessory kit.

Here he is trying out his wares.

Happy Birthday Aaron!