Sorry we have been absent since Christmas.  But, I couldn't be silent today.  Today is my 40th wedding anniversary! Wow!  It is weird to say those words because in some ways it feels like yesterday that my husband Glen and I met each other in college and began on this grand adventure of life together.  

    I've thought about how I could pay tribute to the most wonderful husband in the world.  I've seen ideas like giving successful marriage tips or writing 40 reasons why I love him.  I won't be so presumptuous to think that I know the secrets to a successful marriage because of course we have had our ups and downs throughout these 40 years and we certainly aren't perfect.  And, making a list of 40 things would be boring for you and limiting for me.  So, I'm just going to tell you a few things about us and you can glean what you may! It is going to be really nice for me to reminisce a bit. 

    So, that was the start!  Here are a few other interesting things: 

• We were so broke when were first married that Glen decided to re-enlist in the army. He was a linguist in army intelligence .  His language was Russian.  We lived in Montery, CA for a year while he learned the language.  We met life long friends there.
• We lived in Texas and learned to sail!  (But, we haven't sailed since we left Texas!)
• We lived in West Germany for 2 years.  Our oldest son was born there! 
• We lived in Kansas until Glen's time in the service was over.  
• We moved to Phoenix, AZ.  We had 5 more children! We have 3 boys and 3 girls.
• I started substitute teaching in elementary school after my first 4 children were born.  We never had to have daycare because Glen worked the graveyard shift and took care of them during the days that I worked.  
• ​Thanks to my sister and brother-in-law, we were able to go with them and visit Tahiti, where Glen had served his mission.  It was amazing! 
• We've owned 3 dogs, a cat, some fish, 6 chickens and my son had a rabbit for awhile throughout our marriage. 
• We now have 10 grandchildren. 

    Now, just look at my cute husband!  I am so blessed!  He loves me!  I love being with him more than anyone else.  He makes me laugh.  He is a great Dad and Grandpa.  He loves the Lord and serves diligently.  He is strong and hard working.  He is smart and wise and keeps me calm when I am worried.  He is warm and good and I am safe with him.  He tells me he loves me daily.  He does things for me that he doesn't want to do but because I want them done he does them anyway.   Okay, I wasn't going to make a list but I had to tell you a few things about him.  And while I am at it I will tell you one marriage tip to success (or 2).  Keep your eyes on the eternal goal of loving each other forever and giving 100% of yourself to your spouse and him to you.  Trust each other and be trustworthy.  Be unselfish! Communicate about everything.  Pray together, forgive each other and keep God in your marriage.  Don't forget to have fun, too!  I am so excited for the next 40 years! 

       This is the post we put up last year on Good Friday.  As I read through it, it is still the way I feel about my Savior and Easter, so I am going to re-post it today as a FAVORITE Friday Fave! Have a wonderful Easter everyone! #BecauseOfHim

     Last Friday for Friday Faves #56, we talked about the top 10 things that we love about Easter.  Today is Good Friday, the day that is almost the culmination to Holy Week. Good Friday is the day Christ died on the cross.  He atoned for our sins because He loves us. He made repentance possible.
     But, we know that as difficult and sad as that part of the story is to read, that dark day is not where the story ends.  Because, on the third day, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World, overcame death and rose again.  And, on Easter Sunday, that is what we celebrate! So, for today's Friday Faves # 57, we asked ourselves, and we ask you:

      This is a special post to us and we felt that the best Easter message that we can share is the true one, so this is our Easter wish and Easter gift to you.
​     Between the 4 of us, we came up with a few excellent ways to remember the Savior and his glorious Resurrection. 

• Read the scriptures! In them is the true account of Jesus' life, crucifixion and resurrection. I love the account of Mary going to the tomb and finding it empty, the apostles running to see the empty tomb and being told by an angel, "He is not here: For He is risen!" (Matt. 28:6) Search the index or topical guide and search for scriptures that talk about the resurrection.  Read the words of Paul to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 15.  And here is a beautiful story that shows the peace and hope that comes from a knowledge of the Resurrection: 

     This year I did follow along with #BecauseOfHim as we went through this Holy Week in the Savior's life.  I hope that it  added to the Spirit of your Easter this year! 
     Here at 3 Winks, we are all looking forward to some wonderful Easter traditions.  We hope that you all have a wonderful time with your family and friends this holiday and are able to ponder the impact the Savior has made in your lives! We know that because of Him we have hope and peace. 

     Happy Easter! 

     I have written before about my job at church to lead the young children in singing.  Each year we put on a program for the entire congregation and singing is a big part of that program.  Now that our church has implemented a home centered/church supported program entitled "Come Follow Me," based on the teaching of Jesus Christ in the New Testament,  singing in Primary plays a big role in the support of those gospel studies.  I love teaching and singing the songs of the gospel with these young children, and they love to sing with me. 
     I follow a few different bloggers who also do this job in various other congregations throughout the church. One of the popular ones is Camille of Camille's Primary Ideas. I was looking at her site the other day and she has a great idea for a song review game based of the actual game of "Would You Rather." It is a fun game that has questions that requires the kids to make a choice and then change sides of the room according to their choice and sing the next song from there.  Camille even made some awesome printables to go with her ideas.  She cites Sue McDonald Daniels as giving the original idea. 
     I loved this idea and decided to try it out last Sunday.  The only difference is that I wanted all of the questions to go along with the topics and songs that we have been studying.  For example, I asked, "Would You Rather eat bread or fish?"  and of course that went with the miracle of feeding the 5,000.  I also asked questions that would go with specific songs like, "Would you rather go into the Sea of Galilee or the River Jordan?" to go with Baptism on page 100 of our children's songbook.  It is about John the Baptist baptizing Jesus. 

     This game took very little preparation, except to come up with the questions.  The children love it because they were able to get up and move around and the questions made them think.  You can engage them by asking them what scripture story they think the question is referencing or why they made the choice that they did.  We got through about 5 songs before I had them all sit back in their regular seats and we sang a quiet song to settle everyone down.  This will be an activity we will use again! So, to get ready to use it with topics throughout the year, I brainstormed some questions to use with topics coming later in the year.  I am sharing them with you today.  If you click the button, you will get the PDF file to print off.  Hopefully, these questions will help you to come up with more ideas, like Camille's did for me!  Let me know if they do because I will can always use more ideas.  The beauty of this idea as well is that you can use the questions from the beginning as the year progresses to review again! So, the questions are evergreen! I hope you have as much fun with this idea as I did with my kids! 

     Now that Easter is coming, Don't Forget this "Don't Eat Pete" Free Download to play with your kids!