An Historical Family Trip
The Mormon Battalion Museum in San Diego was upgraded and recently reopened. We made a family outing out of the opening day. It was very crowded, so we didn’t see much of the museum itself, we’ll have to go back another time and take a better look, but there were a lot of activities that we did enjoy. As a little background here are some passages from the article linked above:
About 500 men enlisted in the Mormon Battalion, and about 80 women and children traveled with them. They began their journey in the sweltering heat of Council Bluffs, Iowa, on 20 July 1846, leaving their loved ones behind. The battalion completed one of the longest infantry marches in American history—about 2,000 miles (3,220 km) through what are now seven states and into Mexico…
[In the museum]“They will find out about the major contributions by the pioneer Latter-day Saints in the settling of the West. They were instrumental in building part of the transportation corridor from San Diego to Salt Lake City where Interstate 15 now runs. In 1847 San Diego’s first courthouse was built by members of the Mormon Battalion from bricks they had fired.”
I showed Emma all I know about panning for gold. We did find a few gold specks!
I forget what this game is called, but Hunter could keep this thing going for hours if he wanted to.
The girls all made pioneer baby dolls that were authentic to how they would have been made by the pioneers.
We were all given some biscuit dough to wrap around a spool of wood on the end of a stick. Then we held it over the coals for a while to bake.
Sabrina thought they were pretty good! Too bad we found out after we ate them that there was also hand churned butter and homemade jam to put on them. Oh well.
Hannah took a turn at washing some laundry with a bucket and washboard.
The extra pioneer activities were part of the reopening and are not offered on a regular day, so it was a special treat to experience some history!
Read MoreDie Hard Fan
Emma has now read the Harry Potter series 3 times! She loves all things related to the story and loves many of the characters, not just Harry. After she finished reading the series the first time, our family had a Harry Potter marathon and watched all of the movies in one weekend. Her favorite character is Ginny because “she is a tough girl, and not so frilly.”
Emma has decorated her bedroom to look like a Griffindor dorm room. In the attached picture you can see pictures of the characters from the movies posted on her wall, and a reading corner with books, quill, and “parchments.” She wrote her own spell book based on what she found in the books, and made a “shelf” on the wall for “potions” she has crafted with paper and glitter etc. For Christmas she got a wand from her grandparents that came with a book which she adores. Emma just recently started saving her money for tickets to the Harry Potter park in Orlando. Because we live on the West coast, she has a long way to go before we can get our family of six there. She is determined though, and has all of her savings ($70.00 or so) in a canning jar bank in her bedroom.
Here is a more recent picture of her in her room.
How Not To Be Discouraged
Recently my Mom gave me a little blue card that was given out at a Youth Conference when I was twelve years old. I remember this conference because it was the first one I went to as a “Young Woman” and we had a great church leader speak to us. Actually, maybe it was part of our Stake Conference and not actually just for the youth, but I remember that it seemed like a big deal that Elder Gene R. Cook wanted to talk directly to the youth. This was in the days before the For the Strength of Youth program began so it was more unique to have something directed at us from a visiting General Authority. I was sitting on the left side of the chapel and he had a chalkboard on wheels brought in for his presentation. On the chalkboard he listed the main points of his talk, and they were also made up into little business card size reminders that we could take with us. I took the faded blue card that my Mom gave to me and put it in a picture frame. I gave that to Hunter for his room. It makes me feel better to know that as he heads into the middle school phase of life he has this list ready for him if he should be discouraged, or need the comfort of the Lord.
I love how Elder Cook lists things so simply, and since my oldest is fast approaching the age I was when I received this advice, I wanted to make a record of it. I tried to find a typed copy of the talk. What I found was more recent, but seems to be the same as what he presented to us back in the 80’s. Read through the talk if you get the chance. It’s wonderful!
I’ll list here what it says on my card, and in italics write how it’s listed in his talk from 2000:
How to Invite the Spirit Immediately
“How Not To Be Discouraged”
1. Pray
2. Read Scriptures
3. Testify
4. Sing
5. Express Love to God and Man
6. Share Spiritual Experiences
7. Seek a Priesthood Blessing
How to Discourage Discouragement
Prayer
Scriptures
Cleanliness
Testify
Hymns
Love and Gratitude
Share Spiritual Experiences
Priesthood Blessings
First Loss!
Hannah lost her first baby tooth! This actually happened a while ago, and she just lost her second one the other day so I was reminded to give a little shout out for her. She was so excited to lose it so she could use her tooth fairy pillow and get some money from the tooth fairy. She was good about wiggling it a lot, but it did take a little tug from Mom to get it to fall out. Our kids usually get four quarters from the tooth fairy, and Hannah put it right into her pixie hollow bank. The kids have started saving all of their change for a trip to the Harry Potter amusement park set to open this spring. Since it’s in Florida it will take an awful lot of coins to get us there, but they think they can do it. I have to admit, I would love to go there too!
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