Thornton Mom

Elizabeth spent the weekend with her cousins.  Such beautiful and silly girls!!  Beautiful girls at church. Handsome  men in matching grey suits. “My Days” of Temples and Technology Elder Anderson "You are not the first to wonder about the time and place of your life. A prophet living in the Americas asked the same questions. His name was Nephi—not the Nephi in the beginning of the Book of Mormon but Nephi the son of Helaman the second and the great-grandson of the prophet Alma the Younger. In the world in which Nephi lived, money, power, and popularity were more important than what was right. Many of the people openly disregarded the commandments. They lied, took what was not theirs, and ignored the law of chastity. Those who kept the commandments were ridiculed and mistreated (see Helaman 7:4–5, 21; 8:2, 5, 7–8 ). “When Nephi saw [these things], his heart was swollen with sorrow … and he [exclaimed] in the agony of his soul: “Oh, that I co...

Christmas Eve Dinner Got to LOVE the cousins The most interesting thing just happened.  Lately I wake up at about 3:30 in the morning.  This is nothing new for me.  So instead of trying to fall back asleep (which I don't usually do until about 6:00) I decided to get up and read my scriptures.  As I usually do I checked my email and found that my neighbor had responded to something I had sent her.  So I wrote back and immediately she responded.  "What was she doing up at 3:30 in the morning?"  Well her son was having leg cramps and she was out of medicine.  I felt so blessed that I could run medicine over to her so that they could both get some sleep.  How nice to do service first think in the morning. Silly Wise man (He was quite insistent that he wanted to be a wise man. I didn't even know he knew what that was.) We had a great Christmas Eve.  It is so fun to have family around and to spend time with them.  Annelise ...

It really was delightful to be with my family for Thanksgiving.  Aunt Mary and Uncle Kyle were so sweet and kind, so accepting of our little kids.  They seemed to bask in the joy of family and that was contagious.  We felt a huge outpouring of love from them and felt so welcome. As we visited with cousins and my sister that we had not see for a while my heart grew and desired even more to be around these wonderful family members more.  My testimony of families increased.  I realized that it is so important for us to get together as families and strengthen this bond. It amazed me that here we were a pocket of family scattered over the East Coast but united in love and friendship.  We all wanted to be together for Thanskgiving to bask in the love of family.  This year I truly was thankful for family. One of my cousins had just moved to the east and had a 9 hour drive to come to Thanksgiving with all of us.  But he and his sweet wif...

A few weekends ago we went to our cousin's home.  They took us up on the Blue Ridge Parkway and then into "Mayburry."  We had dinner in the soda shop that supposedly Andy Griffith worked in as a teenager.  It was so much fun!! New Testament, 1 Peter 3:18 It is humbling to think that I am one of the "unjust." I consider myself a good person but then I remember that I cannot make it back to my Heavenly Father without Jesus Christ. And then I feel gratitude for Him. And stand in awe that He was so perfect and that He went through so much for me. (This is another post that I found I had never posted.  This would have been October 2014)

For Memorial Day weekend we went to the Lake.  We invited our cousins from Virginia to join us.  It was a blast.  We all played and had so much fun.  I took each of the cousins out on the Jet Ski and both of them said, "That was so AWESOME!!"  I am so glad to have family to hang out with.  What a joy.   A few weeks ago I taught a lesson in Relief Society on the Book of Mormon .  One of the Sister Missionaries made the comment that she has used other forms of scripture as well as conference talks in her scripture study but when she makes sure to read of of the Book of Mormon every day things run smoother and life is just a little bit better. I decided to take up this challenge.  I had gotten out of the habit of reading the Book of Mormon and instead was reading conference talks and so forth.  So I picked up where I had left off and began reading. I have been amazed at how smoother things have been lately.  I was insp...

We had a wonderful time in Utah.  We loved being with family and friends.  I think Elizabeth says it best in her prayers, "Thank you for the best vacation ever!!" We have been well taken care of by the Lord.  The weather was perfect, we never got sick, everything just worked out.  We truly felt that we were in the palm of our Heavenly Father's hand.  Derek and I were not excited about driving out to Utah and we did not get to plan as well as we would have liked but we decided that the Lord is the one who wanted us to drive out so we gave it to Him and He truly blessed us better than we could have imagined.  Here are just a few highlights (more later): Making cookies with Grandma and Kately. Aunt Annelise took Elizabeth shopping for a new dress and got their nails done. Elizabeth and her cousins Christian and Dennis got to go do Baptisms for the Dead and the Draper Temple.  I was so impressed, it took 2 1/2 hours to do the names we broug...

Michael loves Aunt LaLa. We love spending time with cousins. Our Cousin Cody came for a visit.  It was so fun to be with him. Our Cousin Tyler!! Elizabeth snuggled up at Lake Gaston Tubing is our favorite activity. My husband encouraged me to read over my Patriarchal Blessing (Patriarchal blessings include a declaration of a person's lineage in the house of Israel and contain personal counsel from the Lord. For more information click here .)  I have had some worries on my mind, worries about my children, if I am a good enough mom, the temptations of life, my future, my role in this world and in my church, those I Visit Teach , and many more.  As I read I was given peace.  I was reminded of the talents I have received from the Lord.  I kept reading the words, "you will be able to  . . ." this gives me power over the doubts put in my mind from Satan.  This reminds me that a Loving Heavenly Father knows my weaknesses and ...

Our cousins are in town staying with Grandmommy while their parents are away serving in Honduras for a week.  We have been getting together to play and keep both families entertained.  Grandmommy made bread with the kids today.  They had so much fun.  It is such a blessing to be part of such a great family.  I really married into the best family ever. Enduring Well By Elder J. Christopher Lansing Area Seventy, North America Northeast Area From a devotional address, “That’s Life,” given at Brigham Young University–Hawaii on October 30, 2012. For the full address, visit devotional.byuh.edu/archive . "One night my father came to me in a dream. I began to chide him for not helping me know what to do [in my family business that he founded]. He said he was aware of my situation but he was busy where he was and his former business was not...