If you want to give light to others, You have to shine yourself.

I was was doing my daily blogging today and came across Katie Ivers blog. She had posted her testimony of the Atonement. As I was reading it I thought about how important the Atonement has been in My life. I am so grateful for our savior Jesus Christ and his Sacrifice for me. Because of his Sacrifice I am able to repent of my sins and strive every day to make my self more like him. Because of his sacrifice I get the blessing of gaining Eternal life, if I strive to live by his example. Because of his sacrifice I will get the chance to be with Brett and our kids for Eternity. Because of His sacrifice I will be able to be with my family and Brett's families forever . Because of him I will be able to be with my sister Erica again. Erica passed away on January 22, 2005. There hasn't been a day that has passed that I have not thought about her and her time here on Earth. I can't imagine the sadness I would feel if I knew I would never see her again. It was so hard to say good bye to her, and I miss her so much. I still after 4 years expect to see her sitting there when I walk into my mom and dad's house. She was always a great example to me. She taught me to always trust in the Lord. She trusted in him in all things. She had the best attitude. She never complained about her circumstance. She took it on with a smile. After she died we opened her journal and in the front cover she had a piece of paper that said "If you want to give Light to others you have to shine your self". She shared a special light to everyone she knew. She lived her life so that she could live with her Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ again. I am so grateful for her life and the example she was and still is to me. I am Grateful for my Testimony and the knowledge that we will live again and be together with our loved ones forever. The video is one that my brother made for us the Christmas after she died. I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I do. Ok so I am having a little stress getting the video to work. This is not the video that my brother made. This is close to what he did. If I can get it to work I will post later.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Christmas 2008

I can't believe it is all over. I love this time of year, and I can't believe that Christmas has come and gone. Our Christmas was very busy but so fun! We started on Christmas eve at a party in Levan with the mangelson side of our family. Then we headed out to Mona to spend some time with Brett's parents, sister, brother, and their families. The kids decorated cookies for Santa. Except Madison said her cookie was for the Mrs. Bonus!!! Then we went home the kids fell asleep on the way so we didn't have to talk any one in to going to sleep. Brett and I thought that we were going to be able to go to sleep early, but it took Santa until 2:00 a.m. to finish putting together the country Kitchen. Christmas morning both of our kids were sound asleep and I couldn't wait any longer so I waited until my parents, brother, and grandpa got to our house at 6:30 and woke them up. We opened our presents and relaxed for a min before we headed off to Brett's parents for skinny man pancakes at 10:00. Then we were off to my parents for lunch and our family party at 1:00. Next we were off to Spanish fork by 5:00 for Brett's Grandma Nelson's party. It seemed like we were eating all day. Christmas day was full of parties and we all had great day. Friday we went up north to exchange a gift I had given Brett. Friday night Brett family got together for the Woodland party. We had a great time visiting, eating, and of course opening presents. Our Christmas finale was on Saturday. We got together with my Grandpa Jones for his party. We talked played games and of course ate more food. We had a awesome Christmas! We were able to see most of our family members and friends. The ones we didn't see we were able to talk to on the phone. We are so grateful for all that we have. We both have great families. We are so grateful for all of them. Thank you all so so much for all of the presents that you gave to us. We hope you all had a great Christmas an soon a happy a New Year.

Christmas 2008

Our Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving started out by making Pumpkin pie. Madison did most of it with a little bit of my help. On Thursday we went to levan to my grandma Mangelson's house. The food was awesome as usual. Then for the rest of the weekend we put Christmas lights on the house, went to visit Santa, and ended a great weekend at the light parade. We are so thankful for so many things. This is a great time of year.