Pinterest ~ December 2014

Thanks to Tenneal for Hosting 

December's Pinterest Group.

First we worked on a cute Christmas Block Project. 

After lightly sanding the edges, 

we painted them in fun colors.

Once they were dry we applied vinyl letters, 

a snow flake and then lightly sanded 

the edges again. 

We ended up with this fun stacked sign.

The other project we worked on were some 

really classy Christmas Pillows.

Tenneal had a light box which made this project 

an easy peasy one!

We just put the printed out word design on the light box, 

laid our fabric over it and traced it with a 

black sharpie pen.

A quick run through the sewing machine, 

add some stuffing, 

sew the opening shut and walla!!

Beautiful Pillows that also remind you of the reverence of that sacred night!

 Look how great they look on Tenneal's couch!

As always, the projects are fun 

and the company is better!!

*NOTE:  For January's Pinterest we will not be doing a new project, rather we will have those who would like 

bring a recipe made from Pinterest to share. 

You can also bring any unfinished project you have sitting around at home to work on while we eat and visit.

We thought we could just use a month to relax 

and enjoy each other.

If you have questions you can call Sydney @801-597-0431

Relief Society Christmas Message ~ 2014

Taught by Heidi H.

For the Relief Society Christmas message, I decided to step away from the manual. I spent time not only reading scriptures from the story of the birth of our Savior, but focusing on his mother Mary.  We talked a lot about her character and even though there isn't a lot written about her, we tried to infer what we could about who she was.

Mary came from a family that loved God and studied the scriptures. We inferred this because she must have read the scripture Isaiah 7:14, "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."  

Can you imagine how she felt when she was asked to be the mother of Jesus whom she had studied about all her life?

This allowed us also to infer that she was chosen of God and prepared in advance for the Angel Gabriel to appear.  That is why her response wasn't shock in Luke 1:27-28. This scripture tells us that she was prepared to be an instrument in God's hands.  Then we discussed how we too can always be prepared to be an instrument for our Heavenly Father.

Another quality of Mary was found in Luke 1: 37-38. Mary shows unwavering Faith as she says, "For with God, nothing is impossible."  

Ask yourself how you too can show unwavering faith in your life, even in impossible circumstances.

In Luke 1:29-31 and 34-35, Mary shows faithful obedience to God.  Even though Mary couldn't grasp how she was to be the mother of the Son of God, she trusted in Him and His plan and obeyed.  

Consider how your life would change if you, like Mary, openly and willingly offfered yourself without delay or question to God's will?

The last quality of Mary that we talked about was in Luke 1:46-49. Mary shows open expressions of joy for the Lord's blessings.  

..... And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, ... And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.

Think about if there are times when the Lord gives you blessings that give you joy.  How do you express gratitude for those blessings?

As I studied the role of Mary in the birth of my Savior, and who she was, I truly felt the spirit of the Lord declaring to me that she was a chosen and wonderful daughter of God.  I know that she has qualities that I would love to portray as she did.  I hope one day that I will be able to meet her and bask in her light and joy that she must have shared with all she came in contact with.

Know Your Neighbor ~ Morgan's

The Morgan Family

Rebecca Morgan and her son, Sheldon, and his wife, Leah, recently moved into our ward. Before moving into the Willow Wood Ward, Rebecca lived in the Lakeview Ward for six years.

Rebecca grew up in Grantsville, UT. She is the fifth child of nine and has six brothers and two sisters. She has lived in England, Germany, Maine, Montana, and North Dakota before returning back to Utah. Her ex-husband was in the military and so they moved around a lot. Her favorite place she has lived was England. Rebecca works at Super Target in the shoe department. Her interests include painting, sewing, graphic arts and anything crafty. She just recently learned how to garden and she loves to be around her grandkids.

Rebecca has three children and ten grand-children. Shane, lives in Coeur d’alene, ID with his wife Jennifer. He is a train conductor and has seven kids—three girls, and four boys.

Sabrina (Bree) lives in Ogden, and works for Focus Services. She has two kids—one girl and one boy.

Sheldon, and his wife, Leah, live with Rebecca. They are expecting their first child in December. They are expecting a little boy who will be named Boston. Sheldon grew up in Montana and North Dakota. He works for Hi-Tech Window Cleaning and does high rise window rappelling and puts up signs for the Jazz. He loves videogames, his job, and watching TV. Sheldon and Leah met through a mutual friend.

Leah grew up in Utah and has one half-brother. She likes to hang out with her friends, to write, to color and she loves music.

As a family, the Morgans like to just spend time together and play card games.

Welcome to the Willow Wood Ward Morgan family! We are so happy to have you in our neighborhood!

Pinterest ~ November 2014

This was a really fun project!!

For Pinterest in November we made 

Christ Centered Advent Boards.

The little wooden squares with pictures lead you through Christ's life and each has a scripture coordinating with it on the back. 

As usual, some turn out different 

as each person puts their own twist to theirs.

Camille did her's with a light blue background so she could also use it at Easter Time.

We also printed out a whole list of activities for the month to put in a jar or box to pull out and do one each day.

We decided these are 

meaningful enough 

to become family heirlooms.

Know Your Neighbor ~ Walker's

The Walker Family

Brian and Linda Walker live in the Willow Valley Circle. They have lived in Bountiful, Magna, and have been in Centerville for almost 29 years! They have lived in their current home in our neighborhood for 17 years.

Linda grew up in Bountiful, Utah. She is the middle child of three and has an older sister and younger brother. She currently works part time at the Walking Comfort store in the online sales department. Linda likes to travel, especially cruises, and read. She used to be into crafting—she even worked at Roberts for several years—but she is now kind of burnt out on crafts. Her real love is being with her children and grandchildren.

Brian also grew up in Bountiful, Utah. In fact, he grew up in the same ward as Linda. He is the second child of six—three boys and three girls. He served his mission in Arcadia, California. He attended the American College for his schooling as a Financial Planner. Brian will have been a Financial Planner for Metlife for 25 years in February. He loves his work. He enjoys golf, softball, racquetball, do-it-yourself projects, and travel. He also does a lot of volunteer work for the insurance industry.

Brian chased Linda home from kindergarten, but she did not like him. Growing up, she thought he was a hooligan. She didn’t like him until he came home from his mission. Then, he became the Young Adult Leader and she had just graduated from high school. They began dating and were engaged two and half months later. They got married 5 months later in the Salt Lake Temple on September 19^th. They had to wait until September 19^th because Brian didn’t want to get married until he had been back from his mission for a year. So one year to the date of his return, they got married. September 19^th is also Linda’s parents’ anniversary.

The Walkers have four children, three boys and one girl. Nathan is married to Malerie and they have three kids, with one on the way. They live in North Salt Lake. Nathan works for the Teacher Improvement Network selling educational software.

Jason is married to Kaisha and they have two kids. They live in Bountiful and Jason works for Clearlink.

Zachary is married to McKehl and they have three kids. They live in Centerville. Zachary is finishing up his last semester of school. He is working on his degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Aubrea is married to Sean and they are currently living with the Walkers while Sean is in school.

The Walkers enjoy spending time together and are looking forward to doing something together—like start a business—as a couple when Brian retires. They have two dogs—Nellie and Fitch. Nellie is an American Eskimo Wheaten Terrier and Fitch (who they inherited from their son), is a miniature pinscher.

We are happy to have the Walker family in our neighborhood!

He is the Gift – Christmas Video – #ShareTheGift

What a beautiful reminder of what the Christmas Holliday is all about.

Let us remember him as we celebrate his birth by sharing our love and charity to our family and those around us both near and far.

Love and Kindness to each other is the best Gift we can give Christ in return.

#ShareTheGift

Monthly Calendar - December 2014

Choir Practice -   The choir is practicing for the Christmas program every Sunday at                                  4:30 PM at the church. Child care will be provided. 

December 6th -    Ward Christmas Party at 6 PM

December 7th -    First Presidency Christmas Devotional - 6 PM

December 10th -  Relief Society Christmas Party - 7 PM

Ongoing Activities-

                           Pinterest Craft Group*
                          This group meets every second Thursday of the month from 9-11AM. 
                          Call Sydney Garner if you would like information @801-597-0431
                          
                          Promises of the Book of Mormon Class*
                          Every Tuesday at 7:30 PM at Sue G.'s home. 
                               

*Activities that are neighborhood special interest groups.

Know Your Neighbor ~ Skeen's

Shane and McKenzee Skeen recently moved into our ward. They bought the Jones’ house. Before moving to Centerville, they lived in South Ogden for three and half years. They moved to Centerville to be closer to family.

Shane grew up in Plain City, UT. He is the middle child of five and has three sisters and one brother. He served a mission in the Brazil Salvador South mission. He graduated from Utah State with a degree in Entrepreneurship. Shane currently works in Health Insurance Benefits for RBI Benefits. He likes to play basketball, golf, and hunt.

McKenzee grew up in Bountiful, UT. She is the middle of three children and has one brother and one sister. She attended both Utah State and Weber State. She graduated from Weber State with a degree in Early Childhood Education. She likes to read, exercise, run, play tennis, and be with her family.

Shane and McKenzee met down in St. George. McKenzee was down there for school and Shane was doing sales. They lived in the same apartment complex and McKenzee met one of Shane’s friends. This friend then introduced Shane to McKenzee. They dated for two weeks before Shane moved back to Logan. They then proceeded to have a long distance relationship for three months before getting engaged. Three months after that, they were married in the Salt Lake Temple. They have been married for five and a half years.

They have two children, Nora and Graham. They are twins and 15 months old. Nora and Graham like animals and playing. They like to watch the chickens and play with Lucy, their dog. The Skeens are expecting another baby girl who is due in January.

As a family, the Skeens like to go to Bear Lake, take walks, go to the park—be outside.

Welcome to the Willow Wood Ward Skeen family! 
We are so happy to have you in our neighborhood!