The plan of happiness

I have been thinking a lot lately about what I have learned in my life and I think some should be passed on to my children, mostly about marriage. I learned these from watching my parents but i learned them too late for my own marriage.
1. Before you marry find out how your partner thinks about raising children, women workiing outside the home before and after having children, who does what chores, how you are going to handle money, what you have in common especially values,etc.
2. Just because you belong to the same church and are attneding doesn't mean your testimony is close to the same. Make sure your testimonies are similar and that you are both either working on improving it or that you agree on the important values of the church or your own values - lying, cheating, gambling, trustworthiness,
3. Treat each other as if you were already a queen or king. Take care of each other, serve each other, love each other. My mother was a great homemaker in spite of having to be on call for the store. My dad would always be sure she had what she needed. He would take money out of the store till and say go buy a new dress or go get your hair done. They cared about the other's needs.
4. Both of you work hard at whatever you feel is your duty. Now it is more difficult because so many women work outside the home but if you are earning the money do your best at that, if you are home with the responsibilities there and the children do your best at that. Your honest communication about these subjects will save a lot of heartache. It is difficult to anticipate all the issues that might come up but try to think about 10 years from now and how you want things to be.
5. Agree on how to teach and discipline the children. My dad gave this responsibility to my mother and said he would support her because she would be with the children most of the time. Most of the time he stayed out of it but once in awhile he would say. "Now Helen!" He was never harsh with her. He did take over sometimes and sing to us and read us stories when mother got tired of trying to get us to go to bed. They always agreed in front of us so that we knew they were together on things.
6. IF you can't agree on something you can agree to disagree and not force each other to comply. Also any problems should be taken to the Lord anyway. Praying together as a couple prevents a lot of problems.
7. If you insist you are right, you probably are wrong.
8. Remember you were raised by different parents with different ideas and ways of doing things. Be tolerant and willing to change.
I could go on and on and give specific situations but I won't. Just work at caring more about the other than you care about yourself unless it involves abuse or selfishness.
I love you all and wish the best for each of you.

Summer Reunion

Hey, everyone, I finally have something to write about. My year has been interesting. Lots of ups and downs and learning to rely on the Lord again. I have been mulling over the reunion and this is what I have come up with so far. Date and place to be announced later, however I think we will have it in Utah because that seems to be most convenient for Jessica whom we are excited to see again.
I think we will have it on a Saturday but not sure, so here goes.
10:00-12:00 Arrive, visit, games for the kids, and maybe some genealogy sharing.
12:00 Lunch - pot luck - don't know what yet but summer reminds me of fried chicken
1:00 talent show - at least one representative per family. It can be singing, dancing, gymnastics, musical instrument playing, crafts, quilting, scrapbooking, painting, drawing, sports, etc. If you bring something to show be prepared to talk about it not just display.
2:00 Sharing of one story about your life - faith-promoting hopefully. I'd like to hear some from missions or some principle of the gospel that you have learned or just a funny story about life. I would like to hear lots of these.
3:00 visiting, more games, maybe miniature golf, etc.
I am open to suggestions

Miskin Milestone

This one will be the shortest one ever. I did write one for March but never sent it, at least I don't think I did because some couldn't receive it with attachments and I couldn't really rewrite it. Once I write, I forget the subject because it is time to move on.
This newsletter is just to remind us that we are family and we need to pray for each other. We are all at different levels in our understanding of the gospel and our understanding of the way the world works. It seems that many of us are struggling monetarily and some of us struggling spiritually. Let us just take the time to pray for each other no matter what our feelings about the choices others have made. We all need help with different aspects of our lives but one thing that will help more than anything is if we have a group of people praying for us. I still remember how we as a 13th ward fasted and prayed for Bishop Morgan when he had his heart operation. His physical body was being attacked. It was easy to identify what we could and should do. For other things it can be difficult to put our finger on the problem, especially our own. Sometimes it is easier to see what problems others are having and why than it is our own. Anyway, Please, just pray for each other and then each of us think how we can help ourselves do better and how we can help others in the family. We do help others a lot but sometimes we forget our own families.
I love you all so much and glad you are mine. I love the way you have always shown love to me and helped me in the way that you can. Times are going to get tougher for us all especially if we are not living the gospel so please just try to do better. There is a God in heaven watching over the whole thing that is going on down here. He loves us all so much. I also know that my parents and grandparents are involved in you children's lives. I have dreams about them at times when I am worried about you.
I do not have monetary means to help any of you at this time and it makes me sad but I have been where you at. Paid rent with my own labor, eaten beans for a week and actually one winter. Lived on almost nothing but potatoes many times. The trouble now is most of us live in cities where everything costs an arm and a leg. We were able to glean the potatoes out of a farmer's field every fall and store them all winter. I don't know if that is even possible in Utah but there is the bishop's storehouse.
Well, that is enough for tonight.
Happy Birthday, Marshall. Jenn said I could catch you on face book but I don't know how. Someone tell him I didn't forget.

Grandma's Cookies

Okay, guys this is a virtual grandma's house so to begin with we have to have cookies. Right? Here they are. Sorry, I haven't figured out how to make the aroma come through the computer yet.

Gifts

So, here's how it works: the first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive, at some point during the year a handmade gift from me. What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise! The catch is that you must participate as well. Before you leave your comment, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going (or copy and paste like I did). Then come back, let me know you're going to play and sit back and anticipate the arrival of your gift! Come and play!

Beginnings

Okay, guys,
I did it. I don't know how it will turn out but I created a blog. Maybe later I can post a picture of me but for now it is just that I'm on the blogspot and ready to go.