Lincoln Branch Adventure

From Helena (A) to the Lincoln Branch (B)

Our family had the opportunity to help out in a small branch in Lincoln, MT today.

Lincoln Branch -Helena Montana Stake
1349 Lone Point Dr
LINCOLN, MONTANA 59639
UNITED STATES

First Meeting: 10:00 AM
Sacrament Worship Service: 10:00 AM
Branch President James Bosshardt
+1 406-362-4602

The Lincoln Branch is pretty small. I think they had 26 people in attendance today. That included the 6 of us, 2 missionaries, and 3 or 4 men from Stake callings. Our Stake Leaders try to help them out by asking for volunteers from other wards to travel out there and speak a couple times a month. That way the members from Lincoln aren't speaking every week. Our Bishop asked our family if we would be willing to do the Sacrament talks today.
Lincoln is a little over an hour away from our home in Helena. [It took us 90  minutes in the snowy weather this morning] The kids don't particularly love early mornings or speaking but we all got up and went anyways. I think it was an awesome experience for our family!
The Lincoln Branch meets in a little home that the Church rents. The Sacrament Meetings are held in the family room. You stand in the corner and speak to 2 different rooms- one to the left and one to the right. The kitchen is right in the middle of the home so you walk through it no matter what class you go to. The Primary children (3 kids) meet in one room off the garage. It has a small room off of it in case they want to split the older kids from the younger ones. We doubled their attendance today. ;) The Young Women meet in a corner of the kitchen separated by a divider. It was Liberty, one other girl and the leader. The Relief Society sisters meet in a bedroom. It was just me and the teacher until we recruited one of the YW leaders to join us. The closet in there has been made into the Clerk's office. The other room is the Bishop's office. One of the bathrooms has a jetted tub. The garage has been insulated to be their cultural hall. They have several long tables in there for events they plan. Actually the Branch fed us lunch afterwards with the fresh bread they made together yesterday. Yum! It's actually a really fun building but so different than what we are used to.
It made me realize how very blessed we are to have such a beautiful big building in Helena and other places around the world. It was good for our kids to experience something other than what they are used to. I hope it will help us not to take for granted how blessed we are.

I wanted to share a couple neat, spiritual experiences from today that I think are note worthy:

* We were asked to speak today on “Behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass..." (Alma 37:6–7.) Each of us spoke on a completely different topic.
Glory- small and simple things that the Savior did- that I can do.
Victoria- By small and simple things, I can make my home a holy place
Justice- Small and simple things I can do to prepare for a mission
Liberty- Becoming Spiritually prepared by small and simple things.
Shay- Serving others by small and simple things
Brett- By small and simple things- great things some to pass
(Even our RS/Priesthood lesson talked about small and simple things and service. Luv it when it works out like that!)
We love how Gospel Principles can be applied in so many ways. And it really is by small and simple things that we can make the world a better place and return to live with our Father in Heaven.

* Since I was one of two students in RS, I had lots of opportunity to make comments. We were taking about how important it is to attend and serve in the Church. One of my comments was about a friend from Fargo that was having a really rough time in her life. She was in the midst of a messy divorce due to a cheating. She had 3 kids, had been a stay-at-home mom and was without a job. She felt alone and overwhelmed. She first asked to be released from her calling. Then she made an excuse to not come to Church sometimes because of sick kids or custody issues. Pretty soon her and her kids were completely inactive. Life didn't get easier because she didn't have a calling or didn't come to Church. In fact, her and the kids have really struggled emotional and spiritually. It has taken her several years before she found the courage to come back. And it's hard! I talked about how it is so much easier to just stick with it- even when it's hard and seems impossible- than to try to make up for all the things Satan can bring into our lives if we fall away from the Gospel.
My comment was just something that I felt added to the topic of the lesson but little did I know that the other sister there today is going through that EXACT same thing. It lead to me pleading for her to stay strong and stay close to the Lord. I don't know if it will make a difference but it's crazy how the Lord knew I needed to be there in that class today!!!

* The Lord was definitely looking out for us this morning. We feel like He really wanted us to be in Lincoln today. The roads getting there were a little freaky but God really watched over us. The bad storm that was supposed to hit this area last night- it waited one day before it hit. It was a small thing but we were very grateful!

Scout Chariot Races

Here in Helena, the Scouts participate in the annual Chariot Races. They met at EVMS and had a great time. (After a bit of an attitude adjustment. ;)

Justice raced with the Webelos. Their team won 2nd place. Way to go, guys! Fun times!

Scout Spaghetti Fundraiser

Our Ward had their annual Scout Spaghetti dinner tonight. It's a fundraiser for the Scouting Program and Youth activities for the year.
They had a Silent Auction, a Live Auction, a Spaghetti dinner and a Dessert Booth for 25 cents.
The Scouts were most excited about all the knifes in the auction!!!! Most of them guarded their bids the whole night. So funny!
All of my family came home with something.
Justice got a double knife set.
Brett got a fishing floaty?
Liberty got a knife as well.
Victoria and Glory got super-soft scarfs.
Shay got an awesome granite cutting board.
It was fun night to support the scouts and enjoy our friends.

Flat Stanley Visits Montana

Victoria was so excited to get a letter from her cousin, Halle. Halle's class is doing the Flat Stanley project and asked Victoria to participate. We had a fun time taking Stanley to places around town. We made up some collages of our adventures. We bought some treats for her class to share. And Victoria wrote her a letter.

We took Flat Stanley to the Last Chance Gulch Walking Mall. It has quite a history and it's a fun place to hang out.

We also took Flat Stanley up by our property. It was really windy that day so he got to experience that as well. Just over the hill we showed him The Sleeping Giant mountain.

Then we took him to the Great Northern Carousel area. It has statues of the local wildlife. Unfortunately, he got eaten by a bear. Oops! At least we got pictures of him before we lost him. LOL 

Seek the Sweet

Liberty had her New Beginnings- Seek the Sweet activity tonight. The leaders spoke about the sweetness of... life, the love of God and being a young woman. Sister Lay (the PP leader) spoke about the Personal Progress Program and the sweetness it can bring to the girls lives. Each of the girls shared about a different value. Then they introduced the Beehives that will be coming in this year. Followed by some fabulously sweet treats. The whole night was very sweet! ;)

Love One Another Dance

I was in charge of throwing a Tri-Ward Dance tonight. (Our Ward tries to do one every six months or so. It's a blast!) I was nervous because I've been in denial of it all week. But nothing like the last minute to pull things together. Our theme was Love One Another.  And you know how I feel about themes! ;)
We bribed our Bishop with a box of chocolate to be the DJ. He is AWESOME! We had everyone bring a snack to share at our LOVE-ly food table. We set up card games on beautifully decorated tables of white table clothes, glass vases, roses and red rose petals for those that were too chicken to dance. (Oh you know who you are, people!) [BTW- I ROCK at Spoons! WhooWhoo] I stole some of the games they played last time but with a LOVE Twist on them. Then I added a few new things. I think it turned out way fun!

One thing I added this time was a photo booth. My dear creative friend, Heather suggested that I bring props. It was a huge success! Everyone- I mean everyone- came and dressed up and had their picture taken. It was so funny and we all looked AWESOME! I luv it!

We also did a "Bro Pic" and one for the Ladies. I love these people!!

Half way through the night, we tried a new group game- Reverse Charades. We broke into 4 groups. Each group had a set of words to guess and 2 minutes to do it. There is ONE guesser and the rest of the team acts out the word. It was pretty funny! The winning team got ALL 14 words. Way to go, Team Russia!

Then we finished the night with the Bishop's favorite- Musical Chairs. A game of fun, laughter, violence and possibly broken chairs and extremities. Not sure there was anyone who walked away without at least a bruise- (a body part or their ego). LOL Our Gold, Silver and Bronze Medalists were Chad Guymon (winner!), Brett Seamons and Mike Chambers. They were a force to be reckoned with, for sure. [Brian P. wasn't there to defend his title- slacker!]

Oh... and we danced too. All night long, baby! ;) Which is super-duper fun as well. We had balloons to throw around this time and it's always fun to just be silly and be together. Plus I got several slow dances with my sexy boyfriend. What a fun night!!

Tribute to my Boyfriend

I am the luckiest woman in the world! A little shout out to my wonderful, kind, patient, loving, thoughtful, romantic, hard-working, funny, sexy, my-life-would-be-dull-without-him BOYFRIEND! XOXOXO! Love you, Honey!
I had a smokin' hot date this weekend. Here's a sneak peek of some of the fun! We are SOOOO cute!!!

Make a Little LOVE

We are cramped, trying to save money and can't get out any holiday boxes. This could have been a really lame Valentines but the Seamons know how to make a little love! ;)
* The days leading up to Valentines included visits from the Valentine Fairy that left treats in our LOVE mailbox.
* Several of the kids made paper heart Valentines that we found hung up around the house.
* Brett and the kids braided together Twizzlers to make an amazing and LARGE treat for their favorite lady- (that's me!) Along with a home-made bouquet of marshmallow/Twizzlers flowers.
* Brett wrote a love note to everyone with their favorite candy bar.
* Mom made a special Valentine breakfast to start out our lovely day!

* After school, the kids opened a package from Grandma Karla. They LOVE Grandma Karla's packages!

* When Brett got home. we he made a special dinner. The kids made hearts in their potato bowls. Sweet girls! Brett made an awesome pink smoothie which we topped with red raspberries. Yum! For dessert, we ate lots of pink and red treats. Then, we watched a movie together. What a night full of LOVE!

* For Valentine attire- Shay held fast to the tradition. I looked way cute in my heart jacket. Even if my son rebelled this year and wore a black football camp shirt. What was he thinking?

Plus I found an awesome clearance on these
adorable boots. So cute!

What a day full of LOVE!

Kindergarten Valentine

Glory had a Build-a-Book Activity at school today. She invited Mom to join her. They even did a special Fruit-kabob snack in their class. Mom stayed for lunch and even got to go out to recess. It was a super fun Valentine date.

Blog Book- Goodbye to Fargo

Perhaps it was me trying to pretend that my Fargo journey hadn't ended but I took my sweet ol' time finishing up my last Fargo blog book. (Volume 8- btw) But it is hot off the press! And awesome as usual. I love it! Victoria spent an hour looking through it last night. I love the memories! I love Blurb!

Shoot! Now it's already time to make my 1st Helena Blog Book. Where does time fly?

Sign from God

I have a great life! I really do. I am blessed more than any whiny person ever should be. But...
sometimes I get discouraged. (Like the last 12 months or so) In comparison to what other may be going through- my trials probably seem unimportant and insignificant. But they are real for me.
The last week has been especially hard for me. I think it's a touch of the Winter Blues but it makes everything else seem less-bearable somehow.
*It probably started because of the stinkin' cold and snowy weather. It has been 14 days since we have seen any progress on our house building process. I'm so tired of this tiny apartment, not being able to have ANY people over (it's so tiny in here), and not being crafty. I'm a slug! I feel like living situations have just been so against me for the last couple years. Even after much prayer and good feelings of where to go and what to do-- it feels like as soon as we move ahead with the plans- things go wrong. I'm so frustrated!!!
*Then I happened to "Blog-Stalk" a couple cancer ladies. The ones I came across just happened to be 2 ladies who had breast cancer several years ago. They did all they could to fight it and were "cured". But now years later- it's back and fatal. They are just writing their story until one day- they'll just be dead. I try hard to not think about things like that because the truth is: as a cancer survivor, that's the harsh reality. Plus I am dealing with a health issue right now that may or may not be related. I hate that about cancer. It thwarts your mind-process about any kinds of health issues. I SOOO don't want it to run my life. Grrrr!
*Not to mention that the Muffler fell off the Explorer this weekend, so now we have 2 cars that are falling apart at the exact time that all our money is being sucked into a hole (literally) in Montana City. Stupid cars!!
*Being in a new city has been both an Adventure and a challenge. I have been missing my Fargo Sisters lately. My old friends threw a "Downtown Abbey" Party this last week. They dressed up in pearls and fancy hats. They ate tiny, yummy "hors d'oeuvres" (pronounced or-DURV). And maybe watched some episodes? Whatever they did- they were together and it looked so fun! Don't get me wrong- I actually love to hear them getting together. It just made me sad I wasn't there.
*That brings me to my friend situation here. There are some amazing women here in Helena. I mean A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.!! I never thought I would find another place like Fargo- but I have to admit- this is pretty darn close. However, I am new. I don't have history with these ladies. I've never adopted a baby or have done any kind of foster care. I'm not a marathon runner.;) It comes down to the fact that I haven't quite found a groove. And I have been too lazy to really put myself out there and do things. [ok- I'll eat those words in a second but that's how I was feeling this morning]
*Then to top it off- I had one of those "Mother of the Year", "Get-the-kids-off-to-School Monster" mornings. I'm sure they were ecstatic to spend the day away from me today. Because of our hectic morning, I came home a different direction from dropping the kids off. My path took me by the United Methodist Church and it's sign with their weekly thought. In a minute you will see why I call it my "sign from God":

I saw the sign and jokingly choked on the words. I know them to be true more than anyone.
HOWEVER...
that did not persuade me to give up my grand plans to wallow in self pity and ignore the world by crawling back in bed, taking a nap and perhaps indulging in a couple episodes of Hart of Dixie. LOL
BUT...
God had different plans. As soon as I walked in the door, I got a text from a friend inviting our family over for FHE and dinner tonight. They said we could bring dessert. Dang! I need to do some shopping. My plans to lock myself away for the entire day had been thwarted. But I do love to get together with people so I decided to wallow the day away and then suck it up for the evening.
THEN...
All comfy and tucked into bed- my phone rang. It was Shay. NO! Not me- I wasn't calling myself. That would be weird. But- it was the other Shay. She said she knew this was strange but she was planning to clean out her closets today when I popped into her mind. She was wondering if I'd be interested in coming over and helping her. Dang! Dang! I almost cried. How could she possibly know I needed her today?
SIDENOTE...
For those who know me well- I am a CLOSET CLEANER. I can have a messy house as long as my closets are cleaned, organized and possibly labeled. LOL I know it's weird but I LOVE a clean closet.
SO... 
I dragged myself out of bed- and went over to "help someone solve their problem". I had a blast! It was exactly what I needed.
Man! Even when I do my best to ignore Him (and He has to resort to writing me a note on the side of the road)- God loves me!
Thanks to God for my sign and to the Binghams and Shay for helping me to forget my problems and showing me God's love today. XOXO







P.S.
Back in Fargo whenever I was sad I used to make lists of things I was grateful for. It helped me get a little perspective. [Here's where I eat my words from earlier about Helena friends.] I wanted to write down proof that I have amazing friends. So here's my proof:
* I've been able to plan fun parties for the Relief Society sisters
* I had my organizing date with Shay
* I have bi-weekly lunches with the work ladies- Allie and Lindsey
* We do almost weekly double dates with the Paynes
* I went Inspiration Shopping with Brenda
* Heidi and I text weekly to make plans for get-togethers
* I like to send Luv Texts to some of the amazing ladies I know
*We've had Family Dinner Dates with the Tubbs and the Binghams
* I'm going deal shopping with Heather
* We are planning dinner deal dates with the Andersons

See, Shay! You do have friends! You Silly girl!
I just LOVE these people!

Oregon Trail Journal

Liberty has a project she's working on at school. They are doing the Oregon Trail Experience and they have to have a journal to write down their journey. She came up with an idea she wanted. We worked a little Seamons girl magic and whoala-- an AWESOME, Old-looking, Oregon Trail Journal. SO cool!

LuLaRoe Skirts

Liberty and I got invited to a LuLaRoe Party tonight. It's like a Tupperware Party except with skirts, dresses and leggings. The Open House was right after a YW activity so we brought Jenna with us. We tried on things for over an hour. It was such fun stuff. (except the leggings just made us laugh!) We all spent way more than we want to admit but we look so darn cute!!!
Here's some of the leggings. Gross but so funny!

Here we are with the other Shay showing off our new outfits at Church. See? We are so CUTE!!!

Names in the Snow

Brett and the little girls went out to play in the snow for a while today. They wrote names in the snow. SNOW cool!

Glory spelled her name

Victoria spelled DADDY

VolleyBall Date

We had a group date again to play Volleyball. I'm not a huge Volleyball fan but I LOVE these people! So fun!

Webelo Inventor at the Blue & Gold Banquet

Justice had his Blue & Gold Banquet tonight. They did an Inventors Convention. Last week, each boy was given a bag of the same items. Using only glue, they had to invent something with the items they were given. Justice made a fort with a pulley system. It's a prototype of what he wants in his fort we build on Faith Lane. It turned out pretty cool! He was awarded the "Most useful" Award.

For dinner, they served Hawaiian Haystacks so that everyone could "invent" their own dinner. They also served a birthday cake to celebrate the Scouting Program. The boys seemed to have a great time!

Justice has finally earned his Webelos Badge. Not sure what happened to the last year but we haven't done as much as we should have been with the Scouting Program. We are proud of the work he has done. In Pack Meetings here- they have a "CHEER" box. They pick how everyone will cheer for their accomplishments. Justice was a "Pat on the Back" Cheer. Way to go, Buddy!

P.S. Justice really wants his Arrow of Light so we have some major work ahead of us in the next 2 months.

We also practiced Chariot Races. In March, the Cub Scout troops get together and have Chariot Races. It was pretty intense and actually pretty brutal on the Seamons family. (poor Victoria and Glory) But it was way fun to watch!