Liberty & her Friends

Liberty had a couple of her Beehive friends over today. They are super goofy and had a great time. They spent a lot of their time lounged across each other on the couch laughing. I love good friends!

January Decor

I know some people might think that I'm excessive or just plain crazy but....
I LOVE to decorate for the Holidays each month!!!! [Maybe not all the putting away of the previous month but once the new month is all up & fancy- I remember why I do it!]
I have been thoroughly enjoying the Christmas Clearance sales in order to deck my home out for January. I'm so in love with the fun things I have found! (and the fact I got a stealer deal on them!) Happy Day! So cute!! Plus I get so excited to pull out all my bins and see the treasures I have collected over the years. It's like Christmas all year long! ;)

Serving in the Church

My life just got a whole lot busier!

Last week, I was called to serve as the Primary President in our Ward at Church. It's the leader of the children from ages 18 months to 11 years old. I oversee 67 children and 15 teachers for Sunday School and combined Sunday meetings- called Primary. I oversee the weekday activities like Activity days for the girls and Scouts for the boys. I also participate in our Ward Council. Whew! That's only 3 sentences and I'm already tired! LOL January must be the month for meetings because I already have like 7 meetings I have been asked to attend on top of the Sunday meetings. Welcome to crazy town!

The Primary organization of the Church has the responsibility to help parents teach children the gospel of Jesus Christ and to prepare boys to receive the Aaronic Priesthood and girls to become righteous young women. Through Sunday meetings and weekday activities, the Primary auxiliary helps children learn and live gospel principles, prepare to make and keep baptismal covenants, and build strong, enduring testimonies.

I'm excited but a bit nervous about the responsibility. I have been serving as the Primary Secretary for the last couple months so I feel blessed to have got to know these sweet kids and the amazing teachers that are down there. (We meet in the basement of our building) Two counselors were called to serve with me and I am super excited for their sweet spirits and their dedication to take this task upon them as well.

This year our Primary Theme is I Know My Savior Lives. I love that The Church has everything so nice and organized. I love that all over the world each Sunday all the cute Primary kids are learning about the same things. It feels like you belong to something bigger than yourself. I love it! I pray that with our yearly theme and the monthly themes that I can strengthen my testimony and these sweet kids' testimonies of our Savior. What a big task!

This new change has made me contemplate those positions that I have had the opportunity to serve in during my years as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It's fun to look back at the different things that the Lord has called me to.
I don't remember if I did many callings before I got married???
But shortly after, Brett and I were called to serve as Primary teachers for the 10/11 years old. I remember being so nervous if I had to teach the lesson. I would basically just read it and hardly ever looked up from the manual. I even cried on days that Brett wasn't going to be there because I was so nervous!
I then had the opportunity to serve as a Counselor in the Young Women's organization. I loved the President and learned so much from her. I also had the chance to earn my medallion since that wasn't something I did in my youth. It was extra special for me.
My mind gets a little blurry but I'm pretty sure I served as a Ward Missionary in that ward as well. And somewhere I served on the Enrichment Committee too.
During the time that we lived with the Sadlers, I served as the Nursery Leader. It was chaotic but so much fun!
In Fargo, I had quite the variety of callings. I got to be a Teacher in Young W omens. I also taught the Gospel Principles Sunday School Class. By then, I had learned to not be so scared and actually started to enjoy to teach classes. I still like to be prepared but now know how to teach instead of read a lesson. So fun to see how the Lord helps you develop talents that you didn't even know you had!
At the age of 32, I was called as the Relief Society President. I had spent 9 months serving as the RS Secretary so I had been trained a little but it was still a daunting experience. I learned a lot those couple years. I learned that you just have to do YOUR best in whatever the Lord asks you to do. I developed a pretty thick skin during that time realizing that not everyone will like you and that's ok. We never know the whole story of why people say or act the way they do. We just need to know when to speak up and when to let it go! ;) And remember that the Lord will make your efforts mean something.
Brett got put into the Bishopric so they released me from RS pretty quickly. I then got to go play and teach the little ones in Nursery again. I loved it there and it was a great break from the adult drama. LOL
It seems I may be missing something in here but I then served as the Sunbeam Teacher. Oh man! Could I write a book about the craziness and fun and sweetness of a class full of 3 year olds! LOL During this time, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and went through Chemo. I lost all my hair and wore a variety of wigs. But those kids just loved me!!! One of my favorite stories was when we were doing a Primary Program Practice. I took all the little Sunbeams for a potty break. On our way back to the practice, I stopped to chat with someone. Most of the kids had made it back to their seats without me. Except this one little boy that tugged on the Presidents dress and said, "Can you help me find that teacher with the different hairs?" So cute! He knew who I was and love me all the same! Sweet boy!
Then our adventures in Montana began. I was quickly put in as a Relief Society Counselor. I served with a solid presidency that had been together a long time. I enjoyed the organization and friendship with these ladies. I still love it when our paths cross.
When we switched wards, Brett and I tried to stay under the radar for a bit. We volunteered several times to sub down in Primary. Well... it may have backfired on me. LOL Just kidding! After subbing for a few classes and Sharing Time- they put me in as the Primary Secretary. I loved that I got to learn all the names of the kids and teachers as I helped with the Primary Mail. (assignments for speaking in Sharing Time the next week) That's the second time that serving as secretary has been a training ground. Within 4 months, they called me to be the Primary President. (currently) Note to self--- beware of the Secretary position. LOL
It's fun to look back at all that I have learned as I have served the Lord. Pray that I learn the lessons He has in store for me now! ;)

Answer Your Text!!!!

We have completely enjoyed our Winter Break! We've got together with friends, kept up on some traditions, gone a few places, hung out as a family, played in the snow and slept in everyday (our favorite)!! Today was no exception.
Sometime around 10am, the Tubbs texted that they wanted to come play in the snow with us. Unfortunately, I did NOT respond. Actually Brett finally responded for me for the fact that my head was still on my pillow until past 11 o'clock. ;) Walt teased me later that he was totally irritated that I wasn't answering my text. {I've given his wife a hard time before about not responding to my text so he had grounds to growl at me} When I finally got up, the Tubbs came over to hangout for a bit.
Sadly, they got the "Real" Seamons Winter break disaster of a house. Sorry, Brenda! She spent a good chuck of time helping me tidy up a bit just so we could have somewhere to walk or sit that wasn't a total mess. Oops!
But at least the yard was perfect! Even Liberty got out for a bit of sledding fun! Always fun to be with friends! That is... as long as you answer your text!!! ;) LOL

Ice Skating with Jacksons

The Jackson invited us to come Ice Skating today. The weather was amazing and we had snow much fun! We love the warming house at Memorial Park for when you get too chilly. It was wonderful to play and visit with some friends. Thanks guys! We luv you all!

Indoor fun:

New Year's Day

Glory was so excited for New Years Day so that she could open up her Figi's. We also had got mini Sparkling Ciders to share in a toast for the new year!

Elders Quorum Sledding Party

The Elders Quorum threw a Sledding Party today on a hill behind the Church. It was freezin' cold but we had a blast! The only bummer was that the little creek at the bottom of the hill is NOT completely frozen over so it made for a muddy adventure! But it definitely gave a challenge to have fun but try and avoid it. Not everyone made it out unscathed. LOL Despite the cold day- they had a awesome turnout!

The hill was perfect for all ages. You can see it in the background here.

The other side was way steep:

Sledding Fun:

Snowboarders:

Crashes:

They also provided donuts & hot chocolate! Perfect to warm us up a bit!

Fife's New Year's Party!

Every other year, the Fifes throw a big New Years Eve Party. We adore their family and were so excited that they would include us in their fun tradition. We love a good party & even better when it's with people you love!

They had so many fun people come spend the evening with us!

Everyone brought treats to share. There was lots to eat. Yum!

They had tons of tables set up in their great room to eat and play games. There were so many different card games people could choose from. It was a hoot! It was so loud in there & laughter was everywhere!! Mostly due to the fact that there was like 5 different min-parties going on at the same time.

One of the games I played was Balderdash. It was one of the most hilarious things I've done all year. We laughed so hard- we almost cried! (See bottom left picture above) It's a game where you take turns getting a word that everyone has to define. Everyone was so good at making up meanings for the odd words. Some were sooo hilarious that you just had to vote for that meaning because it deserved it! LOL Here's some of our favorite definitions from our hilarious game of Balderdash:

There was also lots of other games being played during the night. Kids in other places of the house played video games and some hand games. We also played a large group game of Zip Bong! It was so funny & painful due to the way you had to hold your lips so your teeth wouldn't show. Fun times!:

Close to midnight, the Fifes filled up drinks and passed out noise makers. We did a countdown and let the chaos erupt! 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1... Happy New Year!!!

As it turned to 2015- we all shared some LOVE! The Fifes had passed out Hershey kisses to all those that didn't have someone to share a real kiss with. So cute! We watched fireworks in Hong Kong while we shared a few smooches. Others took a moment to love certain wet beverages! ;) LOL

What a perfect last night to 2014. Thanks so much to Steve & Kris for being our friends! We sure love you guys! Happy New Year Everyone!

Christmas Gifts and Winter Break

I felt like a little bit of a slacker not doing tons of big home-made Christmas gifts this year. One year, we were up to 32 plus 50 or so neighbor/friend gifts. It was a stressful but excited time of year when we did that!
This year, we mostly just sent out Christmas cards (which I guess was my home-made part for this year). But I did decide to ask a friend who knows a lot of the same people and do something small to let people know we were thinking of them. After I made up a cute tag and got the stuff, Amy came over one day to help me put our "home-made Christmas Fudge" together. I think they turned out way cute! We ended up making like 70 of them. Holy Crap! We really need to stop meeting people! LOL {Just Kidding... here's to meeting tons more friends in 2015!! ;)}

Other Christmas Vacation fun:
After Christmas- this Electronic Basketball Game was on clearance. Justice & Victoria put it together. The family has really liked it!

We also have collected quite a few Indoor Snowballs. It's so fun when an unplanned Snowball Fight erupts! :)

50th Anniversary

We used to "Home Teach" Dave & Marlene in our last ward. We got invited to attend their 50th Wedding Anniversary. It was a great night!

Paynes Sledding & Games

We had the Paynes over today to do some sledding & play some games. It's so fun to get together with friends. The Paynes have become like family to us up here and we love to get together with them. The sunset was beautiful!

The Paynes brought a new game over. It's tricky to learn the rules- it takes a great deal of strategy. But it was super fun!

We even had the pleasure of a Puppet show with concessions. LOL The girls are so creative and fun!

Thanks guys for hanging out with us!

Christmas Card 2014

Tubbs in the Snow

The Tubbs boys came to play in the snow for Christmas. They brought over one of their 4wheelers and their big black sled. The boys took turns pulling the rest of the kids around on the sleds. We also shared some hot chocolate and a little bit of lunch. We had a great time! 

Christmas Day Fun

It was a pretty laid back Christmas Day!  Much different than the chaos of my growing up years- a dozen places to visit and running from dawn to dusk. It's different but good!

After cleaning up the Present disaster, the kids enjoyed a special Treasure Hunt in their individual rooms for 15 one dollar bills. It was a  fun way to give them part of Grandpa Randy & Grammy's Christmas gift. They were so excited!

We had some friends over during the day. Then in the evening, Brett made us an amazing dinner! So good!

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas! 

Love from us to You!

A SUPER Christmas Morning

Everyone got up sometime before 9. I love that we all are night owls and enjoy sleeping in. All the kids came and snuggled in bed with us for a bit and then started our morning with our family prayer.

We had a great morning. Keeping the cost down this year, we bought a lot of gifts at the Thrift stores or making our own. Everyone was just as excited as uif we had spent tons of money. I love it! We even did a few prank gifts which turned out to be some of their favorites. LOL
"Santa" fancied up the little girls American Girl Dolls. Victoria & Glory had ratted their hair and left them naked for him. LOL It was tricky but they looked fabulous Christmas morning.

After presents, we made our Cinnamon Roll Wreath. So pretty!

I mentioned we made home-made gifts this year. It was really special to see people put a lot of thought and time into their gifts.




Victoria made several different coupons for a special Christmas Massage. SUPER thoughtful and creative!

Brett helped Justice make wooden swords for everyone. They are super neat! He decided to let us all paint them the way they want to so we'll do that as an activity together. Glory bought belts at the thrift store and made a scabbard for each person to slide onto the belt and hold the sword. 

{And remember- I made the PJ pants}

Brett made us all a Super Hero Shield out of wood and attached an individual Superhero that represented each of us. Super cool! Brett is a super handy man!

Last but NOT least by any means- Liberty and I put our efforts together for her to make the family an Avengers Monopoly Game. It is SUPER awesome! We got an old Monopoly board from the thrift store and redid the whole thing.We decided to do bunkers & secret bases instead of the houses and hotels but still use the pieces. We did RUN and take some money with you for the Go space. We included JARVIS and the ARC Reactor for the Utilities. We also did Training Fees and Super Hero Dues. We made the rest of board spaces into places that were associated with our favorite Avengers. {tricky to come up with actual places to use. LOL}  We made the Railroads into the Hero's Weapons. We changed the Community Chest to Nick Fury 's Briefcase. We changed all the cards to the Chance and the Briefcase piles. We came up with some great ones like "Two of your Bunkers blew up. Return them to the Bank. "Tony called. Visit Stark Towers." That was a Heck of a mission! Pay $50 to each player." "Tried to pick up the Tessaract. Bad Idea! Pay  $50." For the Free Parking Space we did "Conquer Evil & Eat Shawarma" which we think is hilarious! And it worked out perfect becuse when you land on it- you take all the money out of the middle. You know... to buy Shwarma. LOL For the Prison ones- we did an Asgardian Prison with a picture of Loki in there. And then a "Bad Guys always go to Prison" space. SUPER creative, are we!!

Here's a closeup of our finished board. SUPER amazing!!!

To a very Merry Home-made Christmas! Best one yet!

Wisemen Gifts

When we got back from our busy night, the Wisemen came to visit. 

I love that they all want to dress up as the wisemen and come bearing gifts. It's super sweet! Victoria even made herself a crown. It said Merry Christmas and had a baby Jesus drawn, cut out and glued to the top. What darling kids I have!

This year, we tried hard to keep the cost down and also make it a little more of a home-made Christmas. So for our PJ tradtion, I decided to get some Avernger fabric and make us all pj bottoms to match. They were way trickier than I had anticipated but so worth it!!! Everyone LOVED them! And we look SUPER awesome in them! Seamons Assemble! LOL

Before we sen the kids to bed- we also watched The Nativity video as a family. Perfect ending to our night in preparation for our Christmas day!