Rasmania 102

 I have a scathingly brilliant idea.*  I know many of us are practicing our musical instruments, some of us are artists, and there are even some gymnasts and dancers, etc.  I think we should have talent shows when we get together as a family.  Maybe the first time we could let the kids perform or share something they have been working on, and the next time focus on the adults--or we could do a music talent show one week, and the next time we get together vary it up with art or something.  What do you all think?   Dad and I had a relaxing weekend at the cabin. It's very cold up there, but we dress warm and go on walks, and we work on projects.  Dad even takes his guitar so he can practice.   Because it's so cold, hot baths are very tempting.  Without me knowing, dad began filling up the tub while we were watching a program on TV.  After a bit, he disappeared.  Finally, I went to find what he was doing.  I walked into a bathroom full of very wet towels on the floor.  He was quiet

This week I studied hours and hours in preparation to teach the gospel doctrine class which is my new calling.  This is the reason I'm excited about my calling--it will be great incentive for me to study more and spend more time in the scriptures.  I share the calling with 6 others, so I'll only get to teach every 4-6 weeks. Today's lesson was on the birth of the Savior and included some of the most familiar verses of scripture in the New Testament.  Even though I could almost recite some of these verses by heart, I learned a lot.  I centered the lesson on these topics: The cost and blessings of discipleship, prophecy and revelation, worshipping God, and witnesses.  Maybe I shouldn't have put witnesses last because we didn't get that far.  I had great class participation and the time went fast. While studying I came across a great article on the witnesses of the birth of Christ.   Special Witnesses of the Birth of Christ .   During the week I had thought about Herod

  Christine turned 60 on January 2nd.  Steve (who turned 60 in December) threw a party to celebrate.  We all brought our memories--one memory per decade--to share about Christine.  She is much loved by her family and by Steve's family.  A great woman who has sacrificed a lot to bring 10 children into a world that has mostly rejected having more than one or two.  It was a great evening.  After most of Steve's family left, the Cook's sat down to reminisce and enjoy each other's company.  It was a snowy evening, so Dave and Becky made a wise decision and stayed home.  Of course, we also missed Bruce, and Glenn who was hopefully celebrating his birthday, too as he shares the day with Christine. Nan and Bruce Char and Phil (sorry Phil, this is not the best picture).                                           James;                              Roy with some Christensens in the background                                                                                         

We flew to Georgia 2 days after Christmas to visit with the rest of our family in Augusta.  We were a little worried about traveling, since we'd been hearing horror stories on the news.  On Monday night we saw that our plane was already going to be a few minutes delayed, and the next morning the delay had increased to nearly an hour.  That did give us some concern because of the connecting flight, but we were able to adjust the time we left for the airport so there was no inconvenience up front.  Sure enough, however, we missed the connecting flight, so then we had to decide what our options were.  We chose the option to wait for the next flight which was nearly 6 hours later (11:30 pm), and then we settled down to wait.  Since we were on Utah time, it wasn't too terrible, but Elise had to stay up in order to pick us up at the Augusta airport.  We arrived there at approximately 12:30.  By the time we got our bags, met Elise and made the drive to the Jackson home it was about 1: