Little People Scripture Stories

Our kids' favorite way to learn scripture stories is acting them out with the Little People. Daddy may have had a little too much fun with our Sunday lesson today.

DANIEL AND THE LIONS' DEN

 Daniel was a good man and a prophet of God. When some conniving courtesans convinced the king to make a law against praying to God, Daniel refused to stop praying. The penalty was death. The king was forced to enforce the law, so he had to send Daniel to the lions' den.

 The king was very sad, because Daniel was his friend. The next morning, the king went to the lions' den to see if Daniel was still alive. Miraculously, the Lord caused the lions to be nice, and they didn't eat Daniel. He was alive! The king was so happy for Daniel. He was angry at those courtesans for changing the law, and he sent them to the lions' den instead.

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT

 Jesus preached to many people and taught them all about his mission on the earth and the purpose of life. He taught the people that they should be nice and loving to all people, to be patient and meek, and to love God and their neighbors.

JESUS AND HIS APOSTLES AFTER HIS RESURRECTION

After Jesus was resurrected, he came to visit his apostles many times. He spent time on the shores of there Sea of Galilee with Peter, James, and John. There, he ate fish and bread with them, and he taught them how to be missionaries to all the world.

NOAH'S ARK

 Noah was a prophet of God. During his life, the people became very wicked, forgot the Lord, and stopped keeping the commandments. They were so bad that God commanded Noah to build a ship, called an "ark," to save his family and as many animals as possible. God would make it rain so much that it would flood the earth and wash away all of the wicked people so that Noah could start things over again.

 The Lord showed Noah exactly how to build the ark. Noah's wife, as well as his sons, helped to build it. It was very big.

 When they were done building the ark, the Lord commanded the animals to go into the ark, two by two, one male and one female of every kind of animal. Then it rained for 40 days and nights, and Noah and his family were protected.

MOSES AND HIS PEOPLE CROSS THE RED SEA

 When Moses led his people to the edge of the Red Sea, Pharaoh and his army were coming after them. Moses parted the waters of the Red Sea, and his people crossed through on dry ground to escape Pharaoh's army. It was a miracle.

 Pharaoh's army followed the people of Moses into the Red Sea, and the waters crashed down on them and drowned the army.

NEPHI AND THE BRASS PLATES

 While Lehi's family journeyed in the desert, the Lord commanded him in a dream to send his sons back to Jerusalem to get the brass plates - the record of the Jews - from Laban. When he awoke in the morning, Lehi told his sons to go back. Laman and Lemuel, the older brothers, thought this was too hard. Nephi was excited to do the Lord's will, because he knew that the Lord would provide a way.

 So, Lehi's sons journeyed through the desert back to Jerusalem.

The other brothers hid outside the city while Laman went to Laban's house and asked to have the brass plates. Laban was a ruler of Jerusalem, and he was not a good man.

 Laban was angry when Laman asked him for the brass plates.

 Laban chased Laman away and sent his guards to kill him. Laman escaped out of the city. He was not happy that Laban tried to kill him, and he didn't want to try and get the brass plates anymore.

 Nephi told his brothers that they shouldn't go back to the tent of their father without doing what the Lord commanded. He volunteered to go into Jerusalem at night. While he was walking in the city that night, he found Laban drunk and lying on the ground. The Lord told him to take Laban's sword and kill him. Nephi was afraid, but he did what the Lord told him to do. Then he dressed in Laban's clothes so no one would recognize him.

 Nephi went to Laban's house, and he asked Laban's servant to give him the brass plates. 

 The servant, whose name was Zoram, followed Nephi outside of the city. Nephi was still disguised as Laban, so the servant didn't know that Nephi was going to see his brothers. His brothers saw a man dressed as Laban, so they were scared and were about to run away.

 Nephi called to them so they would know it was him. Then Zoram became scared, but Nephi tackled him and invited him to come with them back to live in the desert. Zoram agreed to come with them.

When they arrived back at their home in the desert, Lehi and Sariah were so happy to see them. They had been scared that their sons had been gone so long. Now they were back together again, and they had the brass plates so that they and their children and grandchildren would have the gospel.

Kate: 1 year old!

Where did that itty bitty baby go? Our little Kate is 1!

At 1 year old, Kate is 28 1/2 inches long and 19 pounds 10 ounces. That puts her at the 45th percentile for both height and weight. Her doctor has declared her completely caught up from her tiny start. 

•  She has just enough hair for a little bow!

 Working on her balance

• Kate has learned to play the "cover and uncover your mouth and say awawawawa game. She thinks it is hilarious.
• Kate is a very happy girl. She never sleeps, but she is joyful during the day. Her siblings can always make her giggle. She does get in the occasional mood where not even the funniest joke or best tickle can make her crack a smile. 
• She is a fully mobile menace. Nothing within her reach is safe. Cabinet doors are made for opening. (So are toilets, which means that all bathroom doors must be closed)
• She apparently heard the threat that Mommy was going to start weaning her, because she has expressed a sudden love for nursing and snuggling.

•  Kate got to take a trip to Seattle with us this month and finally meet Aunt Jehana & her cousins. She also got to finally meet Nana and Papa this month. I'm bad at pictures.

•  We gave her a lemon, anticipating some funny faces. She thought it was delicious. We were disappointed.

•  Kate's favorite thing is playing with any blanket or article of clothing left on the floor. She instantly tries to put it over her head or around her neck. She put this cardigan over her head and walked all over the room. 

•  Leaf raking at Grandma's house! We kept Kate on the porch and away from her 5 crazy leaf-raking siblings and cousins.

•  Safe with Grandma & Aunt Katy

•  Kate squeezed as many milestones as possible into the last week before her first birthday. We tried to get her to walk for weeks (she was standing without any problem). One day, she just strolled across the whole kitchen. She almost always carries something while walking. Apparently it feels like a handle.
• She also said her first two words that week: "no" and "yum yum". She definitely knows what "no" means. She walks around all day doing naughty things and saying "no!". 
• To top it off, she added her first two teeth the next day.

•  So proud of her new skill and ready to get into trouble!

•  We bundled up one morning so Mommy could go for a run. It took so long to get everyone ready that Mommy may not be going on many more runs this season. 

•  Trip to the pumpkin patch. It was freezing, but Kate was happy. She loved the goats and the corn pit.

•  Cutest little pumpkin!

•  Kate had her first Halloween, and her cuteness as Anna was almost too much to handle. Her hair almost looks red in these pictures.

•  This clothes-loving girl thinks laundry day is the best time of the week. Nothing makes her happier than digging through a whole basket of clean (or dirty) laundry.

 Since Kate and Sarah almost share a birthday, we had one big party for them at Grandma's house on Sarah's birthday. It was a unicorn party! Kate wore the same outfit for her first birthday party that I wore and Sarah wore at our first birthday parties. Cute! Since Kate loves clothes and doesn't need any toys, I made her some new dresses for her birthday. She loved them and carried one of them around all evening.

•  Grandma and cousin Anne made an amazing unicorn cake!

•  Birthday cake! She got a little messy, but if you really want to see a mess, you should hand the girl some spaghetti. Much more messy.

•  The next day was Kate's actual birthday, and we celebrated with one of her favorite activities: a trip to the library! Kate loves dancing to the songs at story time, eating the cookies, playing with the bead toys, and pulling as many books off of the shelves as possible.

 Followed by another favorite activity: bubble bath!

Nana gave her a tool box for her birthday. Perfect for carrying around!

Kate entered our lives with a bang last year, and we can't imagine our family without her. She brings all of us so much joy. Happy birthday, Kate!

Sarah: 6 Years Old

Princess Sarah is 6 years old! Here's a little bit about Sarah at age 6:

• Life is basically one big dance show. Sarah is always dancing. She started taking ballet classes this summer, which she was super excited about. Sarah loves coming to choir practice on Sundays so she can dance in the back of the room while we sing.
• Finished pre-school and started kindergarten at Treasure Valley Classical Academy. Her teacher is Mrs. Frederick. She loves to learn and has started reading. She also loves learning about math. Her favorite part of the school day is riding the bus. 
• She is a great big sister and loves taking care of Kate as well as her baby dolls and animals. If Chris is in a compliant mood, she also loves bossing him around. Their favorite game to play is doctor.
• Sarah is quite the artist. She loves to draw, paint, and make things from clay. She is getting better all the time. Her favorite things to draw lately are unicorns, horses, and birds. 
• Still Daddy's girl. This year, Sarah and Daddy have been working on creating an illustrated book of the Lassie stories he tells her at bedtime. Daddy is writing the stories and Sarah is drawing the illustrations.
• Her best friends are Lucy Snow and Jacob Hoyt.
• Sarah is still our silly, strong-willed, crazy girl, but she has calmed down a lot, especially since starting school. It is fun (and a little sad) to see her growing and changing into a big girl. We love you, Sarah!

This is what most of Sarah's photoshoot actually looked like: 

A few moments from this year:

 This girl was SO excited to get a baby sister. They are one day away from being birthday twins. She could hardly stand it when she had to wait a week after Kate was born to meet her.

 Sarah went through a phase this year where she got very shy in front of people. During her pre-school Christmas program, she wouldn't sing and kept looking at the floor. Eventually, she just laid down on the stage.

 This is the result of Daddy dressing Sarah for church. A unicorn. Chris was wearing a Christmas elf outfit.

 Matching sister outfits for Easter

 Looking fancy after a trip to the hairdresser. She always giggles when she gets her hair straightened because she thinks she looks silly.

 Sarah got to go fishing with Daddy and Grandpa several times this summer, and she loved it. They caught several fish, and Sarah was happy to help gut, cook, and eat them.

 Open house day at school

 Sarah's signature curls have relaxes a lot this year, but she still has amazing morning hair.

 Family photo 2019

 Leaves at Grandma's

 Playing in the leaves at the Columbia River Temple

 Elsa for Halloween

 Looking adorable with Anna and Kristoff

 Sarah and Kate had an amazing unicorn birthday party at Grandma's house. We started with unicorn lemonade

 Anne and Grandma made a beautiful rainbow unicorn cake.

 Anne spent days making unicorn treats for the party!

 Unicorn bark

Unicorn fluff

 Sarah was very excited about her light-up, dancing unicorn from Grandma and her sequin flamingo from us. She also got a kit to make her very own polymer clay creations. As usual, every gift was the most exciting thing she had ever received.

Happy birthday, Sarah!