Saturday, January 30, 2010

February Relief Society Activity

Come share a "heart" warming crockpot dinner, then have a nice "heart to heart" with your fellow Relief Society sisters! Please bring either a crockpot meal, side dish, or rolls to share and be ready to have some fun! ~nursery provided~

Wed. Feb 10th at 6:30pm

February Visiting Teaching Message

This month's visiting teaching message focuses on Managing Resources Wisely and Staying Out of Debt.

"When we go into debt, we give away some of our precious, priceless agency and place ourselves in self-imposed servitude. We obligate our time, energy, and means to repay what we have borrowed—resources that could have been used to help ourselves, our families, and others. . . .
"To pay our debts now and to avoid future debt require us to exercise faith in the Savior—not just to do better but to be better. It takes great faith to utter those simple words, 'We can't afford it.' It takes faith to trust that life will be better as we sacrifice our wants in order to meet our own and others' needs."
Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Announcing......A new member in the McDonald Family!!




Kira Svetlana McDonald!!!
They granted our adoption, (admit it, you guys were all worried) so she is now our little girl!!
They could not, however, waive the 10 day waiting period. So Chris will return to CA to take care of Maddie & Aislyn waiting at home, while I stay here and get to know Kira better.

The director at her orphanage said that we can come tomorrow and bring Kira here to our hotel while we wait the 10 days since it's a 4 hour round trip drive to see her AND to try and keep her from getting sick again from the other kiddos there.
She is still around 11 lbs ( about the size of a 3 month old), but even though she does not sit yet, she is close to scooting ( yay, a mobile baby :).

She laughs a lot more, but will need to get used to close contact since she is more used to being by herself.

So, there you have it.... Our new girl.

By the time I get home with her, it will have been 2years since started our journey....With a big happy ending!!!
Thank you to everyone for your support and prayers and feel free to pass this great news on!!
Love,
Emily & Chris

Want to learn Self Defense?

Hi I am passing the word on in our community, about a women's self-defense class.
It is at Master Lee's Kung-Fu-San-Soo studio/769-2900, in Beaumont, near Food-4-Less.

It will be on the last Thursday night of each month.
7:15 pm. (About 1 hour.)
Fee: $5 January class: This Thursday, 1/28.
February: Thursday, 2/25.
March: Thursday, 3/25.

I am excited Lee Merrill is having this class for women!Women and girls of all ages are welcome.If you are interested in self-defense, come. "It is never wasted time to care to prepare!"

Sunday, January 3, 2010

January Calendar

1/7 Activity Days (8-11 year old girls) 4:30-5:30 at the church

1/13 Relief Society Activity 7PM

1/16 Preparedness Expo 9am-Noon at Stake Center

1/17 Stake Conference

1/21 Ward Temple Day

1/21 Activity Days (8-11 year old girls)-4:30-5:30 at the church

1/26 TLC (Temple, lunch, chat) 9:30am

January Visiting Teaching Message

Becoming Self-Reliant
" 'Self-reliance means using all of our blessings from Heavenly Father to care for ourselves and our families and to find solutions for our own problems.' Each of us has a responsibility to try to avoid problems before they happen and to learn to overcome challenges when they occur. . . .
"How do we become self-reliant? We become self-reliant through obtaining sufficient knowledge, education, and literacy; by managing money and resources wisely, being spiritually strong, preparing for emergencies and eventualities; and by having physical health and social and emotional well-being."

Julie B. Beck, Relief Society general president