The Orton Family: May 2009

Sunday, May 31, 2009

FHE

We usually do our Family Home evening on Sundays since I usually attend school Monday evenings. For Family Home evening today, We made a new assignment chart. It is simple and it will work for now. We discussed our summer plans and the things we need to accomplish and maintain since kids get the impression that vacation means just sitting around doing nothing productive. I made assignment charts for the kids to work on and I incorporated tithing in them. At the end of every week, Bryan and I will give the kids a $1.00.allowance if they meet their assignments. This will remind them to pay their tithing every week, even if it is just a dime. One of our goals is to learn all 13 articles of faith by August, prior to Asha's baptism. In primary, we will have an Ice-cream social for the kids who learn them all. Bryan gave us the lesson today and he shared the message he received at church today during the combined meeting. I have attached a small video of the message he shared. It really touched our hearts and made us realize the importance of keeping our minds and hearts open to the spirit and of the importance of writing in our journals.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

3 month Update :)

Well, We have sure been absent from the Internet for a while. Many wonderful things have happened to us in the past few months and we cannot but express gratitude to our Creator for all of our many blessings. Bryan is employed after a few days with out a job and many worries. Thank you Bryan for your hard work and for providing our family with everything we need. Heavenly Father is so mindful of our needs. We are grateful for that. As for me, I have been called to serve as 1st counselor in the Primary presidency for 1st ward. I Am truly enjoying the spirit of those beautiful children. They teach us so much :) I have been serving since April and this month, I have been in charge of Sharing time. I have had to rely on the spirit a lot to know and understand the needs of the children I serve, so I can deliver the message the lord wants me to teach. This month's theme is "Baptism and confirmation are ordinances that bless my family" I am specially thankful to teach on this subject as Asha is preparing to make this sacred covenant in August. Asha and Bryce are also very happy to have me in Primary. On Another note, I have also been working hard in school. After 2 long years of prerequisite classes, I finally got my acceptance letter into the RN program at BC. Two days ago, (May 28th 2009), I also took and passed the TEAS test, a 4 hour exam and one of the requirements to enter the RN program. I spent a whole month studying for it along with prayer and it finally happened. I'm officially In!!! I cannot express how happy I am to take on Nursing school! I had been waiting for this for a long time. Among our many joys, we are also happy to announce Bryce's graduation from Kindergarten! He worked so hard this year and learned so many things. Now he can read and write simple sentences, add and subtract, and count by 2's, 5's, and 10's to 100. He was awarded a writing recognition by his teacher at the end of the year.We are so proud of you Bryce!!! keep working hard. Asha on the other hand, finished 2nd grade and got a recognition award in reading. You will always see that child with a book. This year, she is concentrating on reading the scriptures in preparation for her upcoming baptism. She is so excited!!! Every year as her birthday approaches, all she talks about is her party but this year, all she talks about is her baptism. We are so proud of you Asha for your great desire. I am just happy I get to be In Primary and take a greater part in helping her prepare for this special day. The other day, I put together a baptism book for her to help her prepare to make that covenant and to record her memories of the special event. It has been 3 very special past months. Our plans for this summer, include taking a camping trip sometime before the summer's over. My Parents will also be coming from Texas in August for Asha's birthday and baptism. it will be so fun! This summer, I am also Applying for US citizenship and making tons of preparations for Nursing school. I'm excited :)
Now, Some pictures of our adventures in the past few months: