Give Thanks

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I’m sure most people have good memories of the Thanksgiving holiday and how they spent it with family. Marie Ricks is no exception, and she shares with us her memories of “Thanksgiving at Aunt Carrie’s.” In this article, she pays homage to her favorite aunt, and credits her for her desire to become more organized later on in life. It’s a good side effect of family gatherings that we can have someone we are related to inspire us to be better. Marie blogs at House of Order and teaches organization principles in personal, professional, and community settings.

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At About.com, Rachel Brunner posted her article “Eleven Ways to Show Thanksgiving to God.” We may feel the need to be grateful, but sometimes we should be reminded of how to do it right. She tells us: “One of the great commandments is to give thanksgiving to God for all He has done for us. Christ Himself was the perfect example of obeying this commandment.”

And from The Idea Room, contributor Amy posted this great idea to do with your family for Thanksgiving, a “Thankful Bucket.” Amy shares: “Each year my mom gives each of her children and their families a Thanksgiving Bucket. Then, after our Thanksgiving dinner, we take turns sharing what we have included in our buckets.” Imagine doing this with your kids, and how much more excited they would be about the holiday.

To view a copy of the Neighborhood News for Wednesday, 17 November, please click here.

Fun Preparations

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At House of Order, contributor Ardeth Haskin wrote her article “Fun for Holiday Preparation.” She’s sharing with us one of her family’s traditions for the holidays. She says: “As the kids were growing up we started a tradition in our family, “The Auction.” Starting the day after Halloween, the kids would start earning money for the Auction. It was fake money and had to be earned by doing household chores.”




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 Tasha, from Creation Corner is really taken by pumpkins. She’s come up with a bunch of different crafts to make pumpkins: wood, fabric, etc. She tells us: “I love seeing pumpkins in stores, on doorsteps, as decorations, in the pumpkin patches. I love to eat pumpkins...well, things with pumpkin in them.”







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 At Sugardoodle, they have a family night lesson entitled “Building Our Family Through Home Evenings.” They tell us that with this lesson, you can help family members desire to be an eternal family, and help them to decide how they can use family home evenings to achieve that goal, and have fun in the process.


As usual, on Fridays Positive Music and Downloads offers Free Download Friday. To enjoy this week's download, please click here.

Have a great time this weekend; we hope you enjoy it with your family. Please send us a few words in the comments section; we'll love to hear from you.

To view a copy of the Neighborhood News for Friday, 12 November, please click here.

Personal Touch

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In our Personal Touch with Rebecca Cressman segment, she interviews Tyler and Marie Ricks. Tyler M Ricks graduated from American Fork High School in 2004 as Valedictorian. He had obtained a 3.989 GPA and was president of the school’s Chess Club, Math Club, and LD debate team. During his school career, Tyler also passed nine AP (Advanced Placement) tests in U.S. history, physics, macroeconomics, calculus, English literature, microeconomics, statistics, biology, and art history. He received a 34 on the ACT. Marie Ricks is Tyler’s mother and a nationally recognized author, TV/radio guest, and motivational speaker. Marie teaches organization principles in personal, professional, and community settings. This year, Tyler and his mother, Marie combined their skills and co-authored the book “Be Successful in School- A Student’s Guide for Junior High and High School” with ideas, strategies, and encouragement to help every teen succeed in the classroom.

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Today is the day: back to school in this part of the woods. We’re all excited about the new school year and have great expectations about what’s coming. Are our children excited, afraid, nervous, stressed out, or all of the above? Our contributor Russ Beck, from ‘On the Couch,’ comments on all the feelings our kids might be going through. He says: “Being so far removed from the rigors of attending school, you would think it would play a small role in my life but that is not the case. During times of stress I still dream about being late for a class and running around the halls trying to find the right classroom. This is just one indication of the impact school years can have on an individual.” Russ Beck is a licensed, professional counselor with a Master's degree from the University of Wyoming. He's been involved in doing family counseling for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for ten years. In his spare time, Russ writes fiction, non-fiction, and is an award winning photographer.

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In our Primary today, the members of the Bishopric came and did Sharing Time. Their theme was ‘Father’s Blessing,’ and they encouraged the children to ask their fathers, grandfathers, uncles or home teachers to give them one tonight, just before school starts. With this topic in mind, I introduce the talk “Priesthood, Keys, and the Power to Bless,” given by Elder Merrill J. Bateman, and published in the Liahona in November, 2003. In it, he talks about the importance of a Priesthood blessing, and shares with us a touching family experience that’s relatable to our times.

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Do you have some family traditions that you keep going at the start of every year? At our house it is the father’s blessing on the Sunday before school starts, and then on the day, I go with the kids to school and take pictures of them and their teachers – this one only applies to elementary though, because when my boy made it to Junior high he made it clear that I wasn’t allowed there with him. In any case, Lolli is a guest at ‘Modern Molly Mormon,’ but she has her own blog at ‘Better in Bulk.’ She comments on her tradition of taking pictures of her kids, especially with their backpacks on. I think it’s a cute idea. I remember doing that with my kids, and later scrapbooking a page around the backpack theme (Star Wars or Disney princesses).

 

To view a copy of the Neighborhood News for Monday, 23 August, please click  here.