Life of Christ Day 21

Day 21

In America  3 Days of Darkness

3 Nephi 8:20-10:9

“And it came to pass that there was thick darkness upon all the face of the land, insomuch that the inhabitants thereof who had not fallen could feel the vapor of darkness. . .it did last for the space of three days. . . and there was great mourning and howling and weeping among all the people continually. . .And there was a voice heard. . crying, O all ye that are spared. . .will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?”

Life of Christ Day 22

DAY 22

The Crucifixion

GAP #230

Jesus was taken to a hill called Golgotha or Calvary to be crucified.  Roman soldiers nailed His hands and feet to a cross and raised it between two thieves.

At noonday, about three hours after Jesus was nailed to the cross, darkness spread across the land.  About three hours later, Jesus cried, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).

Jesus had to know how the rest of humankind—us, all of us—would feel when we did commit such sins. For His Atonement to be infinite and eternal, He had to feel what it was like to die not only physically but spiritually, to sense what it was like to have the divine Spirit withdraw, leaving one feeling totally, abjectly, hopelessly alone. (Elder Holland “None were with Him” April 2009)

Having accomplished His mission, Jesus exclaimed, “It is finished” (John 19:30  “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.”

 

Life of Christ day 23

Day 23

Jesus visited In America  

GAP #

3 Ne 11:1-26

Day 23

After the darkness, people went to the temple and “were also conversing about this Jesus Christ, of whom the sign had been given concerning his death.”  They heard a voice from heaven and “it did pierce them. . to the center. . and did cause their hearts to burn.”

Jesus descended, wearing a white robe “and spake unto the people, saying:

Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.”

Life of Christ #24

Day 24

Mary and the Resurrected Lord

GAP #233

Mary Magdalene found Jesus’ tomb empty on the third day after His death.  She turned and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not recognize Him.  She thought he was the gardener or caretaker and said, “Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou has laid him, and I will take him away (John 20:15)

Jesus said “Mary.”  She turned and recognized Him and cried, “Rabboni” which means Master (John 20:16)

25 Days of Christ #25

My friend told me that every December she does a timeline of the life of Christ, complete with pictures.  I did it a couple years ago and it was really cool.  I learned/reviewed a lot.  I'm going to do it again this year, but a shorter version of each day.  I'm also going to go backwards so the story and picture of the Savior's birth will be on Christmas.   Just in case you are interested, I will post each day on the blog (hopefully)

Day 25

The Second Coming

GAP # 238

As Jesus Christ ascended into heaven at the completion of His mortal ministry, two angels declared to His Apostles, "This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11).

Jesus Christ ascended into heaven at the completion of His mortal ministry, two angels declared to His Apostles, "This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11)

 

Elle's 16th Birthday Ball

Long, long ago, (like last year or something) Elle wistfully said it'd be so cool to have a ball like in Jane Austen times.  I mentioned this to my BFF Kristen and we decided we must do it for Elle's sweet 16 birthday!

Kristen said she would sew dresses for all the girls because she believes all girls should have the chance to look beautiful without paying a fortune.  (she's so nice!)

A lady in the ward mentioned that she was a dancer so I asked if she'd be willing to teach a bunch of teenagers how to dance different dances from the 1800's.  She said if I could find videos of people doing those dances then she could probably figure it out.  She did.  It was pretty impressive watching her instruct the kids.

I asked another woman in the ward (who always has her hair done all fancy) if she'd be willing to do Elle's hair for the ball. 

I asked my friend Sara if we could use her ginormous backyard for the ball.  (Actually Kristen asked her because I was afraid to impose)

With all the pieces set in place I began to plan and prepare!

side note: During the party one of Elle's non-member friends asked  who made the dresses, did Elle's hair, taught the dances, and owned the home where the party was.  When Elle told her it was people from church, the friend said "Does everyone in your church have a special talent?!"  She also realized the she was one of two guests that was not LDS, but that's OK.


Thanks to my Silhouette I made props for the photo booth:

and cut shapes in paper bags for luminaries 

and cut out pillow boxes for the party favors

It says "I survived Elle's 16th birthday ball" get it?  Chocolate ball, gum ball. . .

Thankfully, Chris's parents happened to be in town to help.  Mike took pictures and moved tables and chairs while Nola and Chris cooked everything. (Except the desserts.  I did that--mini cheesecakes, mini pecan pie bites, and brownie bites)

Elle got her hair and makeup done:

She looked gorgeous and all grown up in the amazing dress Kristen made

Oh yeah, Kristen gathered all the guys too.  

Don't they look like handsome gentlemen ready to dance with the ladies?!

They were so great!

Elle and Connor

Aw!

Kristen sewed a lot of the guys shirts, vests, and cravats too!

I tell ya, that woman is TALENTED!

Sara and Me!

This is the best picture of the food, unfortunately because I forgot to take one of everything all laid out  :(

Croissant sandwiches, potato soup, mac and cheese, and veggies.

We borrowed lights from another friend and Chris strung them along the palm trees in back

We played reverse charades (it's like Head's Up) and Telestrations with animated movies as the subjects.

The woman in the hat taught them to dance.  

She was awesome.

video:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/I3XFKe8kcAwOOlss2

It was so fun!  It went just as well as I was hoping!  

I think all the kids had a great time too.

I had so much help and couldn't have done it without everyone!

Elle loved it and that made it all worth it

:)

Elle's 16th Birthday!

I cannot even believe Elle is 16 years old already! What the heck?!

Chris had passes to Universal so we spent the day doing all the fun things you do there

 

Like. . .

Harry Potter Land!



We got butter beer, which was delicious, and we rode the Harry Potter ride, which made me nauseous.  It was probably because I had to close my eyes during a good deal of it on account of all the spiders! EW!



We went out for sushi and Chris and Elle enjoyed raw fish and stinky seaweed while I enjoyed my bento box :)

Elle's second choice of birthday dessert was carrot cake, so we totally cheated and bought a big slice at the local pizza place.

It was scrummy!

Then presents:

Elephant earrings

And an elephant necklace!

And a NEW phone!

 

Elle is so glad that it takes seconds instead of minutes to load applications now!

It was a happy day indeed!