Family Home Evening weenie roast.

Last Monday we decided it would be fun to try out the fire pit in the backyard for family home evening. This really is such a beautiful home we have to live in right now. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. It was so peaceful outside...we could hear tons of frogs croaking and hundreds of birds chirping in the trees. The back yard is flooded now into a big pond full of geese and ducks. The only creature we feel we could really live without is the mosquitos! Luckily mosquitos don't really like smoke, so it wasn't a problem that night. Tonight as I am working on updating my blog and am waiting for pictures to upload, I am reading the talk "Forget Me Not," by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. I remember sitting in the chapel in Williston, North Dakota, last September and listening to President Uchtdorf as he gave this amazing, uplifting, and inspiring talk. As I think of our simple family home evening with our two little children gathered around the campfire, listening to their mom and dad bear testimony of Joseph Smith and the restoration of the church, I am reminded of a part of President Uchtdorf's talk. The first thing he talks about is, "forget not to be patient with yourself." It reads, "Dear sisters, many of you are endlessly compassionate and patient with the weaknesses of others. Please remember also to be compassionate and patient with yourself. In the meantime, be thankful for all the small successes in your home, your family relationships, your education and livelihood, your Church participation and personal improvement. Like the forget-me-nots, these successes may seem tiny to you and they may go unnoticed by others, but God notices them and they are not small to Him. If you consider success to be only the most perfect rose or dazzling orchid, you may miss some of life's sweetest experiences. For example, insisting that you have a picture-perfect family home evening each week-even though doing so makes you and everyone around you miserable-may not be the best choice. Instead, ask yourself, "What could we do as a family that would be enjoyable and spiritual and bring us closer together?" That family home evening-though it may be modest in scope and execution-may have far more positive long term results. Our journey toward perfection is long, but we can find wonder and delight in even the tiniest steps in that journey." So, for today, I am going to delight in that one picture perfect, simple, family home evening we had gathered around the campfire and try to get over the fact that until my sweet daughter mentioned it tonight...I had totally forgotten that yesterday was Monday, family night.