His Name Shall Be Called Wonderful...

For Unto Us a Child is Born ~ Simon Dewey

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining;

It is the night of the dear Savior's birth!

Long lay the world in sin and error pining,

Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices,

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!

O night divine, O night when Christ was born!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,

With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.

So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,

Here came the wise men from Orient land.

The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger,

In all our trials born to be our friend!

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!

O night divine, O night when Christ was born!

Truly He taught us to love one another;

His law is love and His Gospel is peace.

Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother

And in His Name all oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,

Let all within us praise His holy Name!

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!

O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
~ Adolphe Adam, 1847

A Worth of a Soul ~ Liz Lemon Swindle

To Be with God ~ Simon Dewey

Forgiven ~ Greg Olsen

It came upon the midnight clear, That glorious song of old,

From angels bending near the earth, To touch their harps of gold;

“Peace on the earth, good will to men, From Heaven’s all gracious King.”

The world in solemn stillness lay, To hear the angels sing.

Still through the cloven skies they come With peaceful wings unfurled,

And still their heavenly music floats O’er all the weary world;

Above its sad and lowly plains, They bend on hovering wing,

And ever over its Babel sounds The blessed angels sing.

Yet with the woes of sin and strife The world has suffered long;
Beneath the angel strain have rolled Two thousand years of wrong;
And man, at war with man, hears not The love-song which they bring;
O hush the noise, ye men of strife And hear the angels sing.

And ye, beneath life’s crushing load, Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way With painful steps and slow,
Look now! for glad and golden hours Come swiftly on the wing.
O rest beside the weary road, And hear the angels sing!

For lo! the days are hastening on, By prophet-bards foretold,
When with the ever circling years Comes round the age of gold;
When peace shall over all the earth Its ancient splendors fling,
And the whole world send back the song Which now the angels sing.
~ Edmund Sears, 1849

He is Risen ~ Walter Rane

I had a wonderful Christmas Eve surrounded by family and laughter. We attended a beautiful candlelight service and as we sang O Holy Night!, I was overcome with love and admiration for the Lord. It was beautiful and I wanted to share those lyrics with you. So many times on the radio I hear an edited version of this song which drives me crazy because it is so powerful. Also, I wanted to share some of my favorite paintings of LDS Artists that have captured something special that has left an impact on my heart. The second song, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, brings me back to mission days with the lovely Mota Nygren and the times we spent twirling around our appartment listening to this song. The lyrics are also moving and inspired.

So much has happened this year, which is another story, but I am so thankful for the faith that I have that has kept me inching along this winding road. I have had a very humbling year and when I look back at all those times that I truly felt alone, abandoned, forgotten, or misunderstood, I think of when the Saviour was on the earth and how everyone turned his back on Him. I know that He has experienced all that I have and I need to remind myself of that when these emotions become too much for me to stand up to. I know that the Lord has already conquered them and is standing next to them with His hand stretched out. It is my Christmas prayer that I have enough strength to remember this and actually act upon it!

Here I am celebrating the Saviour's birth and am so thankful for Him and His life, His atonement, His resurrection, His gift. It's so fun and wonderful to celebrate it, truly the best time of the year. It is just so human of me to forget the excitiment of His coming when I am down or struggling, as if my actions would say all other 364 days of the year "I do not believe in Christmas". I hope that I can be slightly more consistent with celebrating Christ all year long.

I pray that anyone who is reading this will be blessed, will feel the Lord's arms around you and that you will have the Peace that you are longing for in your life. Most of all, I pray that you feel loved and that you never feel alone, for the Lord is with you! Merry Christmas! Gezuar Krishtlindjet te gjitheve!

Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo

Once upon a time there were two girls that shared a room in a little cottage on a magical cove called Stillwater. Known locally as Tastebuds and Noodles, these girls would play in the cold pacific water and it felt like they had the whole ocean to themselves. Tide permitting, they would walk all over the smooth rocks looking at all the treasures the ocean would bring to them. These two girls even found a "hot tub" where they would sit and enjoy their private surroundings. It was in this magical cove on Pebble Beach that they embarked on kayaking adventures, would swim with the seals, play on the rocks and have lots of memorable photo shoots. It was around this time that Noodles finally opened her eyes to her prince charming while out on a "practice date". Tastebuds was very lucky to witness their relationship develop over time.... Prince charming was always doing things for Noodles and surprising her in fun ways. Like when she had told him that she wanted a garden of flowers and he snuck out in the middle of the night (off post) and planted an entire bed of flowers outside the front windows! It was a treat for all of us in this little cottage.

Tastebuds had her surprises as well, one morning she woke up to all these alarms going off. She looked over her bed and saw footprints leading to the door that lead to the ocean. She followed them and found her roommates gathered on the cliff watching the sunrise and having a birthday breakfast in her honor. It was a wonderful surprise. She felt very loved. She was deeply loved.

Noodles and her prince charming were engaged to be married and Tastebuds went out to see her be married in the castle (Salt Lake Temple). The ceremony was so elegant, just like a fairytale. One year later... little Penelope Joy joined the family. It was around this time that Tastebuds was crowned by Captian Double-A-ron to be Penelope's Fairygod Mother. Tastebuds did what she could to make her little fairygod daughter feel special and beautiful. Sending her pretty flowers and jewelry so she can play dress up. 2 years later, Harrison was born and Tastebuds was so excited to meet him too.

A wonderful relationship developed over the years and Tastebuds has grown to love her fairygod children dearly. She has visited them on many occasions and they share fun stories of building forts, sleeping in tents, having tea parties and playing pirates. One of Tastebuds favorite memories is when she was coming to visit after living overseas and when she arrived at the airport she came down the escalator and saw little Penelope holding a sign just for her. She was ecstatic! Recently, Tastebuds and Noodles were living together again and had such a wonderful time reminiscing their past, painting and decorating Noodles new house. Penelope would ask Tastebuds, "Can you stay forever like 5 times?" Harrison would shout, "Don't leave! Come back!" Tastebuds felt loved. She is loved.

It was during this last trip that it was decided that a photo shoot was needed to capture the Fairygod Mother moments. Noodles was naturally an amazing photographer and had great ideas for some fun photos. Penelope helped dress her Fairygod Mother and even let her borrow some of her favorite dress up clothes. They headed down to the water and let the magic begin. Take a look at that great day and an inside their beautiful story.

Ju Falenderoj

It's Thanksgiving Eve and I am wide awake after the nap I took on the couch while Maggie played with my hair. I love my family. My parents, siblings, cousins, Aunts and Uncles are so close to one another which is a result of my amazing Grandparent's commitment and love they have given all of us throughout our lives. They created a unity that I am incredibly thankful for... every day of the year.

Any gathering with my family is a sweet combination of laughing, crying, hugging, playing, laughing some more, reminiscing, sharing, serving, laughing, singing, and worshipping.... oh and laughing. Watch "I Love Lucy" once, and you have met my Grandma.... and perhaps a little insight into the life of my family. Throw that together with any classic musical you can think of: Music Man, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Oklahoma, Sound of Music, Annie Get Your Gun, or Calamity Jane (my personal favorite).... and you'll be prepared to break out into song with us. (Is Calamity's horse a palomino or a paint!?)

This is all coming from a mixture of a great conversation with my sisters and just being around my Aunt Andrea all day as we cooked for the big day tomorrow. We spent all day sharing recipes, doing some shopping, and preparing some dishes for tomorrow. I was on the Butternut Squash Soup, Mom's famous layered goodness, and a new desert: Pumpkin Mousse Pie. My Aunt covered the mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and brining the turkey. We paused and ate crab for dinner.... I wanted to pinch myself! Maggie was helping me in the kitchen, we had music playing, accompanied by Spencer's occasional terrets from the Shark's game in the other room. We sang, danced, laughed, and had a great time in the kitchen. In the middle of pureeing all my roasted veggies for the soup I got a great text message from Ashley that brought me to tears. I love my family, my friends, my life. 2010 has not been the most amazing year to date, but it might be one of the most life-changing... and I am so thankful for that.

My second wind is starting to fade so I will wrap it up with this last bit of what I am thankful for. I am thankful for my parents and their love and continuous devotion to each other throughout some incredibly difficult times. For my siblings that will truly drop anything for me, as I witnessed earlier this year during my lowest time of my life thus far, they came together and lifted me up. For my Aunts and cousins that stepped into perfect formation surrounding me and carried the torch that my sisters had created, to light my way and keep my spirits up. I am thankful for laughter and how it can change everything. I am thankful for change. I am thankful for choice. I am thankful for Europe, especially Albania. I am thankful for being American. I am thankful for the ocean, my constant grounding companion. For my dear friends that listen and comfort me when I can't explain me. I am thankful for my talents, for my weaknesses and for my body. I am thankful for love, for hope and for the mere possibility of waking up with the potential of something good happening for me in my life. I am grateful for exercise, for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatuses.

Most of all, I am thankful for my faith. My relationship with the Lord and the way I feel as I study the scriptures. I love how my heart can't get enough and I'm thankful for that drive to want to know more, feel more, experience more. I am thankful for temples and congregations throughout the world. In other words, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel.

Under da Sea

It has been over a month since my last post and I have all these different stories and experiences that I want to share and will be getting them out over the next couple weeks. Since my last post in Albania a lot has changed in my life: I helped Natalie remodel her house, had a Fairygod Mother shoot with Penelope and Harrison, explored the worlds of geocaching, DC Life and Xbox, turned 28, relocated and am trying my luck and talent as an artist. I will post more about all of that craziness later because as I was looking through photos on Ashley's computer, I found so many photos that I wanted to put on my blog! So, in the Spirit of "Diving In", here are some experiences that I've shared with my girls during our travels. (All of these photos were taken by one of us girls). This doesn't include our time out at sea so I will post Tahiti, Fiji and New Caledonia at a later time. Until then..... Dive on In!

Maui

Swimming in Maui

Free diving near our resort in Maui

Wreck Dive off Oahu

SCUBA Kisses

Me in Lanai

Cathedrals at Lanai, Kali & Ashley (We are very protective of our Kali)

Sea Turtle in Maui

Wreck Dive off Oahu, taking a group pic underwater is actually quite difficult!

Love this photo of Ashley and one of her dolphins at work. This was taken while I was on my mission. I know because on her left hand she is wearing my rings that she wore while I was gone.

Kali and I off Coral Street, Monterey Bay

Ashley performing the famous Jellyfish Dance in Lanai

Jenny and I went out surfing in Oahu, but there were no waves so we played underwater instead.

Cathedrals, Lanai

Wreck Dive (behind us)... Guess which one is Jenny!

oh... that's ME!

I am the shark on the left. Ashley to my left and Kali in the back. Where's Kali? Oh! Geez! Hi Kali!

Elkhorn Coral off Lanai

Free Diving in Maui

Zebra Moray Eel and Slate Pencil Sea Urchins, Maui

White Tip Reef Shark, Wreck Dive in Oahu

Metridium Fields, Monterey Bay at Breakwater (30 degree shot from pipe)

I love how clear this photo is. Slate Pencil Sea Urchins, Maui

There is a lot of feeling behind this photo.