The Francis Family: April 2010

Monday, April 12, 2010

The Strawberry Festival!

My very favorite thing to do in Texas is go to the Poteet Strawberry festival! It is everything I love and I know Christian loves me because he has taken me there every year! This year was even better than I had anticipated!

Here's our little family! It was SO much fun just to go the three of us!

For eight bucks we each got to eat the most delicious steak tacos with guacamole and share an ice cream cone. Tyson was so good to share with us!

They even take you on a tractor ride so you don't have to walk from the parking 'lot' to the festival. It was so much fun! Thank you Christian! I love you!
Our friends the Shipleys gave us secret directions to miss all of the traffic and it took us through the most beautiful fields of wildflowers! Spring really is the most beautiful time of year!

Happy Easter!

Easter was beautiful this year! Tyson was finally old enough to know what was going on (although the video doesn't really show it...I just like this one because it's funny!)
Tyson's eggs were hidden outside in easy spots and Christian hid my eggs inside in harder spots. However, Tyson watched Christian hide all of the eggs and so when I came downstairs Tyson would find them all for me! It was too cute! Anyway, the whole weekend was wonderful! Christian didn't study and we got to watch the world-wide broadcast put on by our church twice a year. That meant we got to listen to the prophet speak to us directly! It was beautiful. If you're interested, here's the link to the website: www.lds.org.

Anyway, I am so grateful for the real reason we celebrate Easter. It has nothing to do with bunnies and eggs and everything to do with the miracle of life and the amazing love of our Savior, Jesus Christ. He broke the chains of death and because of Him, we will see our loved ones who have passed away from this life again. I'm so grateful for the gift our Savior has given us. I love Him with all of my heart.

So even though we know the real reason to celebrate Easter, I still made Christian where the bunny ears while he searched for his prizes in the back. He was a good sport!

Tyson just followed him everywhere! It was so cute!

Isn't he a cute boy?!! I love him so much!

New Puppy...For A Day!

This cute little puppy followed us home about two weeks ago. It was so cute and friendly with Tyson that I didn't mind it following us until it came inside our house! But then it was still cute and fun so we decided to keep it for a day! All we had for it to eat was Kix so it was a good thing it later followed my good friend Nichole home who has a dog and hence owns dog food! It only hung around for another two days before it scampered off again. Tyson still asks about the puppy and loved every minute of it's company! It was a lot of fun to have one for a day but I'm not sure we could have kept her happy much longer than that!

The Articles of Faith of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

1. We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
2. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression.
3. We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
4. We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
5. We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.
6. We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.
7. We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.
8. We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.
9. We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.
10. We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.
11. We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.
12. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.
13. We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

A Beautiful Quote

"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbors children. want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden. I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived." Marjorie Pay Hinckley