Primary Theme for May {Free Printable}

The Primary theme for the month of May is the 4th Article of Faith: "We believe that the first principles & 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."

You can get the free printable for May {here}. It's sized to be printed as an 11x14 picture.

Primary Theme for April {Free Printable}

The Primary theme for April comes from the 6th Article of Faith and reads, "We believe in the same organization that existed in the primitive church." This means that we believe that since the church that Christ established when he lived on the earth had apostles, prophets, teachers, deacons, priests, etc, that His true church in modern days also has this same organization. I'm excited to be able to listen to our current prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and the apostles & other leaders of the church this weekend during General Conference!

Get the free download {here}.

Primary Theme for March 2015 {Free Printable}

The Primary scripture theme for March this year comes from Luke 1:70 - "He spake by the mouth of His holy prophets which have been since the world began." I know that Heavenly Father does still speak to us, and He does that through his prophet. I am really excited for our upcoming General Conference, where we will have the opportunity to listen to a prophet of God give counsel & teachings for our day. I hope you enjoy this free printable! Just click {here} to go to the download site.

Primary Theme February 2015 {Free Printable}

The Primary theme this month comes from John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Click {here} to be directed to the download page.

Primary Theme for January {free printable}

Happy New Year!  I hope you're able to look back at 2014 fondly. It was a good year in our home. We enjoyed weddings, family reunions, visits from family, home improvement projects, new animals, and so much learning and growth. I'm definitely excited for 2015! Bring it on!

The Primary theme for January is the 1st Article of Faith. It reads, "We believe in God, the eternal father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost." Enjoy the 11x14 printable for this month. Just click {here} to be taken to the download page.

Primary Theme for December {Free Printable}

The Primary theme for December comes from John 14:6. "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, & the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." I hope that this is something that we can each remember this Christmas season. It's certainly fun to give & receive gifts, but there is one thing that is truly needful. May we share the true spirit of Christmas & the reason for the season this December. Merry Christmas!

Get the free printable {here} and you can have it printed at Costco, or Walmart, or anywhere else that prints photos as an 11x14 print.

November 2014 Primary Theme {Free Printable}

The Primary theme for November also comes from The Family: A Proclamation to the World. "Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ." I have seen this principle at work in the life of my own family. When we take the time to read scriptures together, pray together, & teach and learn together, I see a real difference in the way we interact with each other. That doesn't mean our home is rainbows and bliss all the time...I mean, we're only human. But it does mean that we try a little harder to be a little kinder, and who couldn't use a little more kindness in their life? Why do we try so hard to make our families better? Because we believe that we will be together for eternity. No one wants to spend eternity with someone they don't like. I love my family, & because I want to spend eternity with them, I'm going to work as hard as I can to make our family a happy one.

Get the free printable by clicking {here}.

Primary Theme for October {Free Printable}

The LDS Primary theme for October comes from John 15:11.  I read a beautiful explanation of some of the verses that precede verse 11 here:

 “‘Abide in me’ is an understandable and beautiful enough concept in the elegant English of the King James Bible, but ‘abide’ is not a word we use much anymore. So I gained even more appreciation for this admonition from the Lord when I was introduced to the translation of this passage in another language. In Spanish that familiar phrase is rendered‘permaneced en mi.’ Like the English verb ‘abide,’ permanecer means ‘to remain, to stay,’ but even [English speakers] like me can hear the root cognate there of ‘permanence.’ The sense of this then is ‘stay—but stayforever.’ That is the call of the gospel message to [everyone] in the world. Come, but come to remain. Come with conviction and endurance. Come permanently, for your sake and the sake of all the generations who must follow you. …

“Jesus said, ‘Without me ye can do nothing’ [John 15:5]. I testify that that is God’s truth. Christ is everything to us and we are to ‘abide’ in Him permanently, unyieldingly, steadfastly, forever. For the fruit of the gospel to blossom and bless our lives, we must be firmly attached to Him, the Savior of us all, and to this His Church, which bears His holy name. He is the vine that is our true source of strength and the only source of eternal life” (“Abide in Me,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2004, 32).

I believe that Heavenly Father & Jesus Christ experience no greater joy than when we choose to follow Their commandments. Being obedient shows them that we love Them above all else & that our ultimate goal is to return to live with Them.

You can get this free printable by clicking {here}. Make sure you don't click on the ad buttons that say Download. The real download button is below the picture of the file. This printable is sized to 11x14, and I like to have mine printed at Costco.

September Primary Theme {Free Printable}

The LDS Primary theme for September is the 13th Article of Faith.  It reads, "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."
You can download the print by clicking on this {link}. The print is sized for an 11x14 & I like to have them printed at Costco.

August Primary Theme {Free Printable}

The LDS Primary theme for August comes from The Family: A Proclamation to the World. Click on this {link} to get to the download page.
The teachings found in the proclamation are ones in which I firmly believe. I hope you take the time to read the full proclamation & find the beauty, peace & comfort in the words that were spoken by a prophet to the families of all the world.

Primary Theme for May {Free Printable}

The Primary theme for May counsels us to remember the words that prophets have spoken in the past. I am so thankful for a living prophet who knows what to say to help me want to become a better person! You can download this free printable {HERE}. It's sized for an 11x14, and I like to get mine printed at Costco.

April Primary Theme {Free Printable}

The theme for Primary for April comes from The Family: A Proclamation to the World. It teaches that we believe that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God, and that the family is central to the creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children. Feel free to download this free printable by going {here}. The print is sized for an 11x14. Have a great April!

March Family Scripture

For March, our family is going to be memorizing 1 John 4:14. I truly believe that Jesus Christ is my Savior. Many religions focus on the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we focus on what the Savior did in the garden of Gethsemane, when He took upon Himself the sins of all the world and bled from every pore. Then, He chose to die on the cross, but even more importantly, He was resurrected and lives again. I created a print of this scripture that we will hang in our home throughout the month & help us as we memorize. You can download the full resolution print {here}.

February Scripture {Free Printable}

I was a little late getting this month's scripture printed, but I'm sure we'll have time to memorize the entire verse. This scripture comes from the Book of Mormon and explains that we each have the agency to choose. Because we are human, we sometimes make poor choices & have to deal with the consequences of those actions. That process is one of the laws of heaven. If there weren't consequences for choices, then we wouldn't have the ability to change, grow, repent, & eventually return to our Heavenly Father. Jesus Christ, through the atonement, made it possible for us to repent of our sins & become more like Him. Without the atonement, we would end up like the devil, having no opportunity to return to live with God. Enjoy this month's free printable! Click {here} to be taken to the download page.

January Family Scripture {Free Printable}

For 2014 we decided to use scriptures that correlate with the Primary theme for the month. The overall theme for 2014 is Families are Forever. In January, the primary children will be learning about how Heavenly Father prepared a way for us to return to His presence. So, our scripture for the month is John 3:16. You can get this free print by downloading {here}. It's sized to be printed as an 11x14.

A bit of thanksgiving {free printable}

  Have you ever stopped to take a look at your life? Have you really noticed how much you have to be grateful for? When I stop to think about my life, I am dumbfounded by all the blessings I've received. Not all of them are huge, or even that noticeable if you aren't paying attention. If you've followed my blog for awhile, you'll remember one of our greatest blessings & miracles. November 2009 was a good month for Sharon. Every milestone that she meets, every time she does something new, I'm reminded what a miracle it is that she is simply alive, let alone that she is healthy & happy!
  Another part of my life for which I am extremely grateful is my membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For me, it isn't just a Sunday church, where you go and worship & then come home & forget about it until next week. The gospel is a part of my every day life. From family prayer & scripture study, to simple service opportunities, to going to the temple & doing family history research, the gospel is part of my life & changes me for the better.
  I'm grateful for the miracle of modern medicine, for changing leaves in fall, for kind neighbors, for messy living rooms (because, you know, we live here), for my amazing family & so much more! November is often a month where we give thanks & show gratitude to friends, family, & sometimes complete strangers. Hopefully we can carry that attitude of gratitude throughout the rest of the year. Say "thank you," give hugs, send letters, & simply be kind. Everyone could use a little more encouragement & a little less criticism. So, here's a little reminder that you can download & print out. Go {here} for the leaf one, & {here} for the glittler one.

Family Scripture {Free Printable}

  During the last General Conference, I had the thought that we should start to memorize a scripture every month as a family. The first scripture that we chose was 3 Nephi 18:19-20 & I was amazed at how quickly our 4-year-old was able to memorize it. She was awesome! Even after we chose a new scripture for the month of November, she still wanted to say the old one. I asked if she remembered it & she was able to recite it from memory completely on her own. Children are amazing! So, for November, we wanted to choose a scripture that had a focus on giving thanks, you know, since Thanksgiving is coming up. We've chosen Alma 37:37 which reads: "Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day."
  I decided to make a cute print of the scripture to hang on our wall for the month to help us memorize it. I thought I'd share, just in case you might like a print as well. I sized it for an 11x14 & printed it at Costco for less than $3. My husband is going to make a frame for it, & we'll switch it out every month for whichever new scripture we choose. I think I'll also make up a set for the 13 Articles of Faith, since Sharon is encouraged to memorize one of them each month in Primary.
  So here's a preview of the print, but you can get the full resolution print for free, by going {here}. Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving

Well hi there! I hope everyone has a fabulous Thanksgiving! As for me, I'm making my very first Thanksgiving feast (of course, I've eaten many a feast, just never cooked it all by myself). I'm roasting a chicken instead of a turkey, but I'm making cranberry sauce, pumpkin and pecan pies, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, bacon wrapped asparagus, and of course a birthday cake for my sweet Savannah who is turning one on Thanksgiving!
I hope you enjoy this free printable Thanksgiving sign. Feel free to save it to your computer and print it at your favorite photo printing place. It is sized to an 8x10. You can get the high resolution image {here}.
And just so you know, I almost wasn't able to post it, because when I went to upload it, I was informed that I've maxed out my free Picasa storage space and would have to purchase more if I'd like to continue to post photos on my blog. I deleted some random photos from my account, just so I could post this! Has this happened to anyone else? What did you do? Is there any way that I can get around having to pay for more storage? Anyway, happy Thanksgiving! Don't eat too much!

If you download the print, could you leave a comment, just so I know the download is working properly? Thanks so much!