Katie

My name is Katie and before I had children, I was the perfect parent. I was a children's case manager teaching behavior management, social skills and parenting after I graduated from Utah State University. I couldn't wait to have my own kids and try all my theories out on them. Scott (6 yrs old) was born after a long wait and his Aspergers/Savant personality saw me tossing all my carefully planned theories out the window! Jane (3 yrs old) has some neurological issues and delays, so planning Family Home Evening for both of them is an exercise in creativity and seeking inspiration. Challenging as they are, I wouldn't trade my two unique, hilarious and loving kids for the world.

My husband and I met at Utah State (same student ward, fhe group) and have been married for eleven years. Our family enjoys camping, hiking, planning weekend trips, playing games, telling jokes, and reading together. Scott loves any kind of contest and wants to be a game show host when he grows up. Jane loves to laugh, do anything outside and make sure she gets everything Scott does. :) I digest several books a week and I love to eat, talk about my favorite shows and movies with my siblings and sing (off key) to my favorite songs at the top of my lungs. I am learning to knit, coupon shop, and speak Spanish.

I hope that by joining this blog I will be able to avoid my "Monday Afternoon FHE Scramble."

Katie

Michelle

My name is Michelle and I am a stay-at-home-mom to Lydia (3 1/2) and Claire (almost 2). They are sweet, but very independent little girls! I love them so much! (Although there are some days where I wonder where my sanity is!)

I will have been married for 5 years this June to my wonderful husband, Jeff. We are high school sweethearts, and have a long history together, dating back to when we were 4 years old and in Joy School. We don't really remember each other until High School, but we do have pictures from those younger years of us together. He is currently pursuing his PhD at Arizona State University, and I am looking forward to the day when he is no longer a student.

I grew up all over the place due to my father's service in the military, but call Washington State "home." Maybe one day that will change, I guess we'll see where life takes us. I love to read, scrapbook, make crafts, read blogs, hike, travel, and spend time with my family.

I majored in Elementary Education with an emphasis in Early Childhood at BYU, and taught Kindergarten and Reading Recovery for a year, and then just Reading Recovery for another year once Lydia was born. I love to teach, and you would think that I would be really good at getting everything ready for a Family Home Evening lesson, but not so much! My issues have been planning (it seems like there are so many other things to do that it gets pushed to the side), and actually holding a lesson that will be worthwhile to my children, rather than throwing it together at the last minute or just having an activity. We recently have been better about holding family home evening, and I am excited for this blog to be able to help with ideas for what to teach and how to present it. (I am looking at it from a teacher standpoint, we always shared our lesson ideas with others for their benefit and that of their students, but now it is a mom/child thing). I am realizing more and more how important Family Home Evening is for my children to learn gospel principles and to feel the Spirit in our home.

Michelle

Erin

Hi! My name is Erin. I am the mom to two of the silliest girls, Kaitlyn (3) and Hailey (10months). It’s all pink, princesses, and Tinkerbell around our house. After a year-long courtship my husband, Brian, and I were married in the Salt Lake Temple and have been married for 5 ½ years. My husband works hard so that I can stay home and take care of the house and our girls - although if you ask Brian he’ll tell you I stay home so I can jump on the bed and have dance parties each day…which is only partly true!

I am a major book nerd. Even on my busiest days I find my sanity in finding time each day to pick up whatever book I’m reading. I love it! I’m also a news junkie and usually have cable news or talk radio on in the background of my day. I also enjoy sewing, dancing, cooking, snowboarding, and spending my summers on the lake.

Once dad gets home, Kaitlyn is so excited the rest of the night that its sometimes hard to get her to settle down enough to really have a “lesson” so we try and play little “teaching games”. I’m excited for this blog so that I can get more ideas and for the opportunity to get my creative juices flowing outside of a different way to make hotdogs for my girls!

Erin

Diana

Hi! I'm Diana! I have been married to a doctor for five and half years, we've been together for maybe five minutes of those years, or so it seems. In those five minutes, we've managed to have the two most adorable little boys in the world. They are four and two, and they keep me busy. The second I sit down, they demand something from me, so up I go again!
In my spare time (what's that, right?), I enjoy substitute teaching, reading, cooking, exercising, finding amazing deals, hanging out with friends and family, and just getting out and going somewhere, anywhere! I majored in Liberal Arts and Sciences, so I basically got to take classes on what I was interested in, which was everything. I met my husband Matt at Utah State University, we lived in Iowa for three years for medical school, and now we're back in Utah in an actual HOUSE! We have been having a blast decorating and furnishing our house, and we can't wait to put our yard in when winter is over.
For Family Home Evening, we usually read one scripture and talk about it for a few minutes, say a prayer, and have a treat. There's not much to it when you have two very active little boys. I have some FHE kits that I try to use at least once a month, but sometimes they take too long for my boys' attention span. The best thing we've learned to set the tone for the evening is to have the boys go around and shake our hands and say, "Welcome to Family Home Evening." Of course, it sounds more like "Welcome to family do leavy." They love it, and it helps them feel they have an important role in the evening.

Diana

Jennifer

My name is Jennifer and I am a stay at home mom of two girls--Ellen just turned two and Rachel is 4 months old. My husband and I have been friends since second grade and grew up in the same ward in Oregon, but didn't start dating until we were both in graduate school at BYU. We were married in the Portland Oregon temple 3 years ago and now live in Orange County, California. We love the warm weather, the beach, and our annual passes to Disneyland. We also love to visit our families in Oregon. Our parents still live 1/2 mile from each other so it is easy to see everyone in one trip! We don't have any family anywhere near where we live now and have really learned how important a ward family can be.

I studied Math Education at BYU and I enjoy tutoring in my home a few hours a week. Between finishing my bachelor's degree and starting my master's degree, I served a mission in Taiwan. My creative outlets are sewing and cross stitching and I love to bake! Buying and selling things (particularly baby items) on Craigslist has become a hobby of mine since having kids. The selection of used items in this area is amazing and we've hardly had to purchase anything new for our girls.

As I mentioned above, I majored in secondary education. That was on purpose--I've never felt like I was very good with kids. Teenagers? No problem. Toddlers? No clue. This past year has been a learning experience for me as I've done my best to play with, teach, and discipline my oldest daughter. We started including Ellen in FHE when she started nursery and so far have just done short lessons out of the nursery manual. I'm really excited for this blog to give me the opportunity to come up with fun FHE lessons for my family and also to learn from all of your great ideas.

Jennifer

Rachel

My name is Rachel although you'll often see Stella trailing my name since that is my middle name. You actually say the "ch" in Rachel like "sh" (as in "racial"), but seeing as how we are talking via the internet I don't think that will be much of a problem :)

My husband James and I have been married for 6 years and have a 2 year old son named Joshua and another boy due in June. We met at BYU and were married in the Provo temple 6 months later. My husband finished up his computer science degree shortly before we were married and I got my nursing degree a couple years later. I worked full time as a RN until my son was born and then started working around 1 night a week after that. My husband is an entrepreneur and works from home. It took a while to get used to him being home all the time but now I love it (especially because I can go do errands during nap time)!

My mom was extremely creative (she even wrote a couple activity books for children) but was extremely stingy when it came to passing this gene onto me! Most of my creativity comes from googling :) Because of this, most of my FHE lessons are very simple and usually involve the nursery book and a bunch of picture cut outs. Luckily, since my son is only 2 and has a 1 minute attention span, this isn't much of a problem yet!

My hobbies including eating, sleeping, watching sitcoms and movies, gardening, cooking, reading and blogging (http://www.mybabysleepguide.com/, http://www.rowellfam.com/ etc.). Oh, and my favorite thing to do is spend time with my family. I'm lucky enough to have 7 of my siblings and 1 of my husband's siblings living nearby.

P.S. The picture above of my family is over a year old. I really need to get a more current one!

Rachel

Kristi

My name is Kristi, and I am a stay at home mom to my wonderful twin boys. David and Erik are 18 months old, and I just love them to pieces. Yes they are a handful, but the joy they bring to my life outweighs all of their messes. :)

My husband and I will celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary this April. We were high school sweethearts, and we've been in love for over ten years. We were married in the Mesa, Arizona temple, and we hope to call Arizona our home again someday soon. :)

I have a BS in elementary education from Brigham Young University, and I taught first grade for three years before I had my boys. My husband has BA in history from BYU, and he is currently in his first year of law school at Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, Texas.

To be honest, I have a hard time coming up with ideas for family home evening lessons with really small children. That is one of the main reasons we decided to start this blog. I need ideas. :) Most of my lesson and activity ideas are silly and fun. I may put on a proper, no-nonsense front, but really, I'm just full of silly. :)

I love to take and post pictures and videos on our family blog. I also enjoy baking and eating cookies. Oh, and I have a habit of ending everything I type with a smiley face. I guess I just want everyone to know that I'm smiling. :)

Kristi

Valerie AKA "Plowmanators"

Hello, my name is Valerie. I am a stay at home mom to three beautiful (of course!) children. They are Brayden (4), Kaitlyn (2), and McKenna (11 months). I have been married to my husband for the last 6 years. I have a BS in English with an Emphasis on Technical Writing and a minor in Communications.

My husband is the creative one between to the two of us. He is the one who comes up with the best FHE lessons for our children. I am kind of more "Maxwell" style where I hand over lots of information that is quite full of doctrine. I talk to my children like I would talk to any adult. My husband often gets a good laugh about it, but seems to think it is good to have a mix from both of us :). That may be, but I think you will find most of the lessons ideas I share actually come from his head.

My husband and I were married in the Salt Lake Temple. We met in college. We dated a bit before his mission, wrote as friends while he was on his mission, then got married about seven months after he got home. We live in Cache Valley, Utah and plan to stay put until we someday serve a mission together. Life has way of changing your plans, but that is where we stand right now.

I have too many hobbies, including sewing, scrapbooking, making jewelry, and crocheting (new for me). Somehow I manage to be creative with my linear, logical mind. I also love to read and enjoy dancing. My love is music and I love to sing. I also have a fun time blogging. Some of my public blogs include Val's Creations (a site to show friends and family my things I make), Children's Learning Activities (written with two other mommies, a blog full of fun learning activities for babies through preschoolers), and the most popular is Chronicles of a Babywise Mom (a parenting advice blog).

Valerie AKA "Plowmanators"