Christmas Card

For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
For whosoever will save his life, must be willing to lose it for my sake;
and whosoever will be willing to lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.
And this is life eternal,
that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
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.
For god sent not his son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world through him might be saved.
Wherefore whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea,
even a place at the right hand of god,
which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men,
which would make them sure and steadfast,
always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace.
In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer;
I have overcome the world.

Never borrow from the future

Never borrow from the future. If you worry about what may happen tomorrow and it doesn't happen, you have worried in vain. Even if it does happen, you have to worry twice.

1. Pray
2. Go to bed on time.
3. Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed.
4. Say No to projects that won't fit into your time schedule, or that will compromise your mental health.

5. Delegate tasks to capable others.
6. Simplify and unclutter your life.
7. Less is more (Although one is often not enough, two are often too many.)
8. Allow extra time to do things and to get to places.

9. Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects over time; don't lump the hard things all together.
10. Take one day at a time.
11. Separate worries from concerns . If a situation is a concern, find out what your Heavenly Father would have you do and let go of the anxiety . If you can't do anything about a situation, forget it.
12. Live within your budget; don't use credit cards for ordinary purchases.

13. Have backups; an extra car key in your wallet, an extra house key buried in the garden, extra stamps, etc.
14. K.M.S. (Keep Mouth Shut). This single piece of advice can prevent an enormous amount of trouble. 
15. Do something for the Kid in You everyday.

16. Carry the scriptures with you to read while waiting in line.
17. Get enough rest.
18. Eat right.
19 Get organized so everything has its place.

20. Listen to a tape while driving that can help improve your quality of life.
21. Write down thoughts and inspirations.
22. Every day, find time to be alone.
23. Having problems? Talk to your Heavenly Father on the spot. Try to nip small problems in the bud. Don't let it go until it's time to go to bed.
24. Make friends with Goodly people.

25. Keep a folder of favorite scriptures on hand.
26. Remember that the shortest bridge between despair and hope is often a good 'Thank you.'
27. Laugh.
28. Laugh some more!
29. Take your work seriously, but not yourself at all.
30. Develop a forgiving attitude (most people are doing the best they can).

31. Be kind to unkind people (they probably need it the most).
32. Sit on your ego.
33 Talk less; listen more.
34. Slow down.
35. Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the universe.
36 Every night before bed, think of one thing you're grateful for that you've never been grateful for before.

“If God be for us, who can be against us?

(Romans 8:31)

Stipend or Salary?

I was just reading a bit about some people's opinions about the money the General Authorities receive. Some from the inside criticize that the General Authorities receive any money, others from the outside criticize the other point of view. It seems logical to me that the right road would be somewhere down the middle, for we know that the new testament does speak of support for the leadership of the church, yet it talks also of not receiving a dime for their labors. It is obvious to me that when a man has to leave his job that naturally he will need support from the church. Such a person does not just lay down a die. They still need a place to sleep, food to eat, etc. So why is the church not open about the money they give their top leadership? Maybe it is because of people like this? Someone struggling to make ends meet would look at the money they receive and think it was exorbitant, yet another person of more wealthy standing would believe it was a very conservative amount. Who are they accountable to; you and me or the Lord? I take the standing, by their fruits ye shall know them. Every one of these criticizers had a tone of hatred, one even swore, and another refused to pay a dime in tithing in rebuke. None had the spirit of the Lord with them. We cannot get so caught up in things like this that we remove ourselves from the spirit of the Lord, and become faithless and doubtful, looking beyond the mark for things of least importance. My opinion is that the church takes a wonderfully healthy middle of the road stand on the issue.

It's Raining it's pouring

Ok, so I lose my good camera at Bear Lake somewhere with all my pictures on it. Then I get home and find out that Mike has been told his last day at work will be the 28^th of August. Luckily through negotiations between the contracting company, Mike and Mars he will be able to keep his job. We had to take an 11 percent pay cut, but at least he still has income. Mike tells me that the contracting company agreed to take a cut in pay too. Good news is that we found out that Mar’s really likes Mike and wanted to keep him. We still hope that he will be offered a permanent position by the start of next year.

 

The kids all started school. Madeline started her first full day of school as a first grader at Marc Kahre Elementary. Anne began middle school at Molasky Junior High and Kayleigh is now in High School as a freshman. She is in her first year of Seminary and so far everything is going smoothly. The kids are very busy with homework and such, and we are beginning the sleep deprivation cycle of seminary. Looking forward to the weekend.

How many times can you wash a wall in a day

Allison has discovered that she loves to color, on my walls. Maybe she is modeling what she sees Madeline doing. Madeline spends much of her day coloring so there are always crayons out. I am thankful for the invention of the Magic Eraser. We are trying to help her learn to color on paper by cheering wonderfully when she uses paper. I make her watch me wash the walls and tell her that coloring on the walls is bad.

Mike made cookies yesterday. His favorite are the cookies Grandpa loved to make. Saturday we found some M&M's on clearance and used them in the cookies. It was a revival of an old tradition of making cookies on Sunday evening. We used to make them while watching AFV. We did not watch AFV yesterday but we still had the cookies. YUM...

Life in Vegas

Adam and Kayleigh are at camp so the younger kids and I went swimming. My IEC coordinator Michele invited us to come swim in her backyard pool. The kids had fun and I filled out an application to host Max a good friend of Sven’s from Hamburg. Michele has been very understanding and helpful getting all the paperwork done so that he can come to our home even though he is not on exchange through our foundation. We will continue to find a permanent host family for Max here in Vegas. We have Sven to thank for getting us into this! Yet I know I was prepared..Some months ago I had a very strong impression that I was to have two more kids. I immediately thought I was supposed to have 2 more babies of my own and took the matter to serious prayer. But was answered a very distinct NO. I felt very relieved to know for sure that I was done having kids. Mike was very happy to hear the news too.  I put the impression out of my mind until this past weekend as I have been working to help Max find a host family. I now understand the meaning of my impression was that this year we would welcome 2 exchange students. Because of this we have decided to welcome him into our home while I continue looking for a host family for him. I feel that the Lord has provided a way and guided me through this so that Max could come to Vegas.  We decided two years ago to host someone from Norway, but last year we were told that there were no boys from Norway available. So we turned to choose someone from Germany again, that is how we got Sven. So this year we looked again for a Norwegian boy and found Fredrik from Mandal. We are very excited to welcome a Norwegian into our home.  One of the first rules in double hosting exchange students is that you cannot host two kids from the same country. Adam is very much okay with all of this and does not mind sharing his room. He enjoys having someone there as opposed to being alone. We are going to go swimming in Michele’s backyard again today.

Grand Canyon

We drove 5 hours from Vegas to see the Grand Canyon the first weekend in February. It was Mike and the kids first time seeing it. We stayed at the Maswik lodge at the park then drove first to Bright Angel to see the trail Amy hiked in high school. The view was amazing. Sven said it gave him a headache just looking at the enormity of the canyon. We hiked down bright angel trail just less than a quarter of a mile just for fun. It was icy and slippery for part of the trail. We made the mistake of trying to take Allison’s stroller down the trail. We eventually ditched it along the side of the trail and carried her. We wanted to keep going but didn’t want to go down farther than we thought the little ones could walk back up. Then we drove to some other places along the rim trail to take pictures. Adam and Sven almost gave Amy a heart attack getting near the edge to take pictures, she had to look away. It was a nice quick adventure but after the 5^th lookout along the rim trail the kids were getting bored of staring at a bunch of rock. As amazing as it is, after a while it does get a bit old. It was fun just doing something together as a family.

 

Mike's car

It was just before we left on our trip to California. Mike was staying home and his car had been at the dealership all week long with his wheel all banged up. We looked at buying  a new car and felt that it was out of our price range, so we looked at used cars. We found one for 4,000 that we thought we liked but couldn’t find the time to buy it before our trip to California. So I dropped him off at the dealership to get his old car. It didn’t drive very well anymore but at least he would have some transportation while we were gone. When he first wrecked it I knew we needed to get Mike’s car running again and I prayed many times that we would find a way to get it fixed within our budget. After the dealer called and told us it would be 3,00 dollars to fix it I gave up on that idea and thought the car was totaled. We left it at the dealer as we spent our time looking for a replacement. We did not want to rush into buying a car so we were forced to drive the wrecked car again. After Mike paid the inspection fee the manager came out and explained to us that most of the damage was in the rim and  that the car would still be safe to drive if we replaced it. He recommended we go to a discount tire store.  He paid 79 dollars to get a new rim and his car runs fine again.  I know that the Lord is aware of our needs and answers our sincere prayers. Yet, he couldn’t answer our prayer until we got on our feet and picked up the car from the dealer and gave him the chance. Sometimes our most sincere prayers are for naught unless we do something. The Lord helps those who help themselves and is just waiting to bless us.  The Lord is standing at the door knocking but will not come in unless WE open the door and let him in.

 

Grandma and Grampa Losee comes to visit

Today,my Grandparents coming this is going to be exciting. Last time they came we had to meet them at the hotel they were staying in. I had a hard time buckling my seat belt because the one I was buckling to was not the one to buckle to because the buckle that I'm to buckle was stuck in the seat cushion. We had a fun time picking them up. A couple days later we went to the strip to see the lights. Sometimes we go to grandparents house to see them as usual in the car. It gets on my nerves driving in the car. Sometimes I wish we could just take the plane to see my grandparents instead of the car but we don't have the money to go on the plane. At least it only takes 1 day to get there. But the part I hate is it takes the hole day to get there. My grandparents should be coming soon. You now I wish my grandparents could meet my moms parents. But I think they have meet them. I assume at my parents wedding day. I like my parents I'm glad mom didn't marry any body else because my dad buys the Ice cream and candy. But not just that he lets me go into his room at night to get something important like melatonin or,kisses. Now my moms the one who buys me my clothes for school . She is also the one who they yell for when something happens like getting hurt or, mommy Adam wont let me on the Wii. She is the one who laughs at Sven's practical Jokes. dads calling me bye.

Renae

Hello, my name is Renae Losee. I like cheesecake, German exchange students, and Norwegian people especially my grandpa and grandma. I like my teacher Mrs. Davis I am in 3rd grade and 8 years old. I am a Mormon. I want to play soccer, football, and baseball when I grow up. People think football is only for boys, but that is not true! I saw Narnia, Prince Caspian five times (I saw it this morning and 3 times in the theater, and last night). I got to bed really late at 1:06 am, but there was no school today. I fell asleep today on my sister Kayleigh's bed. I went up there because my head hurt and I just kind of fell asleep. I have read the first two chapters of Twilight and I love it. My friend Baily is reading it too. I really want to see the movie, but it is rated pg-13 and my mom won't let me see it until it is on DVD. My grandma and grandpa are in Norway. I go to Marc Kahre (pronounced Mark Kerry). I like our XBOX and Wii, but I don't love it. I don't play it every second of the day. I like our new Plasma TV too. I am reading the Spiderwick Cronicles too. That's all, bye, bye.

Hi,I'm Anne a new contributor .First of all,today we went to get a tour of Ethel M's but all we got was a self guided tour instead. So after the tour we got to this chocolate shop where they sell mini chocolates for $2.00 a piece. High price for something that small. I know a rip off. I know who owns this shop its my daddy's new job, but lower the prices please! A little bar of chocolate for $3.00 a piece. So after that we went to the cactus garden. I think we went around about 2 times. Trust me there were millions of them. Allison was so scared of those caucuses. After that we went to 7 eleven and Sven got us slushies. How nice he is and so cute too. After that we went home and here I am writing this note. Well gotta go

Fredrik

We have chosen another exchange student for next year. His name is Fredrik Petterson from NORWAY! I am so excited to have someone come from Norway. He is blonde and very tall and thin, kind of like Sebastian. The middle school and high school had semester exams this week and they got out before lunch Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. It seems almost like vacation again. The TV seems to be on constantly. I love having the kids home. I work so much better when I have someone with me, but it is nice having the morning quiet time. I wish it was like this all the time. I think I have gotten more done this week than I have in a long time. Allison is growing out of her naps. I put her down in her bed for her daily naps at 1:00 and she just plays and sings in her bed the whole time. I was amazed, she did not cry. She found things to keep herself busy, singing everyone's name she knows how to say. It was so cute. I couldn't help but smile and laugh at her. She will fall asleep at 5 or 6 though. She has discovered the TV and loves to watch PBS kids. Yesterday she wanted to get up and turn on the TV and she screamed when I tried to stop her.

Mike's new job

Mike changed jobs again. He went from working for Ocean Spray to the next without missing any days work. He works for Mars, the company that makes chocolates. They have a plant in Las Vegas that makes fine chocolates under the name Ethel's. He says they have chocolate in the break room every day and gets 40% off chocolates at the store. They run a M-n-M's store here in Las Vegas on the strip that he will be responsible for too. He got a raise taking this new job. Monday the 12th was his first day on the job and he found out that one of the guys who interviewed him is LDS (Scott). One of the other interviewers discussed together with Scott who they liked best to fill the position and the non-LDS guy said he liked Mike. Scott replied to him, you know why you like him? He is Mormon! Mike had not told anyone in his interviews that he was Mormon, of course Scott took one look at his resume and knew immediately. Funny thing is Scott has the exact same name as the bishop of our ward.

California Trip

The family decided to take a trip to California before Christmas vacation was over. The drive was slow. It seemed that everyone decided to go to California at the same time. I think our average speed ended up to be somewhere between 25 and 25 miles per hour. After a long 8 hour drive (that was expected to only last 4) we finally ended up at Muscle Beach in Santa Monica. The pier looked beautiful at night all lit up. We got our hotel room and walked across the street to the pier and ventured onto the beach to stick our feet into the ocean. Some of the kids got more than their feet wet! It was our first time at an ocean and in California. The next morning we woke up early and headed straight to the beach. Sven ran and dove straight into the cold water. Allison cried if the water touched her feet at all. It was barely comfortable at about 60 degrees. We sported the obvious tourist look, but we had a blast. At eleven we headed back to the hotel to pack up and head to Knott’s berry farm. As we drove closer to the park Adam moaned in disappointment. He thought it was an actual berry farm. He hates amusement parks! We parked and walked to the ticket booth. As we walked we noticed a short kid wearing an EF back pack with an older woman and man and couldn’t help but ask them about it. Turns out they were from Arizona (some 7 hours away) and had hosted exchange students before and had their adopted children from Muldova with them.  Sven asked them if they were LDS and it turned out that they were. She told me she had a coupon that she didn’t need but felt inspired to bring it anyway.  The coupon saved us 68 dollars on admission. The first ride we came to was a wooden rollercoaster. Anne and Sven got on but Renae was too scared but changed her mind after seeing Anne and Sven ride. Kayleigh and Adam broke themselves in riding the Merry Go round, then mom bribed Adam to ride a small steel rollercoaster. The girls immediately wanted to ride it again but Adam had enough. He eventually got to ride his favorite ride, the bumper cars, 3 or 4 times. It is his favorite ride.  We headed home at about 8 and rolled into Las Vegas at 1:30 am. The kids slept most of the way home. It had been a wonderfully long day.  

Merry Christmas!

 

The kids had a blast Christmas day.  The kids exchanged their gifts to each other on Christmas Eve and they got their Christmas pajamas. Mom sewed their bottoms and we ironed on our own Losee logo to long sleeved white t-shirts for everyone. For FHE we all came up with a design and voted for our favorite. We had two favorites that the kids argued for so we used both, one on the front the other on the back. I will post some pictures on Picasa.  Mom also put together a huge box of family games we opened on Christmas Eve morning then spent the rest of the day relaxing and playing games. Mike had to work on Christmas eve, being his second day at his new job at Ocean Spray in Henderson. On his way home it was raining and when it rains in Las Vegas it gets very slick (because it doesn’t rain much and the oil doesn’t get washed off) he slid into the median and bent his front driver side axel up pretty bad. He was able to drive it home though, but don’t imagine he will be able to drive it to work unless it can get fixed.

 

We had all the gifts wrapped already (we wrapped them as we bought them) so we just brought them out and filled the stockings. Mike, Sven and I worked to get it out. Then I stayed up and cleaned after our relaxing day of playing games. It was pretty late when I finally got finished. We gave them all Benadryl before bed and they actually slept. Kayleigh and Renae woke up at 4 am and waited for everyone else to get up. I did not wake up until almost 8 am. We ate our breakfast of sugar cereal and doughnut holes before opening presents. We took turns opening gifts, Maddie opening Allison’s for her since she wasn’t interested in any present opening, just playing with it afterward. The kids got a lot of clothes. After everyone was done Dad pulled out the big surprise present. A new TV and a Wii remote. The kids asked why just a remote we don’t have a Wii. Then we pulled out the Wii and guitar hero (full band) followed by screams from all the kids! Mike’s brother got a new Xbox 360 and he surprised us with his old one as a Christmas gift. Adam had snooped around and knew we had bought the Wii, but was ultimately surprised with the Xbox! All the other gifts got put away and we spent the rest of the day playing with the Wii  and Xbox(the reason why mom opened the board games Christmas Eve). We took a break to do our Christmas program in the evening. We remembered that the Lord is generous in his blessings inspiring all to give generously and providing a job for Mike!  We are inspired, amazed and grateful for all the generous gifts we received this year, you have turned our hearts from worry about the unknown and gave us more faith in the Lord’s plan we just need to move forward and do all we can to keep his commandments.

 

The morning after christmas Adam woke up and worked, and worked harder than I have seen him work in a long time to clean the front room, even vacuuming so he could play the Wii again.

 

It rained Christmas day! No more snow (but the kids got their first snow day in Las Vegas in about 30 years when it snowed last week and it was on the front page of the newspaper).  It is a balmy 40 degree’s here now and all the snow we got last week is long gone.

 

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.