The Dyrud's Great Adventure

October 31st has come and gone..... everyone ate enough chocolate and candy to last them for a year and the kids (and adults) enjoyed dressing up in costumes, attending harvest festivals and trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. So now what? Well, according to retailers and stores around America, it's time to celebrate CHRISTMAS!! Wait, what? I feel like we skipped something here.On November 1st, stores are playing Christmas music, the Hallmark Channel has started their annual showing of Christmas movies and Christmas decorations are replacing the pumpkins and skeletons that once adorned store fronts and houses. Christmas Bazaars and Holiday Shows begin on the first Saturday after Halloween and everyone is ready to celebrate Christmas........... except me. Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE to celebrate Christmas!! It's a wonderful time to remember our Savior's birth and we all enjoy buying gifts for family and friends and spending time with loved ones. But all t...

We host a Bible Study group from our church in our home on Monday nights. Last night, our group had the opportunity to help a fellow church member who is moving into a 'new' house...... the house is a fixer-upper so there is a lot of painting, etc. that needs to be done and we (the kids included) were excited to go and help this family. We decided to ask if it would be okay to bring the kids with us and we were told that the only help needed at the present time was adult help (he said that there would be projects for the kids to help with later). Needless to say, there was great wailing and gnashing of teeth when the kids found out that they couldn't come this time......... "But I wanted to serve!" came the response. I was touched by the tender hearts of my children who were quite devastated that they were not able to help with this particular project. When their tears subsided, I reminded them that there were plenty of opportunities to serve at home...... as th...

My new personal blog is www.missionarymommylife.blogspot.com I will continue to post updates here on this blog as it relates to family things :-) Blessings, Tammi

"The resurrection is the most well attested fact of ancient history". Dr. Simon Greenleaf  We enjoyed a wonderful weekend celebrating the death, burial and resurrection of our Savior! Rodney had Friday off and we had planned to go for a hike, but when we woke up on Friday morning it was 32 degrees and SNOWING..... so we enjoyed a family day at home :-) Saturday found us doing an Easter Egg hunt in the park at 10am, having lunch with friends at our house at noon and then heading to church for an Easter Egg Hunt and church service on Saturday evening. We also enjoyed a beautiful sunset on the way home from church :-)  On Sunday morning, we went back to church for our Sunday School class and then we took a picnic lunch and went hiking for the afternoon since it was nearly 70 degrees today! We enjoyed a wonderful afternoon in God's marvelous creation and I kept smiling as I thought about the fact that on Friday it was 32 degrees and snowing and on Sunday it was 6...

I am attending  a homeschool Mom's Bible Study group; we meet bi-weekly for fellowship and a time of sharing together as Moms. It is a joy and blessing to do life with these women and to encourage one another as we homeschool and raise our children.  Our group is reading a wonderful book right now called 'Different' written by Sally Clarkson and her son, Nathan Clarkson. This book shares the story of Nathan's growing up years as he dealt with OCD, ADHD and other things that made his life 'different'. The pages give a neat perspective from Nathan's point of view (growing up this way) and from Sally's point of view (parenting a child with these unique abilities). The book has so many wonderful insights of how God strengthened and taught both Sally and Nathan as they navigated through many challenges. I wanted to share the end of one of the chapters in the book as a means of encouragement. At the end of Chapter 7, Sally shares, "God's existence...