February Visiting Teaching Handout!!!

I love going visiting teaching!  The sisters that I have are so amazing and I learn so much from them every time we visit.  One of the things I would like to do is create a handout for them just to reemphasize what the lesson was about and maybe give a little treat with it.  I know you don't have to do these things, and you should never feel like you have to, but sometimes it is just a fun surprise for them.  So I am going to start creating new visiting teaching handouts or some fun thing for you to take with you every month!

So with that in mind....here is my first one for February!  It is a really cute handout that can go with any Valentine's Day cookies or treat you want to give them!  It is kinda fun that for the month of love, that we get to talk about marriage relationships. (Especially since this is also my anniversary month as well!)  Of course we need to be sensitive to our sweet sisters that are in a variety of different circumstances that may be, as Elder Christofferson stated, "denied the blessings of marriage for reasons including a lack of viable prospects, same-sex attraction, physical or mental impairments or simply a fear of failure....Or you may have married, but that marriage ended."  In any case love those sisters of yours no matter their circumstances and show them you care!

Download the PDF version here.

All about Jessica

 

     I am Jessica the oldest daughter of the bunch.  I am married to the man of my dreams, Jordan Squires. We met while in College at Eastern Arizona College.  It was his first semester after his 2 year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the Uruguay Montevideo West Mission, and I had just started my 3rd year, I had just started Nursing School. We met through a love of music! It is still one of our number one passions!

     Jordan (26) is my best friend, closely followed by my mom and sisters, and we are still finding out we are more and more alike everyday. We were married in the Snowflake Arizona Temple on December 30, 2011. I married into one of the best families!! We started married life in Thatcher, AZ moved to Safford, AZ then a huge move to Rexburg, ID in December of 2014 and finally moved to Shelley, ID in September of 2015.  Jordan is currently a Insurance Salesman for State Farm Insurance in Blackfoot Idaho. He is taking a bit of a break from school to get settled in this job before starting Business Management hopefully at ISU. He was a Music Major before this so it has been a big change for our family but it has definitely been for the best.  Jordan still absolutely loves music and can play the piano, guitar, ukulele, drums on occasion, harmonica, and really wants to learn how to play the cello! He loves to sing and make up songs, no song has the same words twice. He loves sports with Basketball being his favorite! He loves watching movies and watching funny youtube videos, his favorite is Studio C and Dude Perfect. He loves being outdoors, although winter and snow is a new thing for him. Jordan grew up in Yuma, AZ and swears we will live there someday.  Not if I can help it though, way too hot for me! He is the best dad, all children love him!  He is goofy and makes me laugh everyday even though he thinks that is hard to do.  He has one joke and mixes up the first letters of words to see what funny things he can come up with.  I have found that I do it on accident all the time now!  He helps me relax and find the joy in life, I seriously love him!!

     David is our adventurous 2 year old boy. He was born Sept. 11, 2013 (9-11-13, I think that is cool)  in Safford, AZ. He made us parents and I love him for that! He is smart, funny, and gets into everything! He loves books, robots, dinosaurs, Spiderman, legos, Little Einsteins, and most recently Rio 1 or 2 doesn't matter. He loves learning and could have me quiz him on letters and numbers all day long!  He just started potty training last week.  He had 2 days of no accidents, I bragged and then he had 3 accidents that day. But really he is doing great, Spiderman underwear are his favorite! He knows no strangers, which scares me, but he really is just super friendly.

     Lizzie, Elizabeth, is our little girl!  She was born Feb. 24, 2015 in Rexburg, ID. She is our little sweetheart. I can't believe in just one short month she will be a one year old. She loves to do whatever David is doing, or at least be really close and watch. She loves her baby dolls and give them kisses all the time.  She loves to eat and has rolls to prove it! She can walk, tries to sing, and loves trying to make animal noises (although most of them sound the same).  Don't be fooled though she knows how to get her brother in trouble already, she loves to scream when he takes something or gets too close. They love having screaming contests! She hates having her hair done or getting dressed.  She is a momma's girl though and is terrified of new people.

     Lastly me (25)! I grew up in Snowflake, AZ.  I graduated with my Associates in General Studies as well as an Associates Degree of Applied Science in Nursing at Eastern Arizona College. I am an RN and have worked in long-term care, TCU, and a Rehab unit.  After Jordan got his job with State Farm we decided that it would be best if I stayed home.  It really has been for the best!!  I love getting to be home with my children.  It has been one of the hardest things I have ever done, but I finally have embraced it! I do work from home as an Independent Consultant for Usborne Books & More.  It is such a fun job and I love their books! My MIL actually got me started with it and it has been a great thing to have something for us to do together. I love to read books!  I have a goal to read at least 1 book a month this year.  It will most likely be more than that.  Jordan and I love going to the Library and finding new books or series. I love music!  I play the piano and kind of the cello. I love to sing and dance, my kids get to see that a lot. Life is just better with music.  I get through the day when I put on some smelly good wax and some great music!  I love being outside and can't wait for it to be Spring here.  I love going on walks and hiking.  Nature is my favorite place. I love trying to be crafty, although I am much better when I am with my mom and sisters. I love crocheting because I can redo it as many times as I want! I have tried sewing but it scares me, I will concur it though. I struggle with the everyday of cleaning although I am getting better.  I function better when I have a clean house but I hate having to actually clean it. I enjoy doing hair and am sad Lizzie hates it when I try to play with her hair. I like to cook and bake.  I am horrible at following recipes, I like to make them my own, or mostly I want to make something but don't always have everything I need. I am on a journey to figure out what I like mostly fashion wise.  I am horrible in that area but mostly because I am scared to be my true self where others can see me. I want to figure out how to be myself with out the worry of wondering what others think.  I am learning to love myself and that is a great thing!

It's Me..Emery!!

Hi I’m Emery Donaldson. Wife to a handsome, hardworking man named Duskin. We’ve been married for about 2 ½ years and have one very expressive, always active, sweet little 10 month old boy named Kason. We currently live in Eagar, Arizona. A veryyy TINY town where my husband grew up. We are still figuring out life and what we want to do so for now this is where we live, but that could change within the year. We have spent the last 2 summers in Centreville, Virginia. (pretty much Washington DC) and I have loved spending our summers out there. The reason we have done so is because my husband has done summer sales for Moxie Pest Control and after his first year selling he was invited back to be a Team Leader and after that we thought for sure that would be our last summer. (We love being our there but we are sick of moving!) Well as much as I would of loved to not have to move across the country for again we are doing it for ONE more summer…i'm serious this time! But this year I am so excited to go back out there!!

I’m a lover of all things sweet and sugary. No joke. If it’s sweet I will eat it and probably wayyy to much of it, which is why I love baking. Not cooking, BAKING! I love crafting, sewing and coming up with different things to do. I LOVE getting all dolled up for date nights with Duskin, but that's only a once a week event. Every other day you will most likely find me in comfy clothes no make up and my hair pulled up so Kason doesn't pull it all out. Hiking and camping are my stress relievers. There is just something so wonderful about being in the woods and seeing the most incredible views. I hope to travel to as many places as I can. I absolutely love exploring new places and site seeing. Board games and cards are some of my favorite things to do and I might be too competitive when playing but I think that’s what makes it fun. I’ve been told I’m exactly like my mom and as I have gotten older I see it now too and I am perfecting happy with that! She’s AMAZING! My mom and my sisters are my absolute best friends and I have been blessed with the very best. That’s me!!

One of the Daughters...

My name is Tyanne Hintze (tie•ann, hint•see), and I am the youngest daughter. A little bit about myself... My mom (Crick) has mentioned a little bit about me on her post, but I will go more indepth on this post. Like Crick said, I am very hardworking in my school work. I graduated a semester out of high school with my associates degree in Sports Medicine. I currently switched what I was studying and am now studying to be an Elementary Teacher and am currently working on a bachelor's degree. I wanted to stay in the medical field a little bit and am currently working on my EMT Certification. I have been married for just over a year (December was our year mark) to my wonderful husband Ryan Hintze, and have traveled all over the United States. After we got married we moved from Arizona to the state of Washington for my husband to play basketball for St. Martin's University in Lacey, WA. He tore is ACL and Meniscus right before we moved to Virginia (to do summer sales for Moxie Pest Control) for the summer of 2015 and no longer had a full ride scholarship (only partial). Over the summer we discussed switching schools and going to a cheaper university that we could afford. My brother Robby and his wife were going to Idaho State University where Robby was working for the school and getting tuition at a great discount. There was an opening in the Public Safety Department where Robby worked at ISU. Ryan had worked as a security guard before we got married, he then applied to the job and successfully was hired. We moved to Pocatello, ID August of 2015 and began going to school. This is where we currently reside and have been enjoying our married life together. We love to go to the gym and eat healthy so we are able to stay physically fit. I love to paint and draw as a pastime and he loves to go out and shoot guns, go camping, or play basketball. We do love going on Sunday drives on the motorcycle (if it's not too cold) and ride up in the mountains and enjoy the scenery. It's so far just the 2 of us. We would love to start having a family but we are waiting til I get my bachelors (which will be in 1 year).

A little about myself......

My name is Cristina "Crick" Martindell and I just want to introduce myself and tell a little of who I am. As I thought about this I am first and foremost a wife and a mother, not sure which order, I think they are equal in importance to me. I will have been married 26 years as of this February, wow how time flies! I am married to a wonderful husband Rob, who is an incredible person and makes a lot of what I do happen! He can fix and do anything! He loves to cook on the grill and relishes in making people happy with his wonderful grilling expertise. He is a supervisor at the mine here in Safford, AZ, which gives him several days off because of his schedule, to work on fun projects with me.

I am the support specialist at the LDS Safford Seminary and I love my job! It is part time, but very rewarding. The seminary teacher Bro. Huntsman is truly an amazing teacher and cares so much for his students. I am very blessed to have him as a boss and they are equally blessed to have him as a teacher. I just love working with and being around the youth they are so amazing! I guess that is a good thing because they have just called me to be the Stake Young Women's President, not exactly sure why, but I guess the Lord knows what he is doing, right?!

Well my husband and I are both are from Snowflake, AZ, and the question I get a lot is, "Does it snow there?" The answer is yes! I know when most people think of Arizona, they think of desert, which is where I live now, but Snowflake is a beautiful town of four wonderful seasons! A great oxymoron, I do miss it there! The one thing that Safford does have that I absolutely love and am drawn to is a huge mountain called Mt. Graham. Which also gets quite a bit of snow. This is my favorite place to be, especially in the summer time. I really could just sit and watch it for hours, sounds strange I know, but I really love it.

We have been blessed incredibly with 6 beautiful and talented children, this is the time that I guess it is o.k. to brag a little bit on them right?  We are the Brady Bunch, 3 boys and 3 girls.  I just want to tell you a little bit about each of them.

Jessica is my oldest, she is married to an incredibly kind, fun-loving husband named Jordan.  They have two beautiful blue-eyed children, David and Lizzie. She is so amazingly talented when it comes to music. She has a beautiful voice, plays the piano and cello. Her husband is also a wonderful musician, especially with the piano, he can play anything amazingly, including basketball!  Music just brings her family so much joy. They both love to be active and be outdoors and find new places to see, hike and visit.  Jessica is a great athlete and has a love for soccer and is amazing at it.  She has found that she likes to crochet and also do crafty things and is getting really good at it.  She is an amazing mom and tries so hard to be. She is so caring and loving and wants everyone to be happy. As a teenager you would most likely find her either at the piano or on her bed reading a good book!

Robby is the oldest boy and was a boy through and through!  He was lucky enough to marry a beautiful wife named Rebeka, who is adventurous, kind, has a great love for animals and is incredibly smart! Robby was a natural athlete from the time he was little and loved to play any sport and was very good at it with little practice. Rebeka is also an extraordinary athlete especially in volleyball.    He loves to be doing anything outdoors and has found a new love in snowboarding and they love doing this adventure together. Robby is very competitive when it comes to anything and is usually very good at everything.  I can't say he loves to sing, but he is good at it.  Robby has a very tender heart and loves to be with and surrounded by his family including their two German Shephards and a cute long haired black cat. As a teenager you would most likely find him at or on any sports field or watching it on TV!

Emery is our second daughter and is married to one of Robby's best friends Duskin. Duskin is also an avid outdoors-man, especially when it comes to hunting. This is funny because Emery is very girly and just loved doing girly things growing up, but don't let this fool you she has embraced this side of him and loves to go out with him.  They have a very handsome little boy named Kason, who is the center of her whole life. All she has ever wanted to do is be a mom and is also amazing at it.  She loves to spend time with her family doing anything that they are doing.  She has an amazing singing voice, even though she doesn't think so.  She is our crafty girl!  She loves to decorate and has an incredible eye for putting things together and making it look good, whether it is clothes or decorating a house. As a teenager you would most likely find her out with her friends doing crazy (good) fun things, things that I would never have thought of doing (like eating goldfish, the live ones!)

Tyson is our second son and a twin to our third daughter. He is one of the smartest people I know and can fix anything from a computer to a car and spends much of time giving these services to his friends and family.  He loves helping people. He amazes me sometimes with the things he accomplishes, if only he would focus more on actual school! He has also found out that he loves to sing and dance...at the same time! He has an incredible voice and is an even better dancer. He loves to play all kinds sports and is really good at almost anything he tries, but his favorite is basketball. He is very generous and would literally give you the shirt off his back, but would really love to beat his brother in Fantasy Basketball!   As a teenager you would most likely find him in front of the X-box playing games with his friends.

Tyanne is our third daughter and a twin. She is married to one of Duskin's good friends Ryan, which is how they met. Ryan is an incredible athlete especially in basketball but can also play the piano. Together they love to ride their motorcycle and enjoy the scenery. Tyanne is very hard working, especially when it comes to school work and worked hard to get amazing grades.   She loves to work out, stay fit and cook incredibly delicious healthy food! She has always loved making up new recipes. She loves the outdoors and thankfully would always be my hiking buddy. She is very athletic and always worked harder then everyone else always keeping a positive attitude in every situation.  She is an amazing artist and can paint or draw almost anything.  She also loves to sing and has an amazing voice!  As a teenager you would most likely find her in her room, on the floor, with her computer, doing homework.

Darius brings up the end. He is the baby and relishes in it, at the same time he is one of the most kind hearted people I know. He always has a smile on his face and hates any kind of confrontation. He loves sports and is a really fast runner. His soccer coach gave him the nickname of "The Flash" and he loves it. His favorite sport is track and loves to long jump and triple jump and is really good at it. His biggest love of all is his love of music. He sings constantly, I'm not talking occasionally, but all the time!  He loves to play the piano, guitar and his newly acquired ukulele. He works hard to keep good grades and loves to work with his dad making things out of wood. As a teenager (now) you would mostly likely find him anywhere in the house literally singing at the top of his lungs!

Well that is my family. Why did I take so much time describing each one of them? Because they are so much a part of me and who I am as well, even though my three girls and one daughter-in-law will be telling about themselves on here and going into deeper descriptions of their wonderful families.  As for me, well it is really hard to describe myself. I have changed so much over the years but if I was to say "As a teenager I would say that you would most likely find me playing sports or just being outdoors with my friends somewhere." I don't find myself playing sports much any longer, my focus has changed somewhat (mostly due to age), but I do still love the outdoors. I love to hike in the mountains or float down the river. I love to go camping and see new places that I haven't been before. I am however, afraid of bears, so when I go hiking I always bring something to protect me from bears, silly I know, not that it would really help though, but it makes me feel better. I also love taking pictures of the adventures I go on....so beware!

I absolutely love to sing with my family. When we get together it is so much fun to gather around the piano and just take a part and sing. Which brings me to...I love Pentatonix! They are truly amazing and I love listening to them. When we go on road trips we listen and sing to them and try to pick out the different parts. Another funny thing we do on road trips is make music videos....I may have to post one or two of those from past trips!

I love creating things, whether it be with sewing, cooking, on the computer, my silhouette, wood, paint, or just about anything I can get my hands on. It just brings me great joy to create something from nothing (well I guess there is usually materials involved).

I love the fall and especially Christmas! I love getting together with family, cooking, playing games and the best of all, listening to Christmas music! There is just something that happens when you listen to it that makes everything feel warm and fuzzy. Speaking of warm and fuzzy, I love being a grandma. Spending time with my grand kids is the best feeling ever. I know I get a little emotional when they leave, or I have to leave, but I just can't help it.

All of these things are wonderful fun things, but who am I down deep inside? I have a love of trying to be better then I was yesterday and to make those around me feel that they are loved. To follow my Savior Jesus Christ and do what he would do and be who he was. To serve those around me to the best of my ability and to encourage those who need it. To be a person who doesn't judge or make anyone feel that they don't measure up. To call up that friend or family member who is having a bad day and to be close enough to the spirit to know when to do so. To do what I am asked to do and follow through with things that need to be done. I am not perfect in any of these things but I am trying to do better every day. I am thankful to be a member the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I feel very blessed to know of its teachings and strive to learn more every day. I have a love of the scriptures and most of all a love of the temple and the fact that I know, that because of it, I can be with this sweet family of mine forever! There is no greater blessing on earth!