january service… “be thou an example”

11203
The kids took bread to a few families in the ward that are good examples to us (for different reasons). It was so fun watching them unexpectedly deliver some joy on a Monday night. The best part of serving is watching the children “get it” and love doing it. We’ve set a goal to do one purposeful service activity per month this year within our family. I think that for the month of February we are going to host a dinner for a few families from church that we would like to get to know better. The kids will serve them dinner and treat them for the night. We’ll see how it turns out.

11206
11209

bags o’ fun

Great-grandma Chapman sent home some handmade beanbags with Adam a couple of months ago. They have become the center of attention during recent Family Home Evenings. All we do is line up some bowls, assign each a value, and try and hit the bowl with the beanbag. The kids go nuts over this very simple game.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GBjBV17JwI

We have also started going through scripture stories one by one for our FHE lessons. The kids all speak good enough English now, and they have had enough exposure over the past few years, that they are loving it.

10440

fhe–service

19 April 2010
Service, by Adam

We fed the missionaries dinner so we did a lesson on serving others. Valerie had her baby on the 18th so we took her a yummy Sonic Drink at the hospital. There was no ooooing and ahhhing over the baby by the ninos either. Nope, none! We had tons of fun. Thanks for letting us intrude, Val!

Song:
I am a Child of God

Treat:
Sonic chillers

Nightly Funny: 
Just a lot of talk of where babies come out. You can imagine the ewwws I get every time I explain it. Hilarious!

fhe–safety

12 April 2010
Hiking/Camping Safety, by the J. DeMarco Family

Our annual Memorial Zionfest is quickly approaching so we were presented with a lesson this week on safety procedures for the kiddos. We also received Child Safety Kits to have on hand in the unlikely (or very likely) case of a missing/lost child while we are there. Loved our group FHE this month. Thanks DeMarco Family!
7957

Song:
I Am a Child of God
Book of Mormon Stories

Treat:
Strawberry Shortcake……again (YES)!
7966

Nightly Funnies:
Jena to Dave, “everyone knows you’re picky…that’s what got us put in charge of the camping potluck!”

Jaime Lynne, “Alright, we’ll be in charge of the t-shirts, but you have 48 hours to respond people and that’s it. ”

Juan……..well pretty much everything he said tonight was funny! :)

7950

fhe–our prophet

5 April 2010
President Monson, by Nikki
Since we just had Spring General Conference, Nikki decided to present a bio about President Monson. We cut up strips of paper with fun facts about the prophet written on them. Nikki let each family member come up and choose a fact to present. She also presented a picture of the prophet.

Song:
Follow the Prophet

Scripture:
3 Nephi 10:12
And it was the more righteous part of the people who were saved, and it was they who received the prophets…

Treat:
Strawberry Shortcake…..YUMMY

Nightly Funny:
Dad, “How long did President Monson serve in the U.S. Navy?”
Daniel, “Umm, 400 years. Oh wait, I mean four!”

thanks a lot

We are starting a new McCracken tradition in 2010, or should I say carrying on an old one. Adam’s family kept a Family Home Evening Journal with notes about what happened etc. Adam has fond memories of looking through the books and reminiscing over them with his fam.

We have decided to keep our journal online and then make a yearly FHE blog book. That way pictures will be easier to incorporate. So without further ado:

11 January 2010

Gratitude, by Ezzy
Ezzy prepared a game called The Gratitude Gopher. We put our hands in a paper bag and pulled out a picture of something we should be grateful for like home, friends, etc. If we pulled out a picture of the gratitude gopher we could pick our own thing to be grateful for. Then she talked about how it is important to show our thanks for gifts that are given to us.

Songs:
I Love to See the Temple
I am a Child of God

Scripture:
D&C 78:19
And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more.

Activity:
Christmas gift thank you cards
77357738
77447750

Treat:
Ice cream