Someone made a really nice comment on my last St. George Temple picture post and I recently found this picture taken back in 2008. I re-edited it and I like it so much! So I thought I share it with you.
I took this picture with an Olympus Camera and Lens. I highly recommend Olympus SLRs for a good cheaper off-brand alternative to Canon/Nikon.
Update #1 7/6/2014 @ 3:00 pm:I just got back from church and I am overwhelmed with how well this worked out. Every child from nursery to senior primary got to baptize Jesus, granted it was a holiday weekend so the primary was small, but I sang the baptism song over 30 times today. I found a better container to represent the river and the puppets survived being immersed so many times. The water turned slightly yellow after everyone dipped their hands in it but someone commented “well, at least it’s a better representation of the Jordan River!” (since the Jordan River is a dirty river)…. LOL! I also made a stand for John the Baptist so he can just stand in the river the whole time. I made it using two popsicle sticks and hot glue. Everything worked out perfect. I felt the spirit so strong today during primary. The kids were engaged and SOOOO excited to baptize Jesus. I asked the kids questions about baptism before we started singing and they had a lot of great insight! This idea came to me after I was praying one night about how to teach the kids about baptism. Update #2 7/13/2014 @ 9:00 am: I’ve added a few printables for the second verse of the song. Scroll down to see it. Stay tune next week for the third verse!
Update #3 7/20/2014 @ 6:00 am:I’ve added my ideas for the final verse. THANK YOU Susan Fitch Design for providing the art for the baptism boy or girl. I’ve also realized after doing this for 2 weeks that this baptism idea works best for Jr. Primary and Nursery. The Sr. Primary is a little bit too old and cool for this. I thought I may be playing Baptism Hangman with the Sr. Primary today. Where I put a lines for a word on the board and then draw a man on the board and every time they get a letter right the guy can be lowered a little bit more in the water until he is baptized.
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I recently got a new calling as primary chorister. I’ve been doing it for about a month now. I haven’t spend much time on social media this month unless it’s looking up ideas for singing time. This month the song is “Baptism” in the Children’s Song Book. I got the idea to teach the kids the lyrics to the Baptism song using laminated stick figures. I couldn’t find the perfect pictures online so I had to make my own drawings and enhanced it with Photoshop. ( Sorry I’m not the best artist but feel free to use these drawings for you own projects and I’d appreciate the link up!) So I’m going to print these out, laminate them, then put them on popsicle sticks. I’ve attached the color and B&W versions. If you don’t have a laminator you can use clear tape.
Jesus Clipart Outline Black and White
Colored Jesus Clipart
John the Baptist Cartoon Color
John the Baptist Cartoon Black and White
I’ll have the kids help with the stick puppets but basically I’ll just go through each line of the song of the first verse:
-Jesus came to John the Baptist (Put the Jesus and John puppets together)
-In Judea long ago, (Put the puppets by a Judea map such as the one below)
-And was baptized by immersion (Put John and Jesus puppets in a container of water and have the kids help baptize Jesus in the water)
-In the River Jordan’s flow. (Label the container of water “Jordan River”)
First , I’m going to ask the kids “why do we have to be immersed in water?” and not just sprinkle or showered in the water. (Because that is the proper way and it’s a symbolism of full conversion, covenants with God and full cleansing).
Then I’m going to ask the kids “why did John the Baptist have to be the one to baptize Jesus?”. (Because he had the priesthood authority and Jesus was being obedient to God).
Hopefully someone else can use these pictures too since I spent the time making them! This also works as an objection lesson on teaching kids about baptism by immersion for FHE or Primary Lessons or Sharing Time.
Please share your thoughts and ideas!
Judea map picture credit: http://bibleatlas.org/area/judea.jpgSecond Verse: Use the speech bubbles to tell the story of the second verse. Use these speech bubbles along with the stick figures.
“To fulfill the law,” said Jesus
When the Baptist questioned why
Talk to the children about “What is the law?” (Answer: All the commandments of Heavenly Father such as commanded to be baptized.)
“And to enter with my Father in the kingdom up on high.” Cut out the door and have the Jesus puppet go into the temple. Then talk about why you need baptism to “enter into the kingdom”. The size of this picture is 11″ by 16″ but I’ve divided it into 8.5″ by 11″ below so you can print it on two sheets of paper. You can paste this temple onto a cardstock or cardboard box so it can stand up.
Top of temple 8.5″ by 11″ size
Bottom of temple 8.5″ by 11″ size
Third Verse:
I found these cute little baptism boy and girl on Susan’s Fitch Design. She is an amazing artist. You can go to her website to download the art for free. The third verse is an application verse. So when I call up a volunteer, I will give them a boy or girl depending on their gender then I will tell them to pretend that the puppet is them when they are 8 years old. This will definitely only work in Jr. Primary. The faith and obedience signs are optional sometimes I think it’s better to keep it simple.
Now we know that we must also (Give a boy or girl puppet to the child)
Witness faith in Jesus’ word, (Hold up faith sign)
Be baptized to show obedience, (Baptize the boy or girl puppet in the water then ask another child to hold up obedience sign)
As was Jesus Christ, our Lord. (Hold the boy or girl puppet next to the Jesus puppet that was used in the previous verses)
Then talk and ask questions about faith and obedience. Emphasize that we choose to get baptize when we are 8 years old so we can do what Jesus did. Remember this is the application verse of the song.
Good luck! I’ve been overwhelmed with all the nice comments. I would love to hear your stories about this activity!
Ok our family is totally not into sports. We don’t watch them on TV and we don’t play much sports. However, our little Micah who’s only 2.5 years old is all about sports! He loves all sports! So I bet this year for the World Cup we will be keeping up with the scores.
Also, my husband served his mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Manaus, Brazil so he’s always had a soft spot for Brazil and Brazilian people. He always tells us stories about being on the mission during the world cup and how crazy it gets over there.
Since we’ve been been married, we have met lots of Brazilian friends from around the world! We love all our Brazilian friends. We love their food. We love their culture.
One of our best Brazilian friends got little Micah this #10 Brazilian Soccer Jersey. Micah loves it! It is his favorite outfit and insist on wearing it all the time!
We’re excited that the FIFA world cup is in Brazil this year and I bet you that we will be watching a few games on TV or online!
“It is OK if the house is a mess and the children are still in their pajamas and some responsibilities are left undone. The only things that really need to be accomplished in the home are daily scripture study and prayer and weekly family home evening.”
The apartment is not clean.
My kids and I are still in my PJs.
But I did do my personal scripture and personal prayer today.
We also did our family scripture study and family prayer.
And we planted our garden yesterday for Family Home Evening.
So I guess the essentials are done.
So right now, I’m indulging myself by blogging before my kids wake up from nap.
… oh wait … I hear a kid crying.
I guess nap time is over! 🙂
Enjoy cute pictures of Micah and Quentin. It’s a rare occasion to get a picture of both of them looking at the camera at the same time. My mother-in-law hand knit them matching sweaters.
I would love to hear about you!
Who are you? Why do you blog or read other people’s blogs?
I went on a 1.5 week of computer fast and then the computer miraculously turned on again when my husband decided to fix it. IDK what happened. I did spay it out with a duster can but that’s about it.
It’s been really nice to disconnect for a while. I’ve spent more time with my kids and my apartment is clean! The dishes and laundry is done too. It’s amazing how much time I waste online.
So we’ve just been preparing for General Conference weekend. We are so excited for that.
Quentin started crawling three days ago!!
Micah has been learning his phonics…. like “oo’s” and “a’s”
Dallin is still working hard at grad school. He just recently submitted a science publication… congrats to him!
Me… I’ve just been focusing on working out, eating healthy, cleaning the house, and getting in a better scripture study… you know… being a mom. I’ve lost 6 pounds since January! 10 more pounds to go to be back at pre-pregnancy weight.
Dallin was sick this week. Now both of the kids have been sick and have been throwing up like crazy… yuck.
Anyways… thanks for reading my rambles.
I want to thank everyone who has ever let me take their picture. I’ve been able to organize my portfolio better with the new SmugMug platform. You should check out my new photography site and give me feedback!
Here’s a slide show of some of my favorite pictures I’ve taken over the last few years.
I grew up going to Classic Skating all the time! I remember in 6th grade when they took us on a field trip to Classic Skating and I was super excited. My mom encouraged me to learn how to roller blade at a very young age and I’ve always loved it! I didn’t realize that my son, who is only 2, would love roller skating!!!
Last week, we went to Classic Skating family activity planned by our ward’s elders quorum. We had a blast! It made me really happy to see that Micah loved being on wheels. 🙂 He went around the rink like 8 times!
They’ve remodeled the place a little since I’ve been there but they still do things like “wipe out”, “snowball”, “blackout” and “train”. It sure brings back old memories!
After a while, Micah insisted on rolling by himself.
Our little Quentin bear just had fun looking at the lights. During blackout it seemed like we were at a rave or something! LOL! No, we didn’t take babies to a rave. It was just Classic Skating.
One thing that has changed is that I didn’t know they allow little kids to bring in strider balance bikes. They also let us have strollers on the rink! LOL! Our family definitely rolls in style. And yep, we used our own converted single to double stroller.
In The Family Proclamation it says that “Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesomerecreational activities.”
As, a family we definitely try to work hard to keep our house in order and keep up with our studies but we also play hard too! Going to classic skating sure was a lot of fun and it was a good family/ward bonding activity.
What kind of wholesome recreational activities does your family like to do?
It’s been a while since I’ve posted picture on LDS temples.
This is the Las Vegas Nevada Temple. We stopped here on the way to San Diego back in October.
My husband is really good at going to the temple every week. I’ve been trying to go every other week but it is really a lot harder to go to the temple with little kids. It has worked out though for the most part. I get the the temple about twice a month. Even though I don’t always get to go with Dallin to the temple, the sisters in our ward are always arranging trips together to the temple. It’s nice to get away to have some “girls time” too. This allows me to be able to get to know different sisters in our ward better by going to the temple with them.
I also notice that even though I can’t go to the temple as often, there is still an increased measure of the Spirit at home. Why? I think it’s because little babies bring with them a special spirit. Also, I think it’s because my husband has been so faithful in attending the temple. I also believe that new moms can be blessed to have the “spirit of the temple” at home through prayer, scripture study, and uplifting music.
I heard once that a mom would take 2 hours of her week to have “temple time” even though she couldn’t physically get the the temple because of distance and time. During that time she would study about the temple.
How do you find time to go to the temple? (Especially if you have little kids…)
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So far on our virtual temple tour we have been to these temples:
Random Photography Ramble: Why do I like to do this star burst effect? Because it was about noon day when we arrived at the temple and there was no clouds in the sky. I usually like to take pictures during sunrise or sunset with clouds to help defuse the light. Lunch time really isn’t the best time for lighting so I think the light “burst” adds to the picture instead of just having a plan blue sky. You can learn how to do the star effect here.
DID YOU KNOW? It’s actually “Happy St. Valentine’s Day”? Even though it is unclear exactly who St. Valentine is. One legend I heard while we were in Ireland is that February 14 is the day St. Valentine died. The Dubliners believe he is burried somewhere in Dublin, Ireland. They believe he was killed because he was performing marriage ceremonies for soldiers and young couples even though marriage was not allowed at the time.
While St. Valentine’s Day doesn’t have any significant religious value or doctrine in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the church does support dating after the age of 16 and marriage between one man and one women. After marriage we are to work hard to keep a healthy and happy marriage. Our stake president counseled the husbands to take their wives on a date every week.
Basically, we celebrate Valentine’s Day because of culture and not religion. 🙂
WHAT DOES OUR FAMILY DO FOR VALENTINE’S DAY? Dallin told me that his mom use to make him a big heart shaped cookie for breakfast. So I woke up at 5 AM this morning to make him that big cookie!
May Bo loves to receive and give valentine’s. Her favorite memory is making tin foil Valentine’s day boxes in elementary school. Every year, May Bo has taken Valentine’s Day pictures of Micah ever since he was born. You can see the other years here:
We will post the 2014 Valentine’s Day pictures of Micah and Quentin another day. Why? Because there is this little girl who always comes up to us in Sunday school almost every week. She always gives us a cute smile and we give her gold fish crackers. Every time May Bo saw her she wanted to take a picture of her. So finally we just invited her over to take Valentine’s Day pictures. It’s not everyday that May Bo can take pictures of cute little girls since we have 2 boys!
Well January was kinda crazy. I was trying to get my life back together after the holidays. We went on vacation in October and November. Then Christmas came along and my birthday. I also spent all January trying to recover from being sick and my data disaster. Now it’s already mid February… Crazy! Good news! My computer is cleaned. The laundry is finally caught up and my apartment looks decent. I feel like I can actually sit down and write a nice blog post cause my kids are taking naps. So here we go!
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My old roommate Catherine came into town and she wanted an updated family picture.
Catherine and Dalton said they didn’t want another picture in front of fall colors nor did they want her pictures to look like engagement pictures. So this is what we came up with:
Time: We did dusk/twilight but it didn’t really matter too much because this area is in between tall buildings that block the sun.
I wanted to point out how good they were at posing!!! They came up with a lot of creative husband and wife / couple poses.
So, I want to write a little more about Catherine. She was one of the seven girls I ended up rooming with during my first year of college. She is amazing! She has so many talents especially in writing and journalism. My favorite thing about Catherine is that she makes everyone feel genuinely loved.
Every guy loved Catherine and wanted to date her. She ended up waiting for Dalton while he was on his 2 year LDS mission. They got married in the Bountiful Utah Temple in December of 2011.
Catherine and Dalton have been married for a little over two years and it’s obvious that they are really happy.
So what’s their secret? Why are they so happy? How are they making their marriage work?
I asked her specifically about how has their decision of being married in a LDS temple has helped their marriage.
This is what Catherine said:
“Because we were married in the temple, we are able to connect every choice we make in our lives to our overall purpose and ultimate destiny. Our journey together is real. When we face trials and uncertainties in life, we can always find joy in knowing there is a purpose and a plan for us. The temple made us an eternal team, and we are always reminded of that when we go back to the temple. This encourages us to focus all of our attention on being the best supporter we can of our teammate’s goals and dreams.”
Judea map picture credit: 
Hubbard's Cupboard 