And now my beloved brethren, I would exhort you to have patience, that ye bear with all manner of afflictions; that ye do not revile against [others]..., lest ye become sinners like unto them;

But that ye have patience, and bear with those afflictions, with a firm hope that ye shall one day rest from all your afflictions.

Alma 34:40-41

Sarah finished her plaid skirt at the end of the week and wore it today with heels, keeping her heels on all day. "I like wearing heels," she chirped.

I had just finished a triumphant violin/harp practice session, and exclaimed joyfully, "How long did I practice? An hour?!" Peter responded, "More like TWO!"

Rebecca was singing lustily, "I could have danced all night" when Nate, eating his bowl of Lucky Charms, grumped, "Becca! Stop singing!" "Nate, practice tolerance," I chided. "I did," he defended. "Already."

The children put on some dancing music ("The Contradiction" by Celtic Woman). Anna approached Sarah and bowed and extended her hand, asking, "May I take a dance?"

Eliza took a bite out of an orange slice and grimaced. "It tastes kind of awkward...for an orange."

When I commented about the children's choice of maple bars and strawberry milk for breakfast, Nate remembered Bill Cosby and justified, "It has wheat and milk and eggs--a perfect nutritional breakfast, Mom."

A man seemed to have lost everything in a disastrous flood. He wept, not for the loss of his worldly goods, but because he could not locate his beloved wife and four children. There was a very real possibility that they had drowned. Soon the word came that they were alive and waiting for him at a nearby emergency facility. What a joyous moment when that family was brought together again! As they rejoiced, the man said, “I have my family again, and although I stand without one earthly possession left to my name, I feel like a millionaire” (quoted by Robert L. Simpson, in Conference Report, Oct. 1980, 11–12; or Ensign, Nov. 1980, 11)

"I know how to spell 'Christmas koalas: e-y-i-r. Is that correct?" (Anna)

I asked Rebecca what her favorite part of the Olive Garden was, since she chose it to go out for a birthday lunch: "The breadsticks. Without hesitation, the breadsticks."

After eating lunch out with Rebecca on her birthday, Anna recalled, "I ate the fettucine alfredo, and my tummy poofed out!"

"Man, never has 35 degrees felt so good." Sarah, after a week of record cold temps.

Anna was having a tantrum the other day. I reminded her of the song, "You better not pout, you better not cry." The following night, Anna had been too tired when it was bed time and shed more tears. Peter's prayer reflected his concern for her: "Please bless Anna to be able to get presents for Christmas."

Anna was watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer movie when Clarise started singing, "There's always tomorrow." Anna looked at the reindeer incredulously. "Reindeers can sing?" she asked, astonished.

Anna sat near the bowl of mini marshmallows waiting patiently for me to come help her make the ornaments I'd promised. Her cheeks were puffing out slightly. I smiled at her, and she immediately said, with some kind of unknown food in her mouth, "I only had 2!"