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  • A Sacred Christmas Music CD Giveaway

    A Sacred Christmas Music CD Giveaway

    Happy Holidays! Enjoy A Sacred Christmas with original music from Garth Smith. 

    A Sacred Christmas by Garth Smith

    Christmas music is quite easily my favorite to listen to. I’m not one to listen to it all year round, but I never mind hearing it – no matter the season. So, yes, in our house, as soon as Halloween is over, I start playing the Christmas tunes. 

    This year I was especially excited to check out a new to me artist – Garth Smith. Garth is a Utah native and current California resident. You can read more about him on his website – www.garthsmithmusic.com. Every arrangement is his testimony of Christ. I truly feel that as I listen to each arrangement on his newest CD, A Sacred Christmas. 

    Since a young age, I’ve found a love for and my own testimony of Christ within the hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. One of my favorite scriptures is in the Doctrine & Covenants where the Lord tells Emma “For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads.”

    When listening to A Sacred Christmas, I hope you will be able to feel the Spirit of Christ in your homes and hearts. Check out the playlist for some of the beautiful songs you’ll hear on this album. 

    A Sacred Christmas playlist

    For Unto Us A Child Is Born
    O Little Town of Bethlehem
    Still, Still, Still
    I Wonder As I Wander
    Gesu Bambino
    Sankta Lucia – Swedish Carol
    Away In A Manger
    O Come, O Come Emmanuel
    It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
    Heaven’s Hallelujah
    O Holy Night

    How To Listen

    Purchase A Sacred Christmas CD’ in Deseret Book, at Your LDS Music Store, and at Garth Smith Music.
    Sheet Music is available for purchase on Garth Smith Music.
    Digital Downloads are available on all major downloading services. 
    Tune in to the Garth Smith Holiday channel on Pandora. 
    Tune in to Garth Smith Piano on Facebook Sunday nights for a live devotional with Garth Smith. Every Sunday at 9:30 pm MST.

    A Sacred Christmas Fireside

    If you can, check out one of Garth Smith’s firesides during the month of December and as part of the #LightTheWorld campaign. You can find him at the following dates and places (7 PM start time):

    Dec. 9th – Sandy Utah Crescent North Stake
    Dec 16th – St. George Tabernacle
    Dec 23rd – Los Angeles Temple Visitors Center
    Dec 29th – Oakland Temple Visitors Center

    A Sacred Christmas Giveaway

    Open to US readers 18+. Giveaway ends 11/11/2018. Enter on form below.

     

  • Holiday Baking with the Love Cooking Company + a Discount

    Holiday Baking with the Love Cooking Company + a Discount

    I am a member of US Family Guide Bloggers. I will receive product in exchange for this post. 
     
    Love Cooking Company has set out with a mission to make baking a simple task. Partnered with some great names in the baking and entertainment industries, Love has crafted bakeware that helps you easily achieve the best-looking baked goods on the table, from filled cakes to bite-size desserts and more. These pans will make your holiday desserts stand out!
     
    The PushPan is a 100% watertight and leak-proof cake pan with a patented silicone-lined removable base making it perfect for cheesecakes, pies and more! You all KNOW how much I love cheesecake right? Would you believe I don’t own a spring form pan, though? Love this!
     
     

    The Mrs. Fields Cutie Cakes pan creates 48 bite-size cakes when you need a small amount of something sweet. It’s ideal for savory options, like mini corn dogs or potato pancakes. 

     

    The Mrs. Fields Fill N Flip  is the easiest way to make a layered cake and create a surprise center that everyone will love. Once you bake your cake, add filling to the side with the large opening, place the non-filled layer on top, and enjoy! I’m pretty much in love with this pan. It will make a raspberry filling look so much nicer. 

     
    DISCOUNT!
    For a limited time Love Cooking Company is offering 10% Off your entire order on with the promo code LOVE10. 



    Stay Connected with Love
  • Castles and Catapults

    Castles and Catapults

    This post contains affiliate links.

    Last year for Christmas I bought Princess R a subscription to Kiwi Crate. I try to be a fun mom, and be all crafty, but truth be told it’s just not me. Thank goodness for things like pinterest to help inspire me! I had a friend who I knew bought Kiwi Crate for her daughter the year before, so I asked her what she thought, was it worth it, etc. She only had good things to say about it!

    Now, I only have good to say about it as well! I’ve been trying to get pictures all year of her playing with the crafts each month, but found myself setting the camera aside to just sit and be with her and play. One of the more recent crates however, was just too fun not to take photos to share with you. Castles and Catapults I’d easily say is this girls favorite new “toy”.

    This picture really captured how much fun we’ve had with the castle and catapult. After the dragon took over the castle, ate the King, and Prince, and stole the Princess – we had to storm the castle with pom poms launched from our homemade catapult.

    For me, the fun part was being able to weave some history lessons into play time. Instead of trying to come up with something to keep her attention, the Kiwi Crate took care of that for me, and I could focus on what I love – the weaving of history into playtime.

    SAVE!
    Use this link to get $10 off! (and I’ll get $10 off our next month as well!)

    Kiwi Crate Holiday
  • Watching our Children grow through Milestones

    Watching our Children grow through Milestones

    *This post is sponsored by VTech. The VTech product, information, and giveaway have been provided by VTech.
    Milestones


    I love watching our kids grow, and reach different milestones. The Holidays especially seem like a time where we notice more, and reflect back to the milestones they have reached as we get ready to send Christmas cards to our family and friends around the world. 
    This year has been one of bitter sweet for me. Since 2006 we’ve had a baby every 2 years. That would mean, we “should have” had a baby this year. We decided for the time being though, that we are happy with 4 kids. So instead of prepping, or taking care of a newborn right now, I’ve had more time to play with Little Prince and really see him reaching these different stages in his life. I never missed them with my older kids, but I also was much more distracted with them, and there were little things I never noticed “when” it happened.
    Like talking in full sentences for example. Or counting. The ability to play and understand games like Hide and Go Seek. Learning Colors. 
    These are just some of the fun milestones Little Prince has hit this year. He’s also learning to manipulate, climb counters, figured out the fridge lock within the first 5 minutes of installation, and knows how to use a screwdriver. 
    I love VTech because they’ve got toys that aren’t just toys. They help and encourage our kids to learn, grow and reach those milestones. VTech combined with an expert panel, including Dr Lise Eliot an Early Childhood Brain Development Expert, to create a milestones resource for parents. Broken down by age from birth to 9 years old – you can stop worrying now if your child has reached an important milestone, or if they still need some help. 
    We received a package of VTech goodies including the Chomp and Count Dino, Roll and Surprise Animal Train, and Lil’ Critters Play and Dream Musical Piano. Based on recent milestones, we opened up the Chomp and Count Dino for Little Prince. 
    Along with numbers, it is also helping him learn colors and listen to directions. We plan on donating the other toys to a family in need this Christmas season so another child can learn and grow on a level perfect for them!

    Follow VTech
    Giveaway
    VTech would like to send a package to one of you!
    Enter on the Rafflecopter below. 
    US residents only, no PO Boxes

    a Rafflecopter giveaway

  • Holiday Gift Guide: American Certified K’nex Giveaway

    This year shop American companies. Or just win some cool toys from one!  I’m excited to be partnering with American Certified to offer you a chance to win 1 of 3 K-Nex Toy Chests.

    A little about K’nex – “Founded in 1992, K’NEX Brands, the world’s most innovative construction toy company, was established to make and sell what has become one of the most integrated construction systems for children, and is America’s STEM building solution. Winner of over 250 international awards and recognitions, K’NEX, America’s Building Toy® company, is focused on Building Worlds Kids Love® and encourages youngsters to “imagine, build and play.” From the living room to the classroom, K’NEX has building toys specially designed for every age group and skill level.”

    Increase your chances of winning, and enter to win 1 of 50 other American Certified prizes on their blog! 

  • Holiday Gift Guide: Holiday Outfit from eShakti

    Holiday Gift Guide: Holiday Outfit from eShakti

    Are you going anywhere special for the holidays? I’m probably not, but I’ve always thought it would be fun to go to a holiday party all dressed up. So I decided I could dream a little, and put together my dream Holiday Outfit.

    I started by browsing through eShakti’s new arrivals. I just love that I can customize the dresses to fit my body, plus the length, neckline and sleeves to fit my level of comfort. It’s dress shopping on a whole new level! For the holidays, I couldn’t imagine anything more me than the Beaded snowflake ponte sheath dress. 

    After finding my dress I headed over to two of my favorite online boutique stores – Cents of Style and Hannah Jane. I’m not one for extreme high heels normally, but the Mosaic-36- Cream Velvet Pump from Cents of Style is exactly what I would wear to a party with this dress on!

    Just a little more bling to dress this outfit up. I feel a necklace would just detract from the beautiful snowflake embroidery, so I went for something a little more simple with these Silver Stacking Knuckle Rings from Hannah Jane Boutique.

    What does your holiday outfit look like?
    Get ready to show me, because eShakti is giving one lucky reader a $50 Gift Card!!
    Open to USA and Canada
    all entries will be verified

    Follow eShakti 

    a Rafflecopter giveaway

  • Holiday Gift Guide: Runners Armband

    Holiday Gift Guide: Runners Armband

    Earlier this week I shared my Music Lovers Stocking, today I’m sharing the Runners Stocking! If you have anyone who loves to run, you’ll want to put together a stocking like this. 
    The star of this is the Running Armband! I love to run, but it has been increasingly harder for me to find motivation to get out and do it. I’ve always said, maybe if I had a way to listen to some music, so it wasn’t quite so silent out there running alone. I’m not really a group runner type of person either. 
    My biggest worry about the Running Armband would be that it slips down my chubby arms, but it has a nice grip to it, and has stayed where it should. 
    So what are we going to add with the running armband? If the person you’re gifting to someone without a phone, I’d start there. This particular band is built for the Iphone 5, 5S , 5c , 4 , 4S , 3GS and iPod 5 Touch.
    As long as the device is set, we can move on to the other things to really make a runners stocking. 
    Music! An iTunes giftcard is the perfect way to let someone build their own playlist. I personally need upbeat motivational songs to listen to while running. I’ve got friends who need more heavy metal dark stuff to get them going. Whatever the music preference, a gift card will fit everyone. 
    Personally I’d rather not let everyone hear my music while I’m running so, you’ll want to get a nice set of earphones to include as well. The Running Armband is set up to easily fit headphones into whichever device you are using. 
    What else might you put in a runners stocking? So glad you asked!
    • Pedometer
    • ear muffs/headband to cover ears
    • gift card to a sports or shoe store
    • chapstick
    • socks

    What’s on your running playlist?

    I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

  • Holiday Gift Guide: LDS Temple Medallions Giveaway

    Holiday Gift Guide: LDS Temple Medallions Giveaway

    *I received compensation for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

    One of the best days of my life, was the day I got married. It was a beautiful day, I was marrying a pretty decent guy, and I was doing it in a place I consider Holy – the Mt Timpanogos LDS Temple. It’s nice to have little reminders around our home of that special day. 
    I absolutely love these LDS Temple Medallions as an ornament. They are a perfect remembrance to hang on the Christmas tree of that special day in your life. Or if you have LDS friends, this would make a wonderful gift to send them.  

    Currently available are 110 of the 144 operating temples. They offer a variety of ways to get your medallion as well. You can choose it on an easel display, as a necklace, a Christmas Ornament, or just a medallion. 

    You can also collect them all as ornaments and decorate a tree solely with temples. Right now LDS Temple Medallions has a great offer going on. Check it out

    These truly are a beautiful piece, and I have 2 to giveaway – they are both for the Mt Timpanogos Temple. Please enter our giveaway, then head to facebook where you can enter another giveaway because you entered here first (isn’t that awesome!). If you don’t want this particular temple, you can check these other giveaways to see if they have yours.

    Follow LDS Temple Medallions
    Website  *  Facebook  *  Blog
    Giveaway!
    Enter to win 2 Mt Timpanogos LDS Temple Medallion Ornaments
    open to US and Canada

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  • Holiday Gift Guide: Animal Trackers

    Holiday Gift Guide: Animal Trackers


    I have really had a fun time this year trying out different subscription services on the kids. We’ve found one for Princess R that is just perfect, and now I believe we’ve found the perfect box for Little Prince.

    This boy loves playing pretend, dressing up, and getting hands on with everything. Animal Trackers combines all of that into one box. Plus it all comes in an old fashioned tin lunchbox. I love it so much, and so do the kids.

    Every month you get a new set of activities to learn about a different animal. The first set is more of an overview, with activities like animal matching, sticker scenes, and a ring to hold all the animal tracks you get.

    We also got the Zebra pack. Prince L was kept entertained for a long time with the Magic Nuudles Zebra. A little water, and the nuudles stick to the paper with no mess! Not only was it fun. but I was impressed at his color recognition, in matching the white and black nuudles to the stripes.

    All the kids got in on playing the matching game. I encouraged them to make the different animal sounds when they made a match. Anyone know what sound a hippo makes though??

    Princess R took over the Zebra mask, but that was OK with Prince L since he didn’t care for anything in his face. It worked perfect to add to her Zecoura Halloween Costume as well.

    Isn’t that fun?? The Animal Trackers have a whole set of masks to go with each pack. They are really well made too which had me impressed, and the kids having a blast.

    The Animal Trackers Subscription would make a great gift to any young child this Christmas season.

    Make sure you check out all the other fun ideas in our Holiday Gift Guide.

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    I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.