Author Archives: S.D. Sorensen

Favorite Christmas Books for Families (including a giveaway)

Posted in Uncategorized by

I hope this doesn’t count as playing Christmas music before Thanksgiving.  I just want to give you some great ideas so you can get a jump start on the holiday season.  We love to read around here anyway, but come Christmas time, I hit the library and clean them out of nativity-related stories (I know, I’m selfish).  We also own several that we love to read every year.  I keep a basket full of Christmas books by the fireplace, and send my children there anytime I want them to settle down.  We all cuddle on the couch and read stories for a while, and we usually read several stories at bedtime as well.  Here are some of our favorites:  (I got the pictures from Amazon.com)

What is Christmas? by Michele Medlock Adams is a sweet rhyming book that talks about the true meaning of the day.

The Donkey’s Christmas Song by Nancy Tafuri:  I love this one about how Jesus loves us all just as we are.

The Fourth Wise Man by Susan Summers and Jackie Morris: You might have to tell it in simpler words to the youngest children, but the story and pictures are beautiful.  (Incidentally, I watched the movie “The Fourth Wise Man” at a zone conference on my mission and it fast became a holiday favorite for me.  I really recommend it as a great Christmas movie to watch with your family.)
Mortimer’s Christmas Manger by Karma Wilson.  This is one of my favorite stories about a mouse whose selfish ways turn around when the real story of Christmas changes his heart. So sweet.

Bear Stays Up for Christmas is by the same author,but this one doesn’t count for the nativity-type.  The rhyming text is just whimsical, the story is cute, and my kids love it.

my very first Christmas Story: a very simple board book that tells the true story of Christmas with cute pictures

The Shepherd Boy’s Story: another cute Christmas story board book that encourages children to tell others about Jesus.



The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson is an excellent read-aloud about some rotten kids from a troubled family who forced their way into roles in the local Christmas play.  Your children will love reading about all their mischievous antics, and I’ll be surprised if you can read about the actual performance without tearing up.  It’s a great story about the goodness in all of us, even where we least expect it.

Okay, so technically this is not a book. Classic Holiday Stories is a Disney DVD.  I like to read my children some kid-friendly version of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, or maybe the original text this year. This DVD has the Disney cartoon, Mickey’s Christmas Carol, which I think is cute and my boys really liked it last year. It will be fun to watch it again after reading the story.

Finally, I recieved this book as a gift from Jana Parkin (a.k.a. Charette in the blogging world) a few weeks ago.  It is called What Think Ye of Christmas? by Ester Rasband. 

Jana did all the artwork for the book in beautiful watercolor paintings.  It is really a lovely book that explains the Christian message behind all the symbols of Christmas time.  It helps you to find and recognize Christ even amidst a commercial wonderland.  “All things bear record of Him.” It encourages you to live out that Spirit of Christ as you celebrate the holiday.  And Jana’s paintings are so masterful and charming.  We went out to lunch the day she gave me the book as a gift, and after I took it home and read through it, I wished I had kidnapped her to come home with me and paint something beautiful like that on my walls.  Would you like to win a free copy of “What Think Ye of Christmas?” Anyone who leaves a comment will be entered into a drawing for this fantastic Christmas book, courtesy of the artist herself.  For anyone who would like to purchase copies as gifts, you can do so here (you can find a discount code on Jana’s blog).  Drawing will be open through Thanksgiving Day.

Do you have any favorite Christmas books in your family?

GCBC Week 8: Agency, Essential to the Plan of Life

Posted in General Conference Book Club by

“Agency: Essential to the Plan of Life”
 Elder Robert D. Hales
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

As I listened to this talk, I thought about how much power we have been given by a trusting Heavenly Father.  Our ability to choose and put into effect the consequences of those choices is truly a great power with long-term, even eternal influence.  As I thought more about that power that we have, I felt a greater sense of responsibility, and a greater desire to be more deliberate in my choices.  Even the “small” ones.

“Throughout His life our Savior showed us how to use our agency. As a boy in Jerusalem, He deliberately chose to ‘be about [His] Father’s business.’ . . . And by His perfect life, He taught us that when we choose to do the will of our Heavenly Father, our agency is preserved, our opportunities increase, and we progress.”

How about you? What are your favorite principles or quotes from Elder Hales’s talk?  Is there anything you learned here that you had not considered before?  What stood out to you as you studied it?  And, most importantly, what did it make you feel or want to do?

Please share your thoughts in the comments below.  (If this is your first time to General Conference Book Club, click here to learn more about it.)

How an apostle’s testimony of his role inspired me in my own role

Posted in Uncategorized by

I just saw this video by Elder David A. Bednar, one of the 12 Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  One of the most unique aspects of our church is its claim that God still calls prophets and apostles and leads his church through them.  The video is his explanation of that sacred calling and all it entails.

While I thought it was fascinating to understand their “job” a little better, I was most touched by what I learned about how the Savior works and the simple integrity that is expected of all of us who claim be be Christian disciples.

If you have 10 minutes to watch it as personal devotional time, I think you’ll be inspired by it.

Busy week. And you?

Posted in Diapers, Divinity by

This week has been one of those weeks that are supposedly “typical” for moms.

  • Had strep throat.  Got a shot.  Survived.
  • Planned and hosted Natalie’s birthday party.  (more to come about that)
  • Cleaned house frantically, did laundry, had party, need to clean house again.
  • Husband out of town on business, running him to and from the airport.
  • Planning Clark’s class Thanksgiving party.  Research out craft and treat ideas online.  Make phone calls and design fliers.
  • Meals.  You know, breakfast, lunch, dinner.  Every day.
  • Took kids to the play “Frog and Toad All Year.” (I love plays.)
  • Grocery shopping.
  • Walking and/or driving children to/from school, 3 different schools, 3 different schedules.
  • Trying to find clothes that fit my boys when they get dressed in the morning. (Could they please stop growing already?)
  • Exchange emails to plan upcoming Relief Society activity.
  • Taking Grant to friend’s birthday party.  Buying gift.
  • Volunteering with take-home reading at Clark’s school.
  • Trying to get a jump on Christmas presents since I’m trying to make stuff this year due to budget restraints.  (And when I say make, I mean things like reading aloud stories and recording them on CD.)
  • Return what seems like hundreds of phone calls and emails.
  • Make signs to hang up around my house like “Close this door!”
  • Eating all of the leftover cupcakes from Natalie’s party.
  • Sleeping occasionally.

See? It’s all totally normal stuff.  And yet?  Mind-numbingly exhausting.  I recommend you don’t make a list like this unless you have time to take a nap afterwards.  Then again, it’s a nice reminder you actually got stuff done.  Moms rock.

How was your week?

A woman’s work is never done. (Subtitle: My house is always dirty.)

Posted in Diapers, Divinity by
image credit

I’m going to make a declaration about housekeeping that’s probably going to sound stupid.  I don’t claim this philosophy to be any doctrinal absolute, and I admit up front that it may be entirely motivated by rationalization; nevertheless, I’ve thought about this for several months and I’m ready to declare it true in the Book of Stephanie.  Ahem . . .

I don’t think we’re supposed to have a clean house. I think we’re supposed to WANT a clean house and work toward it.  This phrase from April’s General Conference about Mary and Martha’s house fit in perfectly with my philosophy on this:

“It was a welcome place for the Master, where He could rest and enjoy the surroundings of a righteous home.” ~ Elder Gregory A. Schwitzer

I think the Savior would rather hang out in a home where people are working together harmoniously (even in a very unfinished project) than where a mother on the verge of a nervous breakdown is screaming at her children to get their last sock off the floor, and they better not have left the hand towel on the floor when they just used the bathroom.  In fact, if he showed up at my house right now, I bet he’d sit on the floor next to me and help me fold laundry while we talked about important things.  But I’d miss out on that if I ran around like a freak trying to clear the counters and make the beds really quick before I paid him any attention. I think I’d even miss out on that if I sat down with him, but my mind was constantly focused on everything that was undone.

Don’t get me wrong, I still believe that “cleanliness is next to godliness,” and all that “house of order” stuff, but I believe what matters most is that we are consistently striving to make our home a place where the Spirit of God is welcome.  And if that’s our goal, be it in the early stages of chaos or the last load of laundry, for all intents and purposes, I think the Savior knows He’s invited.  And that’s all that matters.