The Falke Family

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Capitol in bloom

Our friends Jeremy and Lyndsey came to visit us from Irving, and Doug took them downtown to the Capitol and the History of Texas Museum. Spring sure is beautiful, huh?

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Here is a wonderful quote that makes MY life seem easier to take a lot of days...just wanted to share it with you!
~e

Now we must ask why the Savior, why came to show us the perfect example of holiness and submission to the Father, would want us to know that this suffering caused "even God, the greatest of all to tremble because of pain...and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink..."(D&C 19:18). There are at least three reasons he wanted us to know of his desire for escape, and they have a lot to do with honesty in our own prayers. To begin with, when our mortal weaknesses cause us to waver in our duties, to shrink form our responsibilities and wish we could find an easier way, we can remember that Christ also had those same feelings.Jesus wants us to understand that there is neither shame nor disgrace in feeling tired or wanting to quit or hoping to escape the challenges we encounter. Not as long, that is, as we endure to the end and continue to pray, in spite of our feelings, "nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done."

Secondly, Jesus was not denied the help for which he asked. An angel appeared , "strengthening him," helping him to remain steadfast and true to his covenants (see Luke 22:43). We should realize that when fear, discouragement or weariness is pulling us away from our duties we too can pray and receive divine assistance to remain faithful to our callings and duties. Joseph Smith counseled us to abandon our pride in those times of wavering or weakness, admit our needs and ask for help to stay faithful: "Help thy servants to say, with thy grace assisting them: thy will be done, O Lord and not ours" (D&C 109:44). We must remember that Jesus Christ had to call to his Father for help, that there is no reason for us to feel ashamed when we follow that perfect, divine example.

And finally, a third message of this sacred account is that we must be totally honest with God in our prayers. The Savior did not try to fake the garden experience. He was in agony with unfamiliar feelings of shame and guilt and punishment for sins he did not commit. To his great alarm, he found himself afraid and shrinking from his duty, looking for a way to escape (D&C 19:18). But he was honest and humble enough to tell his Father exactly how he felt. He certainly did not want to waver, so he asked for help. When a person is hurting and his commitment is weakening, he should say so in prayer. Urgent prayer. Immediate prayer. We must not allow foolish pride to try and hide our feelings from God. He already knows how we feel- and he understands. He did not condemn Jesus, nor count his wavering as sin. Rather he sent sent help to strengthen his son's resolve and keep him in the line of duty, and that is exactly what he will do for us when we are honest and submissive in prayer. Satan cannot defeat us on this battleground as long as we trust Heavenly Father enough to be open and honest in our prayers. Putting on the Armor of God Stephen A Cramer pg 76

Monday, March 17, 2008

First Hair Cut

Sherman got groomed for the first time today! Now his feet are trimmed and his belly and bum have less hair to get caught in stuff. And he's very soft!

South San Gabriel River

This river is pretty close to our house in Leander. It is really fun to go there with the dogs and let them run around. Sherman is a pretty good swimmer! There are also some dinosaur tracks in the riverbed.
Here are pictures of us!

Big Dog

Here is Cosmo! We got him three weeks ago from a farm in Buda, south of Austin. They had found him wandering the highway last summer, so they took care of him. Unfortunately, with their other big dogs it was too much, and they had to find a new home for him. He gets along really well with Sherman and Maggie, and is very gentle and sweet. We sure do love him already!

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Merry Christmas

Here is our Christmas picture this year, taken by Dora Gollaher. We hope you had a Merry Christmas and that 2008 brings you blessings and peace!

Puppies for Christmas

My mom confessed that she was hoping she would get Sherman for Christmas, but no such luck. They got some pretty sweet new toys and treats from Santa, though.

Little girl tuckered out with her #1 fan.

The hat

Derek sent us some great presents from Baltimore, where he is serving his mission. Among them was this hat for my dad. It was too big for EVERYONE (well, not too big for my dad with it on sideways), and words fail me on describing the front.

This is the best picture from Christmas, hands-down.

A picture that's actually *decent* of me. That's a miracle. :)

My wonderful family

Here are some snapshots of my wonderful family from Christmas. Above is my beautiful mom, who hates getting her picture taken because she has no idea how photogenic she is!

And my sweet grandma, in town for two weeks at Thanksgiving and two weeks at Christmas. We took them to the airport to go back home to Phoenix today, but they'll be back at the end of March!

I wish I could have been quicker with the camera trigger, because my grandpa made the funniest face ever at me when I tried to take his picture. Oh well...I'll get it one day!

My dad chose to hold a frying pan up over his face when I took an earlier picture, so he gets the candid Christmas shot, this time as he is opening our gift to him, a book on quotations from Nobel Laureates.

I have been so blessed to live by my family since I came home from BYU almost five years ago. I am going to miss them so much when we leave for Leander soon!

Graduation

I accidentally posted the pictures below before I could write about them. They are from Doug's graduation ceremony on 12/15/07 at Irving Bible Church. Mama D was in town for the weekend, and we had a lot of fun with her. So below is Doug, Doug and his mom, and then the back of his gown after it was "unfurled." It was a fun ceremony, full of good moments and a hilarious commencement speaker, and a great time for Doug to celebrate his accomplishment with the friends he's been through so much with. If I can get the thing to work I'll post the video of Doug going across the stage.

Thanksgiving

Doug's cooking adventures led him to make chipotle sweet potatoes, and a sweet potatoe pie. Nanny Falke is standing behind him holding up the Indians, which were beautiful. Cute!

Wendy and Annie, who is actually a month younger than Sherman. She is a fun puppy, and we hope that she is getting better from the worms that made her sick before the trip.

"The girls" - Wendy, Becca, Kylie, Molly, Hannah, Me (cute picture, huh? bleck.) and then in front we have Abby, Jennie, Macy, and Amy. We all watched "Bride and Prejudice" together during the trip, and it was a blast. The Falke women are truly amazing.

Prettiness at La Grange

This is a beautiful place. I hope I get to go next year!

The oft-spoken of dam, which was a very funny joke in the family.

La Grange

I missed out on the trip to La Grange because I was too sick to venture out that day. But Doug (and Sherman) had fun hiking around!

The intrepid climber, Sherman.

Cute Jennie! We drove up to the top of the Sierra Nevada mountains to take some pictures, have a fire and cook some yummy hot dogs and popcorn (and eat Dad's wonderful CHILI), and Jennie was always at the edge of the cliff! I was scared she would fall off. She's a brave girl (and a good basketball player, too :)).

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Beautiful sight

Doug took this somewhere (I was too sick to go out that day, so I don't know where this is), and I think this is one of the prettiest pictures I have ever seen.

Eagle Scout

Neil held his Eagle Scout Court of Honor while we were all in town for Thankgiving. It was a really special night to celebrate his accomplishments. What a good kid! I'm very proud of him.