Full Purpose of Heart

Last Friday morning upstairs at my desk I finished the Book of Mormon.

Last October surrounded by some of my favorite women; 

including my daughters Claire and Jane, we listened to our 

Prophet, Russell M. Nelson (RMN) share wise counsel in beautiful talk.

He offered four invitations to the women of the world,

 one of his invitations was to

..."Read the Book of Mormon between now and the end of the year".  

With a powerful promise, 

 "that the heavens will open for you. 

The Lord will bless you with increased inspiration and revelation."

I want those promises! I need those blessings!

That night I went home and began reading The Book of Mormon again,
this time with an increase of faith, and full purpose of heart.

I recorded my feelings and promptings in a journal as I read
each day, and for me a light turned on in my life, and reading 

brought peace and hope to my soul, and to the choices
I was making everyday.

I was taught several major lessons while reading
The Book of Mormon this time around:
1. The righteous prospers, the wicked fail.
2. Right and truth always wins, the battle has already been won
by our loving Savior Jesus Christ.
(I just need to decide what side I am on.)
3. Keep the commandments!!
4. God's hand is always stretched out toward us with mercy and grace. 
5. People are happier when God is first in their lives.
6. Jesus Christ is mercy and love.
7. The Book of Mormon is another witness of Jesus Christ
and confirms the truths found in the Holy Bible.

I am grateful for this new perspective as I begin a new year!

"I invite you to read the Book of Mormon between now and the end of the year. 

As impossible as that may seem with all you are trying to manage in your life, 

if you will accept this invitation with full purpose of heart, 

the Lord will help you find a way to achieve it. 

And, as you prayerfully study, I promise that the heavens will open for you. 

The Lord will bless you with increased inspiration and revelation."

We Got Out.

It was time to leave our Hygge-lit home, slip out out of our pajamas,
and venture out into the world of the living.


Mr. Nielson got a book for Christmas about the
coolest places to visit in North Carolina and discovered Pilot Mountain
about 2 hours away- we decided to check it out.

We are sooo glad we did.  It was beautiful!

We hiked around the mountain with Angus while Lottie stopped to take
photos with her new Polaroid camera about every 10 seconds.


The weather was chilly but the sunset was sooooo worth
 the waiting in the cold for!

It's been a while since we've seen a sunset.
Here in NC there are so many trees that sunsets are hard to find.

This one was breathtaking!

We got home and looked through the Polaroids Lottie took
on our little day trip, I'm glad we have those cute memories from Lottie!
Then we all went to bed tired but SO refreshed.

But now it's time to get back in our PJ's.

Happy Weekend!
Spiritual Enlightenment: Becoming a Shepherd

Christmas 2018: Harlow House Edition

 Christmas day included:

Opening gifts, Christmas Ebelskivers (which we ate for all three meals).

Lego building, napping,

lounging, more lounging, watching the last 2 Harry Potter movies

to finish up our 2018 Christmas marathon.

Eating, reading, and cleaning up messes.

It was a classic Christmas!

Favorite gifts:

Mr. Nielson: pendleton jacket

Me: heated mattress pad 

Claire: cedar hope chest (made by Christian)

Jane: violin & lessons

Oliver: honda crf 150

Nicholas: baby hedgehog (name still undecided)

Lottie: polaroid camera

Christmas Eve 2018

 On the afternoon of Christmas Eve, I took the Little Nies to a movie,

 (I slept through it-as usual).

Mr. Nielson has been working on a Christmas present for

Claire the past few weeks and wasn't finished with it yet, so

sadly he missed the movie.

In fact, I haven't seen much of Christian at all since 

 he's been working on this special gift.

Mr. Nielson met us in the parking lot so we could all go to dinner together

but we couldn't decide where to go since

 some of us ate too much popcorn and weren't hungry for dinner anymore.  

Some of us wanted tofu and rice-

 and ONLY tofu and rice, some of us wanted Mexican food,

and some of us just wanted to go home.

We walked into a restaurant, sat down and even ordered water.

We looked over the menu then decided to leave.

We just weren't feeling it.

Have you even done that?

We drove around town for a long time trying to find a place where we

 all wanted to eat- and a place that was even open on Christmas Eve.

The later it got the harder it was.

We gave up and instead went to our local fire station and delivered

chips and salsa to the firemen who were on call for Christmas Eve.

This has been one of our favorite Christmas Eve traditions for a years now.

After we went home and nibbled on Christmas treats

and opened our new Pajamas.

I asked each child to pick a favorite Christmas book for me to read

to them on the couch, then we sang every single 

Christmas song in the hymn book,

plus a few from the children songbook too.

(Over 17 songs!)

I think this was my favorite part of Christmas this year,

especially when we sang the song I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,

We LOVE this song!

Lottie fell asleep during our little family singing time,

and just like that it was time 

for the Little Nies to go to bed.  

Mr. Nielson and I finally crawled into bed at 2:30 

exhausted and excited.

 "Then rang the bells more loud and deep

God is not dead, nor does he sleep 

The wrong shall fail, the right prevail 

With peace on earth, good will to men"

Merry Christmas Friends!

Merry Christmas to one and all!

At our church service last Sunday a speaker

 at the pulpit shared a beautiful quote

by Howard W. Hunter that made me feel so strongly.

I felt the spirit testify truth and peace.

“This Christmas mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. 

Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. 

Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. 

Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. 

Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. 

Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. 

Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. 

Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. 

Speak your love, and then speak it again.”

I love Jesus Christ and honor him with all my heart forever and always.

Little Christmas Eve 2018

Each December 23rd we celebrate the Scandinavian holiday Lille Julaften-

or Little Christmas Eve.

After a beautiful church service in the morning, we delivered Christmas cheer,

(our Christmas card and bottle of our favorite bubblie)

to our friends and neighbors.

After back at home, I set and decorated the table for our Lille Julaften

dinner. Mr. Nielson and I cooked our favorite traditional

 Danish and Norwegian foods.

This year I added crowns, (our little nod to our friends across the pond)

to our traditional Little Christmas Eve dinner.

We ate risalamande with cherry sauce, small baked colored potatoes, 

cauliflower in parmesan melt, warm butter rolls, 

buttered lemon scallops, agurkesalat

 (cucumber and dill salad), 

and shredded greens with poppy seed dressing.

For dessert, I made chocolate mousse and if that wasn't enough, 

I also served the most delicious, and most rich hot chocolate known to man.  

It's become a staple around our house during the holidays.

 (Beware: you have to babysit this delicious concoction, 

but it's soooooo good and sooooooo worth it).

Around the table before dinner, Christian and I made toasts to our rich heritage,

and those who came before us and sacrificed so much for our family. 

We are a lucky bunch.

Of course the toast included our gratitude and love for Christ,

and his birth and mission on earth.

Our little Christmas Eve dinner is one of our

 most favorite family traditions.

Merry Christmas Eve to you!