Tyler Army Crawl November 2013

Kinghorn Boys Dancing to "Ice Ice Baby"

Venus Transit Video June 5, 2012 in Battle Creek, MI

Oscar the Grouch Impressions by Ellie and Mikey

Ellie's First Talk in Primary

Leah's Mormon.org Profile

http://mormon.org/me/7X75/Leah/

Hi, I'm Leah

I am a SAHM. I love adventures. You might as well because everyday is a new one. I'm a child of God. I'm a Mormon.

About Me

I am a Stay-at-Home-Mom. I have four children. My oldest has 1p36 Chromosome Deletion. My goal is to raise them as self sufficient, respectful, and caring members of society. My children are a big part of who I am but not all of who I am. They will leave my home some day and I want them to be proud of the woman I am.

I am married to a wonderful example of a Priesthood holder. We were married in the Laie, HI temple for all time and eternity. We love to serve as a family.

I have an online business that allows me to work from home sewing crayon & jewelry rolls and making other home crafts. I am college educated. I love to travel. Sadly I don't have any stamps in my passport yet. I have lived most of my life in America's high five (aka Michigan).

I love to celebrate! We have a lot parties at our house, both pretend and actual. My house is not always spotless. We are too busy making memories.

Why I am a Mormon

I grew up in the church. My parents were great examples to me and my siblings. I had a strong testimony and knew that the church was true. When I was in my teens, I started to fall into peer pressure. I made choices that were contrary to the high standards of the church. I felt that the commandments were restrictions and I felt trapped. At sixteen I was excommunicated. After that I personally went into a dark place. My mother always made sure that I had home teachers and visiting teachers. She also made sure that I received the church magazine, The Ensign. I didn't always appreciate that effort, but I allowed it.

While I wasn't a member of the church I had a girl and got married. In that order. When my daughter was one, we realized there was something wrong. She wasn't meeting the regular milestones. For many years after that there was a lot of testing. It wasn't until she was six that we got her diagnosis of a 1p36 Chromosome Deletion. Being her mother was hard in those early years. I desired something more for her and me.

I prayed a lot during these years. I still knew that Heavenly Father was aware of me. I tried going back to church many times. It was always hard getting in the door. I tried to go unnoticed. I did not get the support at home that I desired. It was a very difficult time in my life. Most of my memories from that time come to me in a darkened light.

After eight years and feeling really low, I knelt down at the end of my bed and prayed for my Heavenly Father's forgiveness. Between the tears, I felt the warm embrace of the Spirit. Something I had missed for so long. I knew after that night that I needed to change my life. I was baptized and given the gift of the Holy Ghost by my brothers.

I have been going strong ever since. I know that Jesus Christ sacrificed his life for mine. I know that Heavenly Father loves me and will always bless me if I keep his commandments. I know now that they are there to protect us and I know prayer works. Try it

How I live my faith

I live my faith by serving in my church. I teach the youth every Sunday. I have worked with the children, taught in the women's organization, taught early morning seminary, and attend Sacrament. I visit women every month to make sure their needs, both physically and spiritually, are bring met. I go to the temple as often as I can (which is hard with little ones).

At home, I teach my children to pray. I teach them to love the Lord and each other. We have Family Home Evening every Monday. We read the scriptures together. Right now it is only a verse at a time, but we read.

I keep my standards high. I keep friends with those same standards. I have learned that this is very important to me.

I pray with my husband every day. I support him in his callings at church and as the Priesthood holder in our home.

I pay tithing. It has blessed us in ways we are aware of and unaware at the same time.

I live my faith by keeping the commandments. They keep me safe and free.

I am a Mormon because the Gospel is true. This church is "the" church Christ organized when he was on the Earth. This church has His priesthood. The Atonement is real and I can not deny what Christ did for me.

Hark the Herald Angels Sing: Glory to the Newborn King

Leah had an ingenious idea for decorating our home for Christmas. She cut out the words "HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SING GLORY TO THE NEWBORN KING" and strung them in a banner behind a wooden airplane just like the ones you see at the beach or ball games. It was difficult to get the entire thing into one camera shot, but here are our best shots.

Brian's Mormon.org profile

I posted my profile on Mormon.org today. I guess I'll put it all on a blog post here too. Leah submitted hers too. We'll link to it as soon as it is officially posted.

Hi I'm Brian

I'm a PhD candidate in Educational Psychology. I'm a husband, father, traveler, photographer & science educator. And I'm a Mormon.

About Me

Hi I'm Brian. I'm finishing a PhD in Educational Psychology with an emphasis on how to help teachers learn and teach science better. I am passionate about teaching science and have taught elementary science programs through out the U.S. and abroad and do science assemblies at elementary schools. I love exploring and photographing the world (urban and natural) and have visited all 50 of the United States and 20 countries. I married my best friend and sweetheart for eternity in the Laie, Hawaii temple and now I am a proud father of 4 (2 girls and 2 boys) including a step-daughter with special needs. Being a father is the best job in the world, but it also gives me daily opportunities to develop patience, charity and other Christlike attributes. I love my wife and children more than I can express. Most importantly I love the Lord, I'm grateful for His atoning sacrifice that allows me to return to Him and my Father in Heaven, and I'm thankful that He restored His church to the earth. Because of that, I'm a Mormon.

Why I am a Mormon

The oldest of 8, I was raised in the church by wonderful parents who are both descendants of early Mormon pioneers. Yet, I still had to go through my own conversion process. As a teen I was happy living the gospel and preparing for a mission, and I gained the bulk of my testimony of the gospel simply by living gospel principles and reaping the peace and blessings that followed. However, during that time I also decided that I needed to know for sure that the church was true. Since the Book of Mormon is physical, tangible evidence that Joseph Smith was indeed the prophet of the restoration, I determined to follow Moroni's promise in Moroni 10:3-5 (namely to read the Book of Mormon, ponder its teachings and pray to know of its truthfulness). After I finished reading the Book of Mormon I knelt to pray and asked Heavenly Father if it was true. The answer I got was a bit unexpected, but exactly what I needed to hear. Instead of a burning in the bosom or a lightning bolt from heaven a simple thought came to my mind: "why are you asking IF the Book of Mormon is true when you already KNOW the Book of Mormon is true?" It was true that I was asking a question I already knew the answer to. For me it was as President Hinckley once said: "No one, I am satisfied, can prayerfully read the Book of Mormon without coming to a knowledge that it is what it purports to be, and that is another witness of the Lord Jesus Christ speaking out of the dust to those of this generation concerning the Redeemer of the world." Through reading the Book of Mormon and the Bible I came to know, understand and accept my Savior Jesus Christ. I also had tangible evidence that Joseph Smith was the Lord's mouthpiece and that we have living prophets and apostles today who speak the will of God for our times. As I served the Lord as a full-time missionary my testimony was strengthened and became unshaken through the experiences I had serving others as an ordained representative of the Lord Jesus Christ.

How I live my faith

Some have wondered why I give so much of my time serving in the church or how I survive three hrs of Sunday meetings. The answer is simple: being a Mormon/Latter-day Saint/disciple of Christ is a 24/7 gig. Striving to follow Christ, serve Him and become like him is a lifelong endeavor, not just a holiday or once a week thing. The person I am at church on Sunday is the same person I strive to be every other day of the week. Yes, I am imperfect and I make mistakes, but I have taken Christ's name upon me through baptism and there are no vacations from my obligation to keep that and other sacred covenants I have made with the Lord. Part of that is sharing the gospel. I don't force it on anyone, but the gospel means so much to me in my life I can't help but share it with the hope that it will be as precious to someone else who is searching for truth.

The church has no paid local clergy so every member gets to pitch in and help. In my recent service in the church, I have been a leader for the adult men in my congregation. In this capacity I coordinate philanthropic, instructional and community service efforts for a group of more than 80 men. One important aspect of this calling is organizing the men in pairs as home teachers who go monthly to the homes of different families in our congregation to lend a helping hand and teach the gospel. I've also had the opportunity to organize and lead groups of Latter-day Saints to volunteer at community events like Battle Creek's World's Longest Breakfast Table and clean up after a Tornado that hit our community. We worked hand in hand with the members of another Christian church to help clean up after the roof was blown off their building of worship. In other callings I have worked with the teenage young men in scouting, service and spiritual development activities. Other callings I've had included emergency preparedness coordinator, teacher and coordinator of the local missionary work.

BYU-H Alumni Association Spotlight

The BYU-Hawaii alumni association spotlighted me this month. How cool is that?!?! The last 10 years have sure been quite a ride.

http://alumni.byuh.edu/s/1085/05-hawaii/index.aspx?sid=1085&gid=3&pgid=3358

Brian Kinghorn (Psychology, 2001) transferred to Brigham Young University-Hawaii from Ricks College when he was recruited to sing in the concert choir and tour Singapore and Taiwan with them. While at BYU-H, Brian worked as a tutor in the Reading/Writing Center, served on the Honors Council as editor of the Hokuloa, and served in the presidencies of the English Circle and Kiwi Club. One of his most memorable campus experiences was being able to perform with the Kiwi club at culture night. While his classroom education was invaluable, much of Brian’s BYU-H education came from outside the classroom as he developed lasting friendships with individuals from across the globe and learned about their backgrounds and cultures. He was quoted in the September, 2003 BYU-Hawaii Alumni Association e-newsletter saying “I may not remember most of the formulas I learned in organic chemistry or physics, but I will never forget the people who so dramatically and positively touched my life.”

After graduation, Brian moved to San Francisco, CA, where he began teaching science programs for Science Adventures. He quickly moved up in the company to become a multi-regional curriculum trainer and site-coordinator at day camp sites in San Francisco and New York. The corporate office then asked him to conduct science camps and staff training at nearly 30 U.S. Air Force bases and other locations. One of the locations was Hong Kong, where the initial programs were so well received that he was hired in December, 2004, as the founding General Manager of the Science Adventures franchise there (www.activekidshk.com). He played an integral role in building that program from the ground up, and it is still running strong today.

Brian is currently finishing his Ph. D. in Educational Psychology and Educational Technology at Michigan State University. In 2008 he presented research which focused on how elementary teachers learn science content from their own teaching practice at the annual conference of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching. His dissertation is a continuation of that line of research with early-career middle school teachers. In addition to teaching undergraduate courses at MSU, Brian helped develop on-line tools, curricula and professional development for science education and worked on a multi-year National Science Foundation funded project focusing on the needs of early-career secondary science and mathematics teachers.

In 2009, with the help of a university fellowship, Brian founded his own science education company: Junior Science World. He currently presents interactive, inquiry-based science assemblies at elementary and middle schools and is developing educational programs for traditional and home school environments. Brian has a deep love of learning and childlike passion for exploring the world around him. He can teach sometimes difficult scientific concepts in fun, exciting, engaging and accessible ways for children and educators alike. In fact, his students in Hong Kong loved his classes so much that some of their parents literally threatened to keep them home from science club if they did not behave, and his science assemblies always have rave reviews.

For Brian, the greatest blessing of graduate school was meeting his beautiful wife Leah. They were married in 2007 in the Laie, HI, temple and have 4 wonderful children, Alexis (13), Ellie (3), Michael (2) and Daniel (4 months). Family is extremely important to Brian and he spends most of his free time playing at home with his kids or taking family road-trips to explore the Great Lakes, Chicago, or church history sites. Brian’s passion for photography fits quite well with his love of travel and he always has a camera in hand. He was thrilled when some of his prints sold at a local art center this year.

Brian and his family love the Lord and have served faithfully in the church. Since college, Brian has served as Ward Mission Leader, Ward Executive Secretary, an ordinance worker at the Oakland, CA temple, and Young Men President and is currently serving as the Elders Quorum President in the Battle Creek Michigan Ward (where he also served as a full-time missionary in 1996). In these capacities he has organized volunteers to help with the annual Battle Creek Cereal Festival and has coordinated efforts by the church to help clean up after two major storms that hit Battle Creek. He also supported his wife in her calling as early morning seminary teacher. Brian is very missionary-minded and often shares his testimony or links to General Conference talks or Mormon Messages on Facebook. After hearing of Elder Ballard’s BYU-H commencement address (Dec. ‘07), the Kinghorns started a blog (http://kinghornclan.blogspot.com) to share their adventures with their family and friends and to share the gospel. Last October, Brian was blessed to baptize one of his fishing buddies, who was able to baptize and confirm his own 8 year old son this summer.

Brian is currently searching for university faculty positions including applying to teach in the Education Department at BYU-Hawaii. He hopes to join the many other members of his immediate family who have become part of the BYU-H community since he graduated. While his ultimate desire is to be where the Lord needs him most, Brian would love to return to Laie, because, in every sense of the word, BYU-Hawaii is truly Ohana.

So Funny!

This is for everyone who loved "I'm riding a turkey!"

Featured on a Craft blog

The Scrabble board gifts we made for our moms for Mother's day were featured on Shannon Makes Stuff ...the craft blog. Pretty cool.

http://shannonmakesstuff.blogspot.com/2011/05/features-you-friday-round-four.html

Sunday May 29th Storm in Battle Creek

For some reason all my slideshows are going backwards. Can't seem to fix it.

Daniel Edward Kinghorn arrived April 19th

I can't believe how behind we are in blogging. Daniel is over a month old and we still haven't put pictures up on here. I don't have time for a slideshow, so I'll just put a few up here right in the blog.


He was born at 10:02 PM and weighed 8 lbs 7 oz and was 21 inches long.


The other kids were excited to meet their baby brother and Ellie and Mikey were equally excited about the cups of water the nurses brought them.


Ellie and Mikey both moved to the back seat of the van to make room for their baby brother to come home.

A big thank you to Grandma Kinghorn who came out to help with the other children and to Grandpa Kinghorn, Nana and Poppy who came up to see their newest grandson.

Great Grandma and Grandpa Rackham and Uncle Jordan and Aunt Cindy and Aunt Jenna came for Daniel's blessing too. We're so glad they all could make it.

Exciting times will continue with the Kinghorn Clan!

Ultrasound image of our soon to be arriving baby boy

He's due on April 15th. We're excited about his pending arrival.

Mikey Eating Spaghetti and Cheesing it Up