Steve and I aren’t always very good about having family home evening every Monday, but we have been trying harder lately. Our goal is to have children who can say they don’t remember ever missing it.
Tonight we had a fun activity that I’m going to share with you. Just a little introspection into the lives of the Flynns. I hope it may inspire you to take some time to be silly together and strengthen your own family and marriage.
Our activity- a marriage scavenger hunt. We took a few minutes to run around the house grabbing items that represented certain things to us:
- Your spouse
- Yourself
- Our engagement
- Our wedding
- Our honeymoon
- Married life
- Our home
- Our greatest strength as a couple
- Our future together
I’ll share with you what we gathered:

1. Steve- I picked the scarecrow to represent Steve. My grandma gave it to him for his birthday because she thought it looked like him- rosy cheeks and always smiling. I agree. Steve picked the screwdriver because it represented his joy in putting our home together and helping me with what I ask of him. It was also manly.

2. Heather- I picked the green cherries to represent myself. They are unusual and fun. I love to bake, and I love to be a little different. Steve chose the stocking I made for him to represent my creativity, talent, and love for him.

3. Engagement- I chose the lighter to represent that we were sometimes playing with fire back then, but at the same time we were igniting an eternal flame. How do you like 2 corny idioms in one sentence? Steve grabbed the Office calendar, because the day he proposed to me we spent sitting in stopped traffic for 7 hours, where I introduced the Office to him for the first time- we were hooked and we’re still addicted- to the Office and each other.

4. Wedding- We both went pretty obvious with this one. I picked my wedding ring to represent our eternal bond- something that he gave me and I cherish. It isn’t flashy, but simple and classy. We aim for that in ourselves. Steve chose our wedding album, full of well-wishes from family and friends.

5. Honeymoon- Our honeymoon in the John Wayne wilderness area was cancelled shortly before our wedding, leaving us no time to make other plans. They sent us a bunch of John Wayne memorabilia to try and make us feel better. I chose this magnet to represent that for me. It also reminds me that it wasn’t until I stopped freaking out and let myself relax that I started having a real good time. Steve’s pick was this ornament we picked out in Canada, where we decided to make a last minute trip to a bed and breakfast. We decided then that we would collect ornaments together.

6. Married life- This set of heart-shaped measuring spoons was a favor at a wedding reception I went to before I meant Steve, but to me they represent what they say we need in marriage- a pinch of patience, a heap of love, etc. They also represent our love of cooking together. Steve chose this bell that my mom gave us for our wedding. We are supposed to ring it to stop any quarrels, but it always remains silent. That silent bell was his representation of our married life.

7. Our home- I chose the paintbrush while I was looking for something short, to represent the fact that we have had such a short time in our home together. It also represents the creativity we have had in creating this home together- with lots of painting! Steve picked the welcome sign that hangs on our apartment door, distinguishing us from the other apartments we’re surrounded by and advertising that it isn’t a couple of party animal college kids living here. Although, we sure can throw a party if I say so myself!

8. Greatest strength- I grabbed this picture of Joseph and Emma Smith to symbolize our foundation in the gospel, and the simple act of selfless love depicted as he gently brushes her hair really depicts to me our feelings and actions towards each other. Steve chose this crystal bowl that was a wedding gift. It came with a note that said we were to put gifts for each other in it each day, and it is that giving nature that he saw as our greatest strength. The bowl is usually empty, but the gifts we give are even more meaningful than material goods and tokens.

9. The future- This little WillowTree figurine is a perfect representation for me of our future. I have a lot of hope- for children, for continued love, for the gifts promised us by our Savior. Steve chose this book. We are currently reading the Underland Chronicles series together, and haven’t gotten to this one yet. Not only will we read it together, but we will someday read it with our children as well.
I hope I wasn’t too corny for you, and that you can use this idea to strengthen your own family- even if that means simply a few quite moments of reflection.