YW
Today was ward conference so we had the Stake YW leaders come meet with the advisers and presidency beforehand and then they also taught our YW for the first hour. It was a nice meeting, nice lesson although, I felt a little confused on what a discussion is. It didn't feel like their lesson was a discussion but they had made such a big deal about how they would be demonstrating how the Come Follow Me lessons should be taught. So I guess on the one hand I feel a little more confident because I feel like I am doing at least what they did. But on the other hand, I feel a little confused because of what Brother Jacox has been teaching us. So weird. Not that I am judging them, I'm sure it's nerve-racking to teach a bunch of young women who don't know you. You can feel their love so strongly though, I do like that. It's nice to have their support. 2-8-15
O YE THAT EMBARK
So excuse me while I relate our YW lesson to myself for a minute. This just stood out to me today and kind of gave me a little boost. The Stake YW President, Sis. Lancaster brought up what embark means. She wanted us to realize that to embark doesn't just mean coming aboard, it means you're making a commitment to stay aboard. She used the example that when you go on a cruise you can't board the ship, ride off on the ocean and then change your mind out there on the ocean and climb off. It's something that you have to commit to and endure to the end. I liked this, NOT because I was relating it to the Gospel, but because it reminded me of this pregnancy. I know- it's on the brain- 24/7- sorry. I prayed long and hard to be able to have this baby that I knew was waiting to come to our family. It was a lot of work emotionally. I wanted it SO BAD. Now that it's here, there are a lot of other emotions mixed in. Of course I still want this baby to come to our family, with ALL my heart. There are so many other things pulling me in this negative direction though. The pregnancy symptoms pull me down so much. I feel like I won't make it sometimes. But I need to remember that I chose to embark on this journey. And wanted to more than I ever had. When I made the choice to embark though, I made the decision to stick it out til the end. I can't jump ship in the middle of it- it is going to go the whole 9 months. Not that I want to- but just as in life, it's not just the end that matters. I need to make the most of the whole journey. I've spent a lot of pregnancies in what I've affectionately named the pit of despair. Am I proud to admit that? of course not. But I will admit, I was there. I lost touch with my Heavenly Father. I know he was there for me, don't get me wrong, he carried me through all seven pregnancies, but as I've said before- I was not aware of it at the time. It makes it so hard! I am trying so hard (especially since this could possibly be my last pregnancy) to stay close to Him. To keep Him so close to my heart I will not lose track of His help, His blessings, and most importantly right now, His love. I need it!! I need Him! I cannot do this on my own and I don't want another pregnancy where I pretend like I'm doing it on my own. It's miserable. So anyway. I've embarked. I need to endure. But I don't want to just endure, I want to grow. (not just bigger :) ha!) I want this pregnancy to be a turning point for me spiritually. Or at least a huge step up. I want it to be something that brings me closer to the person Heavenly Father wants me to become. That's what trials are for. And this is the ultimate good trial. I need to make it work for me this time ;). There. That's all I have to say :). Thanks for reading. 2-8-15
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NANA!
I wonder if Nana still thinks I'm crazy for wanting more kids. She told me to stop after six. I hope she's rethinking that now :). I hope my new little baby, waiting to come to their new family, has been able to meet my Nana. 2-8-15
FHE
For Kelly's lesson last night she had us pull out an object out of a bag. Each object represented someone's favorite scripture story and then she had us talk about why it's our favorite. I thought it was a great idea! She's totally all set to teach a lesson from Come Follow Me! I was proud of her. For Erika's activity she wanted to play sardines. Kelly hid first and found the most amazing spot in the house apparently (which unfortunately is in my closet....), but it took EVERYONE about 10 minutes to find her! And that wasn't until she started saying "Marco"! Kinda funny once Kelly told us how many times they came in there and came really close to finding her. Charity had even touched her toe! We played one more round and then it was SO time for bed- we got off to a late start thanks to the Jazz game. 2-9-15
TUESDAY TEMPLE DAY
So it happened! We got the Young Women to go to the temple at 5:00 in the morning!! Took a little work coordinating, but I was so pleased with our turn out! I was so surprised when all eight of them texted me before 5:00, saying, "I'm up!", "I'm coming", "Come get me now!".... just awesome! What a great way to start the day really. I mean minus the horrible night's sleep because I was so worried I'd oversleep and the midnight texts that I'd forgotten to remind Aubrey, and having it take FOREVER to get BACK to sleep- dang nausea- Oh, and let's not forget my stupid idea to set an alarm for every 5 minutes from 4;00-4:30 so I would for sure wake up :). But really, other than that!! I loved it! I was so glad Jami came, we were able to do some family names of a lady in our ward. We had such a great time. I love doing baptisms! I feel just like Tiffani who goes weekly, "like it's my second home". And don't get me wrong, I love the rest of the temple too, but there is really a special place in my heart for the Bountiful temple baptistry. So many memories. As I was sitting there near the font, moving one seat over as each youth took their turn, I was trying to think of what it is that gave me my testimony and my love for temple baptisms. This is what came to me. So when I was younger, my Dad actually worked at the Jordan River Temple in the baptistry, and I got to hear about a lot of the cool experiences he had even before I ever went. I remember that being something that stood out to me and felt like it was already part of me because it was part of my dad. I remember being SO excited to turn 12 and go to the temple. In fact from the age of 8 on "!2" was my favorite number for that one and only reason. I counted down the days til I could go. I think things were a little different back then because I don't remember going RIGHT AWAY. Or maybe it was just harder to get a recommend- not sure, but I do remember my first time being with my Mom and Brent. It was SO SPECIAL!!! I was so pleased with everything about the temple. No unmet expectations and no real surprises. It surprises me now to think that it didn't surprise me more back then. It's different. But anyway. I loved going with our Young Women in the Sandy ward. I think I got to go a few times with my ward in Bountiful, but I'm pretty sure that the real testimony and love came from my Seminary make up. Missing early morning seminary 26 times (over a two year period mind you) sounds like it would be a bad thing, but honestly, I think it was one of the best things that could have happened to me. I was given the choice to clear my absences by going to the temple once per absence, so with very little time left, I ended up going almost everyday for a good month or two. If I remember correctly I even went twice in one day a few times. I LOVED IT!!! It was the best thing I could have done at that time. I took friends with me after school, even before school sometimes, then I went a lot in the morning too- which just blows my mind to think about since it was difficult to get up for 6:30 seminary much less the temple too. I know I went more than the 26 times before school got out. I believe it was that experience that made my leaders want to ask me to speak at my seminary graduation (kinda strange, but I thought it back then and still believe it). So once I started on that track, I just had to keep it up! I went almost everyday that summer, which worked great since I was a swim teacher/lifeguard- I just went straight to work after- wet hair and all. I went almost everyday. It was amazing. That is where my testimony grew. I wish I'd been able to keep it up that first year of college, but with no car and little time, it wasn't possible. I believe my Spirit would have taken a bit of a dive had it not been for my 5 institute classes. So anyway. NOT to toot my own horn in any way, just so grateful that I had that time to serve in the temple. It was a blessing. And now a great strength to my testimony. I hope to help instill a little of that love into some of the young women in the Shadowbrook ward.
So back to our trip- We got there around 5:30 and everything went smoothly, we got home by 7:20. So it worked out great! It was Chloe's first time!! I love being there with Charity too! Can't wait to have Kelly come :) 2-10-15
SWIM LESSONS!!
Erika has been counting down the days for the past week til her first SWIM LESSON! It was a BIG DEAL! She had her back packed the night before so it was really funny when she forgot it :). No towel, no change of clothes, no shampoo/conditioner... but we made it work :). She was SO EXCITED!! Her teacher's name is Megan, she did great on her first day! Her teacher said to practice putting her bumb up in the air when she swims with her feet... not sure when she'll practice that between today and Thursday, but whatever ;) 2-10-15
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, STEVE!
We took Steve, Jauslin and my Dad to dinner for Stevie-poo's birthday tonight. I just love spending time with them. It's just nice. Laughing, reminiscing, hearing about all of Steve's successes :). I really do love it. The food wasn't too bad either- Kung Fu Gourmet was all that Steve said and more :). I can't believe he is 27!! We couldn't help but talk about the 63 cents (or however much it was), that Smith's robbed me of- and that fun evening. Also, Nana's, "You're not going to let a girl pick on you are ya?"- Nana, that's a boy!- "Shhhh, I know- I'm trying to embarrass him!". Good times. I love my little brother. 2-10-15
TOTALLY USELESS
Well, I was a complete waste of space today after getting up early for the temple. I'm thinking once a month might be enough for me.... it sure took a toll on my body. And my house for that matter. Thankfully the kids all did their jobs today.... 2-10-15
MEET THE MORMONS
The Beehives had a few issues this week with planning and carrying out their activity. Not sure I like how it went, but I think it was a good learning experience. In the end, we ended up going to Meet the Mormons at the JSMB. I like that movie. The girls seemed to like it as well. 2-11-15
FULL DAY
We had a very full day on Thursday. Started with reading with Noah's class, then swim lessons, lunch at Bajio (favorite part), Sprint store for Nate's new phone, Park with Becky, Pick up the kids, Scouts, finding pictures for Noah's poster, finishing Valentine boxes, then a mad dash to go practice Charity's solo for Solo and Ensemble, then to the school for that, then home to change, then up to the Stake Center for YW basketball (which we had an amazing turn out for! 8 girls!!! We totally killed them 24-6... in a nice churchy way...), then back home to finish Noah's poster (thanks to my mom for picking up the pictures!). It was nuts!! I was exhausted by the time it was over! Nate was even exhausted! Crazy how my life just feels like it's totally picked up some steam and each day is just full! Might be in my head.... not sure. 2-12-15
AT THE SCHOOL
We spent a good three hours at the school on Friday. First in Luke's class party. That was a lot of fun. We brought our heart bean bags for a bean bag toss- prizes a must- seemed like the kids loved it. Mrs. Beckstead was adorable the whole time. She is THE funnest teacher on the planet!! She went around taking pictures of the kids, laughing at all the fun stuff, praising the moms... I just love her. I just hope and pray Noah can get her.
Then we ran over to Noah's class for his "Show and Tell" of his poster. He did such a great job, talking in the microphone, telling everyone about the pictures. It was fun to watch him. I loved the question time. I'm gathering that he's embarrassed by his ol' superhero obsession... might be moving out of that phase, not sure, but this was the convo:
Cute girl: Do you like Spiderman?
Noah: No!
Cute girl: Then why do you have him on your shirt?
Noah: [silence].... [looking around for the next question]....
It was funny. Someone asked him his favorite superhero and he said, "None of them!" really quickly. Interesting. Not that it matters, just an observation.
Then we hurried off to Arby's for Luke's lunch, got back just in time for birthday tables with him. That was a nice time. He was in a good mood and talked a lot. I loved that he loved our game at his party. We waited quite a while even after Luke left (course he left 5 minutes before he usually does because he wanted "extra recess time!" funny kid), we had to wait for Jack to snail his way through his lunch. He is a SLOW eater!! Especially with all the distractions :).2-13-15
VALENTINES
The kids sure loved and looked forward to Valentine's Day this year. They all were anxiously engaged in making their own boxes way before the day. They all filled out their Valentine candies way early in the week as well. It was cute. I love that they are so self motivated on those things. Makes my job easy. Brad made a three box tall Robot for his box. Kelly did a purple minion out of a oatmeal box. Luke had wanted to make his own basketball hoop one like Bradley's last year, but waited so long (not the most motivated :) ), so he just fixed up Brad's... one good thing about keeping that thing all year. Noah made his bag at school. Erika was totally jealous and can't wait til next year!
FIRST DOCTOR VISIT
So we went in for my first prenatal visit on Friday. That was a relief. It always is... I don't know why, but I build up so many worries in that first month. It's silly. But my lungs were fine, everything was looking really great. We got to have an ultrasound and saw our baby's heartbeat! That's priceless. I loved that we got to see him/her moving around!! So cute! Dr. Thackeray decided to go with the due date from my ultrasound again (surprise, surprise), so my new due date is September 5th. Five days sooner than I thought, kinda cool. But that would put us delivering in August which isn't okay.... We already have an August birthday! We're (Nate and I- yes, I got him on board my crazy train- we want to deliver on September 1st :)). Thackeray said that as long as I'm not in labor before that, we can choose whatever we want, but mentioned that by then I might feel differently. Agreed. We'll see how it goes. Who knows what Heavenly Father or this new little Spirit has in mind... we don't have total control! It will be within a week of Jack's birthday either way... I'm not sure why I have the lame everyone-needs- their-own-birth-month obsession in the first place. Oh well. So yeah, all was well. Erica the nurse asked about Erika this time :). That was cute. I like that they know me there :). Erika has been our nurse for the last probably 4 kids! Kinda cool. I can stop being superstitious now that we had nothing go wrong on our Friday the 13th doctor visit. That was a relief :). 2-13-15
DISPOSAL, FISHING, VALENTINE'S DAY, ENGAGEMENTS, and BIG HERO 6
So, kind of a busy/lazy day at our house this 14th! Nate spent most of the morning installing the new disposal. That was a lot of work. I wish I hadn't had to, but I kind of saved the day with a lucky move helping Nate with the piece he'd been trying for an hour and a half. Cool for me, not for him, but at least it was done! Then he and Brad went on their much anticipated fishing trip to the ponds. Have I mentioned their "fishing bug"? Bradley announced to me earlier this week that he and Dad have a fishing bug. They've gone over to the ponds a few times this week, had a few bites, but nothing real big. It's been really cute because Bradley has just been reading and studying the subject all week! He has a book that Nate stole from his Dad and he's quickly becoming a fishing expert! He knows just what to do! He needs to learn how to tie on his own bait, but that will come. Nate says he's doing really great! He had two rainbow trout to show for it on Saturday. So fun for him! We got a video of the fish still moving after it's been gutted... gross. I love that Bradley has an interest and is digging in so deep! This is kind of how he is. He's done that with the basketball lately too. It's great. So anyway. They hurried back so that Nate could get ready for our date. The lazy part of our day was me- I pretty much lazied around (minus 3 or 4 loads of laundry and some indexing) until our date. It was my turn to plan though, so I took Nate to Sushi Monster. I knew he would love it :). Wasn't sure if I would be able to eat anything, but sure enough it all went down happily and stayed down! Lucky me :). I gave Nate his new Jazz jacket and t-shirt, plus some caramels before lunch. He spoiled me with the world's softest blanket! I can't keep it out of the kids hands. It really is soft. I love it! Lunch was great, I love being alone with Nate in the middle of the day. One of the great things about his schedule is the time we get to spend together when we're not dead tired. It's nice. We had a lot of fun. I only wish it could have lasted longer. We got back just in time to go take Dan and Adele's pictures. That was a lot of fun. I hope they end up liking them. We did a few in our backyard, then down to the ponds for some more. They look so cute together, I'm just so happy for Dan. It's cool to think that Jen and Adele will eventually meet in heaven, I just think Jen will love her so much!! They're actually a lot alike :). I was glad Nate was there to help with the poses. After that, Nate hurried off to work and the kids and I lazied around some more. After a while though, I started feeling like a total slacker. I usually do something valentines-y with/for my kids, heart pancakes or something, but I'd done NOTHING! So I texted Nate asking him what I should do that would be fun and he always comes up with way funner ideas than I do, he suggested Big Hero 6 at the Kaysville Theater. The kids were in! We totally scrambled to eat dinner and go, but it turned out to be the perfect ending of our day. What a cute movie!! I guess some people didn't think it was for little kids, but that's the first movie I've taken Jack to that he's been completely engrossed in the ENTIRE TIME. He didn't want to get to comfortable for fear he'd fall asleep so he sat on the edge of my lap the whole time, with his eyes glued. It was perfect for me I was able to just relax. I know he has an unhealthy addiction to screens, so I shouldn't be so happy, but this was a good thing :). I loved hearing him giggle at all the slapstick humor though. That was my favorite part. He gets it :). The boys had to witness a little fight over saved seats next to them. That was a bummer. They were cute about it though. Feeling bad for the poor kid who was left to save the seats and then had to move. Some people are so weird. I kind of wish I'd known what was going on- I would have pounded them- I hate that stuff! Happy Valentine's Day!
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