Our Big Boy!

I am a little slow at posting... but we celebrated out little guy's first birthday this last week.  I couldn't feel more grateful to be his mamma!  Peter is such a special little boy with such a light.  I feel such a need to protect that light in him and also help nurture it so that he can share it with others as he grows.  Some of the things I absolutely adore about our little Peter and have enjoyed so much about him during this first year are...

• His natural curiosity and desire to share with us all he's observing as he points at all things that catch his eye and "talks" to us about them.
• His very loving personality.  He has on multiple occasions taken out other babies in his pure little desire to hug and "kiss" them.  Something he's constantly doing with Todd and I.  I do need to eventually teach him that proper kissing isn't sucking on someone's face :).  But for now, I think it's the sweetest thing and love his kisses he gives me in between playing.
• His sweet face, beautiful blue eyes, and tiny little body.  I could stare at him all day.  I love to "behold [my] little one."
•  I love watching Peter eat.  I know it's funny but I think it's hilarious and stinkin adorable.  He's very careful at picking up his food with his little pointer finger and thumb and then attempting to get that food in his mouth.  I also love seeing his preferences, like how he bounces up and down when he sees the graham cracker box or a cup of yogurt.  I must say he also inherited my sweet tooth.  Must have been all that ice cream during pregnancy...  oops.
• He has a great love of balls and is developing quite the good throwing arm.  His aim isn't too shabby for a 12 month old either.  This is important in our family.  My husband LOVES basketball which has naturally made me love it as well.  So of course Peter will have a choice in the sports he plays (with only some parental influence...) but he is off to a good start. 
• He makes me want to be better.  Having Peter has helped bring me to my knees more often.  I feel of what a special and precious spirit he has and feel such a responsibility to love and nurture him so that he can reach his full potential.  I know that he was entrusted to me from Heavenly Father and I feel of the importance of my role as his mother.  I am so grateful that Peter is helping me to reach my full potential.
• I also have to mention that I do love having a little buddy to go everywhere with me and that he's a total mamma's boy.  It makes my heart happy knowing he loves me to love him:)

I love being a mother.  I love our little guy so much and I can't believe the first year is over!

Sprint Triathlon

Last week Todd and I did a sprint triathlon and it was SO fun!  It was my first one and I'm a fan of them now. We signed up for it with about 2 weeks of training time so I was a little nervous (especially because we found out when we got there that the actually swimming distance was twice as long as we'd "trained" for... during our 3 swims), but it ended up being just fine.  My husband is the best and stayed with me the entire time even though I know he could have gone much faster.   He was also very entertaining.  We didn't have any music with us for the running portion so we provided our own music.  And those who really know us, know that we're not super into pop culture... so we sang a lot of  Disney songs and the little phrases we could remember from songs like "because I'm happy, clap along if you know...", and "we are the champions my friend..."  It was actually quite motivating.  I'm sure we sounded great singing them at the top of our lungs as we ran too.  Luckily there weren't many people around us.  

Here are some pictures...

We also had an awesome cheer leading section with my sister, parents, and our sweet sleepy baby.  I was seriously SO grateful they were there to cheer us on.

We are definitely going to do one of those races again.  It felt great afterwards, unlike the inability to walk for a few days after a half marathon:).  Next time maybe we'll do one where the swimming portion is in a lake or something.  NOT, that would totally scare me.  Lake sharks could be real...

A Living Prophet on the Earth

Last weekend was general conference, a time where we get to listen to LIVING prophets and apostles. The things they teach are "the will of the Lord,... the mind of the Lord,.. the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation" (Doctrine and Covenants 68:4). We've been given such a gift from our Heavenly Father to have "watchmen" on a tower for us in these latter days to guide and protect us and help lead us safely home.

Last Monday for family home evening, we talked about how to digest all that we are given from General Conference. My sweet husband brought up a great lesson from the Book of Mormon. When the prophet Lehi taught his son Nephi of a vision he'd had from God, Nephi responded, "after I had desired to know the things that my father had seen, and believing that the Lord was able to make them known unto me, as I sat pondering in mine heart I was caught away in the Spirit of the Lord" (1 Nephi 11:1). Nephi then had an incredible experience were his father's vision was expounded unto him and he gained a personal witness of its truthfulness.

In a similar situation where Nephi wanted to know and understand what his father had taught him he said, "I did cry unto the Lord" (1 Ne 2:16) and the Lord visited him and softened his heart, which prepared him to do the hard things the Lord asked of him.

I love looking at the pattern Nephi gave to seek the Lord in prayer, even to "cry unto the Lord" in order to understand how to apply the words of the prophets to ourselves and to gain a personal testimony of what the prophet teaches. That's really how to gain knowledge of any truth, to study it out in our minds and then ask God if it's true, and the Holy Ghost will always bear witness of truth (Moroni 10: 3-5).

So if anyone happens upon this that hasn't had the opportunity to watch conference, I invite you to do just that and pray to know that what you hear is truly from a prophet of God. Here's a video highlight of what conference is



and here's the link to the October 2014 General Conference. You can watch all of it, or pick the talks that seem most applicable to what you're needing in your life at the moment.  It's worth every minute though! Thanks for reading:)

Did you think to pray?

When we truly pray from the heart, we open our innermost feelings to our Father in Heaven: we tell Him of our challenges, our feelings of inadequacy and weakness; we share our emotions and feelings about decisions that face us or trials and adversity we experience; we freely express our sorrows and joys. Now, God knows our innermost thoughts and feelings even better than we do, but as we learn to share them with Him, we make it possible for His Spirit to enter our souls and teach us more about our own selves and about the nature of God. By making ourselves totally honest, open, and submissive before God, our hearts become more receptive to His counsel and His will.

From a BYU Devotional by Elder Bruce D. Porter. I'm so grateful for this reminder to have more sincere prayers and that our loving Heavenly Father is really listening and will help us with every detail in our lives.

Father's Day

This year Father's Day and Mother's Day have meant more to me than ever before.  I'm not a mom quite yet, but will be soon and I am so excited for it.  I'm so grateful for my own dad, grandpa, and other wonderful examples of fathers in my life.  I am most excited for my husband to be a dad though.  I think it will be wonderful to see him grow into that role.  I'm so glad I got to marry someone that I would be so happy to see my children turn out to be like. I love this little clip about the influence of a father.

One thing I have thought about throughout my life is how the love a parent has for their child is a reflection of a fraction of love our Heavenly Father has for us.  I have felt so much love and trust in my Heavenly Father throughout my life. I know my parents have helped me to feel that way from their own examples.  I'm looking forward to the gift of having that type of love for my own children.  Parenthood is truly divine and teaches us so much of the Divine!

The Epic Pioneer Woman

I love the pioneers! This is an incredible story Elder Holland told Fall of 2010 in a regional conference. For the entire story, you can read this talk given by Elder G. Homer Durham in "The Future History of the Church."

Two hundred and fifty LDS pioneer were called in 1879 to settle San Juan.  The shortest route they found was through Glen Canyon, with a river running 2,000 feet below the red cliffs.  A path was made for the wagons to descend down the "hole" to get down to the river where a raft was built to carry the wagons across the river.  Twenty men and boys with ropes attached to the back of each wagon with chains on the wheels for brakes were required for each wagon to make the descent.

Arabella Smith and her husband Stanford were traveling west with a wagon company and when they had this experience (in the words of Elder Durham)...

Joseph and Arabella Smith's wagon was the last to descend for the day.  Joseph had been helping preceding wagons all that day and had himself been evidently forgotten by the others.  After making the 2,000 foot climb to the top of the cliff, he found Arabella sitting on a quilt, holding the baby, patiently waiting.  His outfit and their two other children in the wagon were hidden behind a huge, mountainous rock. 

Stanford Smith got his load and moved it to the edge. A third horse was hitched to the rear axle. Stanford and Arabella looked down the “Hole.” 

He said, “I am afraid we can’t make it.”

The wife replied, “we must make it.”

He said, “If we only had a few men to hold the wagon back we might make it, Belle.”

Replied his wife, “I’ll do the holding back.”

A quilt was laid on the ground. There she placed the baby between the legs of three-year-old Roy. “Hold little brother til papa comes for you,” she said. Ada, the older girl, was placed in front of them. Behind the wagon Belle Smith grasped the reins of the horse hitched to the rear. Stanford started the team down the “Hole.” The wagon lurched downward. The rear horse and Belle were thrown from their feet. Recovering, she hung back, pulling on the lines with all her strength and courage. A jagged rock cut a cruel gash in her leg from heel to hip. The horse behind the wagon fell to his haunches. The half-dead animal was dragged down most of the way. The gallant woman, clothes torn, with a grievous wound, later said, “I crow-hopped right along!”

On reaching the bottom, Stanford and Arabella heard a faint call from the children. Joseph Stanford Smith climbed to the top to get them. They were safely in place. Carrying the baby, the other children clinging to him and to each other, he led them down the rocky crack. As they approached the river’s edge, they saw five men carrying chains and ropes in the distance. The Smiths had been missed. The men were coming to help. Stanford called out, “Forget it, fellows. … My wife here is all the help a fellow needs.”

I love this story because it depicts the legacy of courage the pioneer women began and reminds me that we need to have that same courage as women in these latter days.  We need to and can be a powerful force for good.

chocolate milk

I have a precious boy at my work that I am basically just supposed to be buds with when he goes out to recess. We've formed a special little friendship playing made-up basketball games everyday. So today, during the school's lunch time I realized I was quite hungry. I just wanted a little snack and I forgot to bring one. I was kind of thinking/talking to Heavenly Father about how I really just wanted a snack and I wished somehow I could get one. THEN, my little recess buddy came up to me and handed me some chocolate milk and just told me he wanted to give it to me because he already had 3 other cartons :) It made me SO happy because 1) what a nice little answer to my silly prayer and 2) I LOVE chocolate milk.

That was one of my happy moments today. I hope I can recognize those chocolate milk moments more throughout my day.

Marriage is great!

I have been thinking lately (well basically since I got married) what a blessing it is to be able to be married in the Lord's house and by God's power.  Todd and I have known each other now for about four years and have been married almost 4 months and it's amazing to me how our relationship has changed after being sealed by the power of God with Jesus Christ literally placed in the center of our marriage.  I feel the power of Christ's atonement working in our marriage daily, helping us to become one, easily overlook little things that could possibly cause stress or frustration, and love each other more.  I know it's only been a few months so I'm excited for years down the road, and even eternity!

With all the negative statistics on the survival of marriages in the world today, I was naturally nervous before getting married.  But in addition to feeling that the power of the Savior could make anything not only survive, but flourish when He is the center of it, during our sealing, as I looked around the room and felt the power of God's love so strong, I knew we had a great support system of friends, family, and even angels to help us have a successful marriage.

I know that marriage between a man and a woman is instituted of God and that all things that the Savior's love touches will survive.  I am so grateful for a merciful God who allows us to be married in His house for time and all eternity!

Am I my brother's keeper?

I loved this quote from a talk Elder Rasband gave in the April 2012 General Conference. 

“God bless all who endeavor to be their brother’s keeper, who give to ameliorate suffering, who strive with all that is good within them to make a better world. Have you noticed that such individuals have a brighter smile? Their footsteps are more certain. They have an aura about them of contentment and satisfaction … for one cannot participate in helping others without experiencing a rich blessing himself.” (President Thomas S. Monson)

There really is such a power that comes into our lives from serving.  Elder Rasband tells about a family trial they've been experiencing with their grandson having a rare chromosomal deletion which has been life-changing for their family in the time, money, energy, etc. required in rearing this sweet child.  They've had so many "angels" around them to bear them up that have given countless hours of selfless service, much of which has been given without being asked.  I love the special lesson learned from this trial:

"If you come upon a person who is drowning, would you ask if they need help—or would it be better to just jump in and save them from the deepening waters? The offer, while well meaning and often given, 'Let me know if I can help' is really no help at all.  We continue to learn the important value of being aware of and interested in the lives of those around us, learning not only the importance of giving help but also the overwhelming joy that comes from helping others."

"Special Lessons", Elder Ronald A. Rasband

Turn On the Light of Faith and Move Ahead

Here is a great quote my dear friend Ashley sent me awhile back I just visited again tonight and wanted to share. It's about moving forward with faith! Something so hard to do sometimes.

"So often we are tentative and don‘t move forward with conviction. We feel along our way as if we were afraid in the dark. It is so much better to turn on the light of faith and move ahead with energy and commitment. If our course is wrong, we will quickly recognize it and make the necessary adjustments. But if we pursue a course tentatively and indecisively, it is difficult to know whether it is right or wrong in time to correct it and make a difference. The Lord said, 'I would thou wert cold or hot' (Revelation 3:15). I hope we choose being active and being hot. We should decide now to make our decisions prayerfully and then move forward with faith, energy, and determination. As one novelist said, 'If you‘re going to have steam in the kettle, you‘ve got to have a fire in the stove' (Louis L‘Amour)."

(Living Life by Axioms by Robert D. Hales; 14 August 2003)

Life and Death

I had a wonderful experience this past week. I made friends with a young man sitting next to my mom and I on our plane ride to Florida. He told us about some of the hard times he's been through in his life this past year, including the death of 6 people dear to him. I was so grateful for the conversation that we had about the hope that believing in God brings and that He does have a plan for us. I am grateful for the joy that the gospel gives us knowing that because our Savior Jesus Christ gave His life for us, death is not the end, but a "part of the process by which we are transformed from mortality to immortality" (PMG 52). I love this Mormon message that explains so perfectly what we believe about the purpose of death as a part of our life on this earth.

A Consecrated Life

I went home for a little bit this weekend and my dad was out working in the yard so I happily volunteered my help. I LOVE being outside when winter's changing into spring (and it was on Saturday..) So I got to be the mower of the lawn. I like mowing the lawn because it's a great chance to just think. As I was mowing away, my thoughts turned to the talk Elder Christofferson gave in October 2010 conference, Reflections on a Consecrated Life, and I was just thinking about how even when we're doing things like mowing the lawn :) or maybe studying for finals, we can be consecrating our lives to God. Pretty sweet. That makes me happy. This is a bit of what he said about work and consecration...

"A consecrated life is a life of labor. Beginning early in His life, Jesus was about His Father’s business (see Luke 2:48–49). God Himself is glorified by His work of bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of His children (see Moses 1:39). We naturally desire to participate with Him in His work, and in so doing, we ought to recognize that all honest work is the work of God. In the words of Thomas Carlyle: 'All true Work is sacred; in all true Work, were it but true hand-labour, there is something of divineness. Labour, wide as the Earth, has its summit in Heaven.'

"God has designed this mortal existence to require nearly constant exertion. I recall the Prophet Joseph Smith’s simple statement: “By continuous labor [we] were enabled to get a comfortable maintenance” (Joseph Smith—History 1:55). By work we sustain and enrich life. It enables us to survive the disappointments and tragedies of the mortal experience. Hard-earned achievement brings a sense of self-worth. Work builds and refines character, creates beauty, and is the instrument of our service to one another and to God. A consecrated life is filled with work, sometimes repetitive, sometimes menial, sometimes unappreciated but always work that improves, orders, sustains, lifts, ministers, aspires."

Life is great. So let us happily work hard and play hard, after all, "wholesome recreation is the friend and steadying companion of work!"

Goodnight My Angel

I went to an amazing fireside/piano performance last night with Marvin Goldstein. The entire thing was really touching and he's quite the hilarious man. He ended the night by playing "Goodnight My Angel" by Billy Joel :) It really touched me thinking of it in a different sense after he'd sung a bunch of songs about the Savior so I just thought about why he chose to end a religous performance with this song, but I felt like it made a lot of sense. So I just wanted to share the beautiful song...

The Transforming Power of Service

I was just reading some of Sister Beck's devotional she recently gave at BYU Idaho and it is very inspiring concerning our role in serving others. “The poor will always be with us,” she said, “the poor in spirit, the poor in heart, the poor in the things of the world. They’re placed there to sanctify [us]. It is as we work on the Lord’s work that we become sanctified, because the problems are bigger than we are and the solutions can come only from heaven.”

Here's the link to some clips and a summary of what she taught. I am so grateful for inspired leaders of the church!!

mormon.org

There was a training at the Missionary Training Center (MTC) several months ago and it was all about mormon.org. The Director of Training, Richard Heaton, encouraged us to find out about what the Lord is doing to bring seekers of His gospel to Him. I'm sure many have explored the newly renovated mormon.org.

Here's one story that's very touching to me...




You can also create your own profile for people around the world to learn about who you are and your experiences being a mormon. It's incredible and an amazing way you can learn and share more about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

Adjust Your Eyes

I went skiing the other day (and it was AMAZING)... while I was up on the slopes, I learned some things from nature. We rode to the top of one lift and we were in a THICK cloud, you could see maybe 10 feet in front of you. As I timidly went forward, I saw a poor, little tree, I wish I'd had a camera to take a picture of. It looked like a combination of these two little guys (they still don't quite do it justice)...

I looked at the tree for a minute and I could tell it's had a rough winter. I wondered if it would ever have the possibility of seeing/feeling the sun, looking green again, and not be consumed by the snow and ice. So then I thought about life, isn't that sometimes how life feels? Being consumed by work, school, sorrows, etc. Even experiences you may be having where you can't quite see the light? I remember being on my mission for almost 6 months and having a freak out day where I thought I was going to be a missionary for the rest of my life, that's all I could see. So I was talking to my very wise companion and she said something to the effect of, "it's like you're in a tunnel right now. You can't quite see the beginning because you've been in the missionary world for awhile now, and you can't see the light at the end (with about a year to go), so just adjust your eyes." Very good advice. It helped me set the course for the next year of my life, to grow where I was and not wish for time or things to speed by me.

The other thought I had when I saw this nearly overcome tree was from a talk I read (which has been previously mentioned:)) with a quote by Albert Camus, "In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer." I know that's true, we all have something divine within us that allows us to overcome the sorrows and concerns of the world. I'm sure in just a matter of months that little tree will be standing strong and you'll be able to see what it really looks like with all that snow and ice melted away. I love the lessons nature teaches and that "all [these] things denote there is a God!" Have a lovely day.

Oh the wisdom of grandmas and grandpas

Last night we helped put on a late Valentine's day dance at a retirement home. Two of my dear friends have a grandma and a great-aunt who live at this home so we stopped in to talk with them and it was a lovely experience. They were both wonderful, strong women who you could feel and see in their eyes the love and faith they'd developed from their life experiences. They freely spoke about the Savior as if they'd walked with Him throughout their lives. They gave us advice to love and take care of our bodies because they're the instruments which help us accomplish our work on this earth. Great-aunt Marium told us to find true love and ENJOY life with that special person :) She is a particularly inspiring women. She was married at age 18 and had just had her eighth child at 36 when her husband was killed in a plane crash. About a year later she adopted another child from an indian reservation and pressed forward, putting complete trust in God and receiving support from her family. She has an incredible family now that has done so much good in the world, thanks to her not giving up, but moving forward.

I felt grateful for their cheerfulness about life and the simple wisdom they offered us. Even a tragedy can be made right and beautiful with time and become an essential part of our growth. It was a good reminder to me to find joy each day and know that there are always good things to come. The bumps in the road need to be there or we wouldn't grow!

The Abundant Life

So last night I was reading this talk by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin about how to tap into the "potential that lies in each of us" and live an abundant life, one where we "radiate a confident inner peace... and [glow] with irrepressible joy." He shared three suggestions of what he's noticed that the happiest people he knows have developed into {holy} habits, so I wanted to share them with you...

1. drink deeply of living waters. "To embrace [the gospel of Jesus Christ] fully is to be filled with wonder and to walk with an inner fire. Our Savior proclaimed, 'I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.'"

2. FILL our hearts with love. I just think about the word fill, when something's full, there's no room for other less valuable things to be in our hearts. "Those who serve others 'will come to know a happiness... never known before.... Heaven knows there are so very, very, very many people in this world who need help. Oh, so very ... many. Let's get the cankering, selfish attitude out of our lives, my brothers and sisters, and stand a little taller and reach a little higher in the service of others.'"

3. "with the help of Heavenly Father, create a masterpiece of [your] life."

Enough said, I just wanted to share this light that I began loving several years ago when my mom first shared it with me. I know the peace and confidence we all desire comes from the Savior and it's through Him our lives can reach their full potential!

just a day

So my experiment has continued. I really have felt a greater peace as I've tried to consciously give thanks for my blessings. Today was actually a bit of a discouraging day though, just being tired, not too excited about some things that happened at work, etc. BUT tonight I was able to spend some time with two amazing friends I met just about a year ago. It was the greatest blessing of the day because it put my life into better perspective. I think it's important to step back and see the big picture and realize that even though we can't see the end from the beginning, there are marvelous things in store. So, I was grateful for the little message of hope Heavenly Father sent me through my friends tonight :)

21 days of GRATITUDE

When I was visiting home about a month and a half ago and I found a paper on my sisters nightstand filled with writting. It was a list of 100 things my sister was grateful for about winter time. As I read the list filled with silly and serious things and memories, I just loved my sister a little more because of her example of really reflecting on the little things and expressing her gratitute for them.

So yesterday I made a plan to more conscientiously strive to develop an attitude of gratitude. Because this blog was originally created for this very purpose... I am going to do an EXPERIMENT of daily recording my roses, and you're invited. My hypothesis is experiencing a greater change of heart. Day ONE of recording my roses begins...

Tonight I went on a glorious run. It was so good, I didn't want to stop, which is rare. I became lost in my thoughts and felt the worries of my day disappear and it helped me feel closer to Heavenly Father. I feel like I trust in Him a little more now and I feel great inside. Oh how I love that we have bodies:) and somehow, when we help our physical bodies, our spirits become awakened as well. I had a conversation with a DEAR kindred spirit friend tonight who always is overflowing with wisdom about life. She taught me about being calm about life. Simply trusting. Oh how I love the people I am given in my life that help me make it through this mortal experience and send me messages from God along the way. I am so happy about my new job. As I've been training I have been impressed how everyone is sharp, genuine, and good. I am excited to learn from them and be around them.