A Dress Just for Her...

My little Addie is getting baptized next week and she is so very excited!  She is exactly the middle child: two older siblings, two younger.  She wants to feel grown-up and special.  She wants to go to activity days, and art class and softball just like her older siblings do. She has had to wait until she was old enough to do some of these things, and that has been especially hard for her.  She tends to get overlooked sometimes, so Will and I try hard to make sure she knows she is special even though she isn't the oldest, or the baby of the family.  I decided I would make her baptism dress, something I did not do with Sasha.  I wanted it to be special; just for her!  She had told me she wanted a dress that was made from an old wedding dress from the DI.....but I came up with this instead.  She seems ok with it! :) I started working on it with plenty of time to spare and I am glad I did that.  It was a fun experience; not stressful and time-pressured.  The fabric was a new experience for me and a bit hard to work with, but I did it.  Yay me!  And just so you know, you can glue lace and stuff on dresses with the glue gun and it will work out just fine. ;)

I am so excited for her baptism. I can't believe how grown up she is. My sweet girl.....

My own private cheerleader...

This past Sunday, I was asked to fill in for one of our ward choristers.

My very first calling as a newlywed was

The Ward Chorister.

So, I wasn't too worried about getting up there

and leading the music.

No one really watches you that much anyways, do they?

I know I hardly look at the chorister.

I am too busy keeping the children

from rolling around on the floor

or something equally

not acceptable during church.

After the first hymn ended, it was

pretty quiet, as it usually is for a few moments

before the prayer.

Well, Miss Audrey Anne belted right out,

"Yay, MOMMA!  You did it!!!"

Her cute little voice was as clear as a bell.

The organist and I laughed and also tried very hard to be reverent

and composed at the same time.

The families nearest to Will and the kids

got a big kick out of it, as well,

I later learned.

So fun to have her cheering me on.

:)

 



Peace

This past Friday, a horrible tragedy happened in our nation.  A gunman killed 20 little kids at an elementary school along with 6 other adults, and then himself.  I just sat there watching the news, crying and trying to explain to my kids what was wrong.  It is sickening.  I have thought about it every day since it happened.  Those precious kids.  Those amazing teachers. My heart aches for those poor parents and families who lost a loved one that day.

Some people have decided to not talk to their kids about this.  "They are too young to carry that burden", "They don't need to know about it" and so on.  I agree it is a horrible thing for a child to hear about, but I decided to talk to mine about it here and there since it happened.  We have had some great conversations about it. 

• We talked about how grateful we are to have the Gospel in our lives and the knowledge of eternal families.
• We talked about how hearts will be softened there and that missionaries and member can share the gospel to those who are aching and hurting.  People all over the world will turn to the Lord and be looking for answers that we can give them, being members of the church.
• There are bad things in this world, but there are far more good things.  Seek for the good things.  They are there.  Don't be afraid.
• Those precious children were no doubt watched over and they were not left alone as they passed from this world. 

I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ.  It gives me peace in time of great heartache and tragedy.  I was born into a family who gave me the gospel.  I am so thankful for that.  I am so grateful I can talk to my kids about things like this and that we can work through it together, with the Savior's help and understanding. 

What CAN I do for them?

I am feeling reflective today.  Maybe because it is Sunday.  Possibly.  Most likely, actually.  I had a sick baby girl all weekend and wasn't able to attend church since Will was teaching Sunday School.  But, I was able to go to choir; gotta do my "Choir President" duties.  (I am loving singing with the choir, btw).  I love how singing hymns lifts your spirits.

I have noticed how our society can be very focused on being productive. "What did you cook\sew\create\organize\ today?".  Post it on your blog.  (Ya, I have done this, many times).  Then pin it on Pinterest.  Then we all can pin and pin and pin and make and do many more "productive" things.  Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE creating things.  Doing things.  I love seeing what other people are doing and then I wanna do it too.  You should see my dining room table.  It is full of stuff I made recently for a RS activity.  :)  But, I can't help but wonder if we can get lost in all of that.  I want to do fun things with my kids, but I don't want it to ever become an obsession.  I don't want to loose sight of what is really important and what I really CAN and should do for them.

I found an old friend from high school on fb.  Nice sweet girl.  She was a student body officer.  The kind that people voted for because she was genuinely nice to everyone.  She had posted a year or so ago a link to video that summed up why she had fallen away from the Church.  It saddened me.  And it caught me by surprise.  She was the last person I expected to fall away.  Her posts since then have been a bit bitter. Some have triggered angry discussions.  Things that go against gospel principles, she supports.  Some of the things she shares, articles and things, show how far away she is from the Gospel, and well, it makes me sad.

As I have thought about this lately, I have thought "What can I do so that this doesn't happen to me?  To my family?". She is no doubt still a good person, but she has lost her way.  Her spouse has lost his, too.  I realized that when parents fall away from the Church, it can affect many generations.  We all have to be careful since Satan's main goal is to tear us, and our families apart. 

So, what CAN do for them? For my kids?  I can make sure I am where I need to be.  Am I praying each day?  Am I reading my scriptures?  Am I reading the words of our Prophet?  Am I making sure my testimony is strong so that when the winds blow, I am ready?  I need to be ready to help my kids spiritually.  This is so important.  It is more important than any project I see that I want to do with them or for them. I need to do better.  I will do better.  It is the most important thing I can do.  For them.

"Come Thou Fount"...

Ya, most post yesterday was kind of a bummer.  I have felt very overhelmed; no reason really.  Nothing has changed.  Still the same number of kids.  My new calling is actually not as busy. Anyway, I have just felt frustrated with the mess of a full house.  The pile of laundry that grows when my back is turned. Time to myself is hard to find.  The constant nagging that doesn't seem to work.  On and on. I know any mother can relate. 

Today was fast Sunday and I really wanted to feel peace about my efforts as a mother.  I wanted to feel refreshed and renewed.  I am grateful for my new calling as choir president.  My job is to support the ward choir director, encourage attendance, and attend myself. Something as our family
has grown, I have not done.  Usually I feel pretty much tapped out after church and am ready to go home and rest.  In my jammies.  Choir hasn't been something I have done these past several years.  But, I can honestly say that attending choir these past few months has been such a boon to me.  I have found myself refreshed after practice, and sing the songs we are working on without realizing I am doing it.

We are preparing for next Sunday, when we will be singing in Sacrament meeting.  Our director decided to change the song today.  The song she picked for us to sing was inspired, at least I took it that way.  When I was in the MTC my companion wanted to sing in the MTC choir, so I had to as well.  You kinda have to stay with your companion while on your mission.  I cannot tell you how wonderful that was for me.  Singing in a church choir for my first time, doubting myself as a missionary as I did, it strengthen me in ways I can't really put into words.

When we as a choir sang "Come Thou  Fount", well it was special.  The director talked to us about the words we were singing, so that we would sing them with feeling and truly bear testimony of the Savior.  I had never heard this song before since it was from the old hymn book.  So, I copied down the works in my MTC notebook so I would never forget them.  I never have.

Sitting down in choir today, seeing the new song choice, and having had a rough time lately, I felt the Lord's tender mercies just for me.  It was if He was saying that He loved me and knew I would love to sing that song one more time. Sometimes it is the little things that happen that let us know He is there and that He loves us.

Here are the beautiful words:

Come, thou Fount of every blessing,
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it,
mount of thy redeeming love.

2. Here I raise mine Ebenezer;
hither by thy help I'm come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.

3. O to grace how great a debtor
daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here's my heart, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.

High on a Mountaintop....

This hymn about temples has been running through my mind a lot lately. Probably because we have been able to do some temple work for Will's side

of the family this week.  This morning we finished up the work for his mom, and also for his older brother that passed away tragically a few years ago. We are so glad we attended our ward's Genealogy class that helped us get started.  It truly is amazing to do the work for YOUR family. Or your husband's, for that matter. We are looking forward to finding out more and more about Will's biological family so we can continue this good thing we got going on. Walking out of the Brigham Temple, you face directly east and have a most breathtaking view of the Tabernacle and the mountains.  You need to go see for yourself.  Gorgeous!!

 

P.S. Waking up at 4:40am so you can leave by 5:15am, so you can be in Brigham at 6:00am for the 6:30am session is really early.  Especially if Addie, aka "Little Miss Terrified of all Things Halloween Related", sleeps with you and kicks and smacks you ALL night LONG. **But we LOVE her and LOVE her sleeping with us (minus the smacking part).  And going to the temple is amazing.  Plus stopping at McDonald's for a $1 McMuffin on the way home, makes it all better.

 



For Ardella.....

Today was a very special day for Will and I. Someday, I plan on printing out this blog, so I wanted to make sure this day gets recorded.

Will was born in Indiana to Wayne and Ardella Andrews.  When they got married, Ardella was only 14 years old.  By the time Will was born, she had 8 kids and was 24 years old.  She ended up having 11 children in all, I believe.  Wayne worked as a tree trimmer, so they never had much money.  The state eventually intervened and placed all the children in foster care, so they would get cared for better. Some of the older kids actually ran away from their foster families, and went back home.  Will and his younger sister got placed together, with the Rodgers family, who eventually adopted them.  The Rodgers family met the missionaries and got baptized, so Will grew up with the Gospel.  :)

In the early 90's Will met his biological parents, and a most of his siblings over a few year's time.  He is very close to his oldest brother, Roger who comes to see us regularly. When we lived in Iowa, one of Roger's girls got married, so we went to the wedding.  I was able to meet both of his parents; Will takes after his mom!  She is dark like he is.  His dad was very quiet but very kind.  Our visit with them was brief since we had to get back to law school.  That was the last time we saw them.  But, Will always called his mom on Mother's Day to tell her he loved her.  She always cried.  I imagine it has been hard for her to deal with the fact that her children were taken from her.  Will always wanted her to know he harbored no hard feelings towards her or his dad for the past.

She passed away a few years back and Will has wanted to do her temple work.  He set a goal to get it done, and I was very willing to be a proxy for her.  This morning we got up very early and set out for the Brigham City Temple.  We wanted to do her work there since that temple is special to me, being from Brigham City.  It was our first time doing temple work for someone we actually knew.  As I got ready to leave I wondered if Ardella knew what we were going to do for her that day.  I was anxious to get to the temple; I just wanted to GET there! It was probably silly, but I was worried something might stand in our way; car trouble, traffic or something! 

There was a very special spirit in the temple today.  As I took Will's hand as we waited for our turn in the font, we both started to cry.  It was such a sweet feeling to do her work.  She had a hard life.  She did not have the gospel and maybe wondered if the Lord had forgotten her.  Well, Ardella, your wonderful son, Will did NOT forget you.  We love you.  The Lord loves you.  All is well.

Will's dad, Wayne passed away during the summer, so we are counting down the days so we can go and do his work.  What a blessing temples are.  What a loving Father in heaven we have.  My joy is full.