It was this day, nine years ago, that we had Jordan sealed to us in the Provo temple.

I was waxing sentimental today, so I took Jordan out for a drive. I was holding his hand and telling him all about the day we got sealed. It was December 27, 2005, Jordan was 9 months old. Josh and I were still at BYU, and had three year old Joshie, and Jadon who was one.

I told Jordan how that was one of the happiest days of my life. That I knew before I ever saw a picture of him that he was my son, that he helped me to finally feel forgiven for things I had done, and that I could never hope for a better son.

Jordan, was starring at me so sweetly, and listening to me so patiently. I could tell he wanted to say something, so I stopped talking, and I took a deep breath because I could feel myself starting to lose my composure. I braced myself for what my son was going to say to me.

"Can we go to Costco so I can get a hot dog?"

I sat there for a second thinking, "Oh. No. He. Did. Not."

So, knowing I would have to lead him a bit to get the response I wanted, I said "Jordy, what do you think about what I said to you?"

He said, "What did you say?"

I knew in order to get the kind of statement from him I wanted, I would basically have to move his lips for him, and make the sounds.

I just ended this humiliation by saying, "Are you glad things worked out the way they did?"

He started crying and saying he was hungry. So, I ended the whole charade and took him to Costco for a hotdog. He thanked me and said, "If you weren't my mom I wouldn't be here right now with this hotdog."

I laughed at what he said, but next year for the tenth anniversary I will be far less forgiving.

Happy Anniversary, kitten.

12 Years of Marriage.

September 1 was our 12th wedding anniversary. I was so proud at the idea of being married for 12 years, because I thought that was longer than my

parents were married. My mom recently told me they were married for 15 years, so I have to wait a while to have pride in my marriage, I guess.

 Josh and I met in Pennsylvania right after our missions. We dated during that awkward, "Oh my gosh, I shouldn't be alone with a guy /girl" stage. It was a very long time till we even held hands. We didn't even share a room until 3 months after we got married.

I remember the first time he asked me out. We had been "hanging out" a lot, we'd go together to meet up with friends every weekend, and went to our Church classes together. Josh was the luckiest guy in our Stake .

Anyhoo, he asked, "do you ever see us dating?". I don't remember what I said, but the outcome is obvious I guess. We got married after 5 months. After 2 months of dating I moved out here because my friends were here, and he came out about a month later and proposed. We were taking a walk on Temple Square and he got on one knee, in front of everyone. I was actually very embarrassed because I'm not very public about stuff like that, but I really liked the ring, so I had to say yes to get it.

 This is my bridal portrait. Yes, I wore a tiara, and I rocked it. What?

We have had an eventful 12 years. Our four kids came in the first 5 years. So the last 7 have been pretty unproductive, comparatively speaking. We started out in subsidized BYU family housing, now we live in the house we'll live in for the rest of our lives. The best thing I can say about our marriage, besides the kids is that we're each others best friends. We are very protective of one another. Josh would do anything for anybody without any hesitation, except eat meat, or be a Republican. You're out of luck if your life depends on either one of those things. Happy Anniversary!!

Jadon's Baptism, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints

The Thrill of Victory, the Agony of Adhis.

Anyone who is in Pilgrims Landing 2nd Ward knows of the intense rivalry between Adhis and I. We are both extremely clever, and very witty. It is also very well known that I am way wittier.

We have the ability to say pretty much anything to the other without either person getting offended, nevertheless, Adhis's palpable envy of me endures.

We go back and forth on Facebook trying to out wit one another in our comments. When something funny is said in Relief Society, it most likely was said by one of us.

Adhis was recently released, under suspicious circumstances from teaching Sunday School. By the time I would arrive to class when she taught most of the seats were taken, so I had to sit WAY over in the left side of the room. This made it easy for Adhis to try to ignore my raised hand and avoid my generous, insightful, and riveting comments on whatever the lesson was.

Our rivalry recently reached a new level, back in February when her sister was having contest through the bakery she owns.

Joshie's Newscasting Debut!

Joshie did this for a school assignment. He was to discuss top news events of April 1939.

Our Trip To Kirtland, Ohio

I have always wanted to see Kirtland, Ohio. I served my mission in Independence, Missouri and it was impossible to teach anyone about early Mormon history in Missouri without talking about Kirtland.

Kirtland was the first Mormon settlement after the Church was founded in 1830. Church members settled for several years here, starting in 1831 before having to move on to Missouri because of persecution. The first place we saw was the Newel K. Whitney store.



Brother Whitney was a Church leader and was the second to be presiding bishop of the Church. He had been a successful business man and a local civic leader.
Brother Whitney and his wife were close friends of the Prophet Joseph Smith and Emma. Joseph Smith was owner of the store, and lived upstairs while Newel K Whitney and his wife oversaw the day to day operations. The store was started so that the Mormon community could be self-sustaining. Many business owners elsewhere would refuse business from Mormons, so it became necessary for them to be able to provide for their own needs within the community.


Here you see the store house, and the sister missionaries giving us the tour. This is what I did on my mission. The sisters were pretty good, but had no idea about the tour giving legend who stood before them.





This is the storage room. The grain was stored there, and it was also where they weaved the baskets.





Now, we are going upstairs to the Prophet's living quarters. This is also where the School of the Prophets was.



I don't know why this is called the knitting room. It was the Smith family dining room.






Joseph Smith received about 20 revelations in the store, up in The School of the Prophets, where the Elders of the Church would meet. Many of the elders who attended the meetings became important Church leaders, including Brigham Young. The revelation that is known as the Word of Wisdom was received in that room. Emma complained to Joseph about having to clean up after the men who would chew tobacco and spit it in the room where they would meet. That is when Joseph prayed about this, and it was revealed to him that among other vices, tobacco was forbidden. Emma was very happy.

The teaching that took place, and the revelations received in the upper room of the store house make this store one of the most significant places in Church history.








The kid's bedroom:



Joseph and Emma's room:



We're going back downstairs now:



The next post will be about some other house and the saw mill. The saw mill was built for one purpose, for the building of the Kirtland Temple.

Jadon's Sacrament Talk.

Every fall the Primary kids take over Sacrament Meeting. They sing multiple songs, give talks, and recite scriptures. No one wants to admit this, but only the cutest, most superior children are selected to give talks. Jadon, of course, was an obvious choice.

His topic was to be why our bodies are referred to as temples in the scriptures. He wrote the entire talk by himself.

Here is his talk:

~Our bodies are like Temples, because if we do good stuff, we feel powerful. We also feel the Holy Ghost.

We treat our bodies well by eating healthy food, and growing muscles.
If we do bad things to our body, sometimes it doesn't change.

We can serve more if we take care of ourselves.

I feel the holy ghost more when I treat my body well. I know it makes God happy.

Joseph Smith taught us the Word Of Wisdom. It tells us if we avoid unhealthy things, and take care of our bodies, we will be protected from Satan.

I know this is the Church of Jesus Christ. We will be happy as we will obey God. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.~

When I had Jadon practice his talk with me at home, he would say, "we will be protected BY Satan", instead of FROM Satan. Fortunately he got it right today.

The ward was surely strengthened by Jadon today.