Happy Easter!

Rebekah

Rebekah has learned to write her first name! :-) I think it is so cute, and she really does a great job.

Next step...potty training (I hope).

Inspiration from Sheri L. Dew

On Thursday, February 19th, we had our Stake Women's Conference. The theme was "The Power to Become" and was taken from Sheri Dew's book "God Wants a Powerful People". We were so blessed to have Sister Dew speak to us! She is one of my favorite people, and she is such an inspirational speaker. Here are the notes that I took.

Just as Sister Dew and most of us use our cell phones, email, and other forms of modern-day communication to stay instantly connected with the world around us, it is critical for women to be continually connected to our Father in Heaven.

Revelation 12:7 says "And the dragon [Satan] was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Sister Dew said that we can take this scripture literally. Women are pivotal to the family and building up the Kingdom of God. Satan is running out of time, and he is wroth with righteous women for their influence.

Satan uses disruptive business practices. He distracts and disconnects us by 1) confusing us about who we really are, 2) keeping us from understanding what the Savior did for us through the Atonement and what He will do to help us now, and 3) stopping us from knowing how to receive personal revelation.

#1 We must understand who we are and what it means to be children of God. When we know we have a purpose/mission, everything changes. You will be happier than ever before. The great scriptural prophecies all talk about two things, Christ and the Last Days. We are the the "noble and great ones" (D&C 138, Abraham 3; Sister Dew recommended that we read and pray about these scriptures and ask if they apply to us). The Lord would not have saved us for the Last Days if He did not think we were strong enough.

#2 We must gain "unshakeable faith in Jesus Christ" and know that he will heal us of all things. He will heal our broken hearts, heal our wounded souls, make our weaknesses into strengths. Our difficult, heart-breaking experiences help teach us to trust in the Lord and to know that He will help us through everything. Sister Dew suggested we study Alma 7, Ether 12, Hebrews 11, Luke 4:18.

#3 Nothing is more important than to learn to recognize the Spirit and personal revelation. It takes practice with scripture study and prayer. Ask Heavenly Father to teach you how you receive personal revelation. Feeling the Spirit is different than receiving revelation.

Jesus Christ prophesied that in the last days "men's hearts [will fail] them for fear" (Luke 21:26). None of the "scary" things that are happening in the world today are a surprise to the Lord. We do not need to fear. He knew that we would be strong. He wants us here when the world falls apart. The Kingdom of God will not fail in our day as it has in other dispensations, and women have profound influence. We owe Adam, Eve, ** Abraham, Esther, Isaiah, Nephi, Moroni, Joseph, Emma, Eliza, Brigham, and * all of our predecessors our conviction!

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day this year was great! Roy surprised me with an overnight date on Tuesday to The Anniversary Inn in SLC. We ate at Sizzler and then just watched movies and relaxed in the Carriage Suite. We've stayed in that one before, and we love it! It was a great night away. We stayed up too late, but we slept in late too. Then we went to the Jordan River Temple for a session in the afternoon. We got married there 14 1/2 years ago, but we had never been back. It was really wonderful. While sitting in the Celestial Room, I felt such peace...like everything was alright with my world. Then we ate Swedish meatballs at IKEA and bought some of our favorite treats there (Bilar, Anna's Pepparkakor, but no chocoloate this time) before heading home. It was a sweet Valentine's gift!

Our girls were given so many gifts and so much attention while Samuel was in the hospital last year, so we decided to include Megan and Logan in our Valentine's gifts this year. We bought each of them an outfit and some candy. Of course, Logan's outfit couldn't match the girls' outfits or he would have been offended. He was pretty happy with Transformers. We gave the gifts on Friday the 13th since Megan and Logan were going home for the weekend with Janice. We had to get some photos. The four-year-olds are funny.

This morning Elisabeth and Rebekah were thrilled to receive a package from Great Grandma McCluskey with these adorable little plush bears. She made the cute outfits, and they just happened to match their Valentine's outfits. :-)

Black-Eyed Bekah

The goose egg from last week gave Rebekah some pretty good black eyes.

2-7-09

2-8-09

2-9-09

Follow the Recipe

So I was making Pluckits the other night, and the recipe says the dough (Rhoades or whatever) should be "thawed but still cold". I had to use the quick-thaw method because I could not wait until the next day to satisfy the high-carb craving, so my dough was not "still cold". Now I know why that is an important detail to pay attention to.

At least upside down they looked alright. And they still tasted good (and my dad even liked the crispy pieces). Craving satisfied!

No Rest Tonight

This is how I found Roy and Rebekah this afternoon. So sweet!!! But if Rebekah even takes a 10 minute nap during the day, she will not go to bed forever at night. They slept for 1 1/2 hours! Yeah, she's still awake, and it's almost midnight.

Pirate Island Friday Update

More descriptive updates are on the Pirate Island Orem blog.

One year ago...

This is where we were 1 year ago.

February 5, 2008:



February 6, 2008:



February 9, 2008:

I am so thankful we are not in that same place today. I am also thankful that Sammy improved after that first week and was able to look like himself again.

I miss Samuel so so so much. This is the way I try to remember him (all taken in January 2008):

My little goofball!!! These pictures make me smile.

OUCH

What do you get when you mix these two wild 4-year-old cousins? They ran head-on into each other during a crawling race.