Primary Children's

Eric and I live about 5 minutes away from Primary Children's Medical Center. I love living so close to this hospital because I volunteer there. I am a member of kids crew, which basically means I do everything that I can to make a child's day better. This could happen many different ways. I could go play with them in their room. Many of the kids can't leave their rooms for whatever reason and it can get pretty boring for them. So I will take some games, toys, or books and play with them for as long as I can. This is also a great help to parents who can't be at the hospital with their child, or who need a break. I can stay in the playroom and play with kids who come by while their parents do some research, its some much fun for me watch what they will want to do and to see their imaginations run wild. I can also help with crafts by making an example, getting supplies ready, or helping a child who is working on a craft. Helping with crafts is my second favorite thing to do while volunteering. My favorite thing to do is go hold babies. The first time I went to go hold a baby I thought It would be said so sad. I walked in and he was hooked up to so many machines and had so many wires connected to him it made me sad that such a small child was in a hospital. Then I started to play with him. I had to where a mask while I was in the room, but sometimes I would make silly faces or noises because I would forget that the baby couldn't see my face. He would start laughing and smiling and smiling anyway. It made me so happy to know that I could make a sick baby happy enough to smile and laugh.

Last week the hospital was so busy, so I had the chance to help with a very special project. One of the girls at the hospital had missed her senior prom so the hospital organized a prom especially for her. Her mom brought her prom dress and they had people come do her hair and make up. They brought in music, food, and some sort of entertainment. I got to help set up the decorations. I helped make a banner that said "Wish Upon a Star", and we decorated the room with stars and hung streamers from the door way. It was a lot of work and we barely got it done in time, but it was so much fun. I didn't get to see the prom but I heard that it was a success.

I love volunteering at the hospital. I love thinking that I am helping to make some one's stay at the hospital just a little bit better. Until very recently I love going to the hospital because I thought I was making a difference in others lives, I didn't realize that they were making a much greater difference in mine.

The Primary Children's branch is a part of our stake. So every six months our ward get the chance to go to the hospital and help provide church services. We go and have a sacrament meeting. After the sacrament meeting Eric help take the sacrament to those who couldn't come, and I get to help give primary/young men/young women lessons. Eric and I got the chance to help on a fast Sunday and it was amazing. The testimonies of those who are there are amazingly strong and the spirit that they had with them was so special and so strong. Its so hard for me to describe what I felt and how it effected me. I was amazed by the faith and trust that they had in their Heavenly Father. I was amazed by their eternal perspectives. I was amazed by their humility and the gratitude that they showed toward. I wish that I could tell each one how much they blessed my life, and strengthened my testimony. I wish that I could tell them that it was a privilege to be with them and to serve them. At the end of that sacrament meeting we sang "When He Comes Again" form the Children's Song Book. I have always loved that song, but singing it at the hospital brought a new meaning to it for me. These are the words:

I wonder, when he comes again,

Will herald angels sing?

Will earth be white with drifted now,

Or will the world now spring?

I wonder if one star will shine

Far brighter than the rest;

Will daylight stay the whole night through?

Will song birds leave their nests?

I'm sure he'll call his little ones

Together 'round his knee,

Because he said in days gone by,

"Suffer them to come to me."

I wonder when he come again,

Will I be ready there

To look upon his loving face

And join with him in prayer?

Each day I'll try to do his will

And let my light so shine

That others seeing me may seek

For greater light divine.

then, when that blessed day is here,

He'll love me and he'll say,

"You've served me well, my little child:

Come unto my arms to stay."

I love this song so much more now. The second verse is the one the effected me the most. I couldn't even sing I just listened and thought about how much The Lord love little children and about the atonement. I started thinking about how he suffered for them and knew exactly what these children felt. I also thought about the children who would be returning to our Heavenly Father before Christ comes again, and I thought about how he would do the exact same thing.

I am so thankful to be living so close to this wonderful facility and the I have the opportunity to serve there and for those that I have been able to serve. I am so thankful for the wonderful lessons that I have learned and for thoses who have strengthened me and my testimony.

The Raa Play

I'm not a fan a Shaq, but this commercial was on the other day, and I found it funny. Enjoy.

New Job

I worked at DownEast for almost a year, but in November 2011 I quit. For the most part it was a very good job. I loved what I did and I loved the people that I worked with. For most of the time I worked at the Layton Hills Mall, but when Eric and I got married I transferred to the Gateway mall.

After about a month of working there Eric and I both knew that something needed to changed. I was working mostly nights and I worked every Friday and Saturday night. Working nights wasn't that different before, but that was before I was married and nights weren't the only time I had to spend with my husband. I literally worked every Friday and Saturday night. I knew that I would have to work some I was even prepared to work one weekend night a week. I thought that was reasonable, but that wasn't how it worked. The problem soon became that Eric and I didn't really get to spend time with each other, and we had a big decision to make.

We knew something needed to change but we weren't sure what. We fasted and prayed about this decision. Our options were for me to talk to my manager about the problem, stay at that job until I found a new job, or just quit. The answer we got was just to quit. It was very hard for me to do, but I felt good about it and I knew that it was what I was suppose to do.

4 months later I have a new job that is going to be so much better for me and for Eric. I now work for a law firm called Jones Waldo. I will be a law librarian. The thing I'm most excited for is I have a set schedule. I know exactly when I will be at work. I don't have to say, "I don't know, I don't have my schedule yet." I don't know many people yet, but the people I do know seem really nice, and my boss seems very understanding when it comes to school schedules.

I've been in to fill out my paper work and for some training. My first real day is next Monday. I'm am so excited to start at my new job and for the new responsibilities. I know that this job will be so good for me and some much better for me family.

6 Month Anniversary

On March 2 Eric and We will be married for 6 months. I never posted about our wedding for many reasons, but it all boiled down to being busy. I think that this is a good occasion to post about it.

We were married on September 2, 2011 in the Salt Lake Temple at 9:40 am. I love the Salt Lake Temple and have always loved it. My wedding was extra special because my great grandfather sealed Eric and me for time and all eternity. I also had the special experience of having my great aunt be the one took me around the temple and showed me what to do. She is a temple worker at the Salt Lake Temple and was assigned to help the brides at the time I was married. I know that it wasn't a coincidence, and that it was a special little gift from a loving Heavenly Father.

After we were married we took pictures outside the temple with family and friends, and then a few with just us. As we were walking around the temple grounds we had random people taking pictures of us. It was kind of weird. These are some of my favorite

 

Eric's cousin, Savanah, was so excited.

I love how blue the sky looks.

Once we were done we went to Heritage Park for our luncheon at the Brigham Young Farmhouse. The food was delicious, the day was gorgeous, and it was wonderful to be surrounded by such wonderful friends and family. I was really nervous that it was going to be uncomfortably hot, because it had been the past few days, especially with and outdoor luncheon and reception, but the weather was perfect. It was the perfect temperature outside without a breeze. I didn't have to worry about anyone sweating in their wedding clothes our the wind messing anything up. Here are some pictures from our luncheon.

With my Grant Grandpa who was our sealer.

With Eric's cousin Adam and his wife Brooke.

Eric's  mom Laurie sharing memories of Eric.

Our reception was at the Lion House in the garden. It was gorgeous. We had white table clothes with table runners that had a damask pattern and red ribbons tied around the chairs. The center pieces were made by one of the mission couples in Eric mission, Judy (she also did my bouquet). They were three  vases with either red, silver, or black beads in them and they had a red ribbon tied around them. Simple but so pretty. For our refreshments we had chocolate cover strawberries, mini  chocolate, or strawberry cheese cakes, and either chocolate mint cookies or German chocolate cake cookies with a mango juice mixed with sprite (Eric's idea). I highly recommend the Lion they are completely willing to work with you, and are completely honest with what they can and can't do. Plus they didn't try to charge you for stupid things (we looked at a place that charged you for cutting the cake, but wouldn't let you do it yourself). Here are some pictures of the details.

 

 The centerpieces

 My bouquet

 The Cake

The guest sign in

Our refreshments

We took pictures until our reception started at six. My aunt Michelle sat at the table were had our guests sign pages of a scrapbook for us (made by my mom, grandma, aunt Michelle and me). We stood in line with both of our parents greeting people for the full two hours. My arm got tired from holding my flowers and I had to keep switching hands Eric thought it was funny but he did offer to hold them for me. After the line we cut the cake. Yes, we were nice and didn't smash it into each others face. I really didn't want cake on my wedding dress. We danced to You're the Inspiration by Chicago. I tossed my bouquet. I threw it so hard that it went over a tree branch and almost hit the photographer. Our sisters fought over it, but not our 18 year old sisters, our ten year old sisters. In the end Kalli (Eric's sister) let Aly (my sister) have it. Eric's Aunt Debbie was a life saver and brought us a Subway sandwich for us knowing that we would be starving. After that we left. When we got to our car it was completely covered in shaving cream, a silly string. Eric was not happy, that was probably the only thing he wanted. Here are some more pictures.

 Cutting the Cake

 Out Dinner

 Catching the Bouquet

First Dance

I honestly couldn't ask for a more perfect day. It was truly the best day of my life. I'm so thankful for a wonderful husband and for all the people who helped make our day a little more special. I know that this was kind of long but it is more for me, so that I don't forget that special day.

Rant

Yes, I'm going to go off on a rant (okay two rants), sorry. If you don't want to hear it, you don't have to read it. I just want to get it out of my system.

Clothing Sizes

One day at work I had a woman come up to me a very rudely say "Doesn't this store carry any real sizes!" I politely asked what size she was looking for and found out she was looking for a large. I told her I would check in the back, on my way to the back I checked the item she was looking and found it out on the floor! She didn't even look!

All sizes are real sizes and I have had every single possible size come to me asking if we had that item in a different size in the back. I have had every single size get frustrated because they couldn't find anything they liked in their size. It is not the store's or employees' fault if your size is not in stock. It could mean that it is an old item and not being made anymore to make room for more seasonable items, and all new items that are coming will come in all sizes. It could also mean that you have exceptional taste and are choosing items that have been very popular.

Body Styles

I have a class on adolescent development. For one of the classes we talked about how adolescents are often confused by the media on body image. We had to do an activity were we watched an hour of a TV show geared towards teenagers and count how many were underweight, average, weight, and over weight. It made me mad at how many of the students were aggressive toward underweight females. I know that eating disorders are rampant and very dangerous. I know that all body styles are beautiful and that we should appreciate all of them. All of that doesn't mean that someone who underweight has an eating disorder, or an healthy life style. That is simply how there body is. Just like all body types. All are beautiful no one should be made to feel that they are doing something wrong because of their body type.

One of my favorite shows is What Not to Wear, and the reason is because Clinton and Stacey always tell women that they should embrace the body they have now, and when something doesn't look good to blame the clothes and not their bodies. I think that this is something all people men or women, young or old should do.

Sorry for my rant.

Unexpected Pleasant Surprise!

Yesterday Eric had a final at 1. I had assumed that he would leave work early and go straight to his final. That is not what he did, instead he left work early and came home and had lunch with me. It made my whole day. I couldn't stop smiling I just couldn't believe that he was home for lunch on a weekday.

The first thing I said when he came home was "What are you doing here?" I don't think that was the greeting he expected because he said "Fine, I'll just leave." I quickly got up and hugged and made sure that came inside before he could leave.

It was so nice to spend half and hour in the middle of the day with my husband.

Eric's Talk

This is Eric's Talk that he gave. I think that he did a wonderful job. He started with a poem about Thanksgiving since it was the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

T’was the night of Thanksgiving,

But I just couldn’t sleep.

I tried counting backwards,

I tried counting sheep.

The leftovers beckoned,

The dark meat and white.

But I fought the temptation,

With all of my might.

Tossing and turning,

with anticipation.

The thought of a snack

became infatuation.

So I raced to the kitchen,

Flung open the door,

And gazed at the fridge,

Full of goodies galore.

I gobbled up turkey,

And buttered potatoes,

Pickles and carrots,

Beans and tomatoes.

I felt myself swelling,

So plump and so round.

‘til all of a sudden,

I rose off the ground.

I crashed through the ceiling,

Floating into the sky,

With a mouthful of pudding,

And a handful of pie.

But I managed to yell

As I soared past the trees

Happy eating to all,

Pass the cranberries, please!!

May your stuffing be tasty

May your turkey be plump.

May your potatoes and gravy

Have nary a lump.

May your yams be delicious,

May your pies take the prize

And May your Thanksgiving dinner

Stay off of your thighs!

by Lauren

Every week when we come to church and partake of the sacrament we promise with God that we will “always remember him.”  This promise is so important that it is specifically written in both the sacrament prayers.  It is clearly stated in the prayers that in order for us to “have his spirit to be with us” we must first “always remember him.” In essence it is a commandment from God to “Always remember him.”  Why would God have us promise each week to always remember him?  How is that connected with us obtaining the Spirit?  Remembrance is the seed of Gratitude.  Gratitude brings Humility and Charity.  Humility and Charity bring the Spirit.

I don’t know if I would be to far of by stating that remembering God and all that he has done for us will lead us to guidance by the spirit. Remembrance of Jesus Christ always  brings about gratitude.

What is Gratitude?

Gratitude is a feeling of thankfulness for blessings or benefits we have received. Grateful people are quick to acknowledge the kindness and help they receive from our Heavenly Father and others around them.

To have gratitude we must first recognize the blessings that God gives us.  To recognize the blessings we must 

How will developing a deeper level of gratitude effect my life?

A grateful heart is the beginning of greatness. Gratitude builds humility as we recognize an act of kindness, service, or caring from someone else. True gratitude is a foundation for faith, courage, contentment, happiness, love, and well-being. Being grateful leads us to look outside ourselves and turn to the bestower of the blessings.

“Gratitude is an uplifting, exalting attitude.” (True to the Faith)

Gratitude is not something we DO, it is something we BECOME.  I can’t just do gratitude like I can pay my tithing or go to church.  Gratitude is who I am.  I have to be grateful not do grateful.  

Being grateful is so much more that just words.  Gratitude is a feeling, or an attitude within us.  In True to the Faith we learn that we need to “Work at being grateful.” It is an attribute that we develop and work at just like faith and humility.  Gratitude is not something that we can be just once a year around thanksgiving time.  

Get into a habit of expressing gratitude. (Alms 34:38) To be truly grateful we must be grateful daily and not yearly. 

How can we daily develop a habit of Gratitude?  I think that the best way for us to develop gratitude is to recognize the hand of God in our lives or ALWAYS REMEMBER HIM. We need to recognize the Hand of God in our daily lives and then thank God for what he has done for us. But how can we recognize God’s hand in our lives?  President Eyring found a way that worked for him to recognize for yourself. Write them down.”

I went inside. I didn’t go to bed. Although I was tired, I took out some paper and began to write. And as I did, I understood the message I had heard in my mind. I was supposed to record for my children to read, someday in the future, how I had seen the hand of God blessing our family. Grandpa didn’t have to do what he was doing for us. He could have had someone else do it or not have done it at all. But he was serving us, his family, in the way covenant disciples of Jesus Christ always do. I knew that was true. And so I wrote it down, so that my children could have the memory someday when they would need it.

I wrote down a few lines every day for years. I never missed a day no matter how tired I was or how early I would have to start the next day. Before I would write, I would ponder this question: “Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?” As I kept at it, something began to happen. As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done.

More than gratitude began to grow in my heart. Testimony grew. I became ever more certain that our Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. I felt more gratitude for the softening and refining that come because of the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ. And I grew more confident that the Holy Ghost can bring all things to our remembrance—even things we did not notice or pay attention to when they happened.the blessings of God in his life. From this he learned to develop gratitude and testimony.

“When our children were very small, I started to write down a few things about what happened every day. Let me tell you how that got started. I came home late from a Church assignment. It was after dark. My father-in-law, who lived near us, surprised me as I walked toward the front door of my house. He was carrying a load of pipes over his shoulder, walking very fast and dressed in his work clothes. I knew that he had been building a system to pump water from a stream below us up to our property.

He smiled, spoke softly, and then rushed past me into the darkness to go on with his work. I took a few steps toward the house, thinking of what he was doing for us, and just as I got to the door, I heard in my mind—not in my own voice—these words: “I’m not giving you these experiences

The years have gone by. My boys are grown men. And now and then one of them will surprise me by saying, “Dad, I was reading in my copy of the journal about when …” and then he will tell me about how reading of what happened long ago helped him notice something God had done in his day.

My point is to urge you to find ways to recognize and remember God’s kindness. It will build our testimonies. You may not keep a journal. You may not share whatever record you keep with those you love and serve. But you and they will be blessed as you remember what the Lord has done. You remember that song we sometimes sing: “Count your many blessings; name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.” 2

“You could have an experience with the gift of the Holy Ghost today. You could begin a private prayer with thanks. You could start to count your blessings, and then pause for a moment. If you exercise faith, and with the gift of the Holy Ghost, you will find that memories of other blessings will flood into your mind. If you begin to express gratitude for each of them, your prayer may take a little longer than usual. Remembrance will come. And so will gratitude.”

Recognizing the blessings of God in our life help us develop gratitude.  Gratitude leads to Humility and Charity. Humility and Charity lead to Guidance of the Spirit.  

Recognizing the hand of God has helped me in my life to understand how the spirit works.  By recognizing the hand of God in my life my testimony of the Holy Ghost grew.  I began to see specific things - very specific things - that God helped me with in my day. I recognized when the spirit guided me, which other wise I would not have recognized.