Monday, January 26, 2009

I Truly am Amazed











So my dad went to a Jazz game the other night and as he was leaning over the ledge to look at the people below he heard a familiar voice say, "Don't lean over too far, you might fall" when he turned around he saw President Monson standing there. My dad said that he was immediately overwhelmed so much that he could barely shake our Prophet's hand. I asked my dad if he could feel the Spirit when he saw him standing there, like at conference when the Prophet walks into the room, he brings such a strong Spirit with him. My dad said that he definitely felt the Spirit so strong it brought him to tears. How neat!
That made me think of how it might be when we get to meet the Savior again. I have heard that many people won't even recognize that it is Him when He does come again. I don't know if His face will be familiar, I hope it will be, but if nothing else, I am sure that if we are spiritually prepared, the feeling will be familiar. If there was somebody who had no idea who President Monson was and was not spiritually prepared to recognize him as a Prophet of God, the same conversation he had with my dad would have probably had no impact at all. But to many of us, when we see, or if we are lucky enough to meet a Prophet of God, the Spirit is so overwhelming, to me it almost feels like I have a personal relationship with him. That is how I think it may be when I get to meet my Savior. I pray that I am spiritually prepared enough to feel like I have known him all along.
In church a couple of weeks ago, it seemed like the theme of the day was the Atonement. What a great and little understood thing that is. A woman spoke in sacrament who has had many trials in her life including a son who died 48 hours before he was to leave on his mission and a husband who passed away suddenly from no known cause. Wow! She talked extensively on what role the Savior has played in her life. That because He suffered for us, not just for our sins, but for our trials and tribulations, she was able to lean on Him. He was the only one who truly knew exactly how she felt. Isn't that amazing.
That day in Young Women's Jamie asked if we felt like we had a better relationship with Christ or Heavenly Father. Most people felt like they had a better relationship whith Christ. That got me thinking. I pray to Heavenly Father, and I feel like I can somewhat relate to Him. Not that I am AT ALL comparing myself to Him, but he is my Father in Heaven, and because I have kids that I would go to the ends of the Earth for, I think that it kind of helps me have a small grasp on how He may feel for us. I am sure that I have no idea the extent of His love for us, but I do have the love of a mother, and as far as this mortal state goes, that is a pretty incredible thing. Anyway, I have really wanted to form a stronger relationship between myself and the Savior. Since then, I have really been thinking about the talk in sacrament that I mentioned, and how amazing it is that He knows exactly how we feel. That He can help me get through the trials I may have to face, He will help me overcome my own weaknesses, and He suffered for me because He loves me. Not only that, He did it for my kids too. My kids are still young, and I am sure there is a lot more of this to come, but there have already been times that my kids have been hurting and there was nothing that I wanted to do more than to take away their pain. I usually can't do that, but HE CAN. I am so thankful that He can do that for me, but I think even a little bit more, I am thankful that He can bare the burdens my children may have to bare. I truly do "Stand All Amazed." I feel so blessed. I know that He lives, I know that He knows all of us, probably better than we know ourselves. I know that He can make our burdens light and that it is never never never too late to reach for Him because He is always reaching out for us. I love Him!
I say these things in His name, Amen.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

You've Had a Birthday Part 2 (And Very Overdue!)



I finally loaded the pictures from my camera to my computer and I wanted to post a couple more pictures from our family birthdays and Christmas.




Brielle's Birthday Cake





Brielle and the Grandma Greats!



Brielle and Bampa on Christmas Eve at Grandma Red's house




Luke, Tanner, and Brielle in their new Christmas Jammies from G-ma Red






Luke and Tanner (If only they were really as sweet as they look!)







Tanner with his Tractor Cake







Luke at the Kay Family Party





Tanner at the Kay Family Party











Monday, January 5, 2009

One Year Older and Wiser Too!

So this is certainly the season for celebration around the world, and it may be even more so, just a little bit, in my family. The reason being, Tanner and Brielle both celebrate birthdays within a week of Christmas.
I guess I will start off with the must-writes, Christmas was wonderful. We all had a great time and the kids must have been very well behaved because Santa managed to find them. I didn't take many pictures because I was too caught up in video taping and enjoying myself. I am having major regrets now.


(Don't be offended if you didn't get a Christmas card, I never actually printed them!)
Tanner's birthday was before Christmas and he had a great little party. I made him the tractor cake he had been dreaming of and he got more toys than he know what to do with. I still can't believe he is three. He is such a fun little guy and he is just as melt-your-heart sweet as he is pull-out-your-hair wild. He constantly has us laughing our heads off. We are very proud of him and I can't wait to see what fun and surprises this year brings.



Brielle's birthday is after Christmas and I can not believe that my sweet little baby is one! She fell asleep in my arms this morning and I just couldn't get over how much she has grown. I thought of holding her a year ago as she slept in my arms. She was a tiny little princess with a head full of sporadic black hair and the softest skin in the world. Now she is still a little princess only quite a bit bigger than before, she has too little pig tails and can walk on her own two feet. She brings so much joy to our family and I am so excited for many more wonderful years to come.



It kind of feels weird not to mention Luke even though his birthday is nowhere in sight. He is such a good big brother and I can tell he truly loves his brother and sister. As I am typing this I can hear Luke saying to Tanner in the other room, "fine, I'm not playing with you unless you do what I say! Now, make a funny face!" I don't know about you, but I can definitely see the love in that statement. But in all honesty he is a great kid and a wonderful helper. I love them all more than I can say.

I haven't downloaded my pictures to the computer for a LONG time now so I will have to get on that and post some when I get them.