We Thank Thee Oh GOD For A PROPHET

I just heard the news that President Hinckley has died!
I wish I had the words to adequately describe my thoughts and feelings at the moment. I just listened to a news broadcast on channel 13 fox where the broadcaster said that "President Hinckley has done more and seen more than ANY other LDS Prophet, save Joseph Smith alone." I could not agree more!

This man was beyond remarkable for me. He is a true leader and a true example and servant of the Lord. I know there is an order in the church, and we will all be fine and there will be a new prophet, but for the moment I am mourning the loss of one of the greatest men in existence.

I think I can speak for a lot of people when I say that he was MY PROPHET. By that I mean that he was the prophet that I remember. I was really young for all of the other prophets. President Hinckley has been the prophet of my youth, young adult and adult years. He has been the one that I have listened to, that has known what I needed to hear through these growing years in my life.
He has been the prophet that has been around the longest for me. He has been so very active and highly involved. I am so saddened, he is truly going to be missed. I am happy that he gets to be with his wife. He has spoken many times of how much he misses her.President Hinckley has done so much for Brigham Young University. He made an impact on what it stands for and means. I hope you can click the link and see BYU's Tribute to President Hinckley.

One experience I remember with President Hinckley was in 1997 after the HUGE PIONEER TREK had ended in Salt Lake at the 24th of July Parade. President Hinckley spoke. He wore a cowboy hat and a huge smile. I remember him winking at the crowd, and thinking--"wow--I didn't know they could wear cowboy hats and be so cool!"

President Hinckley was a true leader and follower and testifier of Christ. He lead by example and testimony. He didn't just talk about doing things, he went and did them himself. He was known for so many things. Not only for helping dot the earth with temples, for traveling far and wide to visit those in need and desiring to see him...countless things will never be forgotten.
One thing that he seemed to reiterate was his List of BE'S:

1. Be grateful.

2. Be smart.

3. Be clean.

4. Be true.

5. Be humble.

6. Be prayerful.

The thing I will remember most is his testimony of the Savior and his love for ALL men. He truly was an inspired man of GOD with a happy, grateful heart and zeal to serve. The only thing I have left to say is to quote the hymn page 19:

"We thank thee Oh God for a Prophet to guide us in these latter days. We thank thee for sending the gospel to lighten our minds with its rays. We thank thee for every blessing bestowed by thy bounteous hands. We feel it a pleasure to serve thee and love to obey thy command."

I know that President Hinckley IS a PROPHET of GOD. I am so grateful for his leadership and council, wisdom, and example. I know that the church is true and is lead and guided by a prophet of the LORD who speaks the word of the LORD and testifies of GOD. I truly and grateful for a prophet that guides me in these latter days.

A collague of the cuteness...

When to keep your mouth shut!

Do you ever feel like you don't think before you speak? Usually, when I have done this I say something I regret. This seems to be happening to me a LOT lately. I feel like Meg Ryan during "You've Got Mail" in the scene where she says she never could say what she really thinks, and then when she does she regrets it.

After it is out there, then that is it...you have put it out there. What you say could lead to someone thinking or feeling something you did not intend, and then start a whole slew of things that you would not want. So the lesson here is to not only THINK before we SPEAK, but also to just think about the NICE things that we can say. It is amazing how a nice word will go a long way. I hope it is the NICE things that people remember about me.

DInners Ready--Oh, Just Kidding!

Here is my story, and I hope you get a laugh out of it. So, my sister calls me up and says, I know a good crockpot recipe that you should use sometime. She tells me the ingredients and I realize that I have all the ingredients for this feast. I was so worried about what to make for dinner that I was not going to make it. It is a thing called beef stroganoff .

I wish I could fully express how huge this excitement for this anticipated meal. I was pumped, ready, excited and the anticipation was probably an even bigger build up than the actual meal. I picked Steve up from school and that was the first thing I said to him--"dinner is cooking, I am so excited. It should all be ready by 6."Ok, so this is too much build up cause we all know what happened right? I decide that I am going to make the noodles as 5:30 and make some rolls. Before I do this, I want to check on our little feast. I look in the pot and see that the meat is still raw...WHAT? How is that possible? Did I do something wrong? The answer is YES! In fact, you need to not only turn it on, but plug it in. Oh yeah, another clue would be if you could smell it cooking, that might give a little hint.

Needless to say I am trying to get a laugh out of it. I actually was quite upset about it at first. I really was looking forward to eating right then. The good news (besides the fact that I am so HILARIOUS) is that it will get eaten, just four hours later and it will be just as good! So, please laugh with me. We have all been there. Or is it just me? The greatest part is that, as usual, my husband has the best attitude about it and will laugh with me...another reason to love him more..

One Big Hug.....

I do not care what anyone says...
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE PREGNANT TO BE EMOTIONALLY CHARGED!
Anything, good or bad seems to set me off lately. I feel like I am crying all the time. When I am happy, I am crying, when I am sad, I am crying. I swear I never use to be this bad. I am not going to make excuses, it is just who I am now.
Take this picture below for example:

Steve was just sitting there playing with Andy, and I was watching him cuddle the teddy bear with her and just started crying. I was thinking of how I am truly blessed and I have EVERYTHING I ever wanted and dreamed of. There they are, just in a group hug, giving mommy warm fuzzies all over.

Andy really loves her little Teddy Bear. We are so grateful that Pam gave it to us. It has been so fun to have and watch her interact with. Her joy tends to be mine as well.

We were reading our scriptures together as a family and Andrea decided to take our scripture marker into her own hands. It works better as food I guess than marking pages. Steve and I got a huge kick out of it, as she ripped the ribbon right off. At least she is still listening--right? I try to show her pictures of Jesus every day and explain to her who he is. I think she is truly teaching me more than I am teaching her.

Because I love you....

Today was the big IMMUNIZATION DAY! I know I tend to dramatize things up, but it truly is an ordeal for me. I was crying even before we left. I was very nervous so I asked Steve to give her a blessing (more for my sake, of course). It did the trick (until we got there)...

We added the flu shot on top of all the others and I BEGGED the secretaries to ask the nurses if they could have someone else hold her down during her shots.













See, I did not want to be the bad guy and have her wondering why I let this happen. We went into the room and I asked the nurse myself to get someone else to hold her down. She replied, "You are the mom." I said, "I know, that is the point. Because I am the mom, I want YOU to be the one she associates with pain."

The nurse won out of course, as Andy was given two shots in each leg and screamed the scream of death. I, of course, started crying right along with her. I whispered to her, told her I loved her and because I loved her is why we were doing this. It is better for her to have it done, and something she will understand later. I told her I thought it was probably harder on me.

This got me thinking about how God reacts to our pain. It hurts him to see us in pain, and I know he would do anything to stop it, to take our place. He does not know why we sometimes choose to take the wrong path. I am sure he gets upset with some of our choices.

I have looked at Heavenly Father in a different light after being a parent. I know I can never fully comprehend his love for us, but I feel I understand it in a different way with my child. I think, WOW if GOD loves me and worries about me HALF as much as I do for my baby then WOW... I have never felt such concern, pride, joy and love in the same light as I do for my child. I know he loves me even more. Whenever I think I am doing something that will not bring me close to him, I think of how I would feel if Andy were doing the same thing to her momma.

Doctors, Drugs, and DIABETES (aka insuruance issues)

Today was the BIG 6 MONTH CHECKUP at the doctors. Always an interesting experience, especially since Andy was 5 weeks early.We absolutely LOVE our Doctor. I feel like he is the kind of doctor Steve is going to be. He is always very friendly, concerned, and thorough. He answered ALL of our questions.

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-Andy is in the 27% for her head at 16.4 in.

--She is in the 49% for her height at 25.8 in.

--Andrea is in 13% for her weight at 14lbs.

Her weight has always been a sensitive subject for me since it is what kept her in the hospital for so long. We are very pleased that she is doing so well. Tomorrow is the big day for the shots. The doctor told us we need to get some fluoride in her vitamins as she will be teething--YIKES!

Having said that, I am going to use my blog to rant for a minute as I am not the happiest person with Health Insurance. It is a catch 22 you see. The only people that can get insurance seem to

be the ones that don't need it. If you are healthy, then you can be insured. If you have a pre-existing condition such as Diabetes and you actually have to spend money in order to live then they won't cover you. Yes, it is all here to help us out let me tell you. My husband never gets sick, does not need to go to the doctor--and he is fully covered (convenient, no one has to do anything).

ME on the other hand, well, I need to go to the doctors frequently yet somehow am not covered for it. I am in a mood and I have been in one my entire life with this. I know complaining never did any good for anyone, but I am just MAD. It is a faulty system. I am upset with it and not sure how to change it. It is not just me, but ANYONE with a preexisting condition. I really don't know how to fix it, or what would be the best way to.

Should we adopt the heath insurance for everyone is the same? Should we make it free? I really don't know, which is why I am putting this out here in the world...CAN ANYONE TELL ME?

A "Tragical"day (as Anne Shirley says)

Yesterday I went and put Andy in her little swing chair...I locked everything in place and then for some reason Andy started screaming. I couldn't figure it out. I kept moving things around, she hadn't fallen, i didn't drop anything on her. The more I moved things around, the harder she screamed.

Come to find out, I had locked her little bare skin leg into the lock, her body was clamped into it. I got her out immediately as she did her scream of death. Thank heavens Steve was there because I just lost it after that and started crying myself. I kept rocking her and telling her I was sorry.

I really don't know how to describe what I felt as I looked at my baby and knew I had caused her pain. It took me a while to compose myself and realise I was not a bad mommy and that she would forgive me much faster than I would forgive myself. What a trooper. I don't think I will be putting her in her swing for a while.

Today at church was so hard. For some reason Andy did not want to eat and did not want to stop crying. I tried to take her out and feed her but she kept screaming. So, Steve had a go at it. We eventually had to leave church and come home, hoping there was something we could do. She continued to scream no matter what we tried. We finally let her scream herself to sleep. It was hard. I was worried. We still aren't sure what happened or is going on, perhaps she is teething. Nonetheless, it was a very "tragical" 2 days...