::baptism day part 2::

So for part two!
I was so stressed out with getting this whole event planned and figured out. More stressed out than I really should've been.
But that aside, we were able to do it right after stake conference so a bunch of our friends could come straight over to it before going home. So we had a really nice turnout.

Max was excited.

And a little nervous I think!

Kris gave a talk--one of our friends said that he thought it had to have been one of the first times that somebody gave a talk in bare feet while reading from an ipad. It was pretty great.
I played a flute duet with a friend from the ward. My mom gave a nice talk about the Holy Ghost. It was a great lineup.

My friend Renatha shot a couple of quick pictures for me before it all actually happened. I love the crowd of kids up around the font.

Max had to go under twice because of an errant hand--great story to tell later.

It was a lovely little event. I enjoyed it and I was relieved that it went smoothly.

Afterwards we zoomed home and had friends over for sandwiches and a little birthday cake for my dad.
It was such a nice day.


I think Max realized the import of what he was doing (as much as an eight year old can). He was mature, excited and very focused all day. We're so proud of the boy! So glad he's ours!

::baptism day part 1::

First things first.  My parents and Kris's mom all came to our house for Max's baptism which was so nice.  They also all did me the favor of coming in (and leaving) on the same flight, so I only had to go down to the airport once!  It was very thoughtful of them.

We got to spend a couple of days hanging out together, playing guitar and doing puzzles.

Because of goofy scheduling things at church Max had to get baptised on sunday, right after stake conference.
So while we were getting ready for church we broke out the baptism presents--plus it was my dad's birthday that day too, so he got a present too!


Prior to the visit I had been talking to Kathy and had mentioned how I needed to get Max a set of scriptures for his baptism. She told me that I could give him a set that used to belong to Kris's brother Kenny who passed away when Max was just a baby. She went and got them all engraved to say Max's name as well. I thought it was a fabulous idea.

Once Max opened it up and we explained it to him he thought it was pretty awesome too.
And since Kenny didn't use them too much they're almost brand new.


Isn't this just the cutest picture? He looks so clean and tidy and sweet.

Now this is much more characteristic of a Max face.
He's obviously very happy with his present though.

The script turned out really nice I thought--though the lady at Deseret Book who was supposed to imprint it got pretty nervous Kathy said. She was all worried about messing up. But she didn't.

Ah, there's my classic Max back in full force.

I have part 2 on the way.

::blessing day::

So first thing, I had the toughest time ever picking which pictures to put up in this post. So I just picked a bunch.



A week ago today we were able to bless our sweet Sandy in church. If you'd like to know more about that please follow this link and read the section titled "naming and blessing children."
Kris gave Sandy the blessing and he did a beautiful job. He said so many sweet and precious things. I wish I had a recording of it so I could listen to it 100 times in a row and memorize it. We had lots of good friends from the ward standing in the circle, as well as my dad. I was so glad my dad could be there, and we missed the rest of our family, but we knew they were there in spirit. I'm glad that we have so much support from the ward though, since we can't live minutes away from the family. It's nice to know that a lot of the men standing in the blessing circle will be the same men supporting, helping and teaching Sandy (and Max) for a long time. That's special.


(I think this picture is so funny--just the angle of his head, his chubby mushy cheeks and the bubbles.)

Afterwards we gathered at our house with a few friends from the ward for snacks and chatting. Sand didn't even know the party was in his honor, but he had a good time.

(preparing for his party--he didn't even poop on his clothes!)


Speaking of Sandy, he was absolutely perfect at church, didn't make a squeak during the blessing. After his blessing he was held by Mrs. Evans, the wife of the dentist we bought the practice from (they came to the blessing, wasn't that nice?) and then he fell quietly and serenely asleep in her arms. That never happens these days!
What a great kid.

It was so nice to have my parents there. It was fun that they got to meet and chat with some of our friends and just be around for just general help and support. Kris and I are so blessed in the parent department. We have four of the best.
Anyway, my dad spent a lot of time with Sand, entertaining and snuggling him. Sandy loved it.


My dad also got a few giggles out of him during the visit. Some of his very first.

I just want to eat him up with that adorable little smile.


It was a wonderful day. I was probably too stressed out with making sure everything was ready and clean and all was going to run smooth, but I survived. Thanks to everybody for their help and love. We are so greatly blessed with friends and family (whether you were able to attend the blessing or not) I can hardly think about it without being overcome. We love you all. Thank you for loving us.


oh, and if you would like to see a few more pictures, including a couple of me, go here to my mom's blog.

::today::

Today we had Sandy's blessing at church. It was so nice and a really beautiful day. I'll post more about it later hopefully. I'm all worn out now.
Sand couldn't have behaved more perfectly today.

(thanks to Grandma Kathy & Lechelle for finding the adorable outfit, it fits perfectly!!)

::friends::

We feel really lucky to have moved into this area. The ward has a bunch of people our age and in similar situations. We've met a lot of fun and interesting people, and there are even a few kids Max's age, including his current crush.

She's there on the right. When we get together with them they just giggle and giggle and giggle.
We're looking forward to a lot of fun get togethers with church friends, and that's nice!!

::misc::

Looks like we're going to get the house I wanted most after my long week of searching. One house (in the area we were most interested in) stuck out from the rest in price and size and quality. I only found it because I went to the ward on sunday and asked around to see if anybody had heard of places coming available. This place, oddly enough already had some dentists in it, and they were moving on to their next life step. The house was perfect. I knew the second I walked into it.
After a lot of stress and waiting to hear from the landlord who not only was in England, but also on vacation it looks like we're good to go and he's sending us a lease to sign. I'm very relieved. I'm so glad we could find something that will be comfortable and that's at a reasonable price. Hooray!
You want a couple of photos? I don't have much worth showing because I didn't take very good pictures, and the current tenants were in the midst of moving chaos, but what I have I'll show.

My mom took this one. Its' a picture from the sitting room kind of space back towards the kitchen. It's an open concept place with high ceilings, skylights and and a nice airy feeling to it.
From here on out, I'll mostly just show you the yard. (And take the word "yard" with a grain of salt, I mean this is New Mexico, people!!)


Personally I'm happy to have a wall that will keep little boys and big dogs from escaping out into the desert.
We're happy there's a garage. We're happy there's a guest room and more than one bathroom. This will be great.

And how can you go wrong with sunsets like this?
Now I'm able to get excited about moving instead of being worried about it, yay!

Next. I have to speak in church on sunday, and they didn't give me a topic. I'm just supposed to "pick something." I think I've got it picked now, but I've been racking my brains trying to figure out something good. Argh. Like speaking isn't stressful enough?!

It was so hot here yesterday that I just wanted to go to Antarctica. Though I've liked it here, I will NOT be sad to leave the humidity behind. It gets old really fast. And a high 90s day at the end of May is a bit of an unexpected unpleasant surprise, unless you're smart enough to make it to the beach. We weren't.

School goes until June 23rd out here. Can you say cruel & unusual punishment for the poor kids? I think Max will be enjoying some hookey beach days in the next month.

I wish I could write. Go here and read this entry by a girl I went to high school with. She writes so nicely.
An excerpt: "Why do we go to bed only to find another day has slipped through our fingers breaking into a million tiny pieces? A little lump of it lodged in our throat, a little in our heart, a tiny amount in the trash, some settling in our stomachs, and more down the drain, bits and pieces piled in prayer, and specks stuck in beads of sweat."
How lovely is that?
I love the internet and how we can share and read and appreciate each other's thoughts. It's so inspiring and humbling too.

That's all for now. Maybe now that we actually have the house lined up I can remember how to blog again. I've been remiss, and I've been missing it.

::pensive::

Some of my friends out here in the web have thoughtfully picked out words or quotes to inspire them for the new year. I think this is a fun idea, though I hesitate to pick one for myself. I don't know why. Maybe I'm just not that organized. Maybe things have just been so crazy for us the last few years that each year feels kind of like ten. Maybe I just don't ever know what's going to happen next.
Anyway, my friend Megan finally pushed me over the edge and made me really think about it. She picked the word RELAX. And I really like that. In fact I was just going to go ahead and steal it from her and make it mine. But something else kept popping into my head.
It's that scripture--you know, the one in Psalms 46:10: "Be still and know that I am God." It also shows up in the Doctrine and Covenants. D&C 101:16 "let your hearts be comforted concerning Zion; for all flesh is in mine hands; be still and know that I am God."

Of course what kept popping into my head was "relax and know that I am God." Not exactly accurate, but I think that's one way of interpreting those scriptures. The more I thought about it the more I realized that this scripture is really what I need to think about and remember for the next year. We have so much crazy stuff to do. We're going to be moving across the country (again). We'll be buying a business and taking it over (if all goes well). We'll have to find a new house in a new place. We'll have to find a new school for Max and go to a new ward (again).
It's all really scary. It's scary and intimidating. It makes me feel tired and frightened.

BUT. If I can think about it all in regards to the lovely scripture above then I can think about it a different way. If I can be still and know that Heavenly Father is God and that he's watching out for me then I don't have to be so scared, or maybe scared at all. I'm not the only one watching out for me and my little family.
So maybe these big big things we have to do can start to look exciting and adventurous instead of so scary.
And even the fact that we can't ultimately control what happens to us in our lives can be ok. We have divine beings watching out for us. And ultimately even if bad things happen we have hope that all will be ok and that we will be able to be together in the end.
I've just got to have faith. Relax, have faith and do the work.

One of my favorite men in the world, Jeffery R. Holland wrote the following In a wonderful article in the Ensign this month:
"Some of you may wonder: Is there any future for me? What does a new year or a new semester, a new major or a new romance, a new job or a new home hold for me? Will I be safe? Will life be sound? Can I trust in the Lord and in the future? Or would it be better to look back, to go back, to stay in the past?

To all such of every generation, I call out, “Remember Lot’s wife.” Faith is for the future. Faith builds on the past but never longs to stay there. Faith trusts that God has great things in store for each of us and that Christ truly is the “high priest of good things to come” (Hebrews 9:11)."
Could that be more perfect and appropriate?
He writes and speaks so well. Just listening to his words brings me comfort.

"Be still and know that I am God."
OK, I'll try. I'll try my best.
Thanks friends for making me think about all this. And thanks for reading.

::special::

As we were driving up to our campsite in Vermont we realized we drove right past Sharon, VT. This is important to us as members of our church because it's Joseph Smith's birthplace.
So we decided that on sunday when we were on our way home we would stop in and see what there was to see.
First of all the landscape there is totally amazing. Vermont may well be one of the most beautiful places I've ever been, and this area is definitely high on the list of beautiful Vermont. As soon as we got off the freeway we could see the rolling wooded hills and the granite rocks. The White river runs right next to the road for some of the way and it has big granite shelves sticking out from the river bed. Hard to describe, but so dang pretty!
It was rainy and chilly on sunday, but the rain just seemed to intensify the leaves that have already changed colors.

We didn't know what to expect at this site. We knew that the church had something there, but not the details.
Driving up was kind of like driving into the temple grounds. Lovely landscaping and flowers--very well maintained. It looks like the stake center for the area is on that property. It was cool because the building is made in the new england style, with white boarded sides and a straight steeple. It's fun to see chapels built in different styles.

When we got out of the car the view was beautiful! And they have a sound system throughout the area with music from the mormon tabernacle choir playing. That had the potential to be a little cheesy and over the top, but it was actually nice. It added to the peaceful feeling there.

There's a big monument to Joseph that was set up in like 1905. It's supposed to be the biggest single piece of granite in the US or something like that. The story of how they got the stone there was pretty amazing. It involved lots of teams of horses, many weeks and a lot of prayers.

The monument looks like it could've been made yesterday, the cuts all look really fresh. It's hard to believe that it's been there for over 100 years.

The landscape around is beautiful and peaceful. Behind the monument there are some dirt roads where you can go back and see the ruins of the foundation of Lucy Smith's parents' home and some of the remnants of the old roads and bridges. The main road from canada to Boston at the time ran basically right in front of the Smith's gate. It sure would be interesting to see what it would really be like to live back then.
The view from the hill is gorgeous too. The house on the left is where they have a lot of paintings and info about Joseph and where the senior missionaries give tours. We're not sure what the house on the right is for.

The tour was really nice and well given. They had recovered the hearthstone from the house where Joseph was born and installed it there. There was also a rocking chair which Joseph had made at some point.
We enjoyed it. And even Max listened for a while.
I was a little embarrassed because we were pretty yucky from camping for three days, but oh well. The senior sister missionary from Reno took our picture anyway and told us to come back for their christmas light show. So we must not have smelled that bad, right?

I'm so glad we stopped. The feeling there was so nice. So peaceful and happy. It's my favorite of all the church sites I've visited. I'd love to go back.
As we were driving out Max said, "I sure wish we could stay here." I asked him why and he said, "Well, Joseph Smith was born there, whaddaya think?"

::more utah fun::

I got to go with my parents to their ward's pioneer day breakfast over the weekend.
It's always fun to go back and see everyone, especially with going to church. It's like going to some sort of big religious extended family reunion or something.
Brother Stone lives a few doors down from my parents, he was like our local grandad.

He's fun to take pictures of because he looks so wise.

Max enjoyed the food--watermelon is one of his very favorite things to eat.

My dad works really hard for the ward. He was the pancake cooker.

He's cute too.

Cammon & Lorri were there too, with the little Scoot boy.

Evidently he likes watermelon too.

Here are the parents of my oldest friends. Aren't they adorable?

And my friend Rachel, the hedgehog maker. She's really cute too. Look at those pretty eyes!

And to finish up, here are three men working hard taking care of their ward.

I love the view from the park. Yay for Y mountain.

.:.:Strange:.:.

Look at what I was handed this morning when I walked into my first church meeting.

Do you see what I see there?
Why yes, it IS my brother looking out at me from this flyer. Sorry but that is so weird. I almost didn't look at it after I got it, and was about to put it into my bag when I somehow spied Cammon grinning at me from it.
Maybe my inattention can be blamed on the fact that I had to get up today at 5:30 to make it to a ward council meeting. And do keep in mind that with daylight savings that was actually more like 4:30!!
Just in case there's somebody out there that can't pick him out:

Has anybody else gotten this? Does Cammon have any idea he's being handed out all over the country--oh wait maybe all over the world?

I personally think it would've been better like this:

But nobody asked me. Unfortunately.