"This is the Church of the Happy Ending"

We were very blessed to have Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles come and speak to us at our Stake Conference this weekend. I got to hear from him not once, but twice. We had an adult session on Saturday night which was AMAZING followed by stake conference the next day. My lucky husband also got to attend the Priesthood Leadership session which according to Cody, topped them all. It was a very intimate setting and Elder Holland had on a microphone and was walking up and down the aisles, patting the men on the shoulders and just in the middle of all of it. I have to admit I was a little jealous I couldn't go.

Both of his talks I listened to were so spiritually uplifting and I took notes, but not as many as I wish I could have. I really just want a recording of it, because it was all so wonderful. These of some of my notes and what I can remember. It's too wonderful not to share with you!

The first thing he said to us was "Thank you for being who your are and every good thing that you do."
He put his scriptures aside and just spoke from the heart.

He told us to be assured that we are not being singled out for a bad day because with God it all equals out. "This is the Church of the Happy Ending".  He told us to "buck up and square your shoulders." God is using these experiences to prove that we are stronger than we think we are. "We have the DNA of divinity."

A few things to remember when bad days come are: 

#1 "Try to remember that God really, really, really loves broken things. Things that you wish hadn't been broken." (marriages, families, economy)

3 Nephi 9:18-21 : I am the light and the life of the world. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. And ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away, for I will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings. And ye shall offer for sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him I will baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost...

#2 Just Endure. "When these days (the bad ones) come, when these nights come endure and save yourself for the days of happiness ahead.


What you must NOT do:
-Say that God must not love you
-Say I guess the church isn't true

You can't jump out of the boat in the middle of the storm, you must stay in and hold on. He then referred to Matthew 8:23-27 and spoke of how Jesus calmed the sea

He was also very funny and said that in the Garden of Eden all we did was "backstroke the lagoon, ride zebras and pick raspberries" so it was important for the fall to happen so that we could experience life.

And a few things from Sunday (I hardly had any notes due to my very active 3 year old, but I managed to write these down.)

#1 "You cannot argue with the evidence" Spiritual, physical, private and public
#2 "In this church you get a lot more than you counted on"
#3 The church is never going away "It will never stop"

"The Priesthood is the ultimate mark of the church"

I know this does not do his talks justice in any way shape or form, but I wanted to remember and share this with you. I'm sad that he won't be back. It was so nice to have such a strong spirit and such a confirmation that the church is true.

Presto Hill

Treysen, Drake and Gavin-Bundled up and ready to go!

The first run of the day...

After the wreck

Snow rash!!  Not a good way to start the day.

Drake, Gavin, Cody & Treysen

I convinced Gavin to go on the sled with me..we wrecked.

Mommy and Gavin

We fell off the sled, but I still had a hold of him

Drake & Gavin at the top of the "HUGE HILL"

My brave man going for it

Almost made it!

Cody decided to try some pilates while sledding

Gavin would drag the sled all the way up the hill and then let go on purpose. He didn't want to go sit on it because he was afraid to crash again.

Chasing his sled down the hill

He decided this was the safer route

Drake

Treysen

Cody and I

Treysen (in the middle of a crash), Drake and Gavin

Cody bombing the hill

Plastic sleds don't like rocks/tree stumps very much, neither did Cody's bum-bum

On the sled at last!

Not sure what Drake (in the middle) is doing!

Going Fast!

All worn out and ready to go!

An hour into sledding:

Gavin: Mom, when are we going sledding?
Me:We sledding right now.
Gavin: Are we having fun?
Me: (laughing) Yes we are having LOTS of fun!
Gavin: Oh, OK then.

Sledding...kind of

 Gavin & Mommy

This isn't a very good picture but I took it myself while we were getting pulled down the road on the sled and Gavin was getting some snow in his eyes.

 "Go Faster!" - Gavin to daddy

 I LOVE the hat that Gavin is wearing. My little brother wore it over 20 years ago and it reminds me of all the winters we spent outside building snow forts and getting pulled around on sleds by my dad in the fields.

We talked my mom into going on the sled and unfortunately my camera battery died so I don't have any pictures of the wild ride that Cody gave my mom or of any of her AWESOME wipe-outs! Thanks for being such a good sport mom! (P.S. I won't mention that you called my husband "a little sh*t!")

While I was in the shower...

 When Cody is at work I let Gavin know that I am going to take a shower so he doesn't worry when he can't find me, but I think I am going to have to start doing it secretly because he has been getting into a lot of mischief lately during those 15 minutes.
This day he wanted Mac & Cheese for breakfast (it's his new kick lately along with Goober sandwiches). I had cereal and he was still eating his Mac & Cheese when I got in the shower. A few minutes later I thought I could hear a kitchen chair sliding across the floor and then I could hear the microwave door open. "Gavin what are you doing"  "Just heating up my mac & cheese".  I didn't worry about it too much because he has never used the microwave before and I didn't think he would be able to figure out how to really use it, but apparently I was wrong! By the time I got the conditioner out of my hair and dressed he had put on hot pads, gotten the mac & cheese out of the microwave, slid the chair over to the refrigerator and was trying to figure out how to open the freezer door so he could  "cool off" his mac & cheese.

 This combine is in a field pretty close to our house and we drive past it to take Gavin to Preschool. He loves it and wants to go look at it all the time.

 My Spider Man-Knight-Super Hero!(who ALWAYS has his "black boots" on)

Gavin got two suckers from his teacher Miss Marisa and decided he wanted to be a "Walrus" : )

Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam!

Gavin is officially in primary now! I can't believe it. Times for talks,

giving scriptures and of course the annual primary program.

 My Little Sunbeam

 Daddy and Gavin

Mommy and Gavin

 

 I admit, I got a little carried away with the pictures, but once you go to the trouble of setting the camera up on the tripod you might as well take advantage of the situation, right?

Gavin headed straight for the nursery after Sacrament meeting and I had to remind him that he's a big boy now and I took him to the Primary room. All he kept saying was "I don't want to be a Sunbeam!" (I don't blame him, he's trading 2 hours of toy time for 2 hours of sitting in a chair). He didn't want to sit by his teacher, so he sat in the row behind her. He seems so big in the nursery, but he was so small in with all the other primary kids. I didn't linger because he's a big boy and he can handle it, but I have to admit I was a little teary eyed when I got to Sunday school. His teacher Sister Lords said he was so good and he was very happy (and hyper) after church so I guess he does want to be a sunbeam after all!

Cinco de Mayo 2008

I found these pictures when I was cleaning out my e-mail and couldn't resist making a slide show out of them. Cassie and Scott had a Cinco de Mayo party a few years ago and these are the group pictures we took. We are such dorks sometimes, but we have fun doing it!

Lee, Kim, Cassie, Kate, Scott, Me, Cody & Gavin