A week of our lives...

I made a goal to blog a little every day until I caught up for the summer and then I stopped, so I still need to catch up BUT in the mean time, here are some crazy things that have happened this week- I started writing this post a couple weeks ago but because of the craziness never finished it- so it wasn't really this week, it was the week of July 3-9. (and I might be forgetting stuff and not have the days right)

On Sunday we had a very interesting Sacrament Meeting with a turrets outburst (loud and a little scary if you aren't used to it) and then one of our speakers almost fainted.  Before he started his talk he said that last time he spoke he almost fainted and laughed about it.  Then half way through his talk he stopped talking, looked down and kind of zoned out. He then turned to the Bishopric and said he had to sit down, he sat for a while but couldn't stand up without getting woozy, so the bishopric brought him a microphone and he finished his talk while sitting.  Ben was in the hallway, with the guy who had turrets, and he said there was a long pause and then the talk started like normal- the guy did really good at recovering and the talk was great.

Monday morning Elizabeth woke up with HUGE mosquito bites; they were so big and swollen that I was afraid they were spider bites and stripped and checked her bed.  We ended up covering them throughout the week to keep her from scratching at them.  She also started getting a molar, so she was grumpy and wouldn't eat or sleep well.

Tuesday, we went to the Newson's house and I helped them clean the kitchen in preparation for the reunion. I scrubbed the cabinets and ended up making them worse because they ended up sticky- oh man.  We also made cookies for the reunion and some banana bread muffins.


On Wednesday the Markos arrived for the family reunion.  It was so wonderful seeing them and shocking how big the kids are getting.

Wednesday night I was supposed to pick some friends up at the airport but in the morning Elizabeth started developing a rash, started on her torso and spread all over her body.  About 30 minutes before we were supposed to go to the airport it was bad on her face to I called the on-call nurse and she advised me to go to the doctor.  I had to have someone go to the airport for me and I took Elizabeth to the doctor to have her rash looked at.  It turned out being a viral rash, although she didn't have an illness or fever, and they told us to wait a couple days for it to go away- but it sure did look bad. (the pictures do not do it justice.)

 

On Thursday we went to the Lafayette Rec Center with the Markos family and Rachel.  It was so much fun to play in the water and be around cousins.  Elizabeth loved the baby slide and going around the lazy river with Mer. 

Friday morning I took Meredith to  my kickboxing class.  She did great and even agreed to come the following week.  I looked like I had a bucket of sweat poured over my head and she was lightly gleaming with sweat- oh to be young again!

On Sunday, August 3rd, was Ben and my 7 year anniversary but because that was the start of the reunion we celebrated it on Friday and Rachel and Sarah watched Elizabeth.  We went to Pearl Street and ate dinner at the Steak House; it was a long wait but so delicious.  We then went to Gateway fun park and got to play like teenagers; we spent time in the batting cages (Ben is great and I held my own), raced on the go-carts (I won...by a lot) and played arcade games (we got tickets and got prizes for Elizabeth).  We stopped by Chili's (the only place still open that late) on the way back and got dessert (chocolate lava cake for me and cheesy fries for Ben).  It was such a wonderful date night and, although we were gone much longer then she expected, we are so glad that Rachel watched Elizabeth. 

 

 

 

This is my tough face.

 

Saturday we installed Elizabeth's new carseat- she has finally outgrown the infant seat.  We should have gotten her into a bigger seat a long time ago but we were slackers (oh no). She loves her new seat and whenever we leave the house she yells "SEAT! SEAT!" We brought the old seat into the house and she sat in it to watch TV, she thought it was pretty cool to have a car
seat in the living room.

Also on Saturday the California Newson's (Jesse and Becky's family) arrived for the reunion.  It was so wonderful to see them again, they moved to CA just a couple months ago and I didn't realize how much I missed them until I saw them again. 

June- Article of Faith #5

 We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.

When researching the phrase "Called of God" I found many different ways of describing it and I thought those all gave a different understanding to this idea; anointed/sanctified (Ex 40:13), charged (Num. 27:23), Ordained (Jer 1:5, D&C 20:60), appointed (Luke 10), sent (Acts 9:17) given authority (2 Cor. 10:8), commanded (1:Ne 2:2) and chosen (Luke 6:13)

I like that those who have the authority of the priesthood are called of God.  This is shown in John 15:16, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. "

There are a lot of examples of the authority of the priesthood in the scriptures but one that I really like is 3 Ne 12:1 which says, " And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words unto Nephi, and to those who had been called, (now the number of them who had been called, and received power and authority to baptize, was twelve) and behold, he stretched forth his hand unto the multitude, and cried unto them, saying: Blessed are ye if ye shall give heed unto the words of these twelve whom I have chosen from among you to minister unto you, and to be your servants; and unto them I have given power that they may baptize you with water; and after that ye are baptized with water, behold, I will baptize you with fire and with the Holy Ghost; therefore blessed are ye if ye shall believe in me and be baptized, after that ye have seen me and know that I am."  I like this scripture because it shows that the authority of the priesthood is from Jesus Christ and that he has given the power to worthy men to act in his name. 

Recently in the church there has been some sub-groups who have questioned the priesthood and who the authority is given to.  I have never questioned the priesthood, how it is set up or what they are called to do but it was interesting to read talks, given by church leaders, about the priesthood and it's sacred roll. 

I especially liked a talk given by Sister Linda K. Burton (RS General President)  titles Priesthood Power- Available to All and Elder Dallin H Oaks' talk The Keys and Authority of the Priesthood. 

Some quotes from Sister Burton's Talk:

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained the priesthood this way: “Priesthood is the means whereby the Lord acts through men to save souls. … A priesthood holder is expected to exercise this sacred authority in accordance with God’s holy mind, will, and purposes. Nothing about the priesthood is self-centered. The priesthood always is used to serve, to bless, and to strengthen other people.”

Elder Oaks cautions us, however, in our references to the priesthood: “While we sometimes refer to priesthood holders as ‘the priesthood,’ we must never forget that the priesthood is not owned by or embodied in those who hold it. It is held in a sacred trust to be used for the benefit of men, women, and children alike." 

In reference to authority, she quoted: “Jesus Christ holds all the keys of the priesthood pertaining to His Church. He has conferred upon each of His Apostles all the keys that pertain to the kingdom of God on earth. The senior living Apostle, the President of the Church, is the only person on earth authorized to exercise all priesthood keys (see D&C 107:91–92). … [He then] delegates priesthood keys to other priesthood leaders so they can preside in their areas of responsibility. … Auxiliary presidents and their counselors do not receive keys. They receive delegated authority to function in their callings.”

Some Quotes from Elder Oaks' Talk:

President Joseph F. Smith described the priesthood as “the power of God delegated to man by which man can act in the earth for the salvation of the human family.

I come now to the subject of priesthood authority. I begin with the three principles just discussed: (1) priesthood is the power of God delegated to man to act for the salvation of the human family, (2) priesthood authority is governed by priesthood holders who hold priesthood keys, and (3) since the scriptures state that “all other authorities [and] offices in the church are appendages to this [Melchizedek] priesthood” (D&C 107:5), all that is done under the direction of those priesthood keys is done with priesthood authority.

I am grateful for the priesthood in my life.  I am grateful that I grew up with a father who honored and used his priesthood in his home and that now I am married to a wonderful man who holds and uses the priesthood in our home.  I am grateful for the many blessings I get through the priesthood, specifically the sacrament and the temple. 

Denver Zoo

Yesterday, July 10, we went to the Denver Zoo with our friends, the Larsen's, and with the Lundgreen's, Turner's and Parker's (who were visiting from Idaho).  It was really hot (92*) but it was so much fun to be at the zoo and to see all the animals.  Elizabeth has never been to the zoo before and was often in awe and super excited to see all the animals that she loves from her books and movies.  We saw zebras, birds, elephants, giraffes, monkeys, bears and tigers, as well as a ton of other animals.  The hippo was under the water and came up as we were watching and later he opened his mouth really big and showed us his teeth.  We saw an Elephant Show where the trainers have the elephants swim and wave their noses.  We had a monkey climb a rope right over us.  And we had some birds dive bomb and almost hit us. Elizabeth was exhausted and fell asleep as we were walking out and slept all the way home.   It was so much fun and we definitely want to do again!!

If you look behind her you can see the hippo.

All the cousins (minus Hyrum and Luke)

 

At the Elephant Show!

Monkey Island- the monkey are let free on the island and run and jump around.

She didn't understand why she couldn't go in the water.

Entertaining a 1 Year Old: Clothes and Accessories

Elizabeth is growing up so big and likes to do 'grown up' things. She has a cute fascination with clothes.  She will help me sort them and put them in the washing machine.  I was sorting some new clothes passed down from Gwyn and she decided to help.  She would go in there at any free  moment and sort those clothes (5/10/2014). One day she would bring me article after article of clothing to put on her until she was a modge podge of different clothes but she was very proud of her creation and we praised the beauty to her satisfaction (5/10/2014).

I love her belly hanging out! (6/22/2014)

Wearing my underwear!

She has also found a love for accessories.  We went to the dollar store and saw some mardigra beads and had them off the rack and around her neck before I even realized.  She loves wearing them and it is really cute to see her accessories herself but the paint rubs off of them and makes her neck funny colors.  She will find anything and put it over her neck as an accessory; scarves, aprons, towels and lately she has loved putting my bra's and exercise underwear on whenever I am doing laundry.  It is moments like that that I realize that we should get her some real dress ups.  

Beads in the Bathtub (6/14/2014)

  Another thing that she decided to wear was our baby carrier (5/6/2014).  She found it in the closet and immediately wanted it on, it is made for adults, so adjusting it to fit on her was a little tricky.  She carried around her dolls in it for a while but decided it was kind of cumbersome, since it almost touched the ground and made walking and moving difficult.  I also put her in it, while I was wearing it, and we laughed at how weird it was; she is a lightweight (I can't imagine carrying a baby that weighs as much as her around in it) but she is tall, so the height made it look funny!

I have been trying to do more with her hair; it is definitely still thin and short but much more easy to work with.  I tried doing it in a bunch of rubber bands (like Erica does with her girls) and it looked ridiculous (6/2/2014) and I love to play with it in the bathtub (6/6/2014).  In the bathtub you can see where there is a lot of hair and where there just isn't; I love that she naturally has a lot of longer hair sticking up in the middle- she is a natural Alfalfa.  

 

 

 

*She also has some great 'wake up' hair (6/17/2014).

Exercise at the Y and Swimming

 I have been trying hard to lose some weight and get a little healthier so I joined the YMCA.  I like going to a gym and to classes because then I feel accountable to someone (verses an at home video- who would know?) and because then there is a set time, beginning and ending! I like the YMCA because they have 2 hours of free day care and the ladies are so nice; they all know Elizabeth by name and she loves it there. 

I have been doing some aerobic/weight classes and kickboxing classes.  I really enjoy these classes! I have also started spinning and running a little bit.  Today I had a meeting with a personal trainer who showed me some weights/resistance training; and my legs hurt so bad right now!

I also went to a Barr class that is taught by one of my friends. Here is a description of the class from their website:  "Pure Barre is a total body workout that utilizes the ballet barre to perform small, isometric movements, which burn fat, sculpt muscles and create long, lean physiques." In layman's terms: Pure Barr distorts your body in impossible positions and makes you hold it while slowly moving until your whole body feels like it is on fire.  It hurts... really bad but I almost kind of enjoyed it and, now that my body is not in searing pain, might go back.

The YMCA also has an outdoor pool and a smaller, gated off pool for toddlers.  Elizabeth and I have gone a couple times.  The first time we went she fell under (no more than 2 seconds) and it scared her pretty bad; she wouldn't even take a bath for a couple days.  But the last couple of times she has done a little better.  She still does not want to leave my side but she will splash and play more.  Last time we were there she tried to 'swim' with her head under; she looked at me, took a big breath and stuck her face (really her forehead and nose) in the water, then came up with a big smile!!

We also went to the Longmont Rec Center pool with Wyatt and Gwyn when they were staying with Mom.  It was fun hanging out with those kids but definitely a challenge keeping track of two toddlers and a Wyatt.  This was right after Elizabeth's water phobia incident and she was so clingy and worried but slowly loosened up and would play with Gwyn.  There was a little slide and they all liked going down it, with me to catch the little girls.  But Elizabeth really just liked to stand at the landing at the top of the slide and wish all the kids luck as they went up.  There was one group of little boys who would talk to her, give her high fives and love on her as they waited to go down- oh no, she is already such a flirt!