Choosing Right

We were so happy to attend the baptism of our nephew D Lane last Sunday!
We visited their ward (church service) today so Mr B could participate in D's confirmation.
HeaBug said very loudly, "D you are so brave!". Yay for congregations with a sense of humor.

Congratulations D, we love you!

to eternity and beyond...

Our family was sealed for time and all eternity in the Los Angeles Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on Saturday, July 17th, 2010.

When Mr. B was baptized a member of the church J.T. asked him, "Why do you want to be a Mormon? They don't drink coffee." (we don't drink coffee anyways so no sacrifice there). He told J.T., "I love you and your sister and you mommy so much, if there's any chance we can be together forever, I'm going to take it." And take it we did. 1 year and 1 week after Mr. B was baptized, we took our family to the temple. We were sealed, Mr. B and myself first to each other, then J.T. and Hea Bug to us.

I was a little anxious about going to the temple to do our endowments the night before because I wasn't sure what to expect. People keep saying that no one talks about it because it's sacred, not secret. But to those for whom it's not sacred, it just seems like a giant box of secrets. It was far less weird than I'd imagined it to be and turned out to be pretty special. I know I looked like the giant "newbie" because as we walked through the temple I'm gawking at the beauty of it's interior. Beautiful paintings, lighting and Austrian drapes (which are my favorite) were everywhere and I looked all around wanting to soak up every second of being in there. It was great though.

My favorite moments of the experience of being sealed to my family were:

     Walking into a room filled with friends and family all in white. Some faces I hadn't seen in years and it was a pleasant surprise to find them there. I'll tell you one thing though, as soon as I was kneeling across from my husband, I only had eyes for him. I couldn't have cared less if there were 30 pairs of eyes on me, he was all that I could see. I know every square inch of his face and while after loving him for almost a dozen years it shouldn't surprise me, I found that I re-fall in love with him every time I look at him. Especially at that moment.

     When my kids were brought up from the nursery downstairs and J.T. walked into the beautiful sealing room in his little white suit and tie with such confidence of where he was supposed to be. He told he me he tried to keep Hea Bug awake for the "blessing" but she was just too tired.
     As we're waiting in the lobby for Mr B. who was somehow swept up with the rest of the "grooms" (btw, 17 couples were sealed that day!!) Hea Bug is unapologetically taking off (as fast as one can in adorable poufy white dresses) down long halls that look perfect for straight shot running for tiny people. Instead of nasty stares for inappropriate behavior, we got smiles of understanding and some "how sweet" whispers. I guess the only time pint sized people are in the temple are when they're being sealed to their families so I can only imagine they were so happy for us to even be there that they didn't mind her cuteness.
     At the last moment before we stepped outside into the July heat, J.T. informs us that he thinks he just might live here at the temple. Mr. B told him that there's no TV to watch... J.T. says Heavenly Father could help him build one.

The crazy heat and our family awaited us outside. We were glad to be able to head home where we knew food and cake would be. Normally we throw our parties with a mix of indoor/outdoorsy-ness but the heat kept us and our guests inside surrounding the table of food, occasionally popping over to the portable A/C that Mr B hooked up literally the night before. We had hours of good eats and great conversation. Our kids all enjoyed trampolining, playing and chasing each other and were duly awarded unlimited popsicles. The day was a beautiful one. We experienced beautiful and eternal things and enjoyed amazing company.

Glad to know that we'll have that opportunity in heaven and that we'll all be together.

Last Suppers

Sunday was the last night we were feeding this group of missionaries that we've really really really grown to love. Elder Minster and Elder Brough are leaving to go home and Elder Barnes and Elder Esplin are both being transferred to other wards. These guys have really meant a lot to our family .

This was Elder Barnes' first area and we were happy to break him in. :)
I remember we met Elder Minster when he came on splits to a dinner at our house and then again when he did Robert's baptismal interview. Rob called him flashy cuz he had that whole charisma thing going for him. Being from Vegas gave him a little extra razzle dazzle ;) Really though, we had some of the best talks with Elder Minster. He wasn't ever afraid to chastize us (or Rob rather haha) about a new tattoo... or sleeve (po-tay-toes po-tah-toes) or give a little friendly insight about Kolob. LOL. or entertain Nohea for an entire Sacrament meeting by sitting behind us, still appreciating the speakers AND translating their talks into Spanish all at the same time! We appreciated the time that he invested into our family and were happy to oblige with the Pumpkin Cookies and Funeral Potatoes (not together of course) request on the night of the Last Supper. There ended up being a baptism and he and Barnes (Kansas) weren't going to be able to come to dinner... luckily they made some time before the baptism and the husband hooked up the tri tip early for these guys.


Brough Tough (Rob nicknamed him for being an amazing rule follower) was heading back to Kentucky, I mean, Tennessee (hehe) and we were able to pick up a few Long Beach souvenirs for his family. He and Esplin (who was on one dinner occasion a little ambitious with the hot sauce and needed extra napkins when he started sweating from the Tapatio heat) came at 5 and ate with us and got to chat it up one last time. (Well poor Esplin had been dubbed Jack's "new best friend" [Sorry Elder Major] so he mostly got to listen to Jack Jack talk anything and everything.) Elder Brough was the missionary that brought us BBQ sauce from his home and we did up some BBQ for him this summer. He left us a bottle of the amazing sauce which we'll do our best to stretch it out :) Nohea always smiled at Elder Brough during dinners, regardless of where he sat. Even in the picture she's trying to lean over and look at her buddy!


These guys have really meant a lot to our family. Heck, I sign up to feed them so often that they feel like family. It makes me feel good to make them feel at home in our home. We're going to miss them a LOT and are praying for cool replacements or else I'll have to calm down on my dinner appointments. JUST kidding! We'll get to meet our Newbies on Wednesday. We're looking forward to staying in touch for sure!!
So Elders... when you're reading this, my facebook badge is down on the right!

yup, a mormon.

So... we've always been welcome and open to having missionaries in our home. Happy to feed these guys and chat them up about where they're from. Not always receptive to their message so it kinda threw me for a loop when my husband said that he was going to call the missionaries and have them come over and "teach what they need to teach" because he'd decided to get baptized. We'd been casually discussing church things and I'd try to explain what I remembered about the temple and basic Mormon teachings that I'd learned as a child but I was obviously rusty because I hadn't been active for about 11 years. Thank goodness he had a better "inside man" in our Brother-in-law Craig. Rob and Craig would spend hours (literally) talking about the Church, the Gospel and "policy and procedure" as Rob likes to call it, while working together.

Elder Mortensen and Elder Jensen started coming over and spending time with us, sharing the word as missionaries are happy to do :)

We've gotten so used to these guys being a part of our lives, we'll certainly be a little bummed when they aren't the ones dropping in to say hello and check on us anymore, but we'll be happy to befriend new Elders that come our way. So Arizona and Utah... when you guys are reading this about a year or so from now... you really made a difference in our lives. Thank You.

On Saturday, July 11, 2009 at 5:00pm Robert was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints by Craig. On Sunday, he was confirmed a member in Sacrament Meeting. We grateful for the love and support of our family and friends. We had an open house after the baptism on Saturday and were so happy to welcome people into our home. We had a lot of love present <3

We're anxious and excited to take all the steps necessary that will not only bring us closer to our Heavenly Father but that will make it possible to seal our family together for time and all eternity. I love my family so much and can't imagine forever without them. We are happy to know that now, we don't have to.

So yup, we're Mormons :)