Heaven

I was on lds.org looking for a conference address from 1908 and found out they only go back to 1971. I decided to look at an article from 1971 by President Kimball and thought it was really good. Here it is.http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=8856945bd384b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1

The article is about a man who asked President Kimball if he had seen Heaven. President Kimball says, "Yes." and then tells him of earthly experiences that have given him glimpses of Heaven.

My glimpses of Heaven:
-Being in the temple
-On my mission in Bolivia having people who had virtually nothing share their food with me.
- Spending time with my family
- Cuddling my son
- Hearing my son laugh and coo

Have any of you had glimpses of Heaven? I would like to hear about them if you'd like to share.

Congratulations Class of 2008

I just wanted to give a shout out to my sister in law Alysha. She is graduating from high school tonight. She has done really well. Just like her older brother Todd, my husband, she is really smart. She also participated in choir and high school musicals, no not the movie but musicals at her high school. She has a great voice and is an awesome actress. We have enjoyed going and watching her perform. We will miss that. On a side note, I thought it was cool that Dick Van Dyke has visited her high school and they have performed at a show that he sponsored.

In the fall, Alysha will be attending Brigham Young University. We will miss you Alysha. Keep up the great work!

Kids Ask the Darndest Questions

Lately Spencer and I have been taking morning walks. Yesterday morning a little boy and girl, probably about three or four years old, passed us on their tricycles (Their moms were a ways behind). The little boy, looking at the stroller said, "Is that a new baby?" I said, "Yes." I was not prepared for his next question. He asked me, "Where did you get him?" Not sure how to respond I said, "The county." He then asked why the county gave him to me and I told him because his mom was unable to take care of him. After a little reflection I realized I should have said, "God gave him to me." Would anyone else have answered him differently?

Diaper Crisis

Last week I went to my school's open house and took Spencer with me. I really enjoyed seeing friends and some of my students. I was really impressed with all the things the sub was doing with the class. I was worried about what would happen to my class when I took my leave of absence. I guess the sub that is with them had previously taught special education for 1 1/2 years, so I am glad they are in good hands.

For a few days after the open house, I was feeling a little sad. The reason for my sadness is that I will no longer be my students' teacher. I love my class and truly have enjoyed being their teacher. My students have brought me lots of joy and laughter. Some of these students I have had in my class for over a year. I won't miss all of the testing and paper work, but I will miss the kids and my co workers. Nevertheless, my new job, being my son's mother, is far more important and I think he deserves to have me full time. I love being able to give him my full attention and I know if I was working outside of the home I wouldn't be able to do that.

Now on to the diaper crisis. As I took him out of the baby carrier to put him in his car seat, I noticed that his poopy diaper was leaking. It was one of those diapers where if we were at home I probably would have put him in the bath. I didn't even know where to start to clean up the mess. As I was taking him to the other side of the car to change him, he got some on his hand. So now I had to try to get a wipe out before he put his hand in his mouth (he's at that stage where his hands are always in his mouth). Thankfully I had a changing pad in the car and managed to change him with out a mess. It was one of those situations that you just have to laugh about later. Has anyone had a similar experience?

The Weigh In

I am a little ashamed of this post=( Well, a few posts back I had challenged Todd to a friendly little weight loss competition. Well, as today was the deadline, we weighed in and here are the results.

Todd lost negative 3 pounds and LynMarie lost negative 6 pounds.

It didn't help that Spencer bought me See's Candy and Todd bought me ice cream for Mother's Day. And yesterday on our way home from the Temple we went to the Carl's Jr. drive through and it wasn't until we got the food that I realized Todd didn't order anything for himself. Oh well. Life goes on.

Congratulations Todd on winning=)

A Doctor, a Lawywer, a Wedding, Oh My!

The weekend of May 17th was really busy. On Friday, we got to see Todd's brother Ryan graduate from medical school and on Saturday we went to David and J'lene's wedding. The following Wed., we saw my broyher Stephan sworn in as a lawyer and then as a deputy D.A.

I'm proud of Stephen and Ryan for all the hard work they've done. They were able to do all this while raising kids. I think their wives and kids should also be congratulated because of the support they gave and the sacrifices they made.

Last but not least, David and J'lene's wedding. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera with me and so I don't have any pictures. You'll have to look on my sister Julie's blog or Jeff and Kristy's blog to see pictures. The wedding was beautiful. It took place in the Los Angeles Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday-saints. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the teachings of our church, we believe that life does not end with death. We believe that if married in one of these temples, by one who has the authority, a couple's marriage will last into the next life, where as in civil marriages it is always said "til death do you part". In order to enter into one of these temples, one has to be a member of the church and striving to live the commandments. The reason for this is because the Temple is the house of God, a holy and sacred place.

I am proud of David and J'lene for striving to live their lives in such a way that they were able to go to the house of the Lord and be married for time and all eternity. I know that they will be blessed for the good lives they are living.

If anyone has any questions about temples or our faith, I would be more than happy to answer them. The explanation I gave of the temple was a very brief one. So if you would like to learn more, please ask. You can also go to the official church websites I have posted to the right of my blog for more information on our beliefs.

The Competition is on!

To help encourage Todd and myself to lose more weight, I challenged him to a friendly competition. The competition will last from today and go until June 1st. The one that loses the biggest percentage of weight is the winner. The winner gets $5.00 per percentage lost to spend -- on games if it's Todd and clothes if it's me. The loser gets to go 1 month without sweets or fast food -- ouch.

Strategies -

LynMarie 1. Tempt Todd with Carl's Jr.

Todd 1. Buy icecream and put it in the freezer. (Todd has way more self control than I do and knows I would polish it off in one-two days.)

By the way, I have 3 more lbs to lose before I reach my goal for David's May 17th wedding.