Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Tender Mercies
I don't want to forget how sweet the tender mercies of the Lord have been throughout Jess' pregnancy. My usually, highly emotional child has NOT been emotional during this whole time. Well, that is until this week - she had a bad day and cried at least 6 times! But overall, I count it as a huge blessing to have had her so level-headed and mature through all of this. With just a few days before her due date, I know she is worrying more and more about the final moments of placing her child in Brandi & Eric's arms. Oh, give us strength!
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Pictures of my happiness!
I gave Charlie a toothbrush to chew on cause it feels so good on his gums. Maybe he'll like having his teeth brushed.
Love this face - so adorable with that chin, fat cheeks and beautiful eyes! Can't get enough!!
This photo is so dang funny. Charlie just kept wanting to get higher and higher on Mike till he was walking on his face almost. Love that expression!Bottle time
We hiked up Silver Falls with Mer, Nick, Carrie, Ruby, Cam, Whit & Charlie. This was a great shot of my beautiful posterity.
It was like having two kids around. Rusty wanted to be in on everything.
Of course I had to make him a toy drawer so he could be in the kitchen with me.
Charlie and I had lots of morning time together to do whatever.
Charlie just getting out of the tub. He has great hair!
Love this photo of Mike & Charlie. What descriptive faces.
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Jessamy, Charlie & Whit were all dressed in blue & white for the Apple Blossom Parade. Charlie had a comfy place to sit on Jess' big 8.5 month pregnant belly.
This photo of him in his bear suit reminds me of the "lost boys" bouncing through "Peter Pan."
Charlie Boy loves his grammy!
We hiked up Silver Falls with Mer, Nick, Carrie, Ruby, Cam, Whit & Charlie. This was a great shot of my beautiful posterity.
It was like having two kids around. Rusty wanted to be in on everything.
Of course I had to make him a toy drawer so he could be in the kitchen with me.
Charlie and I had lots of morning time together to do whatever.
Charlie just getting out of the tub. He has great hair!
Love this photo of Mike & Charlie. What descriptive faces.
.JPG)
Jessamy, Charlie & Whit were all dressed in blue & white for the Apple Blossom Parade. Charlie had a comfy place to sit on Jess' big 8.5 month pregnant belly.
This photo of him in his bear suit reminds me of the "lost boys" bouncing through "Peter Pan."
Charlie Boy loves his grammy!
Friday, May 7, 2010
Families Are Forever!! Give me a waa-hoo!!
"The Happiest moments of my life have been the few I have passed at home in the bosom of my family."
Thomas Jefferson
We have had a sweet time this week with Cam, Whit and Charlie here. I thought they were coming the Friday night before Apple Blossom, but they surprised me and showed up Thursday night. Heavenly surprise!!
So all week I've been playing with Charlie Boy. I get alone time with him each morning so his mom can go back to bed. I have no words to describe how sweet this relationship is between Charlie and I. But I'm so grateful for it!
Whitney has gone with Jess to see Brad Reimer and also her physician. She is such a voice of reason. Brad asked if she had thought about being a counselor as her questions for him and for Jess were so thought provoking. After meeting with Brad, Jessamyn wanted all of us to have a little family meeting so we could really talk about what's happening now at the end of her pregnancy.
We knelt together as a family and Cam prayed that we'd be able to say what needed to be said and that we'd be able to fully support Jessamyn in what she needs from each of us. Jessamyn cried and told us her several reasons for why she's placing her baby. It was sad but touching to see my baby girl want to do this wonderful and difficult thing. She's going to write her reasons all down so we can all have them. She also asked us to remind her when it gets really hard, as she feels it coming on now, of some of the reasons why she's doing this. She's so amazing. And again, Whitney is so great at keeping everyone focused on what's important, talking calmly, listening for understanding, etc. She's really been so great and Jess is hoping she will come when she has the baby.
We have had a sweet time this week with Cam, Whit and Charlie here. I thought they were coming the Friday night before Apple Blossom, but they surprised me and showed up Thursday night. Heavenly surprise!!
So all week I've been playing with Charlie Boy. I get alone time with him each morning so his mom can go back to bed. I have no words to describe how sweet this relationship is between Charlie and I. But I'm so grateful for it!
Whitney has gone with Jess to see Brad Reimer and also her physician. She is such a voice of reason. Brad asked if she had thought about being a counselor as her questions for him and for Jess were so thought provoking. After meeting with Brad, Jessamyn wanted all of us to have a little family meeting so we could really talk about what's happening now at the end of her pregnancy.
We knelt together as a family and Cam prayed that we'd be able to say what needed to be said and that we'd be able to fully support Jessamyn in what she needs from each of us. Jessamyn cried and told us her several reasons for why she's placing her baby. It was sad but touching to see my baby girl want to do this wonderful and difficult thing. She's going to write her reasons all down so we can all have them. She also asked us to remind her when it gets really hard, as she feels it coming on now, of some of the reasons why she's doing this. She's so amazing. And again, Whitney is so great at keeping everyone focused on what's important, talking calmly, listening for understanding, etc. She's really been so great and Jess is hoping she will come when she has the baby.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Phone Notes
I type in a few quotes I like on my phone so that I can read something inspiring when I'm stuck somewhere or need an emotional boost. Here's a few.
"BE OF GOOD CHEER!!!"
"Ring the bells that still can ring,
Forget your perfect offering,
There is a crack in everything,
That's how the light gets in. "
"Behold I say unto you that great things await you!"
"The secret of leadership is simple. Do what you believe in. Paint a picture of the future. Go there. People will follow."
"People don't believe what you tell them. They rarely believe what you show them. They often believe what their friends tell them. They always believe what they tell themselves. What leaders do: they give people stories they can tell themselves. Stories about the future and about change." - Tribes
"Most things make no difference. Being busy is a form of laziness-lazy thinking and indiscriminate action." 4-Hour Work Week
"Life's greatest happiness is to be convinced we are loved." - Victor Hugo
"On the day when the weight deadens on your shoulders and you stumble, may the clay dance to balance you.
And when your eyes freeze behind the grey window and the ghost of loss gets into you, may a flock of colours, indigo, red, green and azure blue come to awaken in you a meadow of delight.
When the canvas frays in the currach of thought and a stain of ocean blackens beneath you, may there come across the waters a path of yellow moonlight to bring you safely home.
May the nourishment of the earth be yours, may the clarity of light be yours, may the fluency of the ocean be yours, may the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow wind work these words of love around yu, an invisible cloak to mind your life."
- Beannacht - Blessing
- John O'Donohue
"Here is the deepest secret nobody knows,
Here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows higher than soul can hope or mind can hide.
And this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart -
I carry your heart, I carry it in my heart."
- e.e. cummings
"Upon the brow of every man God has placed the word....hope." - Victor Hugo
"Don't set sail!
Tomorrow the wind will have dropped;
And then you can go,
And I won't trouble about you."
JSH 1:59,60 - (Instead of thinking that the "them" refers to the plates, think of the "them" being your children.)
"...the same heavenly messenger delivered thm up to me with this charge: that I should be responsible for them; that if i should let them go carelessly, or through any neglect of mine, I should be cut off; but that if I would use all my endeavors to preserve them, until he, the messenger, should call for them, they should be protected.
I soon found out the reason why I had received such strict charges to keep them safe, and why it was that the messenger had said that when I had done what was required at my hand, he would call for them. For no sooner was it known that I had them, than the most strenous exertions were used to get them from me. Every stratagem that could be invented was resorted to for that purpose. The persecution became more bitter and severe than ever before and multitudes were on the alert continually to get them from me if possible. But by the wisdom of God, they remained safe in my hands, until I had accomplished by them what was required at my hand. When, according to arrangements, the messenger called for them, I delivered them up to him; and he has them in his charge until this day."
"Much more important than what you do for a living is what kind of person you become. When you leave this frail existence, what you have become will matter most." RM Nelson
"Come what may, and love it!" - Wirthlin
"No misfortune is so bad that whining about it won't make it worse." - Holland
"Every step I have taken since I was a child has been to bring me closer to you."
"To find your prayers were answered - can not that be called happiness?" - Memoirs of a Geisha
"Oh, the comfort -- the inexpressible comfort
Of feeling safe with a person,
Having neither to weigh thought,
Nor measure words--but pouring them
All right out--just as they are--
Chaff and grain together--
Certain that a faithful hand will
Take and sift them--
Keep what is worth keeping--
And with the breath of kindness,
Blow the rest away."
"All have pain, but not all suffer. The body might ache, loss might occur. But for those who embrace my lifht...there is dancing!"
"...But in the gift of his Son hath God prepared a more excellent way..." - Ether 12:11
"He...made Adam according to Our image and likeness, and He left him lying for forty days and forty nights without putting breath into him. And He heaved sighs over him daily, saying, 'If I put breath into this man, he must suffer many pains.' And I said unto My Father, 'Put breath into him; I will be an advocate for him.' And My Father said unto Me, 'If I put breath into him, My Beloved Son, Thou wilt be obliged to go down into the world, and to suffer many pains for him before Thou shalt have redeemed him, and made him to come back to his primal state.' And I said unto My Father, 'Put breath into him; I will be his advocate, and I will go down into the world, and will fulfill Thy command.'" -
"Perfection Pending" - Elder Nelson - taken from coptic texts he saw in the London museum written by Timothy, Patriarch of Alexandria in A.D. 385.
"We are strongly encouraged by various scriptures to touch those within our present circle of influence rather than obsessively wishing for a larger circle." - Neal A. Maxwell
"I sing you to me." "And I will hear you." - Australia
"BE OF GOOD CHEER!!!"
"Ring the bells that still can ring,
Forget your perfect offering,
There is a crack in everything,
That's how the light gets in. "
"Behold I say unto you that great things await you!"
"The secret of leadership is simple. Do what you believe in. Paint a picture of the future. Go there. People will follow."
"People don't believe what you tell them. They rarely believe what you show them. They often believe what their friends tell them. They always believe what they tell themselves. What leaders do: they give people stories they can tell themselves. Stories about the future and about change." - Tribes
"Most things make no difference. Being busy is a form of laziness-lazy thinking and indiscriminate action." 4-Hour Work Week
"Life's greatest happiness is to be convinced we are loved." - Victor Hugo
"On the day when the weight deadens on your shoulders and you stumble, may the clay dance to balance you.
And when your eyes freeze behind the grey window and the ghost of loss gets into you, may a flock of colours, indigo, red, green and azure blue come to awaken in you a meadow of delight.
When the canvas frays in the currach of thought and a stain of ocean blackens beneath you, may there come across the waters a path of yellow moonlight to bring you safely home.
May the nourishment of the earth be yours, may the clarity of light be yours, may the fluency of the ocean be yours, may the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow wind work these words of love around yu, an invisible cloak to mind your life."
- Beannacht - Blessing
- John O'Donohue
"Here is the deepest secret nobody knows,
Here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows higher than soul can hope or mind can hide.
And this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart -
I carry your heart, I carry it in my heart."
- e.e. cummings
"Upon the brow of every man God has placed the word....hope." - Victor Hugo
"Don't set sail!
Tomorrow the wind will have dropped;
And then you can go,
And I won't trouble about you."
JSH 1:59,60 - (Instead of thinking that the "them" refers to the plates, think of the "them" being your children.)
"...the same heavenly messenger delivered thm up to me with this charge: that I should be responsible for them; that if i should let them go carelessly, or through any neglect of mine, I should be cut off; but that if I would use all my endeavors to preserve them, until he, the messenger, should call for them, they should be protected.
I soon found out the reason why I had received such strict charges to keep them safe, and why it was that the messenger had said that when I had done what was required at my hand, he would call for them. For no sooner was it known that I had them, than the most strenous exertions were used to get them from me. Every stratagem that could be invented was resorted to for that purpose. The persecution became more bitter and severe than ever before and multitudes were on the alert continually to get them from me if possible. But by the wisdom of God, they remained safe in my hands, until I had accomplished by them what was required at my hand. When, according to arrangements, the messenger called for them, I delivered them up to him; and he has them in his charge until this day."
"Much more important than what you do for a living is what kind of person you become. When you leave this frail existence, what you have become will matter most." RM Nelson
"Come what may, and love it!" - Wirthlin
"No misfortune is so bad that whining about it won't make it worse." - Holland
"Every step I have taken since I was a child has been to bring me closer to you."
"To find your prayers were answered - can not that be called happiness?" - Memoirs of a Geisha
"Oh, the comfort -- the inexpressible comfort
Of feeling safe with a person,
Having neither to weigh thought,
Nor measure words--but pouring them
All right out--just as they are--
Chaff and grain together--
Certain that a faithful hand will
Take and sift them--
Keep what is worth keeping--
And with the breath of kindness,
Blow the rest away."
"All have pain, but not all suffer. The body might ache, loss might occur. But for those who embrace my lifht...there is dancing!"
"...But in the gift of his Son hath God prepared a more excellent way..." - Ether 12:11
"He...made Adam according to Our image and likeness, and He left him lying for forty days and forty nights without putting breath into him. And He heaved sighs over him daily, saying, 'If I put breath into this man, he must suffer many pains.' And I said unto My Father, 'Put breath into him; I will be an advocate for him.' And My Father said unto Me, 'If I put breath into him, My Beloved Son, Thou wilt be obliged to go down into the world, and to suffer many pains for him before Thou shalt have redeemed him, and made him to come back to his primal state.' And I said unto My Father, 'Put breath into him; I will be his advocate, and I will go down into the world, and will fulfill Thy command.'" -
"Perfection Pending" - Elder Nelson - taken from coptic texts he saw in the London museum written by Timothy, Patriarch of Alexandria in A.D. 385.
"We are strongly encouraged by various scriptures to touch those within our present circle of influence rather than obsessively wishing for a larger circle." - Neal A. Maxwell
"I sing you to me." "And I will hear you." - Australia
My Charlie Boy
My handsome grandson Charlie!Charlie is learning to kiss.
I'd say he's quite enthusiastic about the whole thing!
Jessamyn at 7 months pregnant gets to go see
8-month-old Charlie. They look mutually happy to be together.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Scripture Study
During Fast & Testimony Meeting this month, Cindy Burnett was telling about Vanessa having challenged their family to read the Book of Mormon by Mother's Day, when she would call home. Ever since hearing that, I knew that we needed those blessings that could come to our family for doing it. But how to convince Michael and Jessamyn. I stewed over it all night and into Monday. Monday before Jessamyn went to work she came to me and said, "Will you read the scriptures with me?" Oh, the tender mercies of the Lord!
Jessamyn asked her dad and then she told him how we should finish reading the Book of Mormon by the time she gives birth. He knows we all need this too. That means reading 7 pages every day. And so we are....
On Tuesday, Jessamyn came to me and asked if I would give her the lesson I teach in Gospel Essentials. It just happened to be on the Book of Mormon this past week.
We sat at the table and I presented her with the whole thing. We read from JSH, Title page, Introduction, talked about the Book of Mormon being the keystone of our religion. If it is true, then it's all true. She could see it.
The sweetest thing was that at the end of the lesson, I got to bear a powerful, albeit tearful testimony to my daughter of the Book of Mormon and the gospel message. It was one of the best things that has ever happened between the two of us. She felt it too and today our bond was strengthened. Oh, the tender mercies of the Lord!
I cannot say the hundreth part of what I feel - it is pure gratitude!!
Jessamyn asked her dad and then she told him how we should finish reading the Book of Mormon by the time she gives birth. He knows we all need this too. That means reading 7 pages every day. And so we are....
On Tuesday, Jessamyn came to me and asked if I would give her the lesson I teach in Gospel Essentials. It just happened to be on the Book of Mormon this past week.
We sat at the table and I presented her with the whole thing. We read from JSH, Title page, Introduction, talked about the Book of Mormon being the keystone of our religion. If it is true, then it's all true. She could see it.
The sweetest thing was that at the end of the lesson, I got to bear a powerful, albeit tearful testimony to my daughter of the Book of Mormon and the gospel message. It was one of the best things that has ever happened between the two of us. She felt it too and today our bond was strengthened. Oh, the tender mercies of the Lord!
I cannot say the hundreth part of what I feel - it is pure gratitude!!
Miracle of Miracles!!
"Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles..." It is all so interesting - the way we are presented opportunities for growth.
My darling, baby-girl Jessamyn, being now almost 7 months pregnant - has decided for herself that she wants the Savior in her life along with His gospel.
After listening to a CD by John Lund called "The Myth We Call Perfection," I can honestly say that some of my previous thinking has changed. He talks about how we fear for those who have heard the gospel and then rejected it. But what I like most about what he says is - who knows when someone has really "heard" it.
Just because Jessamyn grew up in my home where we tried to live the gospel and she was there doing it with us, to me that doesn't mean that it made it's way into her heart and her understanding. She dealt with so much other stuff along the way. Being adopted to her meant that someone didn't want her. She couldn't see that she was placed for adoption out of a greater amount of love than a lesser. She just could see that someone could give her up. These created such low feelings of self worth and lead to a lot of depression in her teen years.
What I'm saying is, I have a greater amount of compassion for everyone who has ever been in the church and could then leave it. I don't know what happens in those situations, but I do feel like the Lord will be way more merciful about them having a FULL chance to hear the gospel than I ever imagined before. His plan is a plan of salvation, not of damnation. And He is going to save every soul who will let Him.
And now, my Jessamyn, wants to try to work to do her part to save herself. She's also reading "Believing Christ" and can reiterate how if she pairs with the Savior, his perfection will save her despite her imperfections.
She can see now how much her birth mother truly loved her to be able to place her with a family who could give her more than she could at that time. Because that is just what Jessamyn is doing. She has been so committed and happy to place this baby girl with Eric & Brandi. She gets it now - it's love!! Her love for this child, and her birth-mother's love for her! Full circle!
My darling, baby-girl Jessamyn, being now almost 7 months pregnant - has decided for herself that she wants the Savior in her life along with His gospel.
After listening to a CD by John Lund called "The Myth We Call Perfection," I can honestly say that some of my previous thinking has changed. He talks about how we fear for those who have heard the gospel and then rejected it. But what I like most about what he says is - who knows when someone has really "heard" it.
Just because Jessamyn grew up in my home where we tried to live the gospel and she was there doing it with us, to me that doesn't mean that it made it's way into her heart and her understanding. She dealt with so much other stuff along the way. Being adopted to her meant that someone didn't want her. She couldn't see that she was placed for adoption out of a greater amount of love than a lesser. She just could see that someone could give her up. These created such low feelings of self worth and lead to a lot of depression in her teen years.
What I'm saying is, I have a greater amount of compassion for everyone who has ever been in the church and could then leave it. I don't know what happens in those situations, but I do feel like the Lord will be way more merciful about them having a FULL chance to hear the gospel than I ever imagined before. His plan is a plan of salvation, not of damnation. And He is going to save every soul who will let Him.
And now, my Jessamyn, wants to try to work to do her part to save herself. She's also reading "Believing Christ" and can reiterate how if she pairs with the Savior, his perfection will save her despite her imperfections.
She can see now how much her birth mother truly loved her to be able to place her with a family who could give her more than she could at that time. Because that is just what Jessamyn is doing. She has been so committed and happy to place this baby girl with Eric & Brandi. She gets it now - it's love!! Her love for this child, and her birth-mother's love for her! Full circle!
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