Progress on the Kitchen

So now that I've talked your head off about RS it's time for an update on the kitchen. We now have a functioning kitchen. It's not complete, but it has a stove, oven, sink and dishwasher. I also am very happy to say that my table and refrigerator are now out of my living room and I'm feeling much happier with my house. It doesn't feel so crowded and sooo disorganized.

My Thoughts on RS

So, I've had a lot on my mind, but as can be expected I've been busy with my calling and family. I really don't know exactly where to start so here it goes...

I have realized many, many things about Relief Society. First compared to the YW/YM, Elders Quorum, Primary and the High Priest we the RS are the most diverse. We have the biggest ranges in age and I think that contributes to both our strengths and challenges. I think because there are so many of us with so many perspectives in one organization it helps us to have a broader outlook. I also think that one reason the RS is heavily relied on is because it is easier for us to all come together and get things done. The challenge is since the age range vary so much it's harder for all of us to relate to each other. I don't know how many women I've talked to who say they don't feel comfortable in RS. These comments certainly don't just come from the younger sisters. I've heard women say that who are grandmas and great-grandmas and I've heard it from sisters who have had the opportunity to be RS president. So, what is the solution???? Well, I can't say I have a really specific answer, but I know one very broad answer is we need more unity. I also think that it is important for RS sisters to realize that you don't need to know how to quilt and be super crafty in order to fit in. We all have interest and needs that the RS organization can fulfill. Another idea I've had is that the transition from YW and RS can really affect your feelings of RS.

More recently I've had some other realizations because of what I see as the RS president...

...if the bishop or even the RS president ask you to do something a certain way...there's a very good reason why even if we can't tell you why that is. Whether it's the Spirit of revelation or because we know some information about someone that we can not give out.

...there are so many giving people and it is those giving people that help the church fulfill it's purposes. A few weeks ago a lady passed away in our ward and are dear amazing Compassionate Service Leader was out of town. I was able to see the ward come together and serve that family.

I'm certainly learning so much, but I know I've got a long ways to go.

Catching Up with Us

So, life has been too busy and a little crazy. I'm pretty sure I jinxed myself by my lost post.

We ended April with Scott's graduation and my birthday. I'm so proud of Scott he worked hard and did well! President Monson spoke at his graduation and talked about how important attitude is in life.We had a great party at his moms house.

My birthday this year was full of eating out and family. Scott parents took me out with Scott and Chloe then Crystal and my mom took me out. Both meals were AMAZING.

In May we celebrated Chloe's birthday, started remodeling and I had quite the surprise. On Chloe's birthday we took her to Burger King for lunch where we had her try ice cream for the first time.

I then took her to Wal-Mart where she pointed out the toys she wanted and so we ended up with a singing cow and almost a Tickle Me Elmo, but I decided that would be a little too much. That night I couldn't bake her a cake so I bought Little Debs cupcake. We set her down for dinner than introduced her to the cub cake. She picked all the white curly frosting off and then realized that the cub cake was squishy. It took all of a minute and half to make the cup cake unrecognizable. She started to test it out and realized she REALLY

loves chocolate! On memorial day we invited both sides of the family over to celebrate her birthday and thank everyone for all their help with moving us and fixing up our house. We made Cafe Rio Sweet Pork burritos/ salads. It turned out way good and I think we can call the meal a success. Chloe had a blast herself, which was great because I know many little kids usually get overwhelmed by all the crazy partying. She enjoyed it all. She again had some wonderful Chocolate cake and made a huge mess and enjoyed it. We handed out bubbles to all the kids and had chalk for the kids to play with. She crawled all over the chalk drawing and had a cute little rainbow pattern all over her jeans. About a week before her birthday party she took her first step and a couple days after the party she decided to be adventurous and walk without any encouragement. Now she only crawls if she's trying to get her head knocked by the kitchen table.

The remodeling on the kitchen has been exciting because we were able to get those ugly orange and blue cabinets out of the kitchen. It's been tough because I have been without a kitchen sink and oven for two months ughhhh. However, patience is a virtue and I'm finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel because tomorrow Scott is going to cut the hole for the sink out of the counter (which is all glued and screwed to the cabinets). It also SOUNDS like I will have an oven soon after the 23rd.

So, now for the surprise... little ol' me was called into the bishops office to find out some news that floored me to say the least. The bishop asked me to be the RS prez. WHAT? WHO, ME????? I had one of those moments where I wondered WHAT is the man upstairs thinking. That is just scary, I'm not a good leader, I'm not inspirational....doubt after doubt entered my mind. I felt pretty stressed and very anxious. I continued to feel that way until I figured out who the Lord wanted as in my presidency. I realized I'm not alone in this. I have wonderful support from the sisters in the ward, I have counselors who have strengths where I don't and see things I won't, and most importantly I have the Lord who can do amazing things with even someone as weak as me. I also thought of my mission and how even though we as missionaries were so young and unexperienced, the Lord was still able to work through us and we were able to instruments in his hands. I just need faith, and the motivation to work hard for the Lord. I feel the weight of my calling, but I feel the love of the Lord. I know it's going to be hard and I'm NOT going to be perfect in my calling, but I have faith that if I do my best the Lord will make up the rest. I began to get a greater understanding for the atonement and realized how pointless my life would be without it, and what I can overcome and become with it. With the atonement we can be healed from the injustices in our lives, with the atonement we can overcome the inadequacy which are in our lives. With the atonement happiness is possible for everyone. Through the process of repentance we become better and through forgiveness we are able to heal and feel at peace. Without repentance we are pretty sad creatures and without forgiveness we become pretty bitter and full of guilt. I think of the scripture in Doctrine and Covenants that says the pain that the Savior had to suffer for us caused him "to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit--and would that [He] might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink..." If He is willing to do that for me shouldn't I be willing to do whatever He wants me to do. I need to be strong because he was strong for me and I don't want his suffering for me to be in vain.

A few things I forgot to mention

I forgot a few things...


Scott and I have become such big fans of gardening the past while. We've started to grow seeds for tomatoes, peppers, corn, squash, cilantro, oregano, etc. We get so obsessed that we have to check on our little seedlings at least three or four times a day. I use to think gardening was a little bit lame but now I get excited when I see our little plants grow 1/56th on inch or whatever:)!

The other thing is I truly tried to sew and actually got excited about the project! My mom translated the instructions into something I could understand, because although it was supposedly in English I haven't really had any experience in sewing so it was completely foreign to me. I'm happy to say that I spent at least 95% of the time doing the actual sewing. However, I know I can hardly call myself even a beginner, but I'm REALLY happy with how the dress turned out:)!

The last thing I was going to add is that we went down to Orem to celebrate Jen, Brian, Liz and Megan's birthday. It was a whole lot of fun...my two cute nieces say the darnest things. We ended the birthday bash by going to In-N-Out, which was so delicious and was so fun to go with almost all of the Chantry crew (except Eric and Carol who we missed). Chloe was wonderful even though that's been the longest she's ever been in a car at one time and it was fun to celebrate with everyone!

Busy...but not too crazy busy

Well, you would think if it's not crazy busy that I would have time to give you an update sooner. Well, what can I say...I'm a procrastinator. Anyway what's been-a-happening with us since I last posted? Well, Scott has had a million and one things to do on his list before he graduates, but somehow he still makes time for me and Chloe. Valentines we had dinner and played games with some friends. I have received two and a half callings...I'm on the Relief Society Committee, Den Leader over the Scouts and I'm playing the piano for ward choir (although that's not an official calling yet). I started running with a friend and hope to run some kind of 5 or 10K race depending on how ambitious I am. Even with all that I still feel like I have time to breathe and I'm pretty happy with the way things are:)!

Chloe is absolutely a 100% fun which definitely keeps me on my toes. She LOVES to laugh and has such a ridiculously silly laugh that it just keeps me smiling all day. When she laughs it sounds like a teasing type of laugh, well I can't explain and someday soon I'll have to catch on video so you can all hear it. Chloe has two teeth and I'm pretty sure she's working on a third tooth, she's got more hair and she is officially crawling.

We've been working hard on transitioning to solids, but I have to say it's been a little tough most of the time and every once in a while really frustrating. She seems to take a couple steps forward and a couple steps back. She seems to want to eat solids but she'll get scared sometimes when it is actually in her mouth and gags then throws up. I hate throw up with a passion so it's given me the chance to grow more patience then I use to have. However, she really is progressing...she is now comfortable with most veggie and fruit puree's and she likes eating peas, tiny pieces of pears, crackers and bread.This last month has been tough because she's had one cold/flu bug after another, but I'm feeling confident that her immune system is going to show all those little bugs whose boss and hopefully go without being sick for a for awhile! One thing that is so amazing about her personality is that even when she is sick she still smiles, plays and laughs like she's not most of the time. She is such a sweet, patient and fun-loving girl and I love her sooooo much. I cannot believe she's going to one in May. Time has gone so unimaginably fast and I'm not so sure what to think about that.

The Holidays

We had a lot of fun this year. On Christmas Eve we made one of our favorite meals...Chicken Tetrazinni. We went over to my parents house after dinner and had desert and watched the old Miracle on 34th Street.

Christmas morning we had homemade cinnamon rolls, which were really yummy but way to much work :P! Watching Chloe open her first present was so much fun for Scott and I. Chloe kept looking at us like what's going on? What's with the camera and why are you guys looking at me like that? She finally got into tearing the wrapping paper and figuring out her first new toy.

We went over to my in-laws were Chloe was greeted by Mr. and Mrs Claus. She wasn't to fooled by Mrs. Claus she knew right away who it was, but Mr. Claus she wasn't exactly sure about. She knew there was something familiar about him but couldn't seem to figure it out exactly.

The next week was a blast! Jen, Brian and their kids came back up from Orem and we played a lot of games including the Wii. Chloe had so much fun with her cousins especially Liz and Megan who paid a lot of attention to her. New Years Eve we stayed up playing something like balderdash. We then watched the ball drop and rang in the new year with sparkling cider and fire works. On a side note...I use to think that once I was married that I would probably never stay up past midnight deliberately because sleep would be to precious. While it is completely true that sleep is very precious to me I'm glad I still live it up every once in awhile:)!!!

Halloween

We got to spend a lot of time at Jason's house (my brother-in-law). Jason spends at least a month or so creating the most amazing decorations. This year he made a Pirates of the Caribbean scene...it had a ship that looked like it had wrecked into his house with a skeleton steering an automated wheel. The Chantry have a family party at his house. We usually eat dinner and have all kinds of Halloween treats then after that the kids get to play different games like bobbing for apples, bean bag pumpkin toss, bowling, etc. We end it by watching some Halloween movie out in his back yard (this year it was Ghost Busters). He sets a projector up and we take lawn chairs, lots of blankets and set up a fire pit. It's always a blast and I don't know of anyone who celebrates Halloween with more pizazz the Jason!





Here's Chloe posing with the pumpkin I carved...I LOVE this picture! Scott did a great job with catching a great smile!


Halloween is much more fun when you get to dress up someone else! I had such a fun time picking out Chloe's costume and it was so much fun showing her off! She is such a cutie!



Chloe found the candy bucket at grandpa and grandma's.

Grandma and Grandpa Thompson teaching Chloe to fly.