Made by Memilyrae

So both Evie and Spencer told me things that just made me giggle today –

This morning while I was getting dress Evie said: “there is your boobies”

Me: “Yep!”

Evie: “where my boobies?”

Me: “right there” (pointed)

Evie: “I want big boobies”

LOL – yeah – good luck with THAT wish! Don’t you know who your mother is??? LOL

*****

I picked up the kids from Aunt Netty’s house. Spencer told me: “me and Gracie want to get married when we’re bigger”

Me: “You and Gracie, huh? Maybe I should meet her”

Spencer: “She loves when I color. I love when she colors. I love her.”

Me: “Okay – well, when you’re old enough you can marry her if you love her.”

Spencer: “I love Gracie” (said in that woo’ed tone…”ah…what a beautiful sunset” kind of way)

******

Kids make me laugh….hopefully more than they make me yell/get upset/get a headache/etc.

No, not mine – been there, done that! But today was Mike (Steve’s bro) and Dana’s wedding day! How exciting! Neither of them wanted anything big so we had a nice gathering of close family/work friends and immediate family for the wedding and luncheon. We’ve had a few weeks to help them sort through details and get things prepared… She was able to get a dress in time and it was great that she loves calla lilies like I do – we were able to re-use my bouquet and a few table decorations as well as my veil!

This morning we got to the church, Dana & Mike got changed, and we got the wedding started. The Bishop is brand new so this was his first wedding. I know he was nervous but he did a great job and kept us laughing while giving great advice and getting the important stuff taken care of. I really appreciated his words of advice – he spoke about oxen in the pioneer days and how, when an ox is used to help pull wagons or plow fields, they can only get so much accomplished. BUT, if you ‘yolk’ two oxen together and have them work together, the job can get done right and more quickly and more reliably. (I know I butchered how he said it but that’s kind of the idea) He advised Mike & Dana to be like the oxen…to work together, to make decisions together, to help each other through the tough times, etc. He was very funny – even brought up the fact that Mom Shaw cheats at cards (lol) and just made it a nice, relaxing – and entertaining – wedding.

(they love the black & white photos)

After they said their “I Do’s” they signed their marriage license. Great story – Mike went down to get the marriage license earlier this week. After he got it he realized they typed “Michael” and “Dan” – uh…Utah does not do same gender marriages!!! He called the office, they said they’d mail it to him and he reminded them he was getting married this Saturday. Yeah…the ‘fixed’ license did not show up. SO, they signed the marriage license for “Michael” and “Dan”! LOL – CLASSIC!

It was raining outside so we did not really get to take any pictures – hopefully they’ll be able to get out there on another day – but we did get a few good ones throughout the whole day.

At the luncheon, we did a BBQ since that fit Mike & Dana’s personality more than a traditional style luncheon. It was great! Plenty of food, lots of great conversation and another entertaining event – the cake cutting!!!! Not only did the cake get shoved into Dana’s nose a little…but Dana’s son (JoJo) tried to get Mike and when JoJo turned to run, Mike got a nice big glob in his hair!

The newlyweds ran off after everyone left the luncheon to spend time alone in SLC. We all had such a great time and are happy to have Dana & JoJo in our family!!!

We also got to meet JOHN’S GIRLFRIEND! Yeah – we weren’t ready for THAT one! She was super nice though! It’ll be interesting to see how this relationship goes…

wow…I really feel like all I do is update which week we’re on – although more recently I have added a FEW more things to my blog. But, here we are at 18 weeks. In 2 weeks from today we get to find out if we’re having a boy or a girl and then the fun begins…getting clothing together, setting up the nursery (which means moving the kids room to the basement) and many more things we want to get done around the house. Here’s the 18 week update:

Head to rump, your baby is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a bell pepper) and he weighs almost 7 ounces. He’s busy flexing his arms and legs — movements that you’ll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. His blood vessels are visible through his thin skin, and his ears are now in their final position, although they’re still standing out from his head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around his nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he’s born. If you’re having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If you’re having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.

Saw this on Coley’s facebook – looks like they MIGHT be getting better at that whole ‘acting’ thing! LOL I’ll be there watching it and I’ll buy it when it comes out…but no matter what I’ll always love the books the most.

http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie-trailers/?g=b488087d-6875-4f79-91db-abf0db2efdee&from=en-us_msntod&silentchk=1&

I HAD to make this page bright pink – that’s the way Evie likes it! LOL Thanks again mom and Gaylene!

click to enlarge

I wasn’t able to attend but Steve said he had lots of fun. The Elders Quorem had their own Pinewood Derby and each guy designed their own car. I stole these pictures from one of the blogs from a family in our ward…hope that’s okay Lai’s! 🙂 Steve took 6th in each race.

{Article from Meridian Magazine}

Editor’s Note: President Larry Laycock and his wife, Sister Lisa Laycock head the Santiago Chile East Mission and had spent the two weeks prior to the 8.8 earthquake visiting each missionary apartment and preparing them for an earthquake. They brought specific instructions on what to do, supplied water purification bottles for the missionaries, told them how to create a 36-hour kit for emergencies and how to stay in communication should an earthquake strike. They prayed with each missionary and dedicated their apartments. Why? Because of a special experience that alerted them to what was coming. They told their missionaries, “If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear.”

They have 171 full-time proselyting missionaries in this mission.

Special thanks to the Laycocks for allowing Meridian to publish this letter that Sister Laycock sent to her family shortly after the earthquake sharing their remarkable experience of kindness from the Lord. They are in Chile with their son, Landon.

The picture of the missionaries on the cover and in this article were taken at a March 1st gathering. These are post-earthquake smiling faces.

Dear Everyone,

I am writing to let you all know how very grateful we are for your prayers, concern, and love. Please keep praying! We need the Lord’s help and guidance in order to do all He would have us do to learn what He would have us learn from this earth quake tragedy, and to minister in the way He would have us minister.

During the past few days, we have witnessed many events which serve to remind us that the Lord is in charge and that as missionaries and members of His church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are performing His work, and as President Monson teaches, “When we are on the Lord’s errand, we are entitled to His help.” I want to share with you a few miracles that will help you to understand our profound feelings of gratitude.

When we were set apart for this calling, Elder Scott of the Council of the Twelve Apostles taught us many important lessons. He spoke from personal experience when he was a mission president in Argentina. One message that he shared with us is this: “At times, during your mission, you will be awakened in the middle of the night or the early morning hours with thoughts of specific things you should do for certain missionaries. Do not ignore these thoughts. They are promptings from the Holy Ghost who will communicate with you in the stillness of the night or the peace of the early morning hours. He will speak to you then because that is when you are still enough to hear.”

Elder Scott further instructed us to keep a notebook beside our bed so that we could record these precious promptings. He said that by the next morning, we would be likely to forget the promptings if we didn’t write them down.

We have been astonished at the fulfillment of Elder Scott’s prophetic words. We have received many promptings in the exact manner that Elder Scott described. We are so thankful that Elder Scott taught us how to recognize and act upon these precious promptings. Had he not taught us, we may not have given these promptings the attention they require.

Nearly two-and-one-half weeks ago, I was awakened at around 4:00 AM by just such a prompting. I did not hear a voice, but the thought was as clear as if it had been in the form of spoken words: “There is going to be an earthquake. Prepare your missionaries.” I sat up in bed and immediately remembered Elder Scott’s counsel. That morning I told Larry what had happened. He immediately set to work organizing our missionaries to prepare for an earthquake.

In talking with our office missionaries to arrange for them to put together a list of everything we would need to prepare…in both Spanish and English…we discovered that the Lord had also let two of our office missionaries know of the possibility of an earthquake (in the form of dreams) and the need to prepare our mission.

We set a goal and arranged our schedule so that we could visit every apartment in the mission to check for safety and to review with our missionaries what to do in case of an earth quake. What a wonderful experience we have had as we have met with them and shared scriptures with them about being spiritually and physically prepared. “…if ye are prepared, ye shall not fear” (D&C 38:30).

We instructed every missionary to have a “go-bag” (36 hour kit). We reviewed our emergency action plan with them of where to go and what to do if they had phone service and in case they did not. We gave everyone a paper with all instructions in English and Spanish, and we reminded them that “this life is the time to prepare to meet God” (Alma 34:32-34). We shared with them our thoughts and feelings about the need for spiritual and physical safety.

Some of them became frightened and asked us if we knew something they didn’t know. We smiled and repeated “…if ye are prepared, ye shall not fear.” We didn’t want to unduly alarm them, but we did want to impress upon them the need to be prepared. We tearfully reminded them of our recent transfer conference where we had shared our feelings about our dear Elder McKay Burrows who was unexpectedly called home in January while serving his mission in Romania…how he was prepared in every way to meet God. We reissued our challenge to “be prepared” in every way. Then we knelt with them in their apartment and dedicated each apartment, asking for a blessing of safety and security to be upon every apartment.

When the earthquake came, we were prepared. We did not experience the panic that many felt. We knew we were prepared. Because of the words of the Lord’s chosen Apostle, Elder Scott, we had listened and heeded the quiet, but clear promptings of the Holy Ghost. We were blessed with peace in the midst of chaos. We learned an important lesson: our preparation helped us to avoid panic and fear, but the Lord, in His wisdom, allowed us to experience enough discomfort to know that He has all power. He is in charge. We are nothing without Him. We are dependent upon Him for every breath we take. Only He can save us from death and destruction. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is our perfect example. If we follow Him, we will be saved through obedience to the laws and ordinances of His Gospel.

As the earthquake became more violent, the mission home groaned and wailed. The power died, so the whole city was black. The windows made a hideous screeching sound, and flying objects banged against swaying walls. The printer/fax machine, books, book ends, and fifty-pound television burst from the entertainment center and crashed to the floor, cabinets emptied, drawers flew open, the refrigerator moved, water sloshed out of the toilets, the floor jolted up and down as we ran across it trying to hold onto the walls to keep from falling down, and the piano toppled over like a small toy. As we made our way to the back yard, I remember thinking, “God is all-powerful. He is our only refuge from this horrible mess.” I prayed and prayed for Him to still the earth.

When we reached the back yard, we watched in terror. By the light of the moon we could see the swimming pool water form giant waves and crash out onto the rocks. House and car alarms screamed into the night…some from being crushed by falling debris and others, I guess, from the bizarre movement of the earth. I am not sure if the intense rumbling sounds came from the earth itself or from everything else that was shaking so violently. Finally, it stopped.

When the calm came, we had to sit down because our legs were weak and unstable. My legs stayed wobbly all day and night yesterday. Today the muscles in my legs hurt like I ran a marathon. The aftershocks have been extremely unsettling. Each one begins like the one last night started. We just close our eyes and wait to see if it escalates or dies down. .I have never experienced anything like this!

We were awakened this morning by a very strong after shock. Larry jumped out of bed and yelled, “Welcome to another glorious day in Chile!” We just had to laugh. We moved a mattress into the floor in our bedroom and made Landon sleep in our room. He was in his room with the door locked the night before and we couldn’t wake him up. He never locks his door, but he was playing a joke on Larry because every morning Larry wakes him at 5:30 AM for seminary by tickling him unmercifully. So Landon had decided to stop him.

When we couldn’t open his door, in the middle of the quake, we thought he was trapped, so we screamed and banged. Landon thought that everything was falling off the walls because we were banging so hard on the door. I think we scared him more than the earthquake did!

Today, we attended a strong ward where Larry was invited to speak. The entire chapel and beyond was filled. People were so humble and so teachable. Larry taught the importance of doing the small things. He taught about Jesus Christ and the opportunity we have to love one another and to share what we have with others.

It was a great blessing for us to be with these beautiful Chilean people. Some have lost their homes…or at least parts of their homes. But they are strong and they want to serve the Lord. He taught of the scripture in Luke 21:11,13 which says, “and great earthquakes shall be in divers places…and it shall turn to you for a testimony.” He also welcomed the sweet young woman who was in the congregation with the missionaries…her first time attending church…and then he invited her to be baptized from the pulpit. He asked her to please invite us to her baptism, and she said, “I will.” The Lord always knows what His people need.

Landon was reading in Alma 15:17 today. He said, Mom listen to this. This is what is happening here in Chile just like in happened in Ammonihah. The people were humbled and “checked as to the pride of their hearts and began to humble themselves before God, watching and praying continually that they might be delivered from Satan, and from death, and from destruction.”

Our hearts are filled to the brim with gratitude for all of the blessings we have received in the Chile Santiago East Mission. We see miracles every day. In the midst of great pain and suffering, we can always find our Savior. He stands with His arms open, pleading for all of us to humble ourselves and come unto Him. He loves us. He invites us to accept His gift…the atonement. He invites us to repent. He wants us to love one another and to serve one another. He wants us to bring our families and those we love to Him. We can do it. We can do all that He asks, no matter how difficult it may seem. “With God all things are possible”

We are having a devotional tomorrow for all of our missionaries to talk about the last week of Christ’s life in preparation for Easter. We want to remind our missionaries to teach and preach with increased vigor of Christ. Last Monday in our office meeting, Larry suddenly stopped in the middle, and said, “During the prayer, I had a very strong impression that March 2010 is going to be our best baptizing month we have ever had in this mission.”

Now we know why he received that feeling. We are going to prepare to bring many souls to the waters of baptism in March. Please continue to pray for us and for the people of Chile. Please pray for the missionaries to have strength and courage to do all that is being required of them, even in difficult times.

We are so thankful that the tsunami did not turn out badly in Hawaii. Who would ever think that an earthquake in Chile could threaten the shores of Hawaii? Thankfully, the Lord is in charge. He is the one to whom we must turn for refuge from every storm. He has the power to save us.

Editor’s Note:

The letter ends here, but President and Sister Laycock told us:

“We’ve never experienced anything like the earthquake. We have had 90 aftershocks, some stronger than others. Our legs are wobbly. It is a scary feeling to experience an aftershock because it brings back all the feelings we had during the earthquake.

“We love being with our missionaries. Because they were prepared, they were immediately able to turn their attention to helping others. They were never concerned about themselves. They were concerned with those who need help and by mid-morning the day of the earthquake, we were able to dispatch them to help others. We told them to investigate the needs of their neighbors and help in any way they could.

President Laycock noted, “The Spanish translation of Luke 21:13 says that there will be earthquakes in many places, and it will give you the occasion to bear testimony. We met with 10 sisters this morning, and one of them mentioned a neighbor next door whom they always asked if she would have time to speak with them, and she always said no. Yet in the crescendo of the toll of the earthquake, she was speechless with fear and not prepared. When the sisters said, ‘Could we pray with you?’, she answered, ‘I have time to pray with you.’ It opened the door to a teaching opportunity to share the gospel.

President and Sister Laycock said, “Everyone we talk to has been so willing to talk about Christ and God’s power. We’ve been sharing God’s love with them. We are seeing God’s love everywhere. People are reaching out to one another. They are serving one another. The news reports looting. We are seeing a different side. We are seeing people who want to communicate with God, who are sincerely looking for the truth.”

The baby is the size of a turnip. Only a few more weeks and we’ll know the gender. We’re so excited!

A girl in my ward (13) asked me why I dyed my hair to blond…my response: “Steve said he wanted to date a blond so I figured I’d better do it or he’d find someone else!” Not sure if the 13 year old appreciated the humor as much as I did.

But, it’s true…I went blond and short again…I’ve been feeling very frumpy… I haven’t been “blond” since high school and right after into some of the college/single years. I was brunette before I met Steve so he has never known me with blond hair. I knew he wanted to see it sometime so I figured while he was away on business that I’d do it and surprise him.

My friend, Cami, does my hair. I had her cut it (A-line) and then came back for a color. I’m starting to get used to it…not getting taken back by the blond looking at me in the mirror…so it’s really starting to feel like it’s me again. LOL Here I am: