Jr. Miss Grand Coulee Dam

Family Search's question from May 20th was: What are some of the stories you loved hearing from your mother’s youth? From your grandmothers’ younger days?

We are a picture family. We love taking pictures and we have a lot of photo albums. Something that I loved doing as a girl, and what I still love as an adult, is to open up our photo albums and yearbooks and look through them reminiscing. Whenever I looked through my mom's albums, I loved the pictures of her in dance costumes, gymnastics outfits, and cheerleader uniforms; but my absolute favorite was pictures of her in a big beautiful pink dress with a crown on her head and a sash across her chest that read "Jr. Miss Grand Coulee Dam." (My mom is the girl on the left)

The Jr. Miss pageant is a scholarship program for high school age girls. My grew up in a tiny town called Grand Coulee Dam in the state of Washington. She entered the Jr. Miss pageant and competed in the following categories: academics, physical fitness, pose and appearance, talent, and judges interview.

For academics each candidates GPA was submitted. For poise and appearance each candidate walked across the stage in an evening gown while their biography was read. For physical fitness they were taught a choreographed routine ahead of time and performed it all together. My mom said it was like an aerobics routine. The judges interviews were done prior to the pageant, and were done privately with each candidate. The talent portion was done on stage. My mom danced a jazz routine to "We Are The Kids In America" by Kim Wilde.

My mom won the pageant! She was crowned Jr. Miss Grand Coulee Dam, and represented her town in parades throughout that summer. She went on to compete in Jr. Miss Washington, and she was second runner up!

My mom still has her crown, sash, and dress. Growing up I loved trying them on. I actually would have loved to wear her dress to one of my proms, but unfortunately my mom and I have very different bodies, and I stopped fitting into her dress at around 14/15 years old. But I did wear her sash with one of my prom dresses as a Halloween costume. :)

I attempted to compete in the Jr. Miss Provo pageant when I was in high school; but the year I signed up for it only one other girl also signed up, so they cancelled it. I kind of wish they would have just done it anyway. I mean, both of us would have ended up with a crown and a spot on the float. Oh well...

Lessons from Grandma

Family Search's question from May 13th was: What lessons have you learned from your grandmother's life experiences?

I have three grandmothers that I am very close to. My great-grandma Virginia Hegstrom, my maternal grandma Linda Peterson, and my paternal grandma Carol Larson.

My grandma Virginia's experiences have taught me about bravery. She was a teenager when World War II broke out. She married my great-grandpa and had to say goodbye to him shortly after because he got drafted into the Army. My grandma Virginia watched her husband and several of her classmates leave home and get sent to Europe to fight. While my grandpa Elvin was over seas, he couldn't write that often to grandma Virginia. My grandma Virginia said that she just waited - like the rest of the country - for news to make it into the papers, it was always a few weeks after the actual event. Grandpa Elvin got injured in France and finished the war healing in a hospital. There, my grandparents were reunited. I can only imagine that kind of bravery and faith it took to start their marriage that way.

My grandma Linda has taught me about love. She is one of the kindest people that I know. She loves my grandpa and waited for him while he was on his mission. She loves her kids and has always put their well being first. She took a job at their local elementary school as a librarian so that she could be more involved in her children's education. The year my grandpa retired, they filled out paperwork to serve a senior couple's mission. They were called  to Salt Lake City to serve in the translation department at the Conference Center. They loved serving so much that they extended their mission past their original release date. Not long after they returned home, they requested to serve an other mission. They were called to Philadelphia, and were released home last month. While in Philadelphia they served mainly refugees from Africa. My grandma Linda  sent frequent emails to the family, and I loved reading about her experience and learning from her testimony, her love of the Savior, and her love of the people she served.

My grandma Carol has been a great example of "standing as a witness." I'm not entirely sure of the details of my grandma's family's connection to the LDS church, but I have heard her talk about family get together's where extended family members were drinking and smoking, and my grandma did  not like that. I believe my grandma was baptized as a young girl, and she did attend church and had friends at church. She married my grandpa in the temple even though her parents were unable to go inside and witness the sealing ceremony. She has always strongly bore her testimony to her children and grandchildren. She is bold in her faith in Jesus Christ, and I have always looked up to her for that.

I love my three grandma's and I'm so thankful for the examples that they have set for me.

Congratulations, You're Pregnant! Welcome to Vomiting and Acne

If the title isn't enough of a hint, Gerson and I are expecting baby #3! I'm due December 29th of this year. I am 12 weeks along.

I had always wanted to use a cute way to tell Gerson that I was pregnant. That didn't happen with either Benjamin or Luna. But this time, I was going to. I woke up super early and took the test. I hid it and went back to bed. When it was time to get up for Church (it was a Sunday), I wrapped it in a fun baby bag, and had the kids bring it to Gerson. He knew right away what it was, and wouldn't actually unwrap it - of course I don't blame him, lol.

We told my parents with this:

At five weeks, the morning sickness hit me bad. (For those of you who are unfamiliar with pregnancy timelines, you count from your last menstrual cycle. So 5 weeks gestation means, that I've only known that I'm pregnant for 1 week.) Good grief, all I have done for the past two months is lay around, gag, dry heave, throw up, and cry. And My face and neck are breaking out like crazy. The list of food that I can't eat grows longer every day. I know that I should just be grateful that I can carry a child. But I'm not going lie, I feel awful. I know it's temporary, and that it will lead to something wonderful. But I just want to fall asleep and not wake up until I feel better.

I had my first doctor's appointment on June 1 when I was 10 weeks along. They did an ultrasound, so we got to see our baby! He/she moved their arms for us! We also listened to the heartbeat, going at 171 beats a minute - which is perfect for a baby in the womb. The doctor went over my pregnancy history and said, "So you have normal, boring, safe pregnancies?" Me: "Yes." Doc: "Perfect, that's the way we like it!" He also said that since my symptoms match my pregnancy with Benjamin, it's a good guess that this one is a boy, and that would be my personal pattern: sick with boys, not sick with girls. But if it's a girl, then it's just "every pregnancy is different." I honestly have no idea. I knew with Benjamin that he was a boy, and I knew with Luna that she was a girl. I guess I'll find out with this one when it's time.

The doctor also talked to me about possible medications for my nausea. The one I took with Benjamin - I don't remember the name - made me really tired. I slept a lot. But I can't do that this time around because I have two little kids that I need to take care of. I told him that my neighbor had suggested half a sleeping pill and a Vitamin B6. Which I had been taking at night. He said that I could keep doing that if I wanted. He also gave me a free sample of Diclegis. He said it's relatively new and a bit more pricey than others like it. I take two tablets at night and that's it. I've took it for two weeks and I loved it! It helped me sleep through the night and when I woke up in the morning, I didn't feel sick right away. I still have moments of nausea throughout the day, but it's nowhere near as bad as it used to be. When I finished up the samples I called for am official prescription, and learned it cost more than I was willing to spend. So I'm now on something else. It works nicely as well. I'm hoping in the next couple of weeks I'll feel better and will be able to stop taking medication.

Well that's where I am now. I'll post updates every once in a while!

You Never Stop Being a Mom

Family Search's May 6th question was: How has your mother or being a mother enriched your life?

My mom is my best friend. She has raised me well, loved me, and inspired the kind of mother I am today. Even though I am grown up and have children of my own, my mom is still a mother in every sense of the word. She still helps me, she still teaches me, she still gives me advice, she is still my mom.

When Gerson and I first got married, my mom called me what felt like everyday. After a while I got annoyed and told her that when I wanted to talk to her I would call. I think I hurt her feelings and she brought it up to a sister in her ward who also had some grown up daughters. She told my mom, "Just give her some space, and she'll start calling you in no time." Fast forward seven years, and my mom and I rarely go a day without talking and we see each other several times a week.

Having my parents live so close has been really nice, I know I'm spoiled for that! For the first three years of my marriage, the places we lived in didn't have washer/dryer hookups, just laundromats. My parents were kind enough to let us do laundry at their house on Sundays. They fed us dinner on Sundays as well, a tradition that we continue today even though we now have a washer and dryer. They have also rushed to help us with car problems. During the first year of our marriage, we had two tires become flat on the same day, and my dad paid for brand new tires.

My parents are always willing to watch my kids. Benjamin and Luna have such a great relationship with their Grandma and Papa. Benjamin is the one who gave my dad the name of "Papa," and Luna calls him, "Papi." My mom has had several different names throughout Benjamin's linguistic development: Mama, Mamaw, Gan-gan, and Grandma. Right now Luna calls her "Mama."

My mom is always ready and willing to help me when I need it. During both of my pregnancies she went grocery shopping with me when it became too difficult to go on my own. Also when I was pregnant with Benjamin, we went to the temple together once a month. When I was pregnant with Luna I was also doing my student teaching. I had major stress during the final month of student teaching, so my mom made dinner for my family every week night until I finished student teaching. Both times after Benjamin and Luna were born, my mom stayed for a week - even though she lived 10 minutes away - and helped me with my kids and cleaned my home.

My mom has always had a strong testimony, and has been an amazing example of following Christ. She has always been bold in sharing her testimony with me and teaching me right from wrong. Her example has definitely help me through some difficult times. And as she continues to be an amazing mother to me, she inspires me on how I mother my children. I hope to have a similar relationship with my children, that my mom has with me. I love her so much.

I Love My Ward

April 29th's Family Search question was: What do you love most about where you live now?

Without taking much time to think about it: I love my ward. The ward  I live in now has been the best ward I have been in. Ever. I am totally NOT exaggerating. When we first moved in the Relief Society presidency visited me within  the week. They were really nice and welcoming.

Our ward is half houses and half apartments, so we have a high turn over of families moving in and out all of the time. (The apartment above ours has had four different families live there since we have moved in. But we are one of the long haul apartment families.) The families who are in houses, and have been here a long time are very nice and welcoming to everyone. At first I wasn't sure if I could really find anything in common with some of the older ladies, but they are all so nice. I love them so much.

The callings I have had definitely help. For a little over a year I was on the Activities Committee for Relief Society. I made a lot of friends that way. After that I was called as a Visiting Teaching District Supervisor. I met some new sisters that way as well. And now I am a Relief Society teacher. I teach the second Sunday each month from The Teachings of the Presidents book. Standing up there once a month and calling on people when they comment, or asking them to participate by reading or preparing a thought has helped get to know more ladies I might have been too shy to talk to before.

A recent development that makes me love living where I do are my two new friends BreAnna and Myrna. They both have toddler boys Benjamin's age, and they both have babies a bit younger than Luna. We live in the same apartment complex, and every Tuesday night we have ladies night! Right now since The Bachelorette is airing, we watch it on Hulu each Tuesday. And it takes waaaaaaaaaaaaaay longer than it should to finish an episode because we always pause and talk when we are reminded of something. I love those two ladies so much, and I'm so glad they are my friends.