The Thought Behind the Gifts

Family Search's question for December 23rd was: What are the most memorable and treasured gifts you have received in your life?

I have received many amazing gifts throughout my life, but there are three that stick out: my cat Tiger, a bookcase, and clothes for Luna her first Christmas.

My parents gave me a kitten for my 8th birthday/baptism. This was a really big deal because neither my mom nor dad grew up with pets and neither really liked cats. I had been begging them for a cat since I could talk, but we couldn't have any pets while living in apartments. They gave me Tiger a year after we moved into our house. Giving me a cat was a big way they showed me how much they loved me. Tiger touched all of our hearts during his 18 years of life - even my dad no matter what he says. 😉

Gerson gave me a bookcase our third Christmas. For the first two and a half years of marriage, we just stacked our school books on the floor. Our collection was growing, and I was adding books for pleasure reading as well. When Gerson asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I tentatively said a bookcase. He found a good deal and we assembled it together. I'm a huge bookworm, so a bookcase is a pretty great gift!

We blessed Luna the December after she was born, so Gerson's family came to Utah for Christmas. Most Christmases Gerson's parents have us buy the gifts that are from them and they pay us back. That year they bought and wrapped the presents themselves since they were going to actually see us. Since Luna was only 3 months old I opened her gifts for her. Gerson's family got her a bunch of clothes, and the colors and styles they got showed how much they pay attention to me and what I like. As I gushed over each outfit they said, "These gifts are more for Chelsey than Luna!" I really felt loved by them. 

I hope that I have been as thoughtful in the gifts that I have given my loved ones, and I hope I can continue to be thoughtful in the future. Gift giving has really changed since becoming a mother. I love picking out Benjamin's and Luna's gifts, and I love watching them open their gifts!

Our Proposal Anniversary

Family Search's question for October 16th was: What different occasions do you celebrate each year?

We celebrate all of the major holidays: Christmas, Halloween, Easter, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, and Independence Day. I've written about a few here (okay, I've written about Halloween and Christmas, my two favorites):

Trick-or-Treating Lessons
Christmas Traditions
Ode to Ortega Halloweens
An Ortega Christmas Story

We also celebrate graduations, birthdays, and baby blessings:

Benjamin's 3rd Birthday
Princess Luna Turns 1!
Benjamin's 4th Birthday
Dinner and Ice Cream Celebrations

One unique thing that Gerson and I celebrate is the anniversary of the day he asked me to marry him. So we have our wedding anniversary, and then our proposal anniversary. Gerson proposed to me on February 7, 2010 (The story can be read here). It was a Sunday, and on the next day we went to Brick Oven on a date and shared a heart shaped pizza. Now every year on February 7th we go out to Brick Oven and share a heart shaped pizza to celebrate the day we got engaged! It generally ends up being our Valentine's date as well, but it's really special to us to have our own day to celebrate our love for each other.

FHE, Prayer, and Scripture Study

Family Search's question for October 21st was: What were the faith and religious traditions of your ancestors?

For this post I decided not to go very far back, and I'm going to share the traditions that I grew up with and how they inspired my own. I'm going to talk about Family Home Evening, Family prayer, and Family scripture study.

Family Home Evening

Growing up we either had FHE on Sundays or Mondays depending on how life was going that year. We had a FHE wheel that had our names on it: Mom, Dad, Chelsey, Michael. Outside of the wheel were the following "jobs": Prayer, Song, Lesson, Treats. We turned the wheel one position each week to rotate jobs. The person on prayer chose to say either the opening or closing prayer and called on someone else for the other one. The person on song chose the song and led the music. The person on lesson gave the lesson. And the person on treats chose the treat, but my mom usually ended up making them regardless of who is on treats.

When Gerson and I first started doing FHE in our home we used a FHE jar that I had made in Relief Society. It was easy to pull a topic out that already had scriptures, song, and activity ideas. We took turns each week. When we ran out, we had to start thinking of stuff ourselves. Around that time I felt inspired that the kids should get involved with FHE as well. As if by inspiration my aunt gave us a gift that happened to be a FHE board! It's a black board, so we write in chalk. When it's Benjamin's turn to give the lesson, I help him pick something and practice it. When it's Luna's turn to give the lesson Gerson picks something and has her answer questions about the topic. Family Home Evenings have become a lot more spiritual as we have gotten the kids involved.

Family Prayer

Growing up we said prayer at dinner time and right before bed. My dad called one of us to say prayer each time.

When Gerson and I were getting ready to get married, my stake president recommended that Gerson say prayer on the odd numbered days, and I say prayer on the even numbered days; that way there is no confusion on whose turn it is to say prayer. We stuck to that until about two months ago. At that time I felt inspired that we needed to include Benjamin and Luna in family prayer, they have been learning how to pray in primary and both had asked to say it. So now Gerson calls on someone for prayer at dinner time and bed time. I also felt inspired to start having family morning prayers. Benjamin and Luna serve as our alarm clock, and I say it.

Family Scriptures

Growing up we read different versions of the scriptures depending on my and Michael's age. We started with what I call the "comic book scriptures." They have little box pictures with a few sentences under each to describe what is going on. My brother and I learned how to read with those. Next we read another illustrated version, but there was only one picture per page and more detailed text. Then we moved on to the regular scriptures. Once Michael and I could read, whatever version of the scriptures we were one we divided up the reading equally among my dad, mom, Michael, and I.

Gerson and I didn't start reading scriptures as a family until after Benjamin was born. We got the "comic book scriptures" when Benjamin was around a year old and are still reading those. Since my kids can't read yet, Gerson and I divide the reading up between the two of us. We have each set in English and Spanish. We read the chapter in English one night, and then the same chapter in Spanish the next night. Benjamin and Luna sit next to us and look at the pictures as we read, and we let them make comments and ask questions.

As my kids get older, and more join our family I'm sure we will change up little details. The recent changes we have made have been so good for our family and our spiritual growth.

An Ortega Christmas Story

Family Search's question for December 9th was: Which of your childhood holiday traditions have you continued into adulthood?

Referring back to my previous post about traditions from my childhood, I'll share what my family does now.

First Christmas Teddy Bear - Both my brother and I have winter themed teddy bears that have our birth year on them. I have done the same for Benjamin and Luna. Benjamin has a 2013 teddy bear and Luna has a 2015 teddy bear. And it just hit me that I need to figure out if I get a 2017 teddy bear ahead of time for this new baby or wait until 2018. She'll be born this year, but most likely after Christmas, so her first Christmas won't be until next year. Hmmmm.... I have some thinking to do.

Count Down Calendar - Up until last year, my mom would wrap up candy for my family and put numbered stickers, 1-24, on the miniature presents; and that's how we would count down to Christmas. Last year my mom made a giant fabric candle just like hers to go in my home! So last year and this year I wrapped up the candy for my family and tied each present to the loops in the candle. We wait until after dinner, and I cut down the present, and on the odd numbered days Benjamin opens up the present and passes out the candy, and on the even numbered days it's Luna's turn. Next year, we'll do every three days to include baby girl, but 24 is divisible by 3 so it will still be even for all involved.

Christmas Trees - Last year I started letting Benjamin help decorate the tree, and this year Luna also got to help. I hung the really nice and breakable ornaments on the top, while the kids got to do the rest. They have no concept of evenly spacing, so the majority of the ornaments are hanging in one section, some branches of the tree having 2-3 ornaments on one branch. I didn't correct them, nor did I change it after they went to bed. My tree will only be uneven for a few years, and I want my kids to not ever feel discouraged from helping. In fact, since we put up the tree, the ornaments have moved around quite a bit because the kids like to play with them and hang them back up when they are done.

Santa - We are kind of playing the whole Santa thing by ear. We do Santa gifts, but I haven't told my kids that Santa visits on Christmas Eve while they are sleeping. Two of their favorite movies - The Nightmare Before Christmas and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - have Santa in them, so they know who he is. But I think they just view him as a character associated with Christmas because Benjamin asked me if Santa is at Disneyland. He also asked if Santa was going to come to our house and I told him no, and he asked, "Is it because he lives too far away?" I said yes. As for the kind of gifts that are from Santa, they are small and inexpensive. This year our entire family is getting one Santa gift as opposed to individual gifts, but we each get our own stockings which my mom fills with candy, nuts, and fruit (we spend Christmas at my parents' house). Next year when Benjamin goes to kindergarten we'll have to figure out something more solid to tell him since he'll have classmates with a wide range of beliefs.

Presents - Gerson grew up with his dad and mom giving gifts individually. So Gerson got two gifts from them: one from dad and one from mom. I grew up with my parents giving together as "from mom and dad." Last year we got enough gifts that we did what his parents do, and Benjamin and Luna got a gift from each of us. This year, however, we bought the kids one gift each from both of us - ok, technically two if you count the Santa gift. I'm pretty involved with what extended family members give my kids. Mainly because Gerson's parents send us money to buy the gifts and wrap them since they live out of state. My mom and I work together on everyone's presents. My dad's side of the family does a gift exchange: aunts give to aunts, uncles to uncles, cousins to cousins. My dad is in charge of the assignments every year. When a cousin gets married, they "graduate" from the family gift exchange. Because of that, Benjamin and Luna don't have a gift to open at the Christmas party. So I decided that is when they would open their gifts from each other. Last year I just picked them out for them. But this year Gerson took Benjamin to pick out Luna's and I took Luna to pick out Benjamin's! We are still included in my mom's side of the family because they do it a bit differently. They do it by family. So this year my mom and her sister Deanna are exchanging, so one gift to each member of Deanna's family from all of us, and vice versa. Except since getting married and having kids I have always told my mom to tell her siblings to just do a family gift for the Ortegas instead of individual gifts. We still do individual gifts for Gerson's family; but with his sisters starting to get married and more grandkids are being born, I think it's time in the next year or so to suggest a gift exchange.

The Nativity - The Nativity is my favorite Christmas decoration. So far we have seven sets, one for

each year of marriage. My mom knows this, and she or my grandma are usually the ones to give me my latest set. Gerson says we are going to run out of room soon, but I say that we have plenty of room! Lol. Benjamin helped me set up each set this year and now he knows the names of all of those involved in the nativity. In fact, the story of the nativity was what Benjamin chose to do for his FHE lesson last week. I told the story while Benjamin held up the figures and placed them where they go.

Benjamin and Luna have really loved this Christmas season, and I'm looking forward to future Christmases with them.

My Mom and Public School Associations

Family Search's question for November 25th was: Is there someone in your life who has inspired you to care more about community and global issues?

My mom works for an elementary school as the facilitator over the Low Reinforcement Room. It's kind of like detention, but during school hours. Students who need to leave their general ed classroom for a period of time due to behavior or being too far behind in school work are sent to my mom's room.

My mom is an hourly employee. She belongs to what is called the Employee Association, which is different than a teacher's union because it focuses on the hourly employees because they have different needs than the salary employees. Unions generally have a bad reputation, but this group isn't running around on strike asking for higher wages. They have a good relationship with the school district and school board (I believe). They talk about and advocate for a lot of things like paid time off details, clocking in and out policies, and extra training so they can better do their jobs, to name a few.

As I have heard my mom share stories and experiences, and as I've experienced my own during student teaching, I have become very passionate about what goes on in public schools and how it affects both students and employees. I think that caring about both students and employees (instead of of just students, which is what many parents focus on - understandably) is super important.

I haven't done much as my kids are so young, but I plan on being very involved in my children's school as they enter kindergarten and up.

Sharing My Testimony Through Blogging

Family Search's question for November 18th was: How has your life been enriched by your commitment to causes?

I think they mean civil/social/political causes, but I haven't really been involved in any of those. I mean, sure I have my opinion, but I've never been involved in spreading the message of one particular cause. But I have been involved in the most important cause: sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ by sharing my testimony on social media.

LDS Church leaders have encouraged us to use our social media accounts for good; specifically in sharing the gospel by sharing our testimonies:

"As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have been given the mandate to share God’s light and truth with those around us. Social Media platforms give us a unique opportunity to flood the earth with positive thoughts, imagery, and messages. Elder David A. Bednar has invited us all to share the good we have in our lives. Find more information about this invitation and how to #sharegoodness on social.lds.org.

Some suggested social media guidelines: 

1) Use your own genuine voice and pictures. 

2) Be positive as you share the goodness from your own life. 

3) Respect Intellectual Property. 

4) Remember that social media posts are forever."

I originally started this blog to follow this advice. For the first year and a half of blogging I only wrote about religious stuff; but because I left out a lot, it wasn't very personal. So two years ago I started to blog more about my life, which includes religion.

Last year I received the wonderful opportunity to join Mormon Women Stand and write for them! That has been a huge way for me to share my testimony online.

I also have a facebook in which I will share a quote or scripture along with my personal thoughts when inspired. I also do a smaller version on my Twitter account.

Sharing my testimony in so open a platform has really helped me improve my gospel study because I want to word things correctly and make sure I understand them. So my knowledge and testimony has greatly increased as I have become more vocal in my religious beliefs. I have also learned a lot of new and interesting things as I have engaged in conversation with others online. That is how my life has been enriched by my commitment to the sharing of the gospel.

Service: Start Local.

Family Search's question for November 11th was: In what ways do you sacrifice your time to volunteer in your community?

If this question had been asked before October conference, I would have responded, "I don't. I have never done anything good for the community." However, Sister Bonnie L. Oscarson taught me that is not true. In her most recent conference address she said:

"What good does it do to save the world if we neglect the needs of those closest to us and those whom we love the most? How much value is there in fixing the world if the people around us are falling apart and we don’t notice? Heavenly Father may have placed those who need us closest to us, knowing that we are best suited to meet their needs."

She then goes on to talk about how we start with service towards family members, then we branch out to ward and neighborhood, then the community, and on and on. As I listened to her talk, a memory came to me from two years ago. My neighbor's son was having brain surgery the same day that the terrorist attack happened in the Brussels Airport in Belgium. I had signed up to make them dinner that night. It seemed that all of social media was focused on the event, and everyone thought they knew the best way the rest of us should respond. And it felt like a SAHM in Utah "doing nothing" was not appropriate. As I became overwhelmed with feelings of guilt I felt the Spirit whisper to me, "You are making dinner for a family in need. You are doing what you need to do right now."

Making dinner for that family was a huge turning point in giving me the courage to be willing to reach out to help others. I'm not good at doing service, it's out of my comfort zone. I had never made dinner for anyone outside of family before. A couple of years prior, a sister I visit taught had just had a baby, and the RS President told me that I had to make her dinner. I nearly had a panic attack trying to figure out what to do because at that point in my life I was only making my family hamburger helper type meals. I reluctantly reached out to her and asked when/if she would like dinner. She told me that her family lived close by and that they were taking care of her. I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

After feeling reassurance from the Spirit that I was doing good, I felt more comfortable volunteering to make dinner for families in my ward when they needed it. But I don't know if I consider it a sacrifice, because all I did was double the recipe of whatever I was making my own family.

When I think of volunteering in the community, I think of city and school programs. Since my kids are so young, I'm not really in a position to do any of those things, but when Benjamin starts school next year I will absolutely sign up to help with class parties, reading volunteers, and other parent volunteer activities that the school asks for.