Best Cousins: Bride and Matron of Honor

My cousin, Jamie Eisenstat, got married on July 5th, and I decided to write about it because she is my best friend and her wedding has been my favorite to be apart of since my own.  :)

Jamie married Christian Loveridge in the Draper, Utah LDS Temple on July 5, 2016. This was definitely the wedding of the decade! Words cannot describe how happy I am for Jamie and Christian. I knew I was going to be Jamie's Matron of Honor long before she met Christian, so when she told me they were getting married I was ready to go!

The first thing was to plan and host her bridal shower. It was a lunch shower so we had pizza, green salad, cookies and brownies. We played two games. The first was "Would They Rather?" I had a list of 10 different pairs of options that Jamie and Christian answered ahead of time (ie. live in the city or country). Some of the questions they answered the same, some they answered differently, so there was a total of 20 possible points. The three highest scores got prizes. The second was Wedding A to Z. Jamie, along with the guests, filled out a wedding word for each letter of the alphabet. Jamie's answers were the "correct" answers, so the top three papers that matched hers the best got prizes. Then Jamie opened her gifts and we had some honeymoon themed fun with that. ;)

The next thing I helped Jamie with was her bridal pictures. Our aunt Rochelle took the photos (she is a professional photographer), and Jamie's mom Selma and I held her shoes, lifted her skirt when she walked and helped with other things. They were so beautiful! (To see Rochelle's work, visit this page: http://pointedigital.com/)

Jamie decided that her bride's maids would each be in a different dress, our only instructions: pink. I already had a pink dress from a different occasion that Jamie loved so she told me to wear it, and Luna had a dress that matched mine (a baby shower gift) so Jamie wanted to Luna to wear that. We looked great! Jamie's other bride's maids were Jamie Prior, Jaelynn Hoffman, and Sydney Eppley. So it was practically a high school reunion.

The wedding ceremony was beautiful. I did fine until it was my turn to hug Jamie, and then I started bawling. We took lots of fun pictures outside of the temple and then had a couple hours to get ready for the luncheon.

The luncheon and reception were at Wheeler Historic Farm in Salt Lake City. The luncheon was mainly family with friends who were part of the wedding party like Jamie's bride's maids and Christian's best man. They served chicken cordon bleu that was so amazing it makes mine look like a 12 year old made it, but that's why I'm not a professional chef. ;) Christian's brother and I were each assigned to give a toast and then from there was an "open mic" for whoever else wanted to say something. I have to admit I was a little intimidated to go after Christian's brother because he has been married for 17 years and had wonderful advice to give; he even quoted President Uchtdorf! But my toast still went alright. :)

After the luncheon the bridal party took pictures. Jamie's and Christian's colors were pink and green (for those of you thinking "Pink goes good with green!" from Wicked, that's exactly where Jamie got her colors from). The bride's maids wore pink and the Christian and his groom's men wore green vests and ties.

Jamie and Christian had a receiving line with just them and this beautiful tribute to angel family members. Meanwhile the other bride's maids and I, with the help of Jamie's brother and his girlfriend decorated the car!

Christian danced with his mom to Phil Collin's "You'll Be In My Heart". Jamie danced with her dad to "Butterfly Kisses" (*happy sigh* I did too!).

And then the happy couple danced to Brian Adam's "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You".

After that all of the married couples danced and the DJ (our Uncle Mark) called married couples off according to how long they had been married. The couple who had been married the longest got to offer advice to Jamie and Christian. Our Uncle Carl and his wife Diane got to be that couple. Then it was time to cut the cake, toss the bouquet, and the garter.

Their exit was spectacular. The guests split the walkway and waved streamers at them as they ran through the crowd. Then they drove off to live Happily Ever After! Congratulations Jamie and Christian!

The Holy Ghost in Parenting

This past General Conference (April 2016) was the first conference where I posed personal questions to Heavenly Father through prayer as part of my conference preparation. For years I have heard about people doing that, but I couldn’t ever come up with any questions; so I would just ask that I would hear the messages that Heavenly Father wanted to send me. This year, however, I received a prompting that I needed specific questions answered. As conference drew nearer I still had no idea what those questions where, so I prayed for guidance on what questions I needed to ask. Afterwards a few came to mind! Questions I had been thinking about for a while, but had not spent very much time on – I guess the busyness of life got in the way?

One of my questions was: How can I be a better mother? Specifically, how can I be more patient with Benjamin? How can I be kind in moments where he needs to be disciplined? Sister Mary R. Durham’s talk “AChild’s Guiding Gift” answered those questions.

Sister Durham added five more questions:

1. How do we…kick off some of the weight of the world we carry, so we can keep our children’s heads and our own worried minds above the water?
2. How can we, as Paul counseled, “lay aside every weight”?  
3. How can we prepare our children for the day when they can no longer cling to us and our testimonies – when they are the ones swimming?  
4. How do we as parents increase the spiritual capacity of our little ones?  
5.  How do we teach them to kick off worldly influences and trust the Spirit when we are not with them and they are alone in the deep waters of their lives?

The answer to both sets of questions: the Holy Ghost. Sister Durham then gave 3 points on how to bring the Spirit into our children’s lives:

1. We can bring to our children’s attention when they are hearing and feeling the spirit.
2. We can prepare our homes and our children to feel the still, small voice. 
3. We can help our children to understand how the Spirit speaks to them.

I’m not sure if right now I can actually teach Benjamin how to know when he feels the Holy Ghost, because I myself am unsure if he’s feeling something, or just being a three year old. However, I can prepare my home to feel the Holy Ghost by me using the Holy Ghost in my parenting decisions. That was the answer I was looking for, I need to consistently use the Holy Ghost in my relationship with Benjamin.

As I have worked on this, two things have become important: 1) Acknowledging when I receive a prompting, and 2) Pausing and asking for help when I need it. As I have opened my heart more widely to receive the promptings of the Holy Ghost during parenting moments I have noticed a very interesting change in me. At the beginning most of my promptings came after something had gone awry; and so I was then prompted to do things like take a break, apologize to Benjamin, and try again. As I became more receptive to these promptings, I started receiving them earlier (or noticing them earlier), which allowed me to make any necessary changes before Benjamin or I lose control.

Bringing the Holy Ghost into my parenting has been extremely helpful as I figure out how to respond and communicate with Benjamin and his ever-changing, ever-developing personality and social skills. I’m not perfect. There are still moments where I have to apologize to Benjamin, or he ends up in time out and has to say “sorwy” to me or Luna. But there is now a lot more positive than negative in our home. I know as I continue to use the Holy Ghost during parenting moments, not only will I become a better mom, but I will also be able to teach my children how to feel those promptings as they get older.

My Weight Loss Journey to Self Acceptance

I want to preface this with three points:

1. This is not a “if you do this I promise you’ll lose weight” article. It is simply the things I have done to improve my life.
2.  What I did to lose weight is not taught by professional trainers, nor is it practiced by dedicated gym attendees. It was what worked for me in my home.
3.   My journey is far from over. Now that I have lost the weight I wanted to, I will continue to work towards maintaining healthy living.

I have officially lost all of my pregnancy weight, and I am super close to my goal weight! (Super close as in three pounds away, so… there probably won’t be a visible difference when I reach that goal. Oh my gosh I sound like Regina George, “I wanna lose three pounds.” Ha ha ha ha) This journey has been more than just losing baby weight, it has been a change in my eating habits, exercise habits, and self-esteem. I want to share that journey with you.

How I used to eat

For the first couple years of marriage I didn’t do a lot of real cooking. I could follow basic instructions for things like Hamburger Helper, tacos, spaghetti, etc. But making something like lasagna or chicken cordon bleu? Nope. Part of it was I was still learning how to cook, and part was I didn’t have time to try new and complicated recipes. I was a full time student and a part time employee.

When I got pregnant with Benjamin, I was able to stop working, and my evenings were more open. I started learning how to cook new recipes, and slowly increased the homemade meals that we had. After Benjamin was born I went from taking 12 credits a semester to only taking 6. This also freed up time and energy, so I was able to increase my cooking skills and the number of recipes I was able to do. At this time I also started adding fruit and vegetable side dishes to go with our dinners.

How I eat now

I have continued making excellent homemade dinners for my family. We generally have leftovers for lunch the next day, so our lunches are also excellent and homemade. Since Luna was born the biggest change I have made in my eating habits are what I eat for breakfast and cutting down on snacks.

My breakfast foods used to consist mainly of: Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches, Pop tarts, and frozen waffles. I count calories (which I’ll talk more about in the next section), and noticed that the breakfast sandwiches and waffles had too many calories. The Pop tarts were a good amount of calories, but they didn’t last me until lunch and weren’t made of great ingredients. What ended up being the best for me when it came to calories, ingredients, and making it to lunch was oatmeal with fresh fruit and a glass of milk.

Now, my breakfast is usually a bowl of oatmeal with fresh fruit mixed in and a glass of milk. On Saturdays I make a special breakfast because Gerson doesn’t have to go to work, and we all get to sleep in! My Saturday breakfasts are usually double (and sometimes triple) the calories of my breakfast throughout the rest of the week, but it’s not like I’m eating that way every day, so I think it’s okay.

When I was pregnant I snacked ALL. THE. TIME. Which was okay then, but not now. Once I figured out my oatmeal breakfast, I was able to cut out my morning snack. I have also cut out my afternoon snack and replaced it with drinking water. Doing that used to make me starving by dinner, but my body is slowly getting used to it. I sometimes want to snack before bed, but I try to just have a bowl of cereal.

Counting Calories

When it comes to watching what I eat, and knowing how much I exercise, I have chosen to count calories. I know there are debates about whether it’s better to count carbs or calories, or neither; but for me, counting calories is what works best. I use an app/website called “Lose It!”.

On Lose It! You put in your gender, age, current weight, weight goal, and how many pounds you want to lose per week (or you can choose to maintain your current weight). You also answer questions about how active you are. Then Lose It! Uses all of that information to calculate how many calories you should eat per day. As you eat throughout the day you put in the calories that you ate, and it keeps track of them for you. Foods from restaurants, prepackaged food, and individual foods like eggs, fruits and vegetables are already in there; but anything homemade you need to figure out and put in yourself. When you exercise you put in your exercise and Lose It! adds more calories to what you can eat that day.

Counting calories has really helped me see what foods fill me up for how many calories they contain. It has also helped me see how long I need to do each kind of exercise to see the desired results.

How I used to exercise

As a teenager I was a competitive dancer and practiced several hours a week. It kept me skinny and in shape. When I stopped dancing, I needed to find a way to stay active. I tried different exercises videos, but I didn’t really enjoy them. I started going power walking and riding my bicycle with my mom, and I really liked that.

When I got pregnant with Benjamin I was too sick at first to continue to exercise, and when I was better I was horribly misinformed about exercising while pregnant. I thought I couldn’t do anything because I had spent the first trimester lying down. I was terrified of causing damage to his growing body, or worse a miscarriage; so I stayed pretty stationary during that first pregnancy. I gained way too much weight and was very unfit.

After Benjamin was born it took me three months to be ready to exercise again. I exercised to Dance Central and Kinect Sports on our Xbox 360 Kinect. It was a good start. It got me back into the habit of exercising, but it took me a year and a half to lose all but three pounds of my pregnancy weight.

When I got pregnant with Luna I stopped exercising because I also started my student teaching and had no time. After I graduated from BYU I asked my doctor what kind of exercises were safe to start 20 weeks into my pregnancy. I explained that I had spent that last 3.5 months walking around a classroom, so I hadn’t been completely stationary. She said that I could do anything as long as I started slow and didn’t push my body past what it could do. She said to go only until I felt myself getting tired and then to stop, and over time I would notice that I could do more and go longer. I went on walks in the afternoons and did Xbox Kinect Sports in the evenings. I set my Lose It! goal to “maintain weight”. I knew that I would still gain weight – I was pregnant after all – but as I ate and exercised on a “maintain weight” plan, I didn’t gain as much weight as I had with Benjamin.

How I exercise now

I was able to start exercising again a month after Luna was born! I’m pretty sure it’s because I was a lot more active during that pregnancy. In the past my focus has been on cardio activities, and while I still do that, I also want to strengthen my stomach and become more flexible. So I have added a ten minute ab workout before cardio, a ten minute stretching routine after cardio, and a once a week yoga routine.

I don’t like to do the same thing every day, so I mix it up. I have a Kathy Smith “Tummy Trimmers” DVD that has five different ab videos on there. I rotate through four of them (the fifth uses a stability ball which I currently do not own). I also rotate through Kathy Smith’s “Dance Your Body Slim” DVD, Kinect Sports Rivals for the Xbox One, Kinect Dance Central for the Xbox One, and element’s “AM & PM Yoga for beginners” DVD . I then always end with the stretching routine on the belly dancing portion of Kathy Smith’s dancing DVD.

My Emotional Journey

The changes I have made with how I feel about myself has probably been the best part of this experience. I had really poor body image during my pregnancy with Benjamin. I was not emotionally prepared for how much my body would change. I seriously thought that only my belly would grow, I did not expect the rest of my body to swell up like a balloon as well. I gained 60 pounds that entire pregnancy, and I felt terrible about myself. Taking a year and a half to lose almost every pound was very frustrating for me. I didn’t feel pretty, and I didn’t think I was skinny.

I am roughly the same pants size and weight now as I was then, and I feel so much better now. It started with having a much better pregnancy with Luna. I only gained 41 pounds during that pregnancy, and it was gained gradually. I also believe that better eating and actually exercising led to more positive feelings about myself.

The biggest change that has allowed me to have a positive body image is finally accepting the fact that I am a woman now and I have a woman’s body. I spent so much time trying to get back to what I looked like at 19 years old when I got married. I’ll never be 19 again, and I’ve had two kids; but that doesn’t mean that I can’t look and feel good in my new body. My clothes may be size Large, but I am skinny, I just have some slightly bigger curves – in the areas that count. ;) I feel great. I look great. I am beautiful. Knowing that makes me happy, and I am a better mom and a better wife when I am happy.

 

"Church Is No Longer Just For You"

When Gerson and I were newlyweds, Gerson had a job that made him work at least one – and sometimes more – Sunday a month. It was really hard for me to go to Church by myself, and so on those Sundays I would either stay home or only go to Sacrament Meeting. At that time we didn’t have a washer and dryer, so we did laundry at my parents’ house on Sundays. That became the perfect excuse to not go to Church on the Sundays that Gerson had to work. Eventually we got called to be nursery leaders and started attending Church regularly.

A couple years later when I was pregnant with Benjamin a friend told us, “Once you have kids Church is no longer just for you. It’s for your kids. No matter what you feel on a particular Sunday, your job is to teach them to go to Church. Even if that means you sit on the couches during 2^nd and 3^rd hours while they are in their classes, take your kids to Church.”

Out of all of the parenting advice I have received, that is the one that has stuck in my mind. It’s not that I don’t want to go to Church, I enjoy going to Church, but some days stuff happens where it’s just easier to stay home. On those days, that advice comes speeding to the front of my mind to remind me to get ready and take my family to Church.

The three of us got sick a lot during Benjamin’s first winter, so we went through a period of missing Church again. During that time was my yearly ecclesiastical endorsement for BYU, and in that interview my Bishop gave me some very good advice. He recommended that whoever is not sick goes to Church. As I contemplated my Bishop’s advice I felt the Spirit testify that I should follow it.

For the most part, if the kids are sick, I stay home. I am the one they want when they are sick, I am the one they want period. A couple times Gerson has stayed home with Benjamin, and Luna and I will go to Church. If Gerson is sick, the kids and I go to Church. If I’m sick, unfortunately everyone stays home. I’m pretty much the driving force behind my family accomplishing anything.

Up until Luna was six months old the thought of taking both kids to Church by myself was terrifying and I didn’t think I could do it. Then a week after Gerson hurt his back this past February I felt inspired to try, and I was able to do it! I still asked for and accepted help from ward members, but we made through all three hours.

Yesterday we woke up right when Sacrament Meeting was starting. There was no way we would make it to take the Sacrament. And what I’m sure is Satan’s favorite question entered my mind, “Since we missed the Sacrament is it worth it to go to the rest of Church?” The answer is: YES! I got us dressed, fed, out the door, and walking into Church by the time Sacrament Meeting ended.  The Spirit I felt during Sunday School and Relief Society, and Benjamin talking about the “toetoe” (aka: temple) on the drive home confirmed to me that I had made the right choice.

Another thing that inspires me to get my family to Church on rough days is my own son, Benjamin. If he just hears the word “Church” he immediately asks to go to nursery. He practically runs up the stairs to get to nursery after Sacrament Meeting. Two of his nursery leaders live above us and he always points at their car and says, “Look! They go to Church!” I can’t deny him the experience nursery is giving him. He knows who Jesus is because of nursery, he knows what the temple is because of nursery. It’s not that I haven’t been teaching him those things, but there’s something about the way those lessons are written, and learning it with kids his own age that he retains the information better in the nursery setting.

Benjamin’s spiritual growth because of nursery has been a testimony to me that my friend’s and Bishop’s advice are correct. Now that I’m a mom Church is not just for me – though I still greatly benefit from it – it’s also for my kids. On those days that we are running late, or are tired, or Gerson is sick, I need to go for me and my kids. As I have started doing that I have felt the spirit stronger. On those rough days I have also received strength, patience, and anything else I have needed to have a successful Sabbath. I know that creating this habit will serve as a good example for my kids and will be beneficial for all of us as our family continues to grow.

A Reminder About Prayer, Spiritual Promptings, and Priesthood Blessings

A few weeks ago Gerson spent 24 hours in the hospital due to a back injury. This experience ended up being a great reminder for me about following the promptings of the Holy Ghost, the power of prayer, and the power of priesthood blessings.

We got up one Sunday morning to get ready for Church, and Gerson’s back seized up on him. I suggested that he go back to bed and lay straight on his back, because that has helped me in the past when I’ve had back pain. I was really frustrated because I had taken a shower, was dressed and had eaten breakfast before his back seized up. We have 8:30 am Church, and when my alarm went off at 7am, I asked Gerson if we were going to make it that day; because if we weren’t going I wanted to go back to sleep. Gerson didn’t answer me, but I had a feeling to get up and get ready for the day. At that moment I didn’t understand why I had felt inspired to get ready for the day when Gerson’s back was keeping us home.

When Gerson woke up two hours later, his back had worsened and he couldn’t move at all. After several attempts to see if Gerson could move (walking with support, rolling, crawling, etc.), we decided that he needed to go to the hospital.

Gerson is a very private person and doesn’t like other people to “know our business” (which makes this blog ironic, but he supports me blogging as long as I what I write about isn’t too personal). However, as we drove to the hospital I knew we needed spiritual help, so I texted Gerson’s family and posted in our ward’s Facebook page and asked people to pray for Gerson. I didn’t tell Gerson right away because I didn’t want him to stop me. I told him once we were situated in the ER, and he was very grateful.

I know that the prayers being said for my family were heard, and I felt them. I nursed Luna at 8:45 that morning, and didn’t nurse her again until 2 or 3pm. In between those two feedings she was very happy to be entertained by my parents. I held her off for so long because we thought Gerson would be going home any minute. The ER staff kept giving Gerson different medications, and after the 10-30 minutes it was supposed to take to work we would try to get him in a wheel chair so we could go home and he could heal with prescription meds. I know that Luna lasting that long without getting cranky was due to divine help. Once it became obvious that we would be at the hospital for a while I went back to feeding Luna regularly.

Another way the prayers helped was that I was able to stay calm the entire day. I did shed a few tears, but for the most part I was calm and collected. These kind of situations usually send me into crazy imaginations and paranoia. It was really hard to see Gerson in such a vulnerable position, but I had a feeling that everything was going to be okay.

I was, however, frustrated with the ER doctor, because I could tell he didn’t believe that Gerson was in as much pain as he was describing. When he tried to force Gerson into a wheel chair, Gerson’s body seized up and he started shaking. At this point, the doctor finally started taking Gerson’s situation seriously, and ordered a CT-Scan. The results showed nothing of “significant concern”, but they had tried about 5 medications and Gerson still couldn’t move, so 8 hours after we first got to the ER they admitted Gerson overnight for observation in the main part of the hospital.

Once Gerson was settled, I asked him if I could request a blessing from some ward members, he said yes and I took the request to our ward’s Facebook page. Less than a minute after I posted the request, our bishop called my phone and said that he would be happy to come and give Gerson a blessing. It turns out that he had been getting ready for bed when he had a feeling to check the ward page. He got on Facebook, saw my post, and called us. I know that he had received a prompting from the Holy Ghost.

I really wanted to spend the night in the hospital with Gerson. There was no way I could sleep in our bed alone and worried. My mom agreed to stay with my kids at our apartment so I could stay at the hospital with Gerson. I told her to call me whenever Luna woke up and I would come home and nurse her. Another blessing happened with that: Luna slept through the whole night. I even woke up the next morning, drove home, and took a shower before she woke up.

When I got back to the hospital with Luna, Gerson was able to sit up! He was discharged about an hour later. I truly believe that a mixture of the pain medication, prayers, and priesthood blessing healed Gerson and gave me strength to take care of him and the kids.

The blessings didn’t end once we got home from the hospital. For the next three days both Benjamin and Luna slept through the whole night and slept in until 9am! Also, I had to take the kids to Church by myself for the next couple weeks. It was my first time taking them to Church by myself. I was nervous, and fully expected to come home after a disastrous Sacrament Meeting. I was very blessed to have a much different experience. Both kids did wonderful, and many kind ward members helped out by entertaining Benjamin during Sacrament Meeting, watching Luna while I took Benjamin to nursery, and helping me get my kids out of my car and into my home after Church.

Gerson is now doing much better. He was able to go back to work after a week. He went to physical therapy for 2 or 3 weeks, and he was given some good exercises and stretches to help strengthen his back. He went back at Church on Easter Sunday.

This experience wasn’t a big life changing moment. It’s not like I didn’t believe in any of this stuff and now do. I have always believed in the Holy Ghost and the power of prayer. Rather, it was a great reminder about following promptings, and a testament to what prayer can truly do for us. Having experienced others praying for my family, I know with a stronger reassurance that my prayers will work when I pray for others. The Holy Ghost is real, and his promptings are very important to follow. Prayer works, and when we allow others to pray for us and help us, we will be blessed, and they will also be blessed. Although it started out stressful and dramatic, I’m grateful to have had this experience.

I Love The Relief Society!

March 17^th is the 174^th anniversary of the founding of the Relief Society. In celebration of that I want to share what the Relief Society means to me, and how I went from feeling neutral about it to loving everything about it.

I turned 18 at the beginning of my Senior year in High School, but I didn’t go to Relief Society until after I had graduated. I wasn’t dreading it, but I also wasn’t super excited to go. There were some ladies in my home ward that I didn’t see eye to eye with, and they commented A LOT. Also, my mom had a stake calling at the time, and she had to go to other wards at least once a month, which left me alone in Relief Society.

When I transferred to a singles ward, the Relief Society president was someone I had known in high school and she was very welcoming. In fact, about half of the RS sisters in my singles ward I had known in high school. It was a really good experience. I loved my Singles Ward and definitely felt like I belonged there.

Shortly after Gerson and I got married and moved into our first family ward, we were called to the nursery and stayed there for two years. During that time my only connection to Relief Society was going visiting teaching each month. I didn’t even know when the activities were – granted I could have asked, but I felt bad when one time I scheduled Visiting Teaching for the same night and time as an activity. Instead of telling me that the activity was that night, my companion had me pick her up from it and then take her back when we were done visiting teaching! I was too immature at the time to shrug it off, and I allowed that experience to leave a bad taste in my mouth.

We moved into a new apartment and a new ward when I was pregnant with Benjamin. For the first few months we only went to Sacrament Meeting because my morning sickness wouldn’t let me last longer than that. When I got better and we started attending all three hours we got called to be librarians, which mean no more Relief Society for me. (I have this theory that we got called to the nursery in our first ward and the library in our second in order to keep us from leaving after Sacrament Meeting.)

When we moved into our current ward, things changed, I changed. The Relief Society presidency visited me within a week of us moving in. I felt inspired to be more involved in this ward; and as I have done so, I have felt like we are meant to be here. Our past wards felt temporary because they were. Yes, this ward is temporary as well; one day we’ll get a house and move, but for the time being we are in the right place.

About a year after moving into our current ward I got called to the Relief Society Activities Committee. I had inconsistently attended the activities before then, now I had to go to every one! Giving me this calling was truly inspired (of course I believe that all callings are inspired, but sometimes they feel like they were just trying to find something for you to do) and I quickly made friends with the other women in the committee. I really enjoyed preparing for the activities. This calling opened me up to enjoying Relief Society and helped me get to know the other sisters in my ward

At the end of December 2015 I was released from my calling of being the RS Activities Committee, and got called to be a Visiting Teaching District Supervisor, so I’m still in the Relief Society! I already knew some of the sisters I am over, but some I don’t, so I have been given another opportunity to expand my friends in the ward.

As a SAHM, attending the activities, going visiting teaching, and being visit taught are really good social opportunities for me that I need and enjoy. I love visiting with my companion and the sisters that I am assigned to teach. I enjoy talking with them about all kinds of topics. One set of visiting teachers I had also had kids Benjamin’s age, and we were all pregnant at the same time with our second! They would bring their kids with them, and we would visit while our kids played. That was so fun for me.

The social aspect of Relief Society came before the spiritual aspect, and recently the spiritual aspect has become very strong and important in my life. On Sundays, the hour spent in Relief Society is the best part of Church for me, it is the time where I feel the Spirit the strongest. Both Benjamin and Luna take my attention during Sacrament Meeting, and I am usually feeding Luna during Sunday School, so Relief Society is my time to fully give my attention to the lesson, engage in discussion, and feel the Spirit.

Whether it’s third hour on Sundays, the monthly activities, or visiting teaching, the Relief Society has a way of bringing a special spirit into my heart and making me feel happy. Trying to get out the door to any of those things is always super dramatic for some reason, and I’m usually frustrated on my way to whatever I’m going to (activity, V.T., etc.); but once I’m there those negative feelings go away and I always come home happier than I left. I also now know that I belong to the Relief Society. Knowing this will help me when I get a calling that pulls me out of Relief Society on Sundays. I will feel welcome enough to continue to attend monthly activities and participate in visiting teaching. I love the Relief Society and I feel so blessed to be a part of such a wonderful organization. 

Benjamin's 3rd Birthday, Toy Story Style

Benjamin turned 3 years old this month! As facebook reminded me that three years ago Benjamin was a newborn, I thought about how at his age, growth and development are so noticeable. There isn't any difference between 22 year old me and 25 year old me, but the difference between newborn Benjamin and 3 year old Benjamin is huge! Every day he talks more and more and shows his understanding and development. I love it and miss the younger him all at the same time.

Planning and hosting his birthday party this year was really fun for me because I got to go all out. This was the first year I wasn't in school for Benjamin's birthday, so I had time to put a lot of effort into it. I decided on a Toy Story theme because those movies are currently Benjamin's favorite and he loves Woody and Buzz.

I made and sent out these invitations:

Guests were greeted by this sign:

We started the party with lunch. I got pizza from Pizza Hut and taped the "Pizza Planet" logo onto the boxes. (I didn't get enough Sprite and Root Beer for the kids, and got too much Coke and Dr. Pepper for the adults, so next time: more Sprite and Root Beer!)

After lunch we played a game. I printed out and colored six Mr. Potato Heads, taped them to soda cans and stacked them into a pyramid. The kids were given a bean bag and got three chances to knock the Mr. Potato Heads over while wearing a cowboy hat.

The kids then got to hit a Buzz Lightyear piñata.

 After that we sang "Happy Birthday" to Benjamin and to my aunt Anna. I designed and made Benjamin's cake. At this time we got on Skype so that Gerson's parents, who live in California, could join in the singing and watch him open his presents.

While everyone was eating cake, I took a giant Etch A Sketch frame (which I made) and took pictures of all of the guests.

As people got ready to leave, the kids were given "alien" balloons (lime green balloons with three eyes glued on each one) and army guy toys as party favors. They also got to decorate their own star shaped cookies ("sheriff badges").

I really enjoyed planning and hosting this party, and Benjamin had so much fun! I didn't think I was the "creative mom" type, but now I know that I can throw a good kids party. :) And to give credit were credit is due, here are the blogs I that inspired this party:

http://ohsugareventplanning.blogspot.com/2011/01/preview-toy-story-birthday.html
http://craftycagirl.blogspot.com/2012/08/toy-story-party.html
http://catchmyparty.com/photos/1713156
http://brittishdesigns.blogspot.com/2012/04/scarletts-1st-birthday-party.html
http://catchmyparty.com/photos/1859828

I saved everything, so if any of my family or friends throw a Toy Story party in the future, you are more than welcome to borrow anything you want. :)