Tagged ...

3 joys:

1. The gospel
2. News of engagements or babies
3. My husband

3 fears:

1. Free falling
2. Abandonment
3. Burglary

3 goals:

1. Make a new shelf for the bathroom
2. Be more organized with kids activities
3. Finish the laundry

3 current obsessions/collections:

1. Celebrity gossip
2. Shade clothing
3. House projects

3 random/surprising facts about me:

1. I like to write poetry. Although I haven't done it in a really long time, it is really fun and is a creative outlet for me.
2. I used to be a perfectionist. I gave that up in high school because I realized it would drive me insane.
3. Every day I think about how awesome it would be to move to Ca. When I was single I bought two framed pictures of waves crashing. I had them up for at least three years and then decided to give them a rest. But just in the past couple weeks I think it would be nice to put them up again to remind me of what our goal is!

I tag: Tenille Norton

Violet's one

Today Violet turned one. She had two parties, one with her friend Eli who turned one yesterday and one with our family today. The theme for the party with Eli was the beach so we each made a cake with a beach ball on it and each kid around the age of Violet and Eli took home a ball.

Violet wasn't too interested in her cake.
After a rough start, Violet Jane has turned into a smart little girl. Here's a snapshot of Violet at one:
Favorite activity: Clinging to mom and sucking on her fingers (it's a toss up)
Favorite food: Milk and sweets
Eye color: Brown
Height: Tall
Weight: Thin (we still have to take her to her one year's doctor appt)
Personality: Strong willed
Hair color: Brown
Walking yet?: No, but loves to crawl. Starting to bear crawl with no knees and it looks pretty funny
Talking yet?: Makes sounds that resemble words. These sounds include mama, dada, baba, go, night night, bye bye and a(men) at the end of a prayer
Enjoys: turning the pages of books, following Ava around, digging in the dirt and swimming

I haven't had time to make a video of Violet, but I have every intention of doing it. So look forward to a Violet video soon!

An awesome weekend

Us in front of the temple and the horsedrawn carriage that took the newlyweds to the reception.

Neal, Sierra, Jonathan and Jacqueline Hocklander
The Nauvoo Temple

Nauvoo, Ill. Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "The House of the Lord. Built by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Commenced April 6, 1841. Holiness to the Lord."
Us.

Sometimes in your life you are privileged to come across a person or a family that makes an eternal difference. Such is the case with the Hocklander family. Jon, the guy who introduced me to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints, was married at the Nauvoo temple on Saturday, June 14th. It was an amazing, beautiful and spiritual experience. It has been eight years since I was baptized Jan. 8, 2000 by Elder Wick Udy. Since then life has taken Jon and I on a crazy journey but we have both ended up in the right place - married to wonderful companions in the House of the Lord. I hope that everyone meets someone in their life that makes them see more than the physical world around them and glimpse into the secret places of their heart.

Carthage Jail

From Nauvoo, Carthage Jail is a mere half hour away. We already spent more than 10 hours getting to Nauvoo, so we had to visit Carthage,the place where the martyrdom of Joseph Smith took place. I can't say any more about the visit than the following from Doctrine and Covenants 135 as written by John Taylor:
1 To seal the testimony of this book and the Book of Mormon, we announce the ^amartyrdom of Joseph Smith the Prophet, and Hyrum Smith the Patriarch. They were shot in Carthage jail, on the 27th of June, 1844, about five o’clock p.m., by an armed mob—painted black—of from 150 to 200 persons. ^bHyrum was shot first and fell calmly, exclaiming: I am a ^cdead man! Joseph leaped from the window, and was shot dead in the attempt, exclaiming: ^dO Lord my God! They were both shot after they were dead, in a brutal manner, and both received four balls.

2 John Taylor and Willard Richards, two of the Twelve, were the only persons in the room at the time; the former was wounded in a savage manner with four balls, but has since recovered; the latter, through the providence of God, escaped, without even a hole in his robe.

3 Joseph Smith, the ^aProphet and ^bSeer of the Lord, has done more, ^csave Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it. In the short space of twenty years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents; has sent the ^dfulness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth; has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many thousands of the Latter-day Saints, founded a great city, and left a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord’s anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own ^eblood; and so has his brother Hyrum. In life they were not divided, and in death they were not ^fseparated!

4 When Joseph went to Carthage to deliver himself up to the pretended requirements of the law, two or three days previous to his assassination, he said: “I am going like a ^alamb to the slaughter; but I am calm as a summer’s morning; I have a ^bconscience ^cvoid of offense towards God, and towards all men. I SHALL DIE INNOCENT, AND IT SHALL YET BE SAID OF ME—HE WAS MURDERED IN COLD BLOOD.”—The same morning, after Hyrum had made ready to go—shall it be said to the slaughter? yes, for so it was—he read the following paragraph, near the close of the twelfth chapter of Ether, in the Book of Mormon, and turned down the leaf upon it:

5 And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord that he would give unto the Gentiles grace, that they might have charity. And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me: If they have not charity it mattereth not unto thee, thou hast been ^afaithful; wherefore thy garments shall be made ^bclean. And because thou hast seen thy weakness, thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father. And now I . . . bid farewell unto the Gentiles; yea, and also unto my brethren whom I love, until we shall meet before the ^cjudgment-seat of Christ, where all men shall know that my garments are not spotted with your blood. The ^dtestators are now dead, and their ^etestament is in force.

6 Hyrum Smith was forty-four years old in February, 1844, and Joseph Smith was thirty-eight in December, 1843; and henceforward their names will be classed among the ^amartyrs of religion; and the reader in every nation will be reminded that the Book of Mormon, and this book of Doctrine and Covenants of the church, cost the best blood of the nineteenth century to bring them forth for the salvation of a ruined world; and that if the fire can scathe a ^bgreen tree for the glory of God, how easy it will burn up the dry trees to purify the vineyard of corruption. They lived for glory; they died for glory; and glory is their eternal ^creward. From age to age shall their names go down to posterity as gems for the sanctified.

7 They were innocent of any crime, as they had often been proved before, and were only confined in jail by the conspiracy of traitors and wicked men; and their innocent blood on the floor of Carthage jail is a broad seal affixed to “Mormonism” that cannot be rejected by any court on earth, and their innocent blood on the escutcheon of the State of Illinois, with the broken faith of the State as pledged by the governor, is a witness to the truth of the everlasting gospel that all the world cannot impeach; and their innocent blood on the banner of liberty, and on the magna charta of the United States, is an ambassador for the religion of Jesus Christ, that will touch the hearts of honest men among all nations; and their innocent blood, with the innocent blood of all the martyrs under the ^aaltar that John saw, will cry unto the Lord of Hosts till he avenges that blood on the earth. Amen.

Welcome Home Jared!

Tyler's brother Jared got home from his mission in Spokane, Wash., last night. After a flight delay in Chicago he finally arrived. Everyone was sure Michelle was going to freak out, including Ava. But as you can see it was just a very heartfelt moment. Every time I watch it I get tears in my eyes. We are very blessed to have him as a part of our family. It is nice to have him home.

A Day at the Zoo

The last time we went to the zoo Ava was around 16 mo. old, so this time she actually knew what the animals were and some of the sounds. She ran around and even though it was really hot and there were a ton of people there she did really well. This is Ava looking at a peacock.

The three of us.
The day ended with Violet and Eli falling asleep. Ava didn't even fall asleep in the car on the way home. I guess that's what happens when little girls grow up.