I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints...

4 years ago, Elder Russel M. Nelson gave a talk in April General Conference. One of the phrases he said stuck with me so much that I thought he said it in a much more recent conference. This is what he said: Rarely in the future will it be easy or popular to be a faithful Latter-day Saint.
I am discovering just how true this statement is. It struck home to me when I heard it then, and it has been ringing in my head recently.

In recent months and years, I have noticed several of the friends I grew up with (or my siblings grew up with), fall away from the church. Or, if they haven't fallen away, they are actively questioning and leaning away from the doctrines of the church. Don't get me wrong. I believe in seeking out answers to questions about doctrine or teachings that someone may struggle with. Questioning isn't bad or wrong. Questioning, and honestly seeking answers, can lead to discovery of truth, witnesses of the spirit, and greater faith. But I feel like, when I have seen what I have seen recently, the questions are meant to give them an "excuse" to leave the church, not seeking for greater faith or understanding. Now, that is just my perception. In reading what someone types, it is just about impossible to decipher tone and intent.

I say all this just because I feel like I have to express my thoughts somewhere. I'm saddened to see people that I care about find reasons to leave the Church and turn away from the knowledge and teachings that I hold so dear--and thought they did too. Most of these people I never, in my wildest dreams, thought would struggle with the church or oppose its teachings. And yet, here it is. Elder Nelson was right. It will not be easy or popular to be a faithful Latter-day Saint in the days ahead. And it has made me think--I am responsible for my testimony and faith. I am no longer a youth who could rely upon my parents' faith and testimony. I know that the Church is true. But seeing this doubt in people I know has made me wonder what can I do more to strengthen my faith and testimony. And beyond that, what can David and I do to create a strong, gospel centered home where our children will grow up loving the Savior and holding fast to the doctrines of the Church, and won't be tempted by the ever increasing wiles of the adversary, to turn away from it. I guess I am doing what Elder Nelson said just a few lines later: That very persecution can either crush you into silent weakness or motivate you to be more exemplary and courageous in your daily lives.

I don't write this to judge, criticize, offend or shame anyone. Just to express my feelings about what I have been seeing. 

Baby #3 Gender Reveal

In case you missed the news, I'm pregnant again! Baby is due in September, and we are delighted. I know, another busy year for us--new job, new house, new baby!

David couldn't come to the Ultrasound with me because he couldn't get the time off work. So, I decided to make the finding out of the gender fun! We just moved into our new house, and wanted to share it with our friends. So I invited a lot of our friends over to come see the new house as well as find out the gender of our baby.

I had some fun with some decorations, trying to not give anything away. There was a blue balloon on there too, but it got knocked off or something.

Friends came and chatted, played outside in the back yard, played downstairs in our toy room. So many people came! We love our new home town of Othello, and feel loved in return!

For the reveal I baked 3 boxes of cupcakes, filled them with the color of baby's gender and then decorated the top. The only way to find out the gender was a eat a cupcake (and not eat all the colorful filling :)).

We had friends cast their vote on the gender. As you can see, the odds were heavily swayed for a girl. 

And here is the video of the actual reveal. We had David's sister (and family) and my brother (and family) on FaceTime and my sister on speaker phone. We wanted to include as many people as possible!

Yep!!! We are finally getting a little girl and we couldn't be more excited! Thanks, everyone, for your love, support and excitement for us!

For those further interested, this ultrasound did not come without some drama. A couple of weeks ago my blood work came back as a higher probability for having a baby born with Downs Syndrome. Now I know that Downs babies come straight from heaven with love and are huge blessings to their families. But wrapping my mind around the idea was difficult and emotional. Because of this higher risk, I was sent to the perinatologist in tri-cities for a a more in depth ultrasound, instead of the usual 20 week ultrasound. There were some emotional days in the last 2 weeks wondering/worrying if baby would be born with Downs Syndrome. At the ultrasound today though, they found no markers for Downs Syndrome. Baby is totally healthy and looks perfect. I cannot describe the relief I felt and the gratitude to our Heavenly Father for once again blessing us with a healthy baby. I know not everyone is always so lucky and I feel so blessed.

The perinatologist actually thinks that my blood work is inaccurate based on a due date that is too early. So I am now going to use the due date he suggests--September 8, 2015.