EFY here we come.....

Not only will Allison be planning her wedding this summer, but she will be an EFY counselor again for Denton and San Antonio sessions! Whoohoo! I know she is excited not only did she love attending EFY every year as a teenager but I know that she Loved, Loved, Loved being a counselor last year! I really thought that maybe she had turned down the contracts because I hadn't heard anything about it but tonight as we were talking about when she would be returning to Utah before the wedding she said...."I can't go until after EFY is over" and I said, "Oh, so you are doing EFY" and I kind of got a DUH....kind of thing. Which I agree Duh....I love the spiritual testimony building experiences she gets to have as well as GIVE....I wouldn't want her to miss it either!

http://ce.byu.edu/yp/index.cfm

The rest.....

I just saw the rest of the engagement photos that were taken on Monday! They are all amazing. It is going to be very hard to pick! But I know which ones are my favorite!

Engagement photos!

Photos taken by Tara Butler Photography http://tarabutlerphotography.blogspot.com/

Aileen's laugh....

So for anyone who does not know Aileen or has never heard her laugh....it is the most infectious thing I know! Maybe because it is rare, so it becomes a real treat when you realize she is that happy about something, who knows what, but sometimes we like to believe we know what makes her laugh...but regardless you can't help but giggle and smile too when it happens.

Saturday she woke up giggling, laughing, jumping and flapping to the point of almost craziness! But I just laughed and talked with her as I bathed her and got her dressed and felt very sincerely that it was because she knew she was going to Katie's house to be babysat, however, Aileen doesn't consider this babysitting because she knows that Katie is her friend and treats her as if a friend of hers was coming over to visit! In fact the whole family gets in the spirit and even Katie's dad sang to Aileen a country western song that had her name in it and she giggled and laughed at that as well.

Sunday, Aileen woke up much the same....just a little too happy, jumping, flapping and laughing, that I almost decided we would never make it through church so maybe I should stay home with her...but I decided that was Satan trying to persuade me to not keep my covenants with the Lord. So off we went to church and I thought I had calmed her down enough that we might be able to make it...but sure enough as soon as the meeting started, little giggles would escape and I would get them calmed down then pretty soon full out laughing was going on and even though every one was smiling because, like I said it is infectious, I did have to leave the chapel, to which she laughed even louder. We went walking around the building outside until I could get her to calm down. I did make it through teaching my primary class, but by the time they went to sharing time...Aileen and I were headed home. I did however, have several people come up to me and say how happy it made them and how special they thought it was to hear Aileen laugh! It made their day! So I guess even though I'm sure we were disruptive Heavenly Father made it a positive by helping everyone smile!

I love this daughter of mine!

Saturday is a special day....

Today was a great day! To start with Alan and I both had work we had to get done in the morning....so I went ahead and hired our dear sweet Katie to watch Aileen today so that I could get caught up on my transcriptions for the Doctor and so that Alan could get done what he needed to get done. So we worked really hard until noon. Then we had a date! A what? Oh, yeah, one of those things called a date! We went to Chili's for lunch, which is always a good choice and then we did a little shopping that we needed to do (i.e. wedding gift and ink for my printer to print my transcriptions out with) then we headed over to the movies! We saw the new Russel Crowe movie "State of Play"...he is not necessarily my favorite actor, in that I don't like some of the things he has done in his personal life, but I do have to grudgingly say he is a good actor. The movie was very suspenseful and it was one that both Alan & I could enjoy together, in other words it was not a chick flick!

Then I picked up Aileen where I found out she giggled and laughed all day being with Katie. Thank you Katie for being such a wonderful person and my 4th daughter!!!! Then Alan started not feeling well....which I have to tell you did nothing for my ego! What does that say about me that after spending the day with me my husband gets sick! Yikes!

But I was determined to attend a wedding reception of our friends from church the Kongaika's. They were sealed in the Dallas Temple today for Time and All Eternity! They have been married civilly for about a year or more, but waited until they could get married in the Temple to have the big reception! And it was beautiful! They were floating on air and everyone had a great time helping them celebrate this amazing day! I am so happy for them!

So as you can see Saturday was a special day......

Taxes!

They're done! Enough said!

Easter at my sister's home!

After church today we drove to my sister Elizabeth's to have Easter dinner with our family that is here in Texas! It was very fun to see my nephews and my brother again... they (my nephews) just keep growing too fast! I also always love seeing Elizabeth, her husband Art, and all her crazy dogs!

I made and brought the brown traditional dishes and my mom brought several additions to the meal as well! But Elizabeth had all the hard work and the main courses of the meal and it was all so fantastic and we all ate too much! After our meal we watched the Disney movie "Bolt" because everyone except Aileen, Alan & I had not seen it. We had told everyone how we loved it when we took Aileen to see it at Thanksgiving time and they wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Well, I have to tell you everyone laughed and enjoyed the movie very much so it was a fun time for everyone to do something with Aileen.

When we called our girls and John to wish them a Happy Easter they were at Alan's Mom's, their grandmother, and they were having fun and that made Alan and I feel better that they couldn't be with us today!

The best Easter present I received today is that Hillary emailed me and told me how to get YouTube's to be the actual Youtube in my blog and not just a link! Thanks sweetie...it worked! I'm so happy i could cry! That's all I need is for someone to just email how to do things and I usually can get it right! Yay!

So please go to my Easter post from Saturday to watch the video if you haven't already....I promise it will be worth it!

Also for Easter the Doctor I work for and his wife game me a rose plant. It's very beautiful and I will try and replant it in the garden without killing it! They really just do too many thoughtful things, I cannot keep up!

But the most touching Easter gift was while we were watching "Bolt" Aileen picked up her Diet Coke and took a drink then wanted me to have a drink and then handed it to her father to have a drink. And if you know how Aileen really does not share her drink, and in fact she is usually sneaking others drinks and drinking them before anyone notices, you will understand why this is so special. She wanted to share her soda with her parents! Very cool!

Hope everyone's day was a special one! I'm so grateful to my Savior and all that he has done for me!

New Website added to my favorites

I have added a new website to my "Favorite Websites" on the left hand side of my blog.

This is a very exciting website as it is Allison & John's Wedding Website. This is a fun way to stay current on all activities, locations, registries and photo's as they are decided upon and become available!

Here is the link or you can just click on the link on the left side of my blog anytime!

http://weddings.theknot.com/pwp/pwp2/view/MemberPage.aspx?coupleId=4563742268630807&MsdVisit=1

Easter....

Tomorrow is Easter and I am so grateful for my Savior and the atonement! For all that he did to make it possible for us to live again and to be able to return to his and our Father's presence! Elder Hollands talk in General Conference was very moving and really made me think about the Savior's sacrifice that he had to do all alone and how as Elder Holland said, we never have to be alone. I have included a YouTube of his talk with some very moving visuals. It made me remember once again and I'm so glad that I watched it - it put things back into perspective for me.

To most of you this will seem like such a small thing, but to me it was an emotional experience. Today Allison was having her fitting for the alterations for her Wedding dress! I knew that Anne Marie, my oldest, was going to be with her and I was thankful for that as I would not be able to be with her. All week long Allison and I have been talking as she picked out her shoes and other necessities that she had to have for the dress fitting today. So I called them this morning to see how much and if everything went o.k. when Anne Marie says, "Oh, and John's mom is here, do you want to talk to her?" Of course I said yes, and as we were talking and I was hearing how beautiful she thought the dress was and how beautiful Allison was and looked in it...tears came to my eyes....because I was not there. And I felt sorrow that John's mom was and I wasn't. As soon as I felt sorry for myself I said to myself...."Would I want Allison to be alone?" and of course the answer was absolutely no! So I am really so grateful that John's mother was there and could be apart of this exciting and joyful time! And I also know that the dress will have been fitted correctly with a mom there overseeing what was happening. So I'm grateful that when I couldn't be there someone else who loves Allison almost as much was! And even though this was just about a wedding dress....it is a great lesson for life....when we need someone to be there for us....we always do, the Savior!

Then I watched the video of Elder Hollands talk and and know that it is because of our Savior's gift we are never alone. That we always have his help with us.



to quote Elder Holland, "As we approach this holy week—Passover Thursday with its Paschal Lamb, atoning Friday with its cross, Resurrection Sunday with its empty tomb—may we declare ourselves to be more fully disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, not in word only and not only in the flush of comfortable times but in deed and in courage and in faith, including when the path is lonely and when our cross is difficult to bear. This Easter week and always, may we stand by Jesus Christ “at all times and in all things, and in all places that [we] may be in, even until death,” for surely that is how He stood by us when it was unto death and when He had to stand entirely and utterly alone."

May we always stand with Christ!

Family & Friends - Save the Date!

This is not all the details, but here are some for our family and friends to be aware of so that they can save the date for Allison's Wedding:

Allison's endowment session will be at the Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple on Friday, August 14, 2009 at 4:00 pm. All those who can attend with us should be dressed and in the chapel no later than 3:30 pm.

Allison and John's wedding/sealing will be Saturday, August 15, 2009 in the Salt Lake City Temple with a reception to be held in their honor that night. More information to be given at a later date!

Then on Friday, August 21, 2009 there will be a Reception held in Allison's and John's honor in Ft. Worth, Tx, more details to follow.

Sunday Conference...

Sunday conference was wonderful! Allison and John's family had tickets to attend this afternoon's session so that was very neat for them. I'm grateful for many lessons taught today and cannot wait to get the Ensign and re-read and study them all again....especially my favorites!

Saturday General Conference!

Well, my husband and my father are off a the Priesthood General Conference session and my future son-in-law is off with his father and even though they are in different states...it is really very comforting to know that they are all watching the same broadcast...it's like they are all together even though they are not!

Allison fell and hurt herself yesterday and heard a pop in her ankle! She limped home and I told her to elevate her foot, put ice on it and take Ibuprofen etc....and told her to call John to have him wrap it (since is major is what use to be called sports medicine I figured he would know what to do) especially if she was not going to go to the medical center get it looked at. I also told her to be sure and get a blessing! Can I tell you it was my first experience of having something traumatic happen and me being here in Texas and then having the peace of mind of knowing that she has John to help her and to take care of her....just as she can take care of John! It was a very comforting feeling! I must say I am very glad that they have each other and that they can count on each other! Very nice.

Conference today was amazing. I am so glad that I was able to watch and take notes! Really the older and older I get the more and more I look forward to and appreciate General Conference! I love our Prophet and his leadership! I love listening to the general authorities give us words of wisdom to feast upon. And I love that it motivates us to be better latter-day saints!

Did I really say....

Did I really say that I wanted one of my girls to get married???? Was I crazy or on drugs? Wow, I cannot stop thinking about all the bazillion details we have to worry about and I drove right past work this morning! I need help........ Do you think it is too late to tell her not to get married? And what makes it worse is if it was my wedding I could make decisions and move forward...but it's not so I'm tied to her time table that....can I tell you is not my time table! Funny! Who knew?